Group items tagged

First multi-expert blog devoted solely to counter-terrorism issues, serving as a gateway to the community for policymakers and serious researchers. Designed to provide real-time information about terrorism cases and policy developments.

Obama, letting policy wonks sell his healthcare reform, fails. Why? Policymakers share a list, not a unifying idea.

Compared to Obama's charismatic presidential campaign, why is he communicating so poorly on health care reform? George Lakoff says: He's letting policy wonks sell it. And these policymakers are communicating a list, not sharing a unifying idea.

As of mid-August 2009, there were six (6) lobbyists per single (1) member of House and Senate (Bloomberg News). That's 6:1, folks. Just for healthcare reform. For financial industry reform, there are 2,400 lobbyists in play. The Chamber of Commerce spent $26.2 million--in the first 2 quarters (6 months) of 2009. Clearly, private industries and their foot soldiers on K Street/Capitol Hill influence/dictate American policymaking. No matter who's 'voted in,' it's the influence machine that rules Washington. Worse, there's a good chance that the Supreme Court will grant corporations (as 'fictive persons') to spend unlimited dollars in funding electoral campaigns. Is there hope that this country will be a democracy one day? Or is it doomed to become increasingly, irrevocably plutocratic?