"Uber-Capitalism"

The United States of America has entered into the era of Uber-Capitalism.  What does this mean?  It means that large dollar interests control the nation.  And we, the gullible, like it that way.  The most obvious sign of Uber-Capitalism taking control is capitalism moving from being controlled by the government to being in control of the government.  This is simply accomplished by allowing unlimited, corporate, unidentified funds to be “donated” to political campaigns to aid them in covering the skyrocketing costs of advertising required to be competitive in an election.  These giant funds may be unidentified to you the voter, but the candidate is well aware of the sources and their influence is absolute.  So….what do you care?  Well, it affects your quality of life, your cost of living, your health and your rate of taxation.  Otherwise, you are little affected. 

Let’s start with quality of life.  When corporations release pollutants into the air you breathe or the water you drink, the limit of pollutants is set by government agencies.  These agencies are controlled by your elected representatives and these representatives are controlled by large corporate dollars.  It is more cost effective in the short run to pollute rather than clean their waste.  If there is a cleanup down the road, it is done with taxpayers’ dollars.    No corporation ever gave a dime to a politician out of the goodness of its heart.  It wouldn’t be fair to their stockholders.  No, they expect returns from those “donations”.  They are seen as a wise investment and surely they are that.  What about energy production?  We don’t have to use coal and natural gas to degrade air quality.  We could use clean renewables like solar, wind and waves.  Someday we will.  But, we could develop these power grids very quickly with the funds we give to munition manufacturers to supply our endless wars of choice.  To switch to clean renewable energy is an attack on the corporations supplying our coal and natural gas.  Are you in one of the states where users of solar roof panels are taxed for trying to clean their air and the air of their neighbors?

A simple example of your cost of living being affected by large dollars can be seen in large sudden increases in the cost of gasoline at the pumps.  Most often these jumps in price are not brought about by the cost of crude oil, but by a gambling institution called the oil futures market.  Recently these very wealthy gamblers cost you over a dollar a gallon, at the pumps.  You working folks bought their yachts.  Each time you fill your tank, you are making a political donation.   Are you good with that?

How about healthcare cost?  We just experienced legislation that gives us “Affordable” Health Care.  The large health insurance companies, through their large political donations, pretty much wrote the law.  Don’t blame Obama.  All politicians are on the corporate teat.  The first clear sign of this you saw was the disappearance of “The Government Option” for health insurance.  It would have competed with corporate healthcare, if it were not controlled by corporate healthcare.  The second thing you might have noticed is that single payer AmeriCare was never considered.  Most of the other nations of the world with universal healthcare, have some form of single payer (government sponsored) healthcare.  Your healthcare is given for profit, not for your health.

“Taxation without representation” is the way of Uber-Capitalism.  The examples are endless, but the cause is that large dollar influence on tax law is much more powerful than your influence on tax law.  You can’t blame them; they are only trying to protect and grow their estates.  A simple example of money influence on taxation is “Capital Gains Treatment of Income”.  This treatment of income allows the taxation of the sale of property, sale of stocks, dividend income to be taxed at a much lower rate than income earned from fighting fires or loading trucks.  A friend of mine, who once worked for Price-Waterhouse, as a CPA, told me that, “Only those who work pay taxes.”  Does that mean that those who work pay more than their fair share?  Ever wonder why renters get no tax break, while homeowners get a deduction for the interest paid on their mortgage loan (usually most of the payment), as does the landlord of the rented residence they occupy?  It is all the same game, but it was made official by the recent Citizens United decision of your Supreme Court.  You belong to The United States of Uber-Capitalism.  We don’t need any new anthems.  The old ones will suffice.

Does any of this need fixing?  Superman is dead.  He fell off of a horse, was paralyzed and later died.  The job of saving the World is now yours.  “There is only time to iron your cape…..then, back to the sky.”

Comments are welcome, Old Buz