Lobbying
 

Back in the glorious 1970s, Corporations didn't have Lobbiests, they felt they didn't need em. Then along came a bunch of Liberal do gooders who were concerned about the environment. They Lobbied Congress hard to do saomething about protecting the environment from further degradation at the hands of Corporate America. The result was the EPA...

Corporations were hit hard by the EPA, blindsided as it were. It was a real wakeup call for them. They decide that they needed to be represented in Washington as well..and the birth of the Lobbyist industry was upon America.

Today inspite of a whole lot of half measures, its all about the MONEY in DC. When a Corporation donates money to BOTH political canidates in an election the corporation wins no matter which Political Party gets in.

So in 2007 the people still matter in the raw vote, but the money has corrupted the system and our govternment serves the interest of corporate America over the people.

Today the world has become a Global Economy in which corporations only care about the bottom line so that their shareholders are making money. Corporations don't care if the American people are wealthy or poor, they will go to where ever their bottom line is maximized.

So the outlook for America is pretty grim, the Middle Class which has been under pressure since the 1970s is going to shrink with fewer and fewer Americans being able to sustain a Middle class lifestyle. The few that will do well in America will be the Bright, well educated who are motivated, while the rest are su[ked off while watching the Super Bowl on the couch.

So what to do? Do you buy and hold stock, increase your wealth beyond your average peers and participate in the bleeding? Or, do you say "piss off stock market," buy a hut in Montana, and wrestle bears for fun? Watching Super Bowl is not an option.

Even though the Liberal Socialists among us would tell you that the government will take care of you...they won't. It will only lead you to doing 4 tours of duty in Iraq, with the likelyhood of your number coming up increasing with each passing day.

Your best bet is taking care of U and your own...the reality of the world hasn't changed much since the dawn of Time.

After WW2 America emerged as the leading Superpower economically and militarily. The USA was the only nation that had an intact Industrial Plant. So if you wanted to buy a Tractor you basically had to buy American. This led to Americans becoming wealthier than they had ever before, where a schmo working at a Blue Collar Factory job could be Middle Class, never beofre had this happened. Also the economy of scale produced goods cheaper than they had ever been before. By the 1960s that started to change Japan and Germany both were becoming major competitors economically. This was the begining of the pressure on the Middle Class, as the USA faces more competition the more of leveling of wages and wealth will take place...eg the Japanese will become wealthier and the US poorer untiul some kind of equilibrium is achieved. That is the awefull truth that Washington won't tell you. They would rather have you watch the Super Bowl and drink Beer while making ever greater payments on your Credit Cards.

Are you merely indulging in a moment of well-deserved nostalgia, or are you suggesting free trade is not the answer?

Re: Lobbying
 

I can't believe you made such an absurd statement. Lobbyists have been around since the Constitution was ratified, and became particularly onerous after 1850, and stunningly powerful from the Lincoln regime onward.