BAMBOOZLED -- that’s the old word for being misled; scammed; fooled; lied to. A perfect word to describe what the Republicans in Congress did with healthcare reform.
Their radical agenda is not in favor of healthcare reform or any other governmental “help” for anyone who may need a helping hand. These extremists believe that nothing can be done well by government and that reform of anything can only be done by private entities like insurance companies, drug companies, banks, contractors, big corporations, etc., with the requisite help from government to give them robust tax cuts, special privileges, tax breaks, lucrative contracts, and de-regulation so they can bilk the public every which way.
So, are you being bamboozled? Of course you are! Consider this: the extremist Republicans have spent the last 30 years at least (and a whole lot longer actually) trying to divert your attention away from the real robber-barons, the real gougers, the real power-brokers, the real controllers of your lives. By making “big government” the bogey-man and the nexus of control, they are clearly attempting to mislead us into believing that they are right about privatizing everything possible.
But hold on a minute… have you forgotten the following:
- The health insurance companies that controlled you through provisions disallowing coverage if you had a pre-existing condition or got sick; that raised your premiums and co-pays every time you turned around; that made millions off the restrictions they imposed?
- The Wall Street firms that have forgotten whom they serve - the public - and have served up cooked-up investment instruments that have taken you to the cleaners, while they pay their employees and CEOs outrageous salary enhancements and bonuses?
- And while we’re on that subject, who in Congress is trying to prevent legislation that will curb Wall Street abuses of power? That’s right - the extremist Republicans who want their friends on Wall Street to prosper (at your expense) so they can reap the rewards in their campaign coffers. Oh-- and who helped them to do that very thing? - oh yes: the Supreme Court led by the right-wing justices who care nothing for the power of, by and for the people.
- Did you get Madoffed? Bernied that is. Well, lots of people did, and there are more Madoffs out there just waiting to feed on your gullibility and vulnerability. Will right-wing Republicans protect you against them? Not on your life. They want you to believe instead that all the bad guys work in the federal bureaucracy!
- Carrying a credit card debt are you? Gosh, another way for big banks to get your money with their outrageous charges and high interest rates, and their “minimum payment” scam. Who did it take to pass legislation to take some control of these buzzards? Democrats, not Republicans.
- Dealt with any big corporations lately? After you get through the phone maze, do they solve your problems? How about car manufacturers? Ever had a problem with a car - like a stuck accelerator - where the first response is to blame your way of driving?
We could go on like this, but let’s conclude with a pseudo-tribute to the huge lobbying contingent on Capitol Hill and in every capital city in this country. Who’s in charge: the legislators? OR, those who pay them, court them, manage their legislation? The extremists desperately want you to believe that government is the problem instead of the solution, but right here we have the real story of power.
While you are being distracted (bamboozled) by the Republican extremists to look to government as the problem, as the usurper of power and rights, here are the real culprits that the radical right profits from repeatedly. They don’t want you to understand that too many of the banks, the corporations, the insurance companies, the brokers on Wall Street -- all of whom are represented by lobbyists in Washington (and elsewhere) - are the core of perverted power who are not in business for the good of society, but for their corporate and individual welfare. These are the people in charge, and you don’t have a chance against them, unless that government you are being asked to despise, privatize and destroy acts to protect you through legislation, regulation, and policies that support “we the people.”
If you think I’m off the beam here, then ask yourself this question: when is the last time YOU were asked by a legislator what you wanted in a piece of legislation, like Mitch McConnell just did with wall street mucky-mucks? Who’s really in charge? Who’s protecting you? The Tea Party maybe? As the blog Think Progress reported: "Despite… attempts to make the 'movement' appear organic, the principle organizers of the local events are actually the lobbyist-run think tanks ‘Americans for Prosperity’ and ‘FreedomWorks.’ The two groups are heavily staffed and well funded."
Stop being misled. Stop being diverted. Stop being bamboozled. Choose to vote against those extremist Republicans, Tea partiers and Conservatives who want to blind you to the real takeover of your freedoms, your rights, and your power by the private sector robber-barons and their well-paid lobbyists.
I.M. PUBLIUS II
