The greatest challenge for a democratic government is balancing the competing interests in society. The U.S. system of checks and balances is one of the most elegant, sophisticated, and successful systems for doing this—but the framers of the Constitution could never have imagined the rise of the modern corporation, with its attendant concentration of power and wealth.
In the modern era, the Supreme Court has essentially said that money from corporations can be only minimally regulated in the political sphere. Because of their wealth, corporations can employ thousands of lobbyists and give huge donations to politicians. The result is predictable: politicians often put corporate interests ahead of the public interest, often rationalizing that they are one and the same. A sizeable chunk of the regulatory apparatus and the legislative systems in today’s America is crony capitalism run amok: businesses essentially writing their own regulations, minimizing their liabilities, seeking and getting handouts, and avoiding accountability.
Ordinary citizens may bemoan these cozy relationships, but it is ordinary citizens who vote the politicians into office. With the influence of money in Washington having grown to such heights, it is more important than ever for voters to be informed, savvy, and unafraid to hold their elected leaders accountable for the decisions (votes) they make. Unlimited corporate money in politics cannot, in and of itself, guarantee crony capitalism; it can only persist if we allow it to.
The corporations and the politicians beholden to them know this, which is why misinformation is their most powerful weapon. If the citizenry can be confused and their anger and rage deflected, those controlling the money and the legislative process can continue to get what they want: favorable regulation, subsidies, and no blame when the public is harmed.
Currently, the corporate spheres whose interests are most inimical to the public are the financial industry and the fossil fuel industry. Wall Street’s extreme profits come at the expense of financial stability and credit for small businesses; the fossil fuel industry’s profits come at the expense of the environment and national security.
The Democrats have just passed a sweeping financial reform bill. While it’s imperfect, it will create a more stable financial system and subsequently curtail Wall Street profits, which were derived in part through excessive risk. Democrats have also proposed legislation that would increase energy efficiency, develop alternative sources, and consequently decrease the profits of oil and coal companies.
By contrast, the GOP did everything it could to weaken and try to block financial regulatory reform; in addition, Minority Leader Boehner has been practically bragging about his cozy relationship with Wall Street, even promising to weaken regulation if the GOP regains control of Congress. The GOP’s stance on energy legislation is even more deplorable; because of the Gulf oil spill and dashed hopes for more offshore drilling, Republicans are indicating they will not support comprehensive energy reform. With offshore drilling representing only a tiny fraction of the bill, this is absurd.
Adding insult to injury, Republicans are blocking attempts to raise the liability caps for oil companies, saying that this would hurt small oil companies who could never afford to cover the costs of a large oil spill. Think about what the party of “limited government” is saying: we need to put the taxpayer on the hook to make sure oil companies are not financially harmed too severely if they despoil our environment. Even more ridiculous is the notion that there is any such thing as a “small” oil company capable of offshore drilling in depths of thousands of feet. The oil industry is one of the most concentrated in the world and only the biggest companies have the capital and technology to explore in deep waters for oil. But in the GOP fantasy land, where black is white and up is down, protecting big oil from having to pay for its mess is protecting small business.
What we have is a Republican Party that is essentially a wholly-owned subsidiary of big business, with the public interest non-existent.
This is one reason why the Tea Party “movement” is such a deplorable joke. If Tea Partiers really cared about liberty and freedom and an end to crony capitalism, they would run as a third party; the last thing they’d be doing is trying to help the Republicans regain control.
Fortunately for all of us, so far they are only succeeding at alienating ever greater numbers of Americans; by and large, the country is coming to realize that the Tea Party represents an extremist fringe with no coherent or consistent ideology.
Jason Scorse