Bought and Paid For

“Philosophy of cash” by Tucker Nichols.  Copyright (c) 2015 by the artist.  

My hope for democracy still living in the United States was rekindled when the House rejected fast track for the corporate wish list called the Trans Pacific Partnership.

By long maintaining secrecy and then blocking public discussion, and by controlling a Democratic president and the Republican majority so closely tied to it, the corporate powers expected easy passage of fast track legislation.

This would open the door for the legal transfer of sovereignty from the government to the corporations. It would no longer be necessary to buy congress. On matters of greatest importance to corporations, Congress could henceforth be by-passed.

I was delightfully surprised that the House, on first being confronted with this legislation, refused to be bullied into supporting this transfer of power. This was good news indeed. Conscience and principle and public opinion still played a role in Washington.

Of course, we knew that the corporations are not so easily denied their wishes, that this was just a setback, that they would reorganize and try again. They did so.

And on a day when the nation’s press was preoccupied with the appalling racist murders in Charleston, the House voted to transfer its powers to the corporate world. My brief period of pride in my government was ended. My expectation that money controlled Congress was proved right. Our task of redirecting the world away from massive suicide has become more difficult.

But let us still celebrate those who tried to block this self-destruction of democratic government.

And all the more let us celebrate the assurance that Pope Francis has not sold out to the corporate world!

For a summary of the staggering sums of money used to support TPP, see this post in OpEdNews.