[Pages 102-107]
There are a
lot of curious things about America and our culture that are difficult
to understand, but one may be above all else — voting in only the mega-rich or their
proxy stooges. It’s no more illogical than if the prisoners in Auschwitz had voted for Hitler to hand out
the towels as they headed to the shower. Not only have virtually all Americans
been “gassed” economically for the past 30+ years, but we’ve continued to vote
in only Americans at the top of the pyramid during every single election cycle.
To be fair, much of that is due in large part to a two-party only political
monopoly whereby it’s cost prohibitive for anyone not at least a millionaire to
run for office, but even so . . . we’ve done nothing whatsoever in 30+ years to
change that reality. So getting “gassed” economically is 100 percent our fault
and our fault alone.
In America we are brainwashed 24/7 to worship
money and Americans and past generations have voted only for the rich for well
over a hundred years, if not longer. It actually started when a big land owner,
George Washington, became our first president, but it began in earnest with the
Robber Barons of the Great Depression era. As students of history know, these
early 20th Century U.S. businessmen and bankers amassed
huge personal fortunes, typically by anti-competitive or unfair business
practices. Some of the best known names, we still recognize today, such as
Rockefeller, Morgan, Carnegie, Vanderbilt, Hershey and Gates just to name a
few. A political pundit of that day wrote, “If a [politician] has the power to
do great evil and won’t do it right unless he is bribed to do it, I think . . . it is a man’s duty to go up and bribe.”
How any American doesn’t see billions in campaign donations from the mega-rich,
corporations, labor unions and special interest groups as straight-up, blatant
bribery is the biggest question of our day. Back at the turn of the Century, many
Americans were uneducated, but they knew then, just like we know today, that a
large percentage of great wealth is gained via monopolies, collusion, corruption,
influence peddling and bribery. Knowing that to be a fact, why would Americans
vote in only the mega-rich or their puppets?
How could a
Rockefeller, any Rockefeller, be voted into office back then and especially
today? How did being rich become the number one qualification for holding
political office? After fighting the Revolutionary war to get away form the king
and then to turn around and create new kings, via the voting booth, is without
a doubt the most bizarre, mind boggling reality in all of American politics.
One school
of potential flawed thought is that the wealthy, especially those from the
business world, know economics and business so well that they know how to vote
on issues that will create a strong economy. Even if that were true and there
is no evidence that it is, can you trust the mega-rich to do the right thing
for the people? Isn’t it more likely that they will take care of their own? In
far too many cases greed and the love of money made these people rich, or they
inherited it and feel entitled. What’s their motivation to ensure you get your
fair share of the American pie? Already millionaires when they arrive in
Congress, once elected they receive $174+ K per year, a cushy pension after only
a few years in office and a federal backed retirement account . . . where is their incentive to make sure you
don’t starve?
It
shouldn’t be this way, but the old adage of “birds of a feather stick together”
is true. Any minority sticks together and take care of their own, be they
black, Hispanic, Irish or filthy rich. A tiger does not change its stripes and
the greed that got them into Congress isn’t going to change. That makes it far
more likely the rich, when voted in, will use their position to enrich
themselves, their families and their elite friends before they will do anything
to level the playing field for you. Most of our existing political class was
born with a silver spoon and a DNA that programmed them to think that a level
playing field is the absolute worst thing that could ever happen to them and their
family. Yet, voters send the rich to Washington, D.C. and state legislatures in the hope
that they will work to create a more leveled playing field for average
Americans. It’s completely illogical!
You can of
course get filthy rich by being honest but it’s quite rare indeed. Isn’t it far
smarter to play the odds in our favor just to be safe? Shouldn’t we at least do
enough research to see how a politician got rich before you send them to Washington to look out for our economic
interests? In many cases, it’s not a pretty story once you get beyond the
scripted campaign spin.
The
opposite end of voting in the rich logic is that they no longer have anything
to gain by being greedy and are ready to “give back.” Some new found conscience
will enlighten them into wanting to enhance the economic lives of “the people”
as “public servants.” Ask yourself the question, how many “servants” own mega-yachts
like Senator Kerry? Ask yourself why he tried to dodge taxes on his yacht in
2010, if he has our best interest at heart? The Kennedy clan and Bush family are
American royalty who believe their blood lines are superior to the American
people. What does someone born with a silver spoon know about the real world?
What qualifies them to make good decisions on anything that impacts our wallet?
Have they ever worked 40 hours in a week at minimum wage as most all of us did
at some point in our life? The concept of a budget and living within average
citizen means is completely alien to the elite at the top of the pyramid. Does
wealth handed down on a silver platter qualify American royalty to look out for
our financial wellbeing via a leveling of the playing field?
