The REAL Problem with America: the Corporate-crony Duopoly

[JimBowie1958]

Duopoly - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

A true duopoly (from Greek duo δύο (two) + polein πωλεῖν (to sell)) is a specific type of oligopoly where only two producers exist in one market. In reality, this definition is generally used where only two firms have dominant control over a market. In the field of industrial organization, it is the most commonly studied form of oligopoly due to its simplicity....
Modern American politics, in particular the electoral college system has been described as duopolistic since the Republican and Democratic parties have dominated and framed policy debate as well as the public discourse on matters of national concern for about a century and a half. Third Parties have encountered various blocks in getting onto ballots at different levels of government as well as other electoral obstacles, more so in recent decades.

The competition of ideas in America has been put to an end, as BOTH parties chase corporate dollars and so the American people are ignored, their interests subordinated to those that own the media and the geysers of cash that flood our electoral system, and the American people continue to lose net wealth, real individual income and their civil rights.

In Red China the Communist Party is like an occupational force, with its values and ideology completely separated and insulated from the common Chinese people. The same exact thing is happening in America right now as the duopoly of faux opponents run the middle class of this country straight into the ground.

You want to fix America's problems? It doesn't require a genius to solve these things. Remove all corporate tax deductions and set up a system of deductions that are entirely based on how many DOCUMENTED tax paying American citizens they have on their pay roll and what the ratio of top management salary is to the average worker in their company. We would have jobs aplenty almost over night. To fix the border requires turning off the illegal alien magnets that draw them in, by using RICO to confiscate the businesses that hire illegal aliens; BOOM, problem gone faster than you can say 'throw the bastards in prison.'

But NONE of this will ever happen as long as their is NO COMPETITION in our political system, and the Democrats and Republican puppet theater is no actual competition.

If the GOP was truly in opposition to the Democrats we would have a Speaker of the House that would at least discuss impeaching an over reaching imperial President. IF we had real competition in our political system we would have both parties kissing the middle classes ass to get their votes BETWEEN elections as well as the primary season.

Instead we have ever growing power of the corporate oligarchs as the American middle class loses over and over and over.

Since 1973 real wages have fallen for individual Americans who have almost all had to shift to dual income families. In fact few even bother to report the individual incomes any more and only refer to household income like 5 people working to make what one person used to make is AOK.

Middle-class squeeze - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


The net wealth of the American middle class is collapsing yearly.

Family net worth plummets 40% - Jun. 11, 2012


Meanwhile all job growth was absorbed by immigrants since 2000

All Employment Growth Since 2000 Went to Immigrants | Center for Immigration Studies


The problem is not Obama being some Muslim Kenyan terrorist wannabe like the hysterical right claims, nor is it some vast rightwing conspiracy run by the Koch brothers as the wacko left claims.

It is the simple fact that no matter which party gets control WE MIDDLE CLASS AMERICANS LOSE.

It is past time to end the duopoly in our political system and return real competition to it.

Further reading:

http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2012/oct/03/america-duopoly-money-politics

http://www.opednews.com/articles/Wh...erican-Hypocrisy_Leader_Money-131216-102.html

http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702303848104576385922449922958

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/charles-ferguson/the-financial-crisis-and-_1_b_782927.html

http://www.globalresearch.ca/us-elections-the-empty-politics-of-duopoly/5311179

http://www.commondreams.org/views/2...oney-politics-and-manipulation-public-opinion

 

[JimBowie1958]

Presidential campaigns aren't where you look for honest, serious discussion of economic policy. Usually, the candidates confine themselves to slogans; sometimes, as with George W Bush, we also get a moron. But in this election, something very different is going on. For the first time, we are explicitly seeing the effects of America's new political duopoly.

Both Obama and Romney are very intelligent men. And yet, both of them are completely avoiding, or being dishonest about, huge economic issues – even when their opponent is highly vulnerable to attack. Thus, we have the bizarre spectacle of a Republican ex-private equity banker attacking the Democrat on unemployment, while the Democrat argues gamely that if we just give him more time, everything will be fine – which we all know is not true. Both men say vaguely that they will "reform Washington", when neither means it.

Neither of them says a serious word about the causes of the financial crisis; the lack of prosecution of banks and bankers; sharply rising inequality in educational opportunity, income and wealth; energy policy and global warming; America's competitive lag in broadband infrastructure; the impact of industrialized food on healthcare costs; the last decade's budget deficits and the resultant national debt; or the large-scale, permanent elimination of millions of less-skilled jobs through both globalization and advances in robotics and artificial intelligence.

