Bad Us!

     As I was driving a friend to the airport this morning, I was listening to NPR.  Back to School spending wasn't as lucrative as it needed to be.  Bad us!  Retail spending is below expectations...bad us! The housing market is not rising as quickly as it needs to....bad, bad us!  As consumers, the media is quick to point out our weaknesses. If only we'd part with the money we don't have everything would pick up and start humming again. 
     Corporate greed is insatiable, there is, apparantly, no limit.  As CEO, a 20 million dollar bonus on top of a multi million dollar salary seems to be a necessity, so spend more money folks!  We're falling behind.  Buy more stuff that you don't need. Throw the old stuff in the landfill, there's plenty of room. Uprade your technology, even though you just did it last year, or was that the year before? Whenever it was, there's been inovations that we're told we can't live without. Use those credit cards, get out there and support your local corporation.  Because, God knows, they need us. Profits are down.  Not gone, just down from the inflated levels of days gone by.  The oil companies are doing well, the pharmaceutical companies are cleaning up, and the insurance companies are rollin' in dough.  The financial institutions are far from collapsing but... what's happening to the people? 
     The media would have us think that it's an issue of Republicans and Democrats.  That debate keeps us busy, arguing with each other, going after paper tigers. Perhaps, like me, you've noticed that it makes no difference which party wins an election, everything stays pretty much the same.  The wars continue, people suffer, money is made. 
     If President Obama was able to make the changes he wanted to make, he would have.  If the Clintons were able to have their way, they would have overhauled the health care system.  They tried, they failed, and they paid for it with years of useless litigation over fabricated financial scandals.  When that didn't work the powers that be moved onto personal attacks, making Hilary appear to be a man hating dyke (I only wish!) and Bill, well we all know what happened to him.
      If President Obama was able he also would have overhauled the health care system to the benefit of the American people. Instead he overhauled it to the benefit of the insurance companies.  What made that happen?  It certainly wasn't his intention.  I'd say it's time to make the corporations stand up and be noticed. Rip the cloak of invisibility off those corporate tanks that are mowing us down while they stack up piles of money.  Make them take responsibility for the mess we're in, make them share some of their profits with the little guys who can't seem to be heard over the noise of the money counting machines.  Used to be "behind every good man, there's a good woman!"  Now, it's "behind every rich man is more rich men!"