Americans are a thrifty lot—and we have the expressions to prove it. Ben Franklin coined what is probably the best known: “A penny saved is a penny earned.” And if he were to appear on the current scene, he would be the first to agree that the American people are being robbed by their government.

In irony, it has been said that we have the best government money can buy. But that is true only for the lobbyist. The public at large is painfully aware of what our government is costing us—programs, wars and tax cuts that have driven up the deficit, and a refusal by Congress to come to a budget agreement, causing the first ever downgrade of our national credit rating. And that is not to mention our government’s culpability in the failure of our regulatory agencies to foresee and forestall the failure of our banking system, causing the average American citizen the loss of 40% of his net worth. “The stunning drop in median net worth—from $126,400 in 2007 to $77,300 in 2010—indicates that the recession wiped away 18 years of savings and investment by families.”

There is public outrage. Such grassroots movements as the Tea Party and Occupy Wall Street have given voice to widespread concerns, but the message goes largely unheeded. Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT) is a voice crying in the wilderness. His message is sound, but few of his colleagues are listening. Perhaps the problem is that enough of us aren’t listening—or at least responding.

Much has been made of the fact that following the 2010 Supreme Court decision known as Citizens United, the airwaves have been dominated by political messages, most of which are negative and many of which are also misleading. Yet, they have been shown to be effective in influencing people’s opinions and actions.

But we know better! Few people are so naïve as to take as gospel truth something solely because it appears on their favorite news channel. What doesn’t happen enough is for citizens to spend the time and effort to read and watch a spectrum of print and electronic media as a basis for political judgments. There is a reason why freedom of the press is guaranteed by the First Amendment and why democracy is so slow to take root in countries where news and commentary are controlled by the government. Do we ignore a freedom so sacred that men and women in different parts of the world are willing to die to maintain it?

Money undeniably equals influence in our society. But powerful as it is, we still have access to reality—maybe not in the mainstream media, but certainly in the multiplicity of independent blog sites and print media. Yes, it’s time consuming, but it provides the basis to make intelligent decisions in the voting booth—virtually our only weapon.

An old friend told me he believes in term limits for elected officials—one term in office followed by a term in jail. I thought he was a bit extreme—but our current political stalemate calls for extreme measures. The focus of this website, has been on corruption and inaction in our government, particularly in Congress, where legislators spend most of their time raising money to finance their next elections. So, they get reelected (most do), but their constituents get the shaft—read about the Political Theater of the 112th Congress—a tragedy, not a comedy. Why do we keep returning these guys to office when they take their instructions from billionaire lobbyists?

An election is before us. Let’s shake things up! If voting somebody out of office is the only way to get his attention, let’s do it! I’m thinking primarily of men and women in leadership positions who arrogantly dictate party policy with no concern for the needs of their constituents. If we send Eric Cantor and Paul Ryan packing, it has to get the attention of not just the House but also the Senate. None of our elected officials is beyond the reach of the voters! Let’s take back our government now! When the 113th Congress opens, let’s see that we get more bang for our buck!

This is the first of several articles, titled The Perfect Storm, dealing with how our government is failing the American people. The average American citizen lost 40% of his net worth in the 2008 recession as noted above. The next few articles will explore how the checks and balances established between the judicial, executive and legislative branches have been eroded and what can be done to restore them.

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Ignorance is a choice: Money is power—Knowledge is more powerful.

What can you do—you are only one person? True, but you are only “six degrees of separation,” on average, from any other person on Earth. You become powerful when you share information with your friends and ask them to share it with their friends—it becomes a global revolution. As Stephen King suggests in The Long Walk, when these “society-supported sociopaths” come, step aside, and find the strength to run…

In Part 1 of this two-part article, we looked at the role the corporation has played in the loss of jobs overseas. The corporation, of course, is a business construct for the purpose of maximizing profit. The model has been refined until it does very well what it is designed to do, but it has no soul—until the Supreme Court rules it does. For anything, therefore, that requires a moral compass, a sense of justice or equity, we must look elsewhere.

That is not to say that a corporation cannot be made to function equitably, for there are men and women inside the corporation who make the decisions on how the corporation is to be run. But there is a trend among the people in the executive suites of corporate America. It has unmistakably run in the direction of capturing the greatest profits in the short term with no concern for future consequences.

Since our nation began, we have seen businessmen who used their wealth for the common good, as well as businessmen who demonstrated no such concern. Because of that, and because of the harm caused by unregulated greed and self-interest, laws and regulations have been put in place to protect investors, clients, and the public at large who repose trust in their bankers, merchants, and legislators.

Lynn Parramore is contributing editor to AlterNet and has researched the history of the corporation to learn what we can do to redirect the corporate culture and make it work for the real economy. She writes, “Bad things happen when corporations are unconstrained by strong national policies that force players to think long term, behave decently, and refrain from dumping their short-term costs on the rest of us. They tend to focus single-mindedly on maximizing profits for shareholders at the expense of all else—including jobs. Executives set their sights on a path to short-term boosts in share prices paved with layoffs, wage cuts, and jobs moved overseas, while slashing research and development and investing in the skills of their employees.”

Many corporations, unless they are forced to do otherwise, behave as though they are entirely responsible for their successes and have no obligations to the culture that benefits them—the national infrastructure, the educational system that provides its employees, the government that provides stability and security. Parramore continues, “Corporate executives have lost the sense that they owe anything to the public. They have forgotten that the 99 percent, as taxpayers, have made huge investments in them. They fight to lower taxes as if all the money “belongs” to the companies. They fight regulations as if the public doesn’t have the right to interfere in their business.”

