Our Congress: Servant of the Wealthy

I decry much of what goes on these days, including some of the worst kowtowing of our government to the wealthy interests of our nation, giving them more than they deserve, mostly on the backs of working women and men, the unemployed and the poor, including our returning vets.

We elect "representatives" to "represent" our interests, but, in fact, our "representatives" are often in the pockets of the wealthy, parlaying their own positions into opportunities of wealth, giving the wealthy in turn a greater share of the American Pie.

While I sometimes think this is a new phenomenon, reading Drew Pearson's Diaries: 1949-1959, reveals a similar pattern in his time, and history makes it clear: the wealthy have always had access to the powers of government that the rest of us simply don't have.

March 9, 1958, Pearson writes:

       "Senator Anderson of New Mexico called me last week regarding the insurance tax loophole bill which he says will give the insurance companies a $124,000,000 tax rebate. I wrote a story on it. What this administration [Eisenhower] and most of the Congress don't appreciate is that the tax loopholes are bigger and bigger for the higher brackets and the corporations, whereas the small taxpayer get his taxes deducted from his salary. This is the situation which helped to encourage Communism in France and Italy."