The greedy,
via our existing political-class, run an America pyramid scheme that controls the overwhelming
vast majority of all the wealth in the U.S. They know that people yearn to be
led like sheep because thinking for themselves hurts their brain. For some
reason people buy into the idea that a politician running for office is somehow
superior to themselves and money seems to be the number one criteria used make
that determination. Americans conclude that if you have money, no matter how
you got it, you must be smart and voting in so called “smart people” on the
surface seems to make good sense. Instead, doesn’t it make more sense to vote
in people with integrity, principles, solid working backgrounds and people from
the American middle-class? There are literally a multitude of qualities that
make a good political candidate, but being rich is NOT one of them. Voting in
the rich or puppets of the mega-rich is like voting for Tiger Woods to date
your daughter — then expecting him to respect her.
The only
time rich politicians a.k.a. most members of Congress pay any attention
whatsoever to you [the-voter] is every couple of years or so near election
time. They know that most Americans can’t even name the last 5 presidents, much
less how their members of Congress voted on legislation X, Y and Z a couple of
years ago. Quite frankly, they think we’re all “dumb bunnies” and to date,
based upon our current economic scenario and horribly corrupted democracy . . .
they’re 100% correct in their assessment. Only on very rare occasions do members
of Congress focus on anything whatsoever beyond making themselves, their
cronies and campaign contributors rich. Every once in a blue moon . . . a war,
health care or massive unemployment will come along and they are forced to pay
attention to the needs and desires of the people, but 99 percent of the time
it’s all about them and their bank account.
Even though
our bank accounts are declining by the day, the bank accounts of members of Congress
are doing fantastic. In short, they are almost all millionaires and the vast
overwhelming majority of them are multi-millionaires many times over.
Breakout Resource(s):
Congressional Wealth
The opensecrets.org
site may be the single most important window the American people have for
transparency and accountability in government. It’s an absolutely fantastic
tool with almost any information you can dream of when it comes to money and Congress,
the federal government, etc. It’s strongly suggested that everyone explore the
site and support the resource financially. If it is not funded, America will lose one of, if not the best, resources available to protect our
wallets and guard against the massive political corruption that currently
exists in America.
While this
book could explore in detail all the Congressional wealth, how they got it, if
they earned it, etc., there are two reasons for not doing so. First, exploring
in detail is a citizen’s job in order for you to free themselves from news
media and political party dogma a.k.a. forming their own conclusions instead of
being spoon fed. Secondly, any analysis provided would be subject to
accusations of bias . . . so do your own in depth analysis. The core guiding
principal of this book is to free citizens from “news” media and political
party dogma by providing the most unbiased resources available.
Nonetheless,
the wealth information on Congress provided via opensecrets.org does warrant a
little high level analysis. It is assumed that all readers are bright enough to
understand that almost all of Party A’s politicians are “rich as dogs” since
their basic pitch is all based on “trickle down economics” a.k.a. crumbs
falling from the table of the elite at the top of the pyramid. So members of
Party A appearing on the top 25 richest members of Congress list shouldn’t make
anyone drop their jaw . . . it’s a given. What’s surprising is the multitude
from Party B appearing on the top 25 list, such as: Nancy Pelosi, Jay Rockefeller
and John Kerry just to name a few of the better known names. Please examine the
lists in great detail and make up your own mind. Look at their companies, where
and how they got their money and ask yourself how could it be possible for them
to vote for anything that doesn’t benefit the American elite? In short, if
you’re a member of Congress at this point in time, no matter your political
party, you’re “rich as a dog” and not an average American citizen.
What’s
strange about this reality, since we supposedly live in a “democracy” and are
free to vote for whomever we choose — is how all members of Congress seem to be
filthy rich? We don’t have a king and everyone in office both locally and
nationally are voted into office by “the people.” Just as strange, if not more,
is the fact that even during recessions, such as the one that began in 2008 — the
rich just continue to get rich while almost 90 percent of “the people” just
continue to lose ground. How can this be?
Members of
Congress had a collective net worth of more than $2 billion in 2010, a nearly
25 percent increase over the 2008 total.1 Amidst the Great
Recession, while America at large suffers and many starve, members of Congress
increased their wealth by 25 percent . . . what else do you need to know about
our “political system” other than that? In 2009, the minimum net worth of the
House was slightly more than $1 B and for the Senate it was $651 M for a total
of $1.65 B. Combined, in 2011 the total net worth for Congress jumped to $204
B.2 If you think that is alarming, it gets worse, these totals don’t
even include homes and other non-income generating property, such as senator,
Kerry’s yacht.
