Protestor with Syriza flag. Photo liberated and collectivized from https://www.jacobinmag.com/2015/01/syriza-greece-election-tina/
The efforts to remove the influence of big money from politics is not only confined to the USA. Other democracies suffer the same problem as ours, and even use American names to identify them. One is called Pentagate. Penta is one of at least 10 Chilean corporations that illegally funded politicians’ campaigns. An investigation is being conducted and major reforms of the electoral campaign financing may be enacted. A video of the Godfather movie is being used by organizations fighting the corrupting influence of big money in the democratic process.
Here in the USA, efforts to overturn the Citizens United ruling have been stalled in the Senate. In the meantime, The Washington Post reported that the Kochs plan to spend almost $1 Billion in the run up to the 2016 election. At the local level in Anaheim, the city renewal of the Chamber of Commerce’s contract is the latest demonstration of the influence of big money . The Chamber has become a political arm of Pringle & Associates/Disney, and the politicians connected to these firms approved the new subsidy. The Godfather video reminds me of the local padrino.
This is a translation of the captions of the video : “If he makes you an offer you can not refuse …. It’s nothing personal, just business. This is how the financing of politics in Chile works. “… “Today the law does not allow us to know who finances politics. And this is not fair. Our democracy is not a business…”
Greece rebelling against austerity.
The election in Greece is sending shockwaves through Europe, rejecting the austerity policies designed by the IMF and European Bank organizations. A snapshot of newspapers articles shows this picture of the situation:
“…Brussels and Berlin would be foolish not to listen to the message from Greece last night: austerity has been a disaster, economically, socially and politically, and people are fighting back with everything they’ve got.”
Economist Paul Krugman analyzes these policies and their implications for the US economy:
“The debt crisis in Greece is approaching the point of no return. As prospects for a rescue plan seem to be fading, largely thanks to German obduracy, nervous investors have driven interest rates on Greek government bonds sky-high, sharply raising the country’s borrowing costs …The Greek tragedy also illustrates the extreme danger posed by a deflationary monetary policy. And that’s a lesson one hopes American policy makers will take to heart.”
The negative impact of the austerity is described in this article : “A steady stream of dismal reports have documented soup kitchens for the middle class, a surge in mental illness and suicide, a rise in abandoned children, a fall in the birthrate, and a healthcare collapse.”
A video on this important election can be seen at :http://vimeo.com/118149514
*Greece has always gone its own way. Starting with the Pellaponesia War onward or the Battle of Thermopalye…….how about the military takeover in the 60’s? How about the war on Cypress? The Greeks do things there own way, and we expect this issue will be no different. In the end, there will be great Greek patriots singing protest songs and the pigeons in Santigma square will dump their loads of lots of unsuspecting tourists on their way to the Plaka. The tourists buses will still clog the parking lot and roads below Mt. Olympus….. The Greek Islands will still be occupied by rich guys on yachts and naked folks at every tourist beach location. The Greeks are a great people and we love each and every one. They are smart and they don’t baloney lightly. That is probably why they are so deeply in debt and beyond repair right now. So, hopefully the BRIC will bale out Greece and Greece will leave the European Union and pull out those old Dracmas and put them back into service. Meanwhile, they will keep their pensions and social security, keep their health insurance, raise their hourly wages, restrict immigration and find new jobs for their young folks.