Now, considering the crisis caused by the hemorrhaging of our essential jobs to other countries, it is necessary to use every possible tool—including regulations, the tax code, and public pressure—to induce Big Business to bring the jobs home. And as tax laws gave the initial impetus to start businesses outside the U. S., tax laws cam bring them back.

The reason why this hasn’t happened, of course, is that the legislators who make the laws are “in the pockets” of the corporate lobbyists and business interests. Even President Obama, who is well aware of the problem, as well as the solution, has tiptoed around the issue. “In his State of the Union address on January 25, 2011, Obama mentioned innovation 11 times, but made no mention of the repeal of the tax deferral law to help finance it. Instead, he just exhorted Congress to simplify the tax system: “Get rid of loopholes. Level the playing field. And use the savings to lower the corporate tax rate for the first time in 25 years—without adding to our deficit.”

With this kind of wimpy attitude across the board, nothing will come of the ongoing calls for jobs, jobs, jobs. Partisans will continue to level blame at one another, and elections will continue to be lost over the issue. Americans at every level of education and ability will continue to suffer economically, and as a nation we will continue to decline strategically, as well as economically.
And this is a tragedy, because we know the cure. And we have “The Power of the Many.”

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What can you do—you are only one person? True, but you are only “six degrees of separation,” on average, from any other person on Earth. You become powerful when you share information with your friends and ask them to share it with their friends—it becomes a global revolution. As Stephen King suggests in The Long Walk, when these “society-supported sociopaths” come, step aside, and find the strength to run…

Click here to vote for President Obama’s American Jobs Act

You might think it is difficult for Congress to figure out what the American people are demanding from their representatives in Washington, to hear Paul Ryan speak about it. He is chairman of the House Budget Committee.

“Ryan is the mastermind behind the Republican budget that lays waste to anti-poverty programs” and “…cuts billions for Medicaid, food stamps, Head Start, Pell grants, job training and elder care.” At the same time, Ryan’s version gives Tax cuts to the wealthiest five percent of Americans at a cost to the U.S. Treasury of $11.6 million every hour, according to the National Priorities Project. That’s almost $102 billion a year—or an 0.65% yearly increase in the U.S. total public debt. On the other hand, had Congress let the Bush tax cuts expire last year, the $1.2 Trillion deficit reduction mandated to the Super Committee would have been exceeded by $0.8 Trillion. Congress is leveraging America’s future for the benefit of the five percent!

Who is Ryan listening to? If he would spend less time listening to elite financial interests, he would have more time to make a few clicks on the web and find out what people are really saying. In fact, Ryan could familiarize himself with The Restore American Dream Act. Other members of Congress traveled across the country listening to the American people. Now that’s an idea that Ryan ought to try if he wishes to find out what the American people really want.

One group within the House that is aware of the needs of ordinary Americans is the Congressional Progressive Caucus. “Established in 1991, the CPC reflects the diversity and strength of the American people and seeks to give voice to the needs and aspirations of all Americans and to build a more just and humane society.”

Below, in Restore the American Dream for the 99% Act, you will see the budgetary priorities of the Congressional Progressive Caucus. Ordinary Americans contributed their ideas to this budget.

KEY JOBS CREATION PROVISIONS

• Emergency jobs to put America to Work and create 2.2 million jobs
• Buy America requires government contractors to purchase—made in America
• Creates an infrastructure bank
• Protects our wounded veterans from discrimination
• Invests in infrastructure and transportation with $50 billion to fix crumbling roads

REVENUE INCREASES AND SAVINGS

• Makes those earning over $1 million a year pay their fair share—raising $800B
• Defense spending that ends unnecessary programs—saves $280B
• Cutting war spending and responsible troop withdrawal saves $1.2T
• Oil and gas industry and polluter taxes raises over $60B
• Wall Street and speculators tax raises $350B
• Making Work Pay Tax Credit—a progressive tax refund to those that need it most

PROTECTING MEDICARE, MEDICAID AND SOCIAL SECURITY

• Public option operating with private health exchanges saves $88B
• Allowing Medicare to negotiate drug prices which saves $156B
• Enhancing Medicaid to restore increased federal Medicaid matching rates
• Scrapping Social Security cap—By law, Social Security cannot contribute to the deficit

If Ryan had searched for two minutes, he would have found the “9 Demands of the 99%” which are similar to those found in “Restore the American Dream for the 99%,” strangely enough.

You can sign a petition supporting each item by clicking on the following titles:

1. Businesses should invest in jobs. Corporations: Start hiring again in America
2. End corporate control of our democracy. Abolish “corporate personhood”
3. Demand House Republicans Support President Obama’s American Jobs Act

Congressman Ryan, take 10 minutes from your busy campaign finance schedule to look at this blog for a comprehensive idea of what most of the American people really want.

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What can you do—you are only one person? True, but you are only “six degrees of separation,” on average, from any other person on Earth. You become powerful when you share information with your friends and ask them to share it with their friends—it becomes a global revolution. As Stephen King suggests in The Long Walk, when these “society-supported sociopaths” come, step aside, and find the strength to run…

Click here to vote for President Obama’s American Jobs Act