The recent “fiscal cliff” wrangling in Congress over the federal deficit was a hoax—a charade—a scam, created to scare us into accepting ground-breaking cuts to Medicare and Social Security, and the further gutting of Medicaid and other social programs. The phony crisis was directed, scripted and acted out by the White House and Congress, while it was simultaneously narrated and delivered 24/7 to the American people by the corporate media machine.
In the name of austerity and sharing the pain, our U.S. corporate-government is once again robbing our public treasury, transferring billions of dollars into their corporate coffers— billions formerly used to provide for the basic human needs of everyday people. Austerity for us is prosperity for them, forcing us to pay for the economic crisis they created.
Consider that last year there were 2 million home foreclosures in the U.S., while 46 million people needed food stamps, an increase of 50% from 2008, when it was 31 million. Today, the real unemployment rate is 17-20% and much worse for the young, who are trying to find first-time jobs. All this suffering exists in the richest country in the world—a country awash in wealth.
Last year the 400 richest people in the U.S. had a total net wealth of $1.7 trillion. In the first year after the 2008 recession, a startling 93% of all new income went to the richest 1%. Today, the lowest three-fifths of Americans—60% of the population— own just .2% (one-fifth of one percent) of all non-home owner- ship wealth.
Corporations who contract with the Department of Defense and the military decide where budget allocations are made. Sixty percent of the federal budget goes to the U.S. military and its corporate partners like Lockheed Martin, Boeing and General Electric to name a few. The military budget totals nearly $1 trillion. The U.S. war machine is an integral part of the economy and the twin parties of the corporations. The corporations have totally merged with our government.
We are being swindled. Only we, the vast majority of the American people can determine if we can have a government of, by, and for the people, or if we continue to allow the government to remain of, by, and for the corporations.
A movement is developing in opposition to the corporate criminals. However, we need to go on the offensive, armed with a program that expresses the economic and social interests of the American majority—a program that includes saving the planet from ecological disaster, with income security, affordable housing, free quality healthcare, and education for all. To accomplish this requires building a political movement and a political party that is independent of the corporations.
Four years ago the economy of Iceland collapsed. Icelanders let the banks go bust, nationalized them, arrested and jailed the criminal politicians, bankers and others who were responsible and bailed out the people. Jailing our political and corporate criminals and bailing out the American people by taxing the rich and cutting the military budget would be a step in the right direction. Our future is up to us.
