User:Chrissde/Corporate plutocracy

A plutocracy is a government, usually a republic, run by the wealthy. A corporate plutocracy is a government run by large wealthy corporations.

The United States of America has been defined as a republic. Under this form of government, the citizens elect representatives to govern based on the laws which these elected officials enact, administer, enforce, and adjudicate. America occasionally functions as a democracy when a referendum is placed on the ballot and voted on separately. Some times the referendum can be an amendment to a state to the Federal Constitution.

With the advent of modern media communications, getting elected to almost any public office requires the expenditure of money. The higher the office, the more money is needed to defeat your opponents in an election. State legislative offices cost thousands of dollars, U. S. congressional offices cost millions, and the Presidency costs billions.

Very few candidates have this kind of personal fortunes available. This means they must look to supporters for contributions. Although there is no legal right to expect favorable treatment by an elected official in return for significant contributions, the reality must be different. And, although there are legal limitations on how much money an individual or a corporation can contribute to a politician or a campaign committee, there are always ways around these laws. One of the older techniques was the lobbyist playing poker in a smoke-filled back room. The lobbyists always lost to the office holders.

Today lobbyists still serve the function of advising office holders on the merits of the organization they represent. They also have various means of enriching the candidate's campaign efforts and, perhaps, other personal benefits as well. A lobbyist may not deal directly with money but may have the ability to offer endorsement to the candidate. Or, if the office holder does not back the position represented by the lobbyist, the lobbyist can direct benefits to the office holder's opponent in the upcoming election. If the candidate chooses to support the organization, he or she has a set of facts to back his or her position.

A recent example of corporate influence of legislation (corporate plutocracy) is the revisions to the bankruptcy laws. The major supporters of this legislation were the credit card companies. Credit card companies already make billions of dollars in profit each year, and do so by issuing credit cards to just about anybody. They make money by charging annual fees, late fees, discounts on payments to merchants, and interest on unpaid balances. These interest rates would have been considered usurious fifty years ago. Yet these corporations felt obliged to make it more difficult for citizens to file for bankruptcy protection. And they were successful.

The irony here is that over 50% of the bankruptcies in America are the result of medical debts which would not occur in any other advanced country. And when a person is in a position where they must chose between paying a hospital or feeding their family, the family will usually get fed. And, if the only way you have to buy food is by using a credit card, your problems are multiplied. This, of course, opens the issue of organizations that lobby on behalf of health care providers and insurance companies.

--199.17.232.147 17:41, 2 June 2007 (UTC) D. J. Chrissinger (djchris@att.net)