Why Our Political System Is Broken

        Let me start with a recent quote from Yoni Appelbaum in The Atlantic on why Progressives are losing the national debate:

Most Americans are convinced that their government is fundamentally broken. And if progressives want to sell the public on the idea that government can solve our problems, they first need to identify, and explain how they will fix, the problems with our government.

        For me the problem is agonizingly simple and doesn’t need 25 paragraphs slicing and dicing WHAT'S WRONG IN WASHINGTON. Our government is broken because we have allowed politicians at every level to be bought by the rich and powerful. As an example of exactly how far that process has become embedded in the American political system, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled recently that corporations have the same right to freedom of speech as individuals and that donations to political election campaigns are a form of speech.

        So, what we have is a system of legalized corruption wherein politicians are in the pockets of their rich and powerful contributors and do their bidding. Naturally our system is broken. How could it be otherwise? If you don’t believe that critique just look at the role Joe Lieberman has played for decades as the national shill for the insurance industry. Or the way the Florida sugar corporations contribute to the majority of national congressional election campaigns to ensure they are always granted tremendous financial favors in terms of agricultural price supports. That list is endless. Endless.

        If you don’t believe my point is accurate, just do a tiny bit of research on how many registered lobbyists were in Washington 40 years ago and how many there are today.       Ka-ching, Ka-ching has become our national anthem. And we American so arrogantly look down at the way developing nations function and raise our lips in a gratuitous sneer at their disgusting culture of corruption and avarice. How sad we are today, not able to run our own soiled system and not knowing how to FIX the problem.