Alternet: 5 Ways that Financial Elites are Destroying Democracy

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http://www.alternet.org/story/153169/five_ways_that_financial_elites_are_destroying_democracy_?page=entire

Five Ways that Financial Elites are Destroying Democracy

Is democracy compatible with a financial system run by billionaires? Maybe not.

November 21, 2011 |

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1. Billionaires replace one person, one vote.

Ask any American what’s wrong with our country and they will say that money rules politics. And they are correct. It’s obvious that major political donors and lobbyists for the super-rich have more political influence than we do. As the top 1 percent gains more and more of the nation’s income, the 99 percent effectively become disenfranchised. And of course, the Citizens United Supreme Court decision makes it even easier for the rich to buy political power. Lopsided campaign contributions by and for the super-rich are making a mockery out of elections. In 2010, for example, business outspent labor by a factor of 14 to 1.

2. The stock market exercises an instant veto.

Virtually every economic decision in our democracy is now subject to an instant stock market veto. The first question asked by the White House and Congress before making a policy decision is “How will the markets react?” When the House of Representatives rejected the first TARP bailout bill on Sept. 29, 2008, the stock market fell by a record 777 points. After it passed, the markets were “calmed.”

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4. Hedge fund speculative raids replace elected leaders with technocrats.

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To stop these hedge fund attacks, countries are given only one choice – do whatever high finance says. And what high finance wants is very simple – slash and burn all of your social programs so that you can pay back your loans – you borrowed from us and now you have to pay us back even if it means impoverishing your people. To get that done, financial elites want “regular” politicians replaced by technocrats as just happened in Italy and Greece. But most of all they want to see those cuts.

5. Financial markets are vetoing Social Security.

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But financial elites also have Social Security in the cross-hairs. They tell us we can no longer afford it. It’s too generous. We live too long and we are getting too many payments. It’s going to bankrupt the country.

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