In a time of pervasive economic insecurity, with declining incomes and high unemployment, four years after a horrific financial crisis, how can all of these questions be successfully ignored by both candidates?

As it turns out, their behavior is entirely rational, though for disconcerting reasons. The answer lies in the combined effect of three related forces: America's deepening economic problems; the role now played by money in politics; and the emotions of a scared, increasingly cynical, economically insecure electorate.

America's duopoly of money in politics and manipulation of public opinion | Charles Ferguson | Comment is free | theguardian.com

 

[JimBowie1958]

The United States is experiencing a serious crisis and most Americans know it. It could well be the most serious situation in at least a hundred years. For years now several authors have described our government in Washington as being "broken" or "dysfunctional". But these words seem inadequate any longer. It is much more like a "living" entity that is dying and is in a critical state; all vital signs are poor. Little or nothing gets done; few if any serious problems are addressed. Everything is addressed as "partisan." But that is a delusion because as I will mention later there is really only one party with two different factions serving the corporate fascists. When the two factions finally agree on something, then it is called "bipartisan" because the two political parties appear to be constantly fighting over power and money. What, if anything, is to be done about this evil charade?

The election of Barack Obama in 2008 was run on a campaign of "Hope and Change". We had experienced eight years of a troubling presidency by Republican George W. Bush. Bush's approval rating had sunk to about 30% near the end of his second term. We had experienced nearly 7 years of a "war on terrorism" including two major invasions of Iraq and Afghanistan at a cost of well over a trillion dollars. Our financial situation had steadily deteriorated until the economy nearly collapsed in 2008. Emergency measures led to bailing out the big banks for hundreds of billions of dollars. The stock market had collapsed to about 50% of its high and unemployment increased dramatically with nearly 8 million people losing their jobs.

But after five years of a Democratic presidency under Barack Obama, the "hope and change" he had promised never came. Numerous writers have documented how the policies of George Bush have not only been continued by Obama, but, in fact, worsened in several respects. In particular, civil liberties (under a president who was presumably a "constitutional lawyer") have been significantly reduced or eroded with increased frequency in the wrong doing of our surveillance state, indefinite detention under NDAA, criminal prosecutions of whistle blowers, foreign invasions (e.g. drone attacks) and assassinations violating the sovereignty of nations. Threats to bomb Syria to "remove" chemical weapons were made and based upon false intelligence. On the domestic front, most employment gains have been from temporary, part-time, or lower-wage jobs; universal healthcare that was promised looks increasing like an illusion and possibly a big lie. Certainly healthcare costs will not be controlled because the ACA was a huge give away to the private-sector insurance companies and big pharmaceuticals and millions will still be without coverage.

The big gains experienced in the stock market are simply increasing the profitability of the corporations and the riches of the very wealthy, further aggravating the income/wealth inequities separating the 1% from the other 99% of Americans. Americans are as pessimistic as they have been in decades and that is also reflected in their loss of confidence in their government. Congressional approval ratings have sunk to 8%, the lowest in recorded history. We have no promising leaders emerging on a national level, just a recycling of the same old two-party political jargon and propaganda already looking at and preparing for future elections three years in advance. One thing Barack Obama has proven and made crystal clear to me: There will be no "hope and change" if we continue on this path.

In continuing to tolerate these worsening conditions and allowing the two political parties to completely control our future, we are, in effect, admitting to insanity--"doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results." Of course some have just given up and dropped out. It is similar to what an addict does in continuing to practice his habit of using a substance that controls his/her life by using just one more time and expecting to change things later. We need to apply "recovery" techniques to our political system and that most likely requires that we go "cold turkey" on continuing to tolerate the Democratic and Republican parties' total control of our political system and our government. In recent polls as many as 60% of Americans say they welcome additional or "third" political parties.

Article: Why Americans Must Demolish the Political Two-Party Duopoly! | OpEdNews

 

[JimBowie1958]

Nothing in American life today seems as archaic, ubiquitous and immovable as the Republican and Democratic parties.

The two 19th-century political groupings divide up the spoils of a combined $6.4 trillion that is extracted each year from taxpayers at the federal, state, county and municipal levels. Though rhetorically and theoretically at odds with one another, the two parties have managed to create a mostly unbroken set of policies and governance structures that benefit well-connected groups at the expense of the individual.

