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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?

Fed may well have mitigated our current crisis by sowing the seeds for the next one.

The finance industry has effectively captured the U.S. government-a state of affairs that more typically describes emerging markets...Recovery will fail unless we break the financial oligarchy that's blocking essential reform.

The finance industry has effectively captured the U.S. government-a state of affairs that more typically describes emerging markets...Recovery will fail unless we break the financial oligarchy that's blocking essential reform.