What’s
hilarious is that so called “progressives” “liberals” and ardent devotees of
Party B have been brainwashed to believe that it’s “the other guys” in Congress
that hold all the wealth. As of 2011, the poor little donkeys in the Senate
hold 80 percent of the wealth in their chamber and the elephants in the House
hold 78 percent of the wealth in their chamber.3 In other words,
there is very little difference whatsoever between political party wealth in
Congress. [Could that be why this “two-party” so called “democracy” thing isn’t
working out to well for the people?] When you do the math, the mean [average]
net worth for each member of Congress is about $3.8 M plus “non-income
producing property.”4
So how can
it be that Congress is continuing to get rich while the rest of us are
starving? The answer in two words: “insider trading” [in addition to cronyism
and backroom deal making of course]. As alluded to early on, wealth and who
wins in the economy [as well as the losers] is too often dictated by Washington, D.C. and state legislatures. The law for
Congress as well as staffers should be the same as it is for the crooks on Wall
Street: if information is not “public knowledge” you can’t invest in securities
based upon that knowledge. The numbers speak for themselves, average American
investors make around 6 percent on their investments and those in Congress,
staffers, etc. make around 12 percent a.k.a. double the ROI for average
citizens.5
For members
of Congress along with state legislatures and their staffers, believe it or
not, “insider trading” is not illegal. It is a perk reserved only for the
political class a.k.a. “public servants.” A 60 Minutes investigative piece in
late 2011 exposed the pervasive practice of insider trading on Capitol Hill,
based largely on a book by Peter Schweizer entitled Throw Them All Out. Highlights of the 60 Minutes investigation
reveal that John Boehner, current speaker of the House, invested in several
health care stocks shortly before killing the public option, but that pales in
comparison to Nancy Pelosi, former speaker of the house, who participated in no
less than 8 IPOs, many who had business before her chamber.6
As
unbelievable as it may seem, under current law it is perfectly legal for a
member of Congress to be given free-of-charge or reduced price pre-IPO shares
of stock. Even more unbelievable, a member of Congress who receives these
shares of pre-IPO stock is allowed to both participate in the formulation of
legislation and vote upon passage of legislation that impacts the success of
the company issuing the shares of stock. Wads of cash money are considered
illegal “bribery” in Washington, D.C., but almost anything else, including pre-IPO shares
of stock are considered “democracy.”
Such and
atmosphere is crooked beyond belief and wildly pervasive — yet the American
people tune into the Daily show for “political laughs” every evening? Is there
something “funny” about white collar crooks going to work every day on Capitol
Hill [instead of being behind bars]? Little homemaker Martha Stewart spent 5
months in jail for insider trading, but Nancy and John our former and current
speakers of the House walk the streets free. Where is the justice?
If you are
thinking that the number of people in Washington, D.C. who should now be behind bars for
insider trading should be in the 100s . . . think again! The number is thousands
who should be serving jail time in one of America’s so called “country club” prisons
for the “privileged class.” Insider trading is NOT particularly difficult to
determine: A) determine the date the securities were purchased and B) determine
what the investor knew on that date by being a Washington, D.C. insider [that the general public
did not know]. Any fairly bright high school kid could conduct the simplistic
research with access to records and investigative authority. So where are the
massive investigations 24/7 and subsequent jail time being handed out in Washington, D.C.? Law and order, is seems, exists
only for “the little people” in America.
Clearly
such activity is highly unethical and should be illegal, but the Stop Trading
on Congressional Knowledge Act, that would raise the bar and bring much needed
scrutiny to the common practice of Washington, D.C. “insider trading,” continues to sit
idle in the House. As of this writing, a couple of different versions of the
bill exist in the Senate as well, but prospects for passage are dim, just like
the likelihood of the SEC investigating members of Congress who control their
budget a.k.a “fox watching the hen house.” Much like the laughable “ethics
committees” in both the House and Senate, the massive corruption in Washington,
D.C. is condoned, protected and pushed forward by the very people we
continually elect [via incumbency] to protect our “trust” in government [which
is now at zero].
How did we
end up here? We supposedly live in a “democracy” and we vote every couple of
years — so if there is something wrong with “the system” it must also be true
that “we the people” must be to blame. As it turns out, nothing could be more
accurate and true as demonstrated throughout this book. The good news is that it
doesn’t have to continue. That’s why this is NOT a history book about wealth
inequality and our American oligarchy, but instead provides a viable blueprint,
in Part II: The Resistance, for beginning to fight back and begin re-leveling
the economic playing field.
Breakout Resource(s):
60 Minutes: Congress:
Trading stock on inside information?