Americans have watched, with a growing sense of alarm and alienation, as first a Republican administration and then its Democratic successor have flouted public opinion by bailing out banks, nationalizing the auto industry, expanding war in Central Asia, throwing yet more good money after bad to keep housing prices artificially high, and prosecuting a drug war that no one outside the federal government pretends is comprehensible, let alone winnable. It is easy to look upon this well-worn rut of political affairs and despair.

And Americans are, in increasing numbers. Perhaps the most important long-term trend in U.S. politics is the four-decade leak in market share by the country's two dominant parties. In 1970, the Harris Poll asked Americans, "Regardless of how you may vote, what do you usually consider yourself—a Republican, a Democrat, an independent or some other party?"

Fully 49% of respondents chose Democrat, and 31% called themselves Republicans. Those figures are now 35% for Democrats and 28% for Republicans. While the numbers have fluctuated over the years, the only real growth market in politics is voters who decline affiliation, with independents increasing from 20% of respondents to 28%.

These findings are consistent with other surveys. In January, Gallup reported that the Democrats were near their lowest point in 22 years (31%), while the GOP remained stuck below the one-third mark at 29%. The affiliation with the highest marks? Independent, at 38% and growing. In a survey released in May, the Pew Research Center found that the percentage of independents rose from 29% in 2000 to 37% in 2011.

Death of the Republican-Democrat Duopoly - WSJ

 

[JimBowie1958]

What unites the midterm election results, the Federal Reserve's decision to spend another $600 billion to keep interest rates down, the failure to address the foreclosure crisis, and America's worsening relations with its G-20 partners? And, more generally, what explains the Obama Administration's toothless response to the financial crisis, in particular its reversion to status quo regulatory and economic policies, over the past two years?

In making my documentary on the financial crisis, Inside Job, I obsessed over these questions. Some argue that President Obama, as a matter of individual personality, is averse to confrontation; others say that, lacking financial experience while being forced to confront the most severe crisis since the Great Depression, he was hostage to his campaign advisers, who happened to be Clinton-era insiders who had helped cause the crisis. Gradually, however, I have come to a different conclusion, one based on a more fundamental, structural problem in American politics.

My answer is this: far from being in an era of brutal partisan warfare, as conventional wisdom holds and as watching the nightly television news might suggest, the United States is now in the grip of a political duopoly in which both parties are thoroughly complicit. They play a game: they agree to fight viciously over certain things to retain the allegiance of their respective bases, while agreeing not to fight about anything that seriously endangers the privileges of America's new financial elites. Whether this duopoly will endure, and what to do about it, are perhaps the most important questions facing Americans. The current arrangement all but guarantees the continuing decline of the United States as a nation, and of the welfare of the bottom 90% of its citizens.

Charles Ferguson: The Financial Crisis and America's Political Duopoly

 

[JimBowie1958]

While the US has historically exported “democracy promotion” through institutions like the National Endowment for Democracy (trends that have accelerated under the Obama administration), so few see the American electoral process for what it is – unacceptably expensive, filled with contrived debates, and subject to the kind of meticulous controls that America’s foreign adversaries are accused of presiding over.

A leaked ‘Memorandum of Understanding,’ signed by both the Obama and Romney campaigns, provides unique insight into the nature of the three televised debates, and the extent to which organizers went to prevent the occurrence of any form of unplanned spontaneity. [3] The document outlines how no members of the audience would be allowed to ask follow-up questions to the candidates, how microphones will be cut off right after questions were asked, and how any opportunities for follow-up questions from the crowd would be disregarded. In what was billed as a series of town-hall style debates where members of the community can come together and ask questions that reflect their concerns – in actuality, the two candidates dished out pre-planned responses to pre-approved questions, asked by pre-selected individuals. The political domination of the Republican and Democratic parties over the debates is nowhere more apparent than in the arrest of Green Party Presidential candidate Jill Stein and her running mate, Cheri Honkala, as the two attempted to enter the site of the second presidential debate. [4]

Despite the obscurity and almost non-existent media presence of third party candidates, former New Mexico Governor Gary Johnson of the Libertarian Party received 1% of the popular vote in the general election, amounting to over 1.1 million votes, the best in the history of the Libertarian Party. [5] In contrast to the choreographed exchanges offered by the televised debates between Obama and Romney, Moscow’s state-funded Russia Today news service offered third-party candidates an opportunity to voice their political programs in two debates aired on the channel. [6] Throughout these debates, third-party candidates spoke of repealing Obama’s authorization of indefinite detention through the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), the need for coherent environmental legislation, the gross misdirection of American foreign policy, the necessity of deep economic restructuring, and the illogicality of marijuana prohibition. In her closing statement at the debate, Green Party candidate Jill Stein brought up a significant point:

“They’re 90 million voters who are not coming out to vote in this election, that’s one out of every two voters – that’s twice as many as those who will come out for Barack Obama, and twice the number that will come out for Mitt Romney. Those are voters who are saying ‘No’ to politics as usual, and ‘No’ to the Democratic and Republican parties. Imagine if we got out word to those 90 millions voters, that they actually have a variety of choices and voices in this election.”

