To the many, many people who do not follow politics - or who at least do not follow closely - this is the reason why so many Americans are angry at Washington today, be they conservative, liberal, or other. The Vice President of the United States, second in line to head the executive branch and duly elected to office, is sitting down with the NRA and Wal-Mart to discuss gun control.
So a very highly-positioned elected official has to meet with the non-elected members of a special interest group and a large, for-profit corporation before taking meaningful action to help the people of this country. This same thing happened prior to the passage of the ACA ("Obamacare") when the President himself gave speaking time to the insurance industry - to make it all somehow seem "fair" or "bipartisan". In both instances, it reeks of corruption and corporatism.
This is the sort of thing that makes people in the left and right wings start to sound alike. Cries of "corporate rule!" "oligarchy!" and "corruption!" emanate from both sides of the ideological line. And though I do still respect and support the President, and do still think the VP is, well, hilarious, moments like this make it very hard for me to refute the allegations made by conspiracy theorists of both wings. At best, this is a demonstration of weakness in the face of corporate and special interest political pressure. At worst, this truly is corporatism and corruption at full stop.
Original story from Politico here.
No comments:
Post a Comment