Rational Nation USA

Rational Nation USA Purveyor of Truth Hillary Rodham Clinton and Bill Clinton got most of their income from speaking engagements, a campaign aide said. Credit Isaac Brekken for The New York Times         Does anyone really believe after reading the following that Hillary Rodham Clinton, a multi-millionaire, is the least bit interested in those outside of her social and financial networks? If anyone does there's a bridge to nowhere for sale just waiting for the American electorate to purchase it. The New York Times - Hillary Rodham Clinton and her husband made at least $30 million over the last 16 months, mainly from giving paid speeches to corporations, banks and other organizations, according to financial disclosure forms filed with federal elections officials on Friday. The sum, which makes Mrs. Clinton among the wealthiest of the 2016 presidential candidates, could create challenges for the fo...

Rational Nation USA Purveyor of Truth The net affect of the money machine — lobbyists, fund raisers, and campaign consultants — is to severely narrow the field of those who can compete for office, especially national office. If the national presidency were to pass back and forth between two or three families in any Latin American nation we would call it an oligarchy. But if those families can use carefully built political networks to raise a billion, or perhaps it is now multiple billions, of dollars to seek the presidency, what hope is there for the new voice, the fresh ideas, the innovative policies to address new 21st century realities? If the corruption of our Republic by interests groups and their money, governance by a Court of rotating insiders, and fresh blood strangled from the political process is the ultimate product of a deck stacked against the Country, we are in for a precarious time in American history. We will have created a political system and some form of ...

Rational Nation USA Purveyor of Truth Thinking pro business and pro growth makes sense for everybody ; after all economic growth, or an expanding economy ( added demand )creates jobs which are in turn filled by folks looking for work, and it gives businesses the opportunity to increase their income ( the result of increased demand for goods or services )and provide those extra jobs that get filled by folks looking for work. All that makes sense; right? It does if viewed from the perspective that all businesses are, to a great extent, concerned with the importance of a growing vibrant middle class. But we all know this is not the case and mega wealthy corporations spend mega millions financing political campaigns of candidates they believe will be most favorable to their interests , not yours or the country's at large. Very wealthy individuals and corporations spend the millions they do on political campaigns for one purpose and one purpose only, TO BY INFLUENCE and CONTROL...

by: Les Carpenter Rational Nation USA Purveyor of Truth Americans have been lead to believe their vote counts, that our representative democracy gives us a voice in the political process and that by our choice of representatives our voices are heard. Back in the day there may very well have been a modicum of truth to this. However we are not living in the "40's" and "50's", special interests have gained increasing influence and the tax laws have changed in ways that allow big money to have a hugely increased influence on politics and thereby on government. Big money has eagerly taken a much larger place at the table as a result. We all know money talks and we can also be relatively certain big money is not looking out for the average hard working American. Big money is looking out for big money's self interests, not yours or the nation generally. Thomas B. Edsall , penning an informative article for The New York Times goes into a detailed discu...

by: Les Carpenter Rational Nation USA Purveyor of Truth Special interests at play in the political arena. Money does indeed talk and what it buys is usually not good for this floundering democratic republic. When a federal judge blocks an investigation into the possibility of illegal spending during a recall election it should raise some eyebrows, especially when the judge orders all the evidence gathered destroyed. If you're thinking the name Koch figures into this somehow you'd be correct. PR Watch - The federal judge who ordered a halt to Wisconsin's "John Doe" criminal investigation into spending during the 2011 and 2012 recall elections has regularly attended all-expenses paid "judicial junkets" funded by the Charles G. Koch Charitable Foundation, the Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation, and other ideological and corporate interests. On May 6, federal District Court Judge Rudolph Randa blocked an ongoing John Doe criminal probe into a...