American presidential politics are not devoid of progressive voices, but in reality, America doesn’t need a third-party – it needs a second party. The overwhelming lack of choice offered by this election can only be attributable to the political duopoly of the Republican and Democratic parties.

US Elections: The Empty Politics of Duopoly | Global Research

 

[JimBowie1958]

http://www.thenation.com/blog/lets-end-two-party-duopoly

When Ralph Nader chided what he called the "liberal intelligentsia" for appealing to him not to run in 2004 as "a contemptuous statement against democracy, against freedom, against more voices and choices for the American people," he added, "You'd never find that type of thing in Canada or Western democracies in Europe."

But Ralph was being disingenuous by not acknowledging that before Americans can take advantage of the heightened democracy enjoyed by those nations, we need a slew of electoral reforms that he may support on his campaign website, but which have gone virtually unmentioned in his media appearances and speeches.

I agree with Nader that America's democratic promise isn't fulfilled and that we live with a downsized politics of excluded alternatives. But, as The Nation noted in our "Open Letter" appealing to him not to run in an election when the overwhelming mass of progressive voters have only one focus--beating Bush--Nader's perceived role as a spoiler is likely to attract far more attention than the valuable issues he raises.

Instead of demonizing Nader though, progressives and indeed all Democrats should fight for reforms that open up our electoral system. One place to start would be to demand that the Democratic presidential candidate--and the party's platform--support electoral reforms that reflect an understanding that the party that can capture the hearts and minds of political newcomers can build a voting majority.

For the first time in nearly a century more than a quarter of US voters are not registered as either Republicans or Democrats. We need an electoral system that accommodates and indeed celebrates our country's diverse views. It's no accident that Howard Dean drew his strongest support among young people. Like Dennis Kucinich, he embraced instant runoff voting and stressed the importance of reforms that allow the range of voices and choices found in democracies with more modern voting systems.

 

[Kosh]

https://www.opensecrets.org/orgs/list.php

As always follow the money!

 

[konradv]

Want to break the power of the parties? Support public financing of elections.

 

[JimBowie1958]

Want to break the power of the parties? Support public financing of elections.

We need a middle road of small donors and public finance.

We do not need corporate donations to our system, and the definition of corporations being 'persons' in our legal system should be restricted to economic activity only and completely quarantined from our political system.

 

[Darlene]

Duopoly - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

A true duopoly (from Greek duo δύο (two) + polein πωλεῖν (to sell)) is a specific type of oligopoly where only two producers exist in one market. In reality, this definition is generally used where only two firms have dominant control over a market. In the field of industrial organization, it is the most commonly studied form of oligopoly due to its simplicity....
Modern American politics, in particular the electoral college system has been described as duopolistic since the Republican and Democratic parties have dominated and framed policy debate as well as the public discourse on matters of national concern for about a century and a half. Third Parties have encountered various blocks in getting onto ballots at different levels of government as well as other electoral obstacles, more so in recent decades.

The competition of ideas in America has been put to an end, as BOTH parties chase corporate dollars and so the American people are ignored, their interests subordinated to those that own the media and the geysers of cash that flood our electoral system, and the American people continue to lose net wealth, real individual income and their civil rights.

In Red China the Communist Party is like an occupational force, with its values and ideology completely separated and insulated from the common Chinese people. The same exact thing is happening in America right now as the duopoly of faux opponents run the middle class of this country straight into the ground.

You want to fix America's problems? It doesn't require a genius to solve these things. Remove all corporate tax deductions and set up a system of deductions that are entirely based on how many DOCUMENTED tax paying American citizens they have on their pay roll and what the ratio of top management salary is to the average worker in their company. We would have jobs aplenty almost over night. To fix the border requires turning off the illegal alien magnets that draw them in, by using RICO to confiscate the businesses that hire illegal aliens; BOOM, problem gone faster than you can say 'throw the bastards in prison.'

But NONE of this will ever happen as long as their is NO COMPETITION in our political system, and the Democrats and Republican puppet theater is no actual competition.

