As I argue in Hostile Takeover, my new book being released this week, there is an intricate system of lies, myths and half-truths being rammed down Americans' throats that is designed to make us believe lawmakers are working in our best interests, when in fact they are working against us. These storylines have created the justification for the hostile takeover of our government - and they have marginalized the commonsense policies that most Americans support.
So, for instance, the raging debate over immigration has included almost no discussion of reforming our corporate-written trade policies like NAFTA - a pact that President Clinton joined with Republicans to ram down Americans throat, a pact that we were told would increase American wages and decrease illegal immigration by improving the Mexican economy; yet a pact that has resulted in stagnating wages for Americans, 19 million more Mexicans living in poverty and thus increased illegal immigration. But because this free trade orthodoxy has helped maximize corporate profits, even a discussion of reforming those trade policies is considered off limits by elites in Washington - even in an immigration debate where it is central, even when polls show Americans want our trade policies reformed.
Similarly, the debate over how to solve America's energy problems has largely focused on which kinds of tax breaks to hand over to energy companies - rather than cracking down on energy industry profiteering, as most Americans support. The debate over taxes has largely focused on how much to extend new tax breaks for the super wealthy - rather than on radically reforming our tax system to make it more fair. The debate over globalization has seen Democrats and Republicans join hands to pass corporate-written trade deals that undermine American wages, jobs and environmental standards - despite the fact that polls show Americans want our trade policy to stop selling us out.
As I wrote in today's San Francisco Chronicle, there no longer is a difference between Big Business and government. Worse, the only difference between corporate lobbyists and most politicians today is that the politicians get to call themselves Senator or Congressman. That's the reason why government cannot solve problems anymore - because you can't solve problems if you are unwilling to challenge the Big Money interests that are causing these problems.
The silver lining, of course, is that polls show Americans more than ever understand just how corrupt their government is. That provides us with an opportunity - but only if one of the two parties seizes it.
The GOP, clearly, is uninterested in any kind of reform - they are benefitting from the system of legalized bribery that has now substituted for our democracy. But sadly, Democrats still don't seem ready to make cleaning up our government a real priority. Oh sure, they've pushed modest lobbying reform proposals - but they have refused to champion systemic reforms like public financing of elections. They seem to think they can win the 2006 campaign through a debate over the mundane details of one weak lobbying reform package over another. I hope they are right because I want to see the Democrats take back Congress - but in my heart I fear such shortsightedness and corrupt behavior will only mean another loss on election day.
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