The L-Word

Thanks to JACK abrahamOFF, we now have another L-Word to join the pantheon of etymological monikers that make people cringe, rage or otherwise shutter. For along with “lesbian” and “liberal” we can now add the right wing’s latest contribution – “lobbying”. Admittedly, influence peddling has not been an art form relegated solely to republicans and it isn’t today either. However, by partnering with Big Business to create a literally corporate controlled government, the republican-led congress has taken the act of selling legislation and votes to new and unprecedented realms. The congressional country club goes a long way toward explaining how out of touch our government has become to the struggles of average Americans. The cruelty of legislation coming out of Washington reflects a level of arrogance that is nothing short of astounding. Several examples include recently enacted bankruptcy laws that favor unscrupulous lenders who drive customers into debt with easy credit. This legislation creates a new underclass of financial slaves. People who have been enticed into getting themselves deeper and deeper in debt and who now have little recourse or ability to dig themselves out from under it.

Additionally, the Bush administration's contempt for government has created a deficit that threatens to plunge our country into its own debt-induced nightmare. This is the conservative solution to creating "smaller" government. By burdening the nation with debt, legislators then have an excuse to gut "liberal" social programs. The idea here is to literally drown our government in a budget deficit of tsunami-like proportions. However, in true conservative fashion, money is no object when it comes to spending on war. The $2 trillion fiasco in Iraq, largely financed by government debt, has been Bush’s way of financially euthanizing the U.S. government. Now who says Bush doesn't believe in assisted suicide? In any case, it's easy to see how one could persuasively argue that this financial recklessness has far exceeded any terrorist inflicted damage to the United States. Of course one must first suspend some disbelief in order to convince themselves that Bush himself isn't a terrorist.

All of these shenanigans largely benefit, first and foremost, Big Business. What I’ve mentioned are just a few of the myriad legislative acts perpetrated over the past five years that harm average citizens and help corporations. Debt slaves and the “off shoring” of American jobs make for a wonderfully desperate and powerless labor force. Reduced environmental regulation and the corporate welfare inherent in a military industrial complex are the hallmarks of our new corporate led government. None of this could have been achieved without the help of corrupt legislators bought outright by Big Business via a loophole-ridden lobbying system.

So now the bums are finally caught with their hands in the cookie jar. And like the vermin they are they’re scrambling like cockroaches to escape their sudden exposure to the switched-on kitchen light. But instead of scurrying under counters or behind appliances they seek cover behind meaningless lobbying reform. Republicans and democrats alike are engaged in a bidding war to “fix the system” knowing full well that the legislative "reforms" they are suddenly touting will do nothing to change the institutionalized bribery in Washington. The only silver lining I see is for shareholders of Proctor & Gamble, makers of Pepto-Bismol. Why? Because the nausea-inducing hypocrisy of congressional criminals now offering solutions for reform is bound to spur a nationwide feeding frenzy on the famous pink liquid. These creeps should be “run out of town on a rail” (to quote Mr. Potter from “It’s a Wonderful Life”). Instead, it looks to be like more business as usual in Washington where once again the American people are the real “losers” - an L-Word that will likely be a final addition to the Alphabet Hall of Shame.