If the GOP was truly in opposition to the Democrats we would have a Speaker of the House that would at least discuss impeaching an over reaching imperial President. IF we had real competition in our political system we would have both parties kissing the middle classes ass to get their votes BETWEEN elections as well as the primary season.

Instead we have ever growing power of the corporate oligarchs as the American middle class loses over and over and over.

Since 1973 real wages have fallen for individual Americans who have almost all had to shift to dual income families. In fact few even bother to report the individual incomes any more and only refer to household income like 5 people working to make what one person used to make is AOK.

Middle-class squeeze - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


The net wealth of the American middle class is collapsing yearly.

Family net worth plummets 40% - Jun. 11, 2012


Meanwhile all job growth was absorbed by immigrants since 2000

All Employment Growth Since 2000 Went to Immigrants | Center for Immigration Studies


The problem is not Obama being some Muslim Kenyan terrorist wannabe like the hysterical right claims, nor is it some vast rightwing conspiracy run by the Koch brothers as the wacko left claims.

It is the simple fact that no matter which party gets control WE MIDDLE CLASS AMERICANS LOSE.

It is past time to end the duopoly in our political system and return real competition to it.

Further reading:

America's duopoly of money in politics and manipulation of public opinion | Charles Ferguson | Comment is free | theguardian.com

Article: Why Americans Must Demolish the Political Two-Party Duopoly! | OpEdNews

Death of the Republican-Democrat Duopoly - WSJ

Charles Ferguson: The Financial Crisis and America's Political Duopoly

US Elections: The Empty Politics of Duopoly | Global Research

America's Duopoly of Money in Politics and Manipulation of Public Opinion | Common Dreams | Breaking News & Views for the Progressive Community

"Peace sells but who's buyin'"

 

[JimBowie1958]

https://www.opensecrets.org/orgs/list.php

As always follow the money!

And notice how the Democrats, the party of the people supposedly, are totally owned by corporate donors. And the GOP has always been owned by big bidness, so who now represents the American people? No one does.

We have to fix this first if anything else is to ever get fixed.

 

[JimBowie1958]

Duopoly - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

A true duopoly (from Greek duo δύο (two) + polein πωλεῖν (to sell)) is a specific type of oligopoly where only two producers exist in one market. In reality, this definition is generally used where only two firms have dominant control over a market. In the field of industrial organization, it is the most commonly studied form of oligopoly due to its simplicity....
Modern American politics, in particular the electoral college system has been described as duopolistic since the Republican and Democratic parties have dominated and framed policy debate as well as the public discourse on matters of national concern for about a century and a half. Third Parties have encountered various blocks in getting onto ballots at different levels of government as well as other electoral obstacles, more so in recent decades.

The competition of ideas in America has been put to an end, as BOTH parties chase corporate dollars and so the American people are ignored, their interests subordinated to those that own the media and the geysers of cash that flood our electoral system, and the American people continue to lose net wealth, real individual income and their civil rights.

In Red China the Communist Party is like an occupational force, with its values and ideology completely separated and insulated from the common Chinese people. The same exact thing is happening in America right now as the duopoly of faux opponents run the middle class of this country straight into the ground.

You want to fix America's problems? It doesn't require a genius to solve these things. Remove all corporate tax deductions and set up a system of deductions that are entirely based on how many DOCUMENTED tax paying American citizens they have on their pay roll and what the ratio of top management salary is to the average worker in their company. We would have jobs aplenty almost over night. To fix the border requires turning off the illegal alien magnets that draw them in, by using RICO to confiscate the businesses that hire illegal aliens; BOOM, problem gone faster than you can say 'throw the bastards in prison.'

But NONE of this will ever happen as long as their is NO COMPETITION in our political system, and the Democrats and Republican puppet theater is no actual competition.

If the GOP was truly in opposition to the Democrats we would have a Speaker of the House that would at least discuss impeaching an over reaching imperial President. IF we had real competition in our political system we would have both parties kissing the middle classes ass to get their votes BETWEEN elections as well as the primary season.

Instead we have ever growing power of the corporate oligarchs as the American middle class loses over and over and over.

Since 1973 real wages have fallen for individual Americans who have almost all had to shift to dual income families. In fact few even bother to report the individual incomes any more and only refer to household income like 5 people working to make what one person used to make is AOK.

Middle-class squeeze - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


The net wealth of the American middle class is collapsing yearly.

