Our healthcare system is a disgrace and is emblematic of the corruption in our system

[Phoebe Loosinhouse]

The industry pays off our legislatures in return for not being regulated. That's the deal. That is why we will eventually collapse as a country since our government does not recognize nor perform its basic function.

[cyclezealot]

1. America has always been meant to be ruled by special interests..

Bill Moyers gives some examples from the past century. A quote from Martin Luther King. Paraphrased.. Medical discrimination is one of the cruelist forms of discrimination. But, increasingly so, it effects more than just ethnic minorities..
..
Bill Moyers.. In Washington , The Revolving Door is Hazardous to your Health.

.On Tuesday, October 13, the Senate Finance Committee finally is scheduled to vote on its version of health care insurance reform. And therein lies yet another story in the endless saga of money and politics.

In many polls, the majority of Americans favor a non-profit alternative -- like Medicare -- that would give the private health industry some competition. So, if so many of us, including President Obama himself, want that public option, how come we're not getting one?
...
,,,
Not that we should be surprised. A century ago, muckraking journalists reported that large corporations and other wealthy interests virtually owned the United States Senate -- using bribery, fraud and sometimes blackmail to get their way. Jokes were made about "the Senator from Union Pacific" or "the Senator from Standard Oil."…One reporter in particular was out to break their grip. His name was David Graham Phillips. One day in 1906, readers of Cosmopolitan Magazine opened its March issue to discover the first of nine articles by Phillips titled, "The Treason of the Senate."…

Read more at: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/bill-moyers/in-washington-the-revolvi_b_315567.html

[Phoebe Loosinhouse]

3. Yes, there's more than enough muck to rake

But few rakers and the few that we have, like Moyers, are relegated to 2nd tier media.

The people who should be manning the rakes are the local and state newspapers who should be keeping a close eye on their representatives, their financial reports, their votes, and who contributes to their PACS, etc. They should do it to members of both parties indiscriminately and let the chips fall where they may.

[cyclezealot]

4. Sounds nice.

But, who says the American media speaks for the American public as a whole. Newspapers are now conglomerates owned by the likes of Newhouse or the right wingers who control the Mellon chain.. Look out for my interests.. Doubtful.

[Echo In Light]

2. This is why it's so essential that the establishment create perimeters of "acceptable" views

Any shift in the balance of power has, so far, been successfully staved off. Much of the 'anti-terror' legislation is in place for this reason, w/an eye toward dealing with the populace b/c the elements that served to help maintain the ruse of genuine representative democracy are now gone, and the numbers of disenfranchised grow as people suss the game.