Hightower: Two Right-Wing Billionaire Brothers Are Remaking America for Their Own Benefit

[Joanne98]

For OpEdNews: Jim Hightower - Writer

Despite a constant racket from the forces of the far-out right (Fox television's yackety-yackers, just-say-no GOP know-nothings, tea-bag howlers, Sarah Palinistas, et al.), the great majority of Americans support a bold progressive agenda for our country, ranging from Medicare for all to the decentralization and re-regulation of Wall Street. Indeed, in the elections of 2006 and 2008, people voted for a fundamental break from Washington's 30-year push to enthrone a corporate kleptocracy.

Yet the economic and political thievery continues, as the White House, Congress, both parties, the courts, the media, much of academia, and other national institutions that shape our public policies reflexively shy away from any structural change. Instead, the first instinct of these entities is to soothe the fevered brow of corporate power by insisting that corporate primacy be the starting point of any "reform." Thus, when Washington began its widely ballyhooed effort last year to reform our health-care system, step number one was to announce publicly that the monopolistic, bureaucratic insurance behemoths that cost us so much and deliver so little would retain their controlling position in the structure. Likewise, Wall Street barons who crashed America's financial system were allowed to oversee the system's remake--and (Big Surprise!) the same top-heavy structure and shaky practices that caused the crash are being kept in place.

In other words, the foxes who ate the chickens keep being put in charge of designing the new hen house -- so nothing really changes.

This is more than frustrating, it's infuriating -- and it's debilitating for our democracy. As a fellow said to me about the lack of real changes in national policy during the Clinton presidency, "I don't mind losing when we lose, but I hate losing when we win."

http://www.opednews.com/articles/Hightower-Two-Right-Wing-by-Jim-Hightower-100319-992.html

[Guy Whitey Corngood]

1. This should be posted on GN. nt

[TreasonousBastard]

2. Oh, the Koch brothers. For a minute I was afraid...

the Hunt brothers were back at it again.

Anyway, these guys got a fair amount of light shining on them for their infuence during the Shrub years, but not nearly enough to set them on fire. They are immensely wealthy, quite clever, and have vast amounts of personal energy to push a libertarian ideal that would make Ayn Rand blush. They cannot be stopped, but at least some more bad publicity might hold them back a little.

[texastoast]

3. "Sarah Palinistas"

How I love that Jim.

[condoleeza]

4. Surely they must be major investors in Monsanto too. N/T

[Newest Reality]

5. Maybe ....

just maybe, if the underlying core of the current structure is revealed often enough and repeated vociferously and consistently, we can have a strong, connected and united consensus on the vital issues affecting us all to the point of decline and destruction.

Clearly stating and repeating the essentials is like a social siren growing louder; loud enough to even outdo the growling behemoths of corporate propaganda disguised as ordinary media and news. In fact an imperative to point out that the foxes are eying us and our eggs, stuck to and emblazoned on the mass consciousness could easily dilute or nullify the manipulative right-wing and pseudo-conservative gasbags that noxiously pollute the airwaves and other factions of modern life.

The problems don't appear to be as difficult to solve as the the vested, self-interested obstructions are to clear out and finally eliminate. If those obstructions, (think huge tumors in your intestinal tract) are challenged and excised, it seems that things would flow more pragmatically for the rest of us and in a more natural and reasonable way, just as water follows the path of least resistance.