Do Corporations Run Our Government?

Our government has an even bigger problem than granting financial favors to the well connected.  The General Services Agency, GSA, is responsible for managing our massive federal government.  Well, for over 15 years they’ve outsourced the job.  That’s right, beginning under Bill Clinton and expanded by George Bush our leaders have created a 4th branch of government of private contractors that do everything from check our income taxes, run federal purchasing and our governments massive data system.  They run our social services programs, Medicare, social security, make our weapons, serve our soldiers food…just about everything.  Government costs continue to explode not because government employment is growing, but because government contracting is out of control—literally.

Only 48% of government contracts were competitively bid in 2005.  It was nearly 80% five years ago.  Guess who provides contract oversight for you and me?  You guessed it.  A government contractor that’s been investigated for corruption! The same contractor who supplied interrogators to the Abu Ghraid Iraq prison.  No, this is not a joke.  It is our outrageously corrupt system.

Of course, we’re told outsourcing saves us money.  Right.  Audits show that government contracts pay an average of twice the cost of pay of benefits for federal workers doing the same jobs.  Moreover, contractors often don’t have oversight, routinely miss deadlines, and even abandon projects.  So how can a farsighted businessperson get such good work?  Why, pay your dues of course.

The top 20 service contractors have spent nearly $300 million on lobbying and over $20 million on political campaigns in the past 5 years. The most disturbing thing about becoming a “government run by corporations” is that corporate allegiance is to shareholders and executives, not to you and me who pay them with our taxes.  Public servants no longer are serving us.  Rather we’re being had.

Is it any wonder we haven’t been able to provide our soldiers with adequate armor or rebuild hurricane-ravished states?  Our current president is right about one thing–we don’t need more taxes.  Probably 30% of our taxes are just wasted. Yours and my money in someone else’s wallet.

The Congressional elections, which swept up the “bad” Republicans and replaced them with Democrats, had everyone hoping for the best.  We voters sent a message that corrupt politics with special interests writing laws, backroom government contracts, and outright bribery and payoffs was revolting.  So we threw the bastards out.  Or so we thought.  Within a week of conquering Congress, Democrats were crafting high-sounding ethics reforms with loopholes big enough to fly private jets through.  It turns out they are just as dependent on corrupt system of campaign finance as the Republicans. Duh.

We all know there is only one solution.  Sweeping change.  Strict new black and white rules.  Campaigns for national public office cannot be funded except by public money.  Campaign spending limits on money from any source must be mandated.  Congress will never reform itself.  Like alcoholics at a never-ending open bar, they keep making up excuses why one more drink is actually a good thing.  Well, anytime yours and my tax money is spent on ANYTHING that is not openly debated is just not fair.  It’s called taxation without representation.  I believe we already fought a revolution over that one.

Since Congress is too addicted to their votes-for-favors program, there is probably only one way faith in Congress can be restored: campaign finance reform has to happen at the state level.  We must find ways to satisfy the Supreme Courts ideas on free speech by actually protecting it instead of allowing special interests to buy it.  When a candidate has to spend over 500 million smackers on a presidential campaign, democracy is badly broken.

Our states must pass laws prohibiting spending campaign money other than that provided by the taxes you and I pay.  If we don’t make our elected representatives beholden to each one of us, they’ll remain beholden to the deep pockets that already yank their chains.  Before you protest let me remind you this won’t cost us money.  In fact, it will save us hundreds of billions of the unjust tax breaks, subsides, outrageous government contracts, and backroom deals our taxes fund today.  How important is this?  It is essential to save our nation.  Otherwise, our government’s vision of our common good will increasingly degenerate into a parody of democracy.  Don’t write your Congressman.  He’s too busy golfing for dollars.  Write your Governor…?  Is the only way to get change to shame one politician to reform the other.

As Tim pointed out, we need to remove ineffective politicians from office.

What’s the Greatest Thing We Can Do?

Question #16: How do we come up with a solution to remove ineffective politicians from office.  Any ideas?