U.S.A., Inc.

Our government was founded to be run as a democracy free from the autocratic rule historically common with our European ancestors.  When did we, as a democracy, vote that the U.S.A. should be run like a business?  When did the operation of our government become a criminal enterprise, disguised as a business, set up to profit the wealthy on the backs of middle-class Americans, become a reality?  If you haven’t been paying attention, maybe it’s time to look around and smell the corruption.  Yes, corruption has an odor and it is foul.

First off, don’t blame Donald Trump for this situation.  He didn’t create it; he just ripped off the Band-Aid and exposed the festering wound that was already there.  He “drained the swamp,” replaced the swamp water with toxic waste, swapped out the alligators for venomous snakes, and took political corruption to new heights.

While we are supposedly a nation of laws, when those established laws are either not enforced or only prosecuted selectively, we can no longer claim that societal advancement.  It is readily apparent, even to the casual observer, that our laws are not applied equally.  Two citizens commit identical crimes.  One is wealthy and can afford an expensive lawyer.  The other is of average means and is assigned an over-worked public defender.  I’m sure I don’t have to carry this analogy any further as we have all regularly seen how such situations are resolved.  You can read the article about Jeffery Epstein’s case where he committed multiple heinous crimes against minor children and, in lieu of life imprisonment in a federal penitentiary, which would normally be the outcome for most citizens, he served 13 months in county jail with work release privileges.  In Mr. Epstein’s case, it was a combination of wealth and his associations with powerful and influential people that allowed him to make a mockery of our “nation of laws.”

On the political front, we regularly see politicians ignore and violate the law without consequence.  Rarely are politicians brought to justice and even then, it would seem that crime pays and pays well.  We seem to have become jaded when it comes to political corruption.  We have all seen our leaders walk into political offices with modest public salaries and exit those offices with large bank accounts.  In recent years, political financial transactions that would have been illegal a short time ago, are now legal.  Our leaders used to at least feign ethical behavior but now they no longer seem to be burdened by morality.  There is no profit in ethics and we all know, in business the bottom line is paramount.

We have seen the intent of our Constitution and the laws derived therefrom, twisted and interpreted with such convoluted logic, that up is now down, black is now white, and truth lives with alternative facts.  The 2010 Citizens United Supreme Court decision, held that “Political spending is a form of protected speech under the First Amendment, and the government may not keep corporations or unions from spending money to support or denounce individual candidates in elections.”  This decision opened the financial floodgates and made political offices lucrative beyond all expectations.  With this much money floating around, corruption became the name of the game and ethics and morality became casualties of political profiteering.

The New Reality

We no longer saw Congress debating ideology on the merits of what was best for our country, but saw financially driven partisan fighting for legislation that provided the best outcome for the bank accounts of the politicians and their friends.  In the forefront of all decision-making and legislation was the re-election potential for the politicians and the bottom-line of the businesses or individuals that coughed up enough money to become relevant in that process.  The operation of our government became a corrupt business enterprise.  An award-winning recipe for corruption calls for one politician (free-range is best), add money from anonymous sources to taste, and stir.

Free-Range Politician

Who better to head a corrupt government business than a man who already headed a corrupt business empire?  Enter Donald J. Trump.  People were so disgusted with the existing political structure that they thought; maybe a billionaire business tycoon and reality TV star would be better.  Well, “The Donald” brought his entire crime family to Washington and proceeded to appoint inexperienced individuals of wealth to run our nation. 

Who better to manage the Treasury than former Goldman Sachs senior executive Steven Mnuchin?  Yes, it was Goldman Sachs that needed a 10 billion dollar bailout from the Treasury because they had gotten greedy with their involvement in the sub-prime mortgage fiasco.  Who better to be the Secretary of Education than billionaire Betsy DeVos who arrives with no experience in public education?  Who better to run the Department of Health and Human Services than Tom Price, forced to resign after his $341,000 spending spree?  Who better to run the Department of Housing and Urban Development than Dr. Ben Carson who arrives with absolutely no government or public housing experience?  Who better to head the Department of Energy than Rick Perry who has no experience running a national-security agency (DOE manages the nuclear stockpile) and famously campaigned on the premise that he wanted to eliminate the agency for which he is now the head?  Who better to head the Environmental Protection Agency than Scott Pruitt, a man who had sued that agency 14 times and is an avid climate change denier and champion of the fossil fuel industry?  I’ll end the list here but as the song says, The Beat Goes On.

Donald Trump, aka “The Donald,” aka "The Weave," shares the same name as the head of most Mafia crime families who are also called the Don, or Godfather.  His underbosses are Paul Ryan and Mitch McConnell.  His Consigliere is Jared Kushner.  His Caporegimes or Capos are sons, Don, Jr. and Eric.  I guess that would make Melania his moll.  The analogy with the Italian Mafia is perhaps closer than a Russian mob comparison since the Russians require a complete severance with family members.  In order to be a crowned head, or Vor (thief in law) in the Russian structure, also requires multiple prison terms and appropriate tats.  Trump does not yet qualify in this regard.  Alternatively, should we say “nyet?”

Working on those "tats"

The thought that our government or any government can be run like a for-profit corporation, is beyond the pale.  [That latter expression has links to Catherine the Great of Russia and its origin is of interest if you follow the provided link.]  Governments are not businesses.  While certain tenets like maintaining solvency are had in common, enough differences in structure, motivation, and operation exist to require separate thought processes.  A good business background may be helpful but a government, at least a good government, requires a different mindset.  Businesses are run for profit.  Even those not-for-profit businesses must place financial solvency as a definitive goal.  Governments are established to provide for the safety and well-being of the governed.  We are not America, LLC, or the U.S.A., Incorporated, we were supposed to be the United States of America founded with a document that began, "We the People...."

Goal for 2020

It's time to flush the majority of the old guard and replace them with new, forward-thinking individuals.  At this point, their political views and party are of less importance to me than their honesty, a duty to country, their vision, their ability to negotiate with a conscience, a certain loyalty to constituents,  valuing our nation over blind party loyalty, and their ability to stand on their own two feet (versus sitting on their asses).  I would like to once again have the ability to vote for an individual based on their merit and not just be inclined to vote a straight party ticket.  Without a changing of the guard, we don't stand a chance of meaningful election reform where we can try to get the money out of politics.

A Royal Flush
(This one may need the plunger)

Too often today, legislative decisions are made solely to advance the financial well-being of a select few with the proclaimed objective of that newly directed wealth benefitting the masses through some yet unrealized “trickle down” maze.  As we have seen, after the wealthy one percent skim off the cream of their windfall, the resulting liquid that finds its way to the 99 percent (the rest of us), is aptly named a trickle.  The folks who actually think they see some trickle, soon realize they are merely the recipients of a warm tinkle.  It’s time to stop being pissed on and get pissed off.