"The politicians were just going along with the highest bidder." (Reply #20)

In the discussion thread: ROBERT REICH: The American Dream Has Fallen Apart [View all]

Fri Mar 7, 2014, 10:00 AM

merrily (45,251 posts)

20. "The politicians were just going along with the highest bidder."

Nothing to blame politicians for there?

The capitalists did not get where they are without laws and changes in laws. It's a partnership. And both groups got rich and powerful that way.

I blame them both, but I blame the politicians more. Why? The job of a capitalist is to get rich. The job of an elected representative is to serve the best interests of all the voters--and if that is impossible, then a majority of them.

Also, blaming only the capitalists--and it's a mystery to me why you want to do that--disempowers most of us. Those of us who don't hold enough shares in a corporation to fire the board or the officers cannot do much about the behavior of corporatists. However, I do have a vote as to politicians.

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61 replies	Author	Time	Post
ROBERT REICH: The American Dream Has Fallen Apart [View all]	xchrom	Mar 2014	OP
Not "fallen apart" but rather "deliberately dismantled"	Fumesucker	Mar 2014	#1
+1	xchrom	Mar 2014	#2
Yep	newfie11	Mar 2014	#3
Yup.	ctsnowman	Mar 2014	#4
The first reply on the thread nails it.	merrily	Mar 2014	#7
+1000	dotymed	Mar 2014	#9
But before that	proReality	Mar 2014	#18
I love Bernie, and Elizabeth Warren for that matter...BUT...	Moostache	Mar 2014	#30
You won't get any shit from me.	CrispyQ	Mar 2014	#40
Moostache, I agree with a lot of your OP.	dotymed	Mar 2014	#43
AMEN, Amen, Amen	Glitterati	Mar 2014	#55
MIA fits perfectltly	dotymed	Mar 2014	#59
Yes	Stargazer09	Mar 2014	#34
+10000000	woo me with science	Mar 2014	#36
Agreed. n/t	Laelth	Mar 2014	#52
Spot on. nt	City Lights	Mar 2014	#57
America - An Empire Built On Illusion - That Empire And Illusion Is Crumbling	cantbeserious	Mar 2014	#5
The American Dream was destroyed by Raygun and his heirs.	bemildred	Mar 2014	#6
I don't think it was any one President, even Raygun.	merrily	Mar 2014	#8
The dispute dates to before the founding of the republic.	bemildred	Mar 2014	#10
I so agree about before the founding of the Republic.	merrily	Mar 2014	#16
And until we have economic democracy too, it will continue.	bemildred	Mar 2014	#21
I think big reforms come when	merrily	Mar 2014	#25
I think so too.	bemildred	Mar 2014	#29
...	merrily	Mar 2014	#35
"Mobs in the street, calling for someone's head? I've never seen anything like that."	bemildred	Mar 2014	#37
This is how I ended my part of the our several exchanges on this thread.	merrily	Mar 2014	#42
Perhaps a sarcasm smiley would help.	bemildred	Mar 2014	#48
Wait, why are we blaming our political system when it is our economic system	fasttense	Mar 2014	#12
+1. Plutocrats, really, it's the money, it drives them nuts when they have too much.	bemildred	Mar 2014	#15
It is our economic system that sucks, but it's our political system that sets the rules.	reformist2	Mar 2014	#17
You have to stop the politicians from pandering to the capitalists, not the	merrily	Mar 2014	#26
"The politicians were just going along with the highest bidder."	merrily	Mar 2014	#20
The only addition to that statement	dotymed	Mar 2014	#44
Quite right, they will never give up. nt	bemildred	Mar 2014	#46
I agree with a lot of what Reich says and it's not new.	merrily	Mar 2014	#11
K&R&Posted to FB & will likely be covered on my show this wk. nt	stevenleser	Mar 2014	#13
All these years shilling for NAFTA, "free trade"...Reich is a hypocrite or an idiot. Which is it?	Romulox	Mar 2014	#14
One major theme should be that we don't need more jobs, we need better paying ones.	reformist2	Mar 2014	#19
+1. nt	bemildred	Mar 2014	#47
"It can also be understood as the greatest propaganda victory radical conservatism ever won"	n2doc	Mar 2014	#22
You mean the present day treadmill goal of trying to achieve the unachievable goal?	Javaman	Mar 2014	#23
+1 Great post. Thanks.	merrily	Mar 2014	#28
kick, kick, kick.....	daleanime	Mar 2014	#24
Gee Bobby ...glad ya woke up to tell us what we already know.	L0oniX	Mar 2014	#27
He should know. He was economic advisor to the Prez during repeal of Glass Steagall,	merrily	Mar 2014	#31
I blame Clinton 100% for 2008. Forced to sign the repeal? Not likely.	L0oniX	Mar 2014	#32
ITS ALL CLINTON'S FAULT	Evergreen Emerald	Mar 2014	#33
Try a fact-based refutation. It's much more effective.	merrily	Mar 2014	#39
Unfortunatly, fact based refutation does not matter	Evergreen Emerald	Mar 2014	#49
I call Oscar Mayer. This thread refers to things like NAFTA, repeal of Glass Steagall	merrily	Mar 2014	#53
It's not clintons fault...	Javaman	Mar 2014	#41
Agree.	merrily	Mar 2014	#54
of course he should of veto'd it, but alas...nt	Javaman	Mar 2014	#56
I saw him defend it on, of all shows, The View.	merrily	Mar 2014	#58
He was far from forced. According to Wyden, Clinton	merrily	Mar 2014	#38
Yeah, he worked hard to get it, against lots of opposition.	bemildred	Mar 2014	#50
"Why didn’t we share the gains from globalization and technological advances more broadly?"	gulliver	Mar 2014	#45
Everybody thought the lower prices on tchotchkes would make a difference.	HughBeaumont	Mar 2014	#60
Everyone thought they could pay lower prices while retaining their existing high wages.	Romulox	Mar 2014	#61
k&r for the truth, however depressing it may be. n/t	Laelth	Mar 2014	#51

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