Family net worth plummets 40% - Jun. 11, 2012


Meanwhile all job growth was absorbed by immigrants since 2000

All Employment Growth Since 2000 Went to Immigrants | Center for Immigration Studies


The problem is not Obama being some Muslim Kenyan terrorist wannabe like the hysterical right claims, nor is it some vast rightwing conspiracy run by the Koch brothers as the wacko left claims.

It is the simple fact that no matter which party gets control WE MIDDLE CLASS AMERICANS LOSE.

It is past time to end the duopoly in our political system and return real competition to it.

Further reading:

America's duopoly of money in politics and manipulation of public opinion | Charles Ferguson | Comment is free | theguardian.com

Article: Why Americans Must Demolish the Political Two-Party Duopoly! | OpEdNews

Death of the Republican-Democrat Duopoly - WSJ

Charles Ferguson: The Financial Crisis and America's Political Duopoly

US Elections: The Empty Politics of Duopoly | Global Research

America's Duopoly of Money in Politics and Manipulation of Public Opinion | Common Dreams | Breaking News & Views for the Progressive Community

"Peace sells but who's buyin'"

If you are an American then YOU are buying, dear. You are buying at higher prices, less job opportunity, higher risk of disease, etc.

Everything that was fucked up about the late 1800's is about to come roaring back many times worse now that the corporations have bought BOTH PARTIES.

Read 'The Jungle', 'Tale of Two Cities', 'Les Miserable' and know that this is the future for our children all over again, a century of progress completely wiped out if we do not rid our system of Big Money.

Yes you are buying for you, your loved ones and your children.

Happy fucking Birthday.

 

[Kosh]

https://www.opensecrets.org/orgs/list.php

As always follow the money!

And notice how the Democrats, the party of the people supposedly, are totally owned by corporate donors. And the GOP has always been owned by big bidness, so who now represents the American people? No one does.

We have to fix this first if anything else is to ever get fixed.

It has been the Political Class vs the Working Class in this country for some time now, it grew by leaps and bounds in the FDR era.

Both parties only care about those that line their pockets. It was prevalent from 2009 to present.

We are slowly becoming a Monarchy as neither party cares about the people on the national level. Can not say the same for all the politicians out there, but the majority in Washington regardless of party caters to special interest groups.

 

[JimBowie1958]

https://www.opensecrets.org/orgs/list.php

As always follow the money!

And notice how the Democrats, the party of the people supposedly, are totally owned by corporate donors. And the GOP has always been owned by big bidness, so who now represents the American people? No one does.

We have to fix this first if anything else is to ever get fixed.

It has been the Political Class vs the Working Class in this country for some time now, it grew by leaps and bounds in the FDR era.

Both parties only care about those that line their pockets. It was prevalent from 2009 to present.

We are slowly becoming a Monarchy as neither party cares about the people on the national level. Can not say the same for all the politicians out there, but the majority in Washington regardless of party caters to special interest groups.

IT got worse after Perot's 1992 showing. Now the duopoly has shut out all third parties from the Presidential debates and they don't even make a pretense of their total control.

 

[konradv]

It has been the Political Class vs the Working Class in this country for some time now.

That sounds pretty "leftie" to me!!!

 

[g5000]

We had full employment before the crash. That was with the same number of illegal immigrants as we have now, if not more.

So only an idiot would think the unemployment problem is related to illegal immigrants. The actual cause of unemployment was this big economic crash we had. It was in all the papers. Don't know how you could have missed it.

In reality, the illegal immigrant problem is related to a seriously broken immigration policy. We are not meeting the labor demand with an adequate labor supply. To punish employers for a fucked up federal policy is the height of lunacy.

 

[JimBowie1958]

It has been the Political Class vs the Working Class in this country for some time now.

That sounds pretty "leftie" to me!!!

Meh, you're all a bunch of commies and racist bastards.

Now that we have settled that, can we all work together to save our nations future?

I don't want to be too dramatic, but if we don't remove corporate crony control we are in effect selling our kids future to one of indentured servitude, a nasty and dangerous work place/neighborhoods, and corruption beyond belief.

I don't want that and would die to stop it.

How about you? Cant we stop the partisan bullshit long enough to set this rigged system straight?

 

[LoneLaugher]

It has been the Political Class vs the Working Class in this country for some time now.

That sounds pretty "leftie" to me!!!

YES! JimBowie and Kosh.......true men of the people! Populism is the newest conservative talking point.

 

[g5000]

As for the oligopoly/duopoly, yes, our politicians of both stripes are nearly completely owned by corrupt business. Our capitalist system's DNA is being mutated into a particularly nasty form of Down's Syndrome.