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Page 7
O pinion
Danger of Invisible Corporate Power
Our country is
in a death grip
by
J ohn S teel
L et's face it:
L arg e c o rp o ra
tio n s h av e o u r
country, and us, in
a death grip. Some
o f their bad behav
ior makes big headlines: the BP
oil disaster, Goldman Sachs’ fi
nancial shenanigans, Enron's
book-cooking. However, equally
dangerous corporate activity
happens every day, far from
public view.
Corporations have seeped al
most invisibly into nearly every
governm ent agency and too
many congressional offices. And
they're as poisonous as carbon
monoxide. In the last 20 years,
protective legislation and regu
lation, carefully constructed from
the days o f President Coolidge
and vastly strengthened due to
the Depression, have seriously
deteriorated.
There's nothing inherently evil,
or even bad, about corporations.
Indeed, the combination o f capi
tal and management under one
roof is efficient and essential in a
global, competitive world. So
much o f our standard o f living
and our worldwide leadership
are directly traceable to our cor
porate and entrepreneurial cul
ture. But even good things, when
they get out o f control, turn de
structive. Cancer, after all, is
just growth gone wild.
There has always been ten
sion between good government
democracy eroded. Their “in
visible power” got a grip. The
stealthy hunt for corporate prof
its metastasized from the mar
ketplace and entered the halls o f
C ongress and the executive
branch.
The fight over reforming Wall
Street is just the latest example.
The need for regulation is hardly
theoretical here. We're still reel-
to insure they make prudent
loans.
So why has the debate on
reform dragged on for nearly a
year? The public wants Wall
Street reined in. So why would
any legislator, much less an en
tire political party, get in the way
o f financial reform? It can't just
be a coincidence that the finan
cial sector happens to be the
There were laws and regulations that had worked fo r so
long, such as those to keep banks and investment brokers
separate; require diligent lending; prohibit betting
against your own borrowers; require fu ll disclosure to
borrowers; and, above all, keep the risk with the lenders
to insure they make prudent loans.
J?
and free enterprise. It hurts the
bottom line to scrub emissions
from coal-burning pow er gen
erators, ensure meat is sanitary,
clean up toxic waste, and dis
close the full risks o f financial
products.
But once corporations real
ized that instead o f fighting gov
ernment they could actually buy
it through lobbying and political
contributions, the base o f our
ing from a crisis caused by the
absence o f it. Congress doesn't
even need to reinvent the wheel,
a favorite task. There were laws
and regulations that had worked
for so long, such as those to keep
banks and investment brokers
separate; require diligent lend
ing; prohibit betting against your
own borrowers; require full dis
closure to borrowers; and, above
all, keep the risk with the lenders
biggest contributor to 2010 con
gressional campaigns, with more
than $129 million doled out al
ready. Financial firms have also
spent well over a h alf a billion
dollars on lobbying since early
2009.
To reverse this situation we
must change who gets elected to
Congress. And that is the one
thing we can do, and perhaps the
only thing, to neutralize corpo
rate control o f our government.
Only real people have the vote;
corporations don't.
To regain our democracy, we
must:
• Identify and make public those
elected representatives who owe
their jobs to corporate largesse
and cast their votes accordingly.
• Insulate the election process
from corporate funding. Bills in
both the Senate and House that
would forbid campaign spending
by contractors who receive more
than $50,000 in taxpayer funds
would be a good start.
• Prohibit lawmakers and lob
byists from interacting with each
other, except to exchange ideas
on legislation, and require them
to publish a record o f their con
tacts.
It may take several election
cycles to scrub corporate influ
ence and control from our politi
cal system, but once it starts it
will gain momentum. And once
we've accomplished this feat,
appropriate regulation and con
trol will follow. The horse will be
before the cart, and the driver
will be a human person.
John Steel is a lawyer and
the fo rm e r mayor o f Telluride,
Colo.
The Struggle is Not Over* Take the time to get tested
by
R ev . R ose W right -S cott
Educating, lift-
ing aw areness,
and testing for
HIV was an im
portant task o f
local communi
ties last month on
National HIV Testing Day.
Some o f our churches joined
in the plight to continue the fight
against this disease, stand with
and support those that are in
fected and affected and to elim i
nate the continuous stigma that
is associated with HIV/AIDS.
I have served as an HIV/
AIDS educator for over a de
cade and I still sit in awe at the
ignorance and apathy o f many
people, especially the African
American community and the
faith community.
A ccording to the U.S. D e
partm ent o f H ealth and H u
m an Services, “there are m ore
than 1 m illion people in the
United States living with H IV .”
One-fourth o f them do not know
that they are infected w ith the
H IV virus.
The U.S. Centers for D is
ease Control and Prevention
estimates that one out o f five
people living with HIV in the
U.S. are unaware o f their HIV
status. Could you be one o f
them? The only way to know if
you have HIV (Human Immu
nodeficiency Virus) is to get
tested. Testing is an opportunity
for people to learn their HIV
status and to gain knowledge to
take control o f their health and
their lives.
I was recently engaged in a
conversation with a beautiful
young African American woman
that is living with the disease,
and she stated the struggle is not
over.
Even though she’s been un
detectable for several years there
are still those, many among her
own family members that are
ju st not getting it. They continue
the whispers, stares, and asking
questions that are hurtful and
leave her feeling isolated and
alone.
In spite o f it all, she’s been
blessed to have two beautiful
daughters that have been tested
negative, maintain a job, and is
traveling around the country shar
ing her story, and educating
people.
Nevertheless, she says, “there
are those that just don’t get it, the
struggle is not over.” She gives
credit to God, a strong support
system , and groups such as
UCAN (United Church o f Christ
HIV and AIDS Network), Com
mon Thread, AIDS ministries in
the churches and other groups
that realize that the struggle is
not over.
Take the time to get tested,
The life you save could be your
Î
own!
Rev. R ose W right-Scott is
m inister o f program develop-
m ent fo r the United Church o f
Christ.
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