I use to remember the good times of the 1960s. Fuel was low priced. The amount of mortgage and rent percentage-wise per householder was much lower than it has been since then, states had enough money to cover expenses and have money left. Health premiums were low and hospital care was easy for anyone to obtain without going through a screening process for financial ableness.
Then President Reagan put deregulation at the forefront as the savior of ills, and most administrations since then have followed some of those flawed policies, resulting in the financial meltdown of 2008. Now, everyone pays more than we need to. The country is broke and sustaining wars based on credit. We all are paying for those policies, and barrels of oil are being toyed with for financial gain. The states have no money for road construction, bridge maintenance, education and health support.The judicial and the criminal system with its many prisons do not work. Immigrants have become the scapegoat of our frustrations, and most people in this country don't have the guts to do what other people of other countries often do, that is, protest loud and clear, make politicians pay for their greedy behavior and upturn policies.
We have not learned from Iceland's troubles when deregulation was implemented bringing the country down financially and otherwise.
In the financial meltdown of 2008, some of the criminals of the largest financial institutions walked away with millions and millions, and we had to bail these companies out. President Obama in his campaing talked about having those responsible for our country's financial mess pay for their criminals activities, but nothing has been done. In fact, Obama hired some of the same people responsible for this mess, back into his administration. It seems like a case where "if I can't fight them and win, I might as well join them."
Back in the 1960s, there were only a couple of hundred lobbyists in place. Nowadays the number is somewhere around 40 thousand and growing. The real name of lobbyists are bribers. And it is legal to lobby (bribe) our legislators. What a mess! It matters little whether they are democrat or republicans. They have sold out our country to corporations who would sooner pollute our land than do what it is right. The 2008 financial fiasco will happen again because nothing is being done to change the status quo. The question is not if is going to happen, but when.
Don't be fooled into thinking this is a democracy where people rule. No sir! The Fed Bank does and the Corporations behind them do. This is more of a plutocracy or oligarchy than a democracy at play. They bought Congress a long time ago, and they are not ready to relinquish power without a big fight.
Have any of you seen the movie INSIDE JOB?