Posted by Shyam Moondra
The latest CBS News/New York Times opinion poll shows that the approval rating for the U.S. Congress is at an all-time low of just 9%. That means a whopping 91% of the American people don’t trust the Congress’ ability to make the right decisions. Under the democratic systems of many other countries, this level of lack of support for a government would have amounted to a “no confidence” vote and triggered immediate new elections. However, under our constitution, we are stuck with the political gridlock until November, 2012 at which time voters would have to decide who should lead the country going forward, especially in the House of Representatives. Last Sunday, on ABC’s This Week program, when asked to comment on the declining popularity of Congress, House Speaker John Boehner (R) said that Congress always had low approval ratings. Boehner's dismissive attitude seems to suggest that he doesn’t think the views of an overwhelming majority of Americans are all that relevant. And that means the business as usual until the new elections are held in 2012.
In yesterday’s local elections, Republicans suffered severe blows on their core issues. In Ohio, the voters overwhelmingly rejected a law curbing union bargaining rights for public employees. This result may be the first clear indication that voters may be growing disenchanted with the Tea Party-backed Republicans, who have advocated deep spending cuts and opposed tax increases. In Mississippi, the voters rejected a controversial amendment that would have defined life as beginning at conception. This amendment would have made it impossible to get an abortion in the state and hampered the ability to get the morning-after pill or birth control pills that destroy fertilized eggs. Disposing of unused fertilized eggs could also have become illegal, making in vitro fertilization treatments more difficult. These two voting results dealt a blow to the Republican establishment and point to a significant shift in the voter sentiment heading into the 2012 election season.
Just as European welfare state is causing upheaval in Europe, the pro-rich policies in the U.S. are leading to just as disastrous results. The gap between the rich and poor is widening and discontent among the population at large is increasing. In a recent Wall Street Journal poll, 60% of the respondents said that the current structure of the economy favors a small portion of the rich people over the rest of the population. And that is the basis of “Occupy Wall Street” protests that are now spreading across American cities and across continents. The Occupiers are saying that the gap between the rich and poor is real and it's a direct result of Republicans favoring the affluent people, who make generous campaign contributions to Republican candidates. The protesters believe that the future of America lies in making the middle-class, which accounts for two-third of economy, stronger.
Given the shift in the electorate sentiment, the Congress needs to do the following:
• Ban campaign contributions by corporations that are polluting our political system. Big money from big business is drowning out the voice of the ordinary citizens. Through their relentless lobbying efforts, the corrupt corporations are able to win special breaks often at the expense of consumers.
What we have is institutionalized corruption that allows Rep. Paul Ryan (R) to collect close to $1 million in campaign contributions from the insurance industry and then propose to dismantle Medicare forcing all elderly people to buy their insurance from private insurance companies, creating a profit bonanza for the insurers.
• Ban revolving door practices where former members of Congress and/or staff become lobbyists and corrupt our governmental system for personal gain.
• Increase taxes on rich individuals making $500,000 or more a year and impose an absolute minimum income tax rate (e.g., 25%) for all corporate income, including profits from overseas operations (no more off-shore tax havens). Republicans equate higher taxes to big government; however, it’s not a question of big government or small government; it’s a question of fairness. During the last two decades, the rich people and corporations, especially financial institutions through highly leveraged bets, did quite well and paid relatively low taxes (thanks to lower tax rates and tax loop-holes). During this period, the executive compensation went through the roof. So, overall, a relatively small percentage of the population did exceedingly well, while the middle-class and low-income people lost ground. We need to reform the tax code to make it fairer.
• Stop all corporate tax subsidies and special treatments given to oil companies, hedge fund managers, drug companies, and rich farmers.
• Impose limits on how much corporate CEOs can make (as a multiple of the lowest paid employee in the company). Ban golden parachutes accorded to executives, especially to those who were fired for non-performance or those who are retiring.
• Create an environment where corporations are induced to become more ethical via stricter enforcement of the laws against insider trading and manipulation by the SEC, CFTC, Federal Reserve Board, and FDIC.
The sooner we make these fundamental reforms, the better off we would be as a country. If we continue on the current Republican path of favoring the rich, this country will break-apart and we may even see protests turning violent.
