This land ain't our land

In fact, the pending health care reform bill is not even this nation’s definitive crisis of our times. It is only a pivotal issue that defines the "character” of our nation. It is not even a liberal issue. Nor a conservative issue. It is a "moral” issue. We are the only one of the leading industrial nations of the world who have not removed the "profit” motive from health care and granted it as a "right” to all the living humans in their countries, irrespective of economic status or origin of birth.

It has been estimated that in our country, the output of money for the health care of pets exceeds that for those poor unfortunate humans who are locked out of health care insurance.

This is simply supporting the proposition that, if you think, "This Land is Our Land,” think again! The real historical crisis is whether the elected government of the United States will be able to continue as "sovereign” for the welfare of all of its citizens or whether super wealthy individuals and business entities, by the heavy funding of political campaign chests for ever-grateful legislators, with the big money to saturate television and other media with their opposition to proposed legislation and with the support of well-funded conservative talk show hosts, are becoming the "de facto” government of this nation, today.

I’m not exaggerating. These entities are capable of bringing to bear enough pressure through big-time campaign contributions, public relations campaigns and conservative talk shows, to divert the direction of our ship of state to their will.

During the Bush administration, the number of registered lobbyists rose from 14,000 to 35,000 and these are only the foot soldiers of that not so "shadow” army of funders, movers and shakers, capable of undercutting our elected president and Congress in any major legislation they were elected to do.

Of course, their "modus operandi” is to spend mucho bucks with big-time public relations firms to keep the attention of the plundered public focused on illegal immigration, welfare slackers, welfare cheaters, the minuscule amount of foreign aid, the alleged "state controlled media” and to slander those dreadfully brainwashed, disloyal Americans, who are the loathed bureaucrats who man all those oppressive governmental agencies that stand in the way of those wealthy guys and gals, business entities and corporations from doing just about every "li’l ol’ thang” they would like to do.

With the recent economic meltdown, we have now learned about what happens when they can get to do all of those "li’l ol’ thangs,” haven’t we? Not that we haven’t already begun to forget until the next economic bust.

Think about it! Whenever we receive indignant chain e-mails from fellow citizens, they are invariably about one or more of the lesser issues above.

Even though the media is now reporting that Wall Street is profitable again and back to its "good old ways,” has anyone ever received a single chain e-mail letter, one steaming about the outrageous conduct in the financial and banking fields? Or how about the price fixing in the corporate world? Ever? Of course, not! Never! Billions of dollars have been extorted from a trusting public and these unhappy citizens agonize over some unfortunate escapees from Latin American poverty, scratching out a few bucks, by comparison, from the public treasury.

There has been testimony before Congress in recent months from at least one contrite ex-propaganda writer for the insurance industry and one guilty feeling doctor who is embarrassed by the "declines” for service she wrote to make her employer happy that resulted in the deaths of previously insured who could have been saved.

Talk about clueless: How many citizens realize the nature of what lies between their dollars, if they are privately insured, and the medical care they are needing? These are the insurance companies and HMOs that provide no medical services, yet siphon off 30 percent to 35 percent of their premiums for only doing administration and paperwork?

Then, be as shocked as I when I discovered that the accursed, socialistic/communistic, government-run Medicare and Medicaid systems only separates them from their money and medical care by only 3.5 percent for administrative costs.

Prior to the influx of damaged bodies from the Middle East engagements had begun to clog up the system, I had been listened to my retired army officer cousin and a number of other veterans brag about the medical care they were receiving at those accursed, socialistic, government-run veterans hospitals.

I finally realized these insurance companies and HMOs earn their money, not by creating and selling winning products and services but by providing and paying out less in dollars than they collect in premiums. Would one need to wonder why they so regularly strive to drop insureds who become too expensive a risk for them?

Are we suckers, or what?

The fact is, the accumulation of wealth, the concentration of economic power and deregulation since the "Reagan Revolution” has gone so far that it is hardly likely there is anything we can do about it now, as the presidents Teddy Roosevelt and Franklin Roosevelt had. Each took on those wealthy "barons of business and industry” and "greedy” corporate entities and, in effect, brought the people’s government back to the "people.”

Now, there are more super-rich citizens and commercial entities than ever before. And the question becomes, what’s wrong with people getting so much richer?

For one thing, we’ve discovered that when so much of our national wealth is sucked up into their possession, it rarely goes for creating jobs. Since they already have so much in the way of personal possessions and luxuries, the money gets funneled into the stock market and other personal investments that kick the market up unrealistically for everyone else.

For another thing, ambitious people in the very expensive political campaigns of this era are able to fund their own campaigns. Witness: Congressman Michael Huffington’s $27 million self-funding for a U.S. Senate race, when even his own disgusted congressional district voted solidly against him in the election.

There are examples of super wealthy candidates primarily self-funding all across the country. Obama even faced one in Illinois in one election and won only because the guy disgraced himself in a scandal. And, it has been reported that if New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg elected to run for the presidency he could put a billion bucks of his own money into the campaign.

In our own state of California, billionaires Meg Whitman and Steve Poizner have overwhelming personal funds to run in the Republican primary against a far more experienced ex-congressman, ex-state senator, ex-state budget director but only a relatively poor college professor, Tom Campbell.

So there you have it. The very wealthy look out for number one while in possession of a big chunk of our national wealth and it looks like poor candidates will need to paraphrase that old "Great Depression” song to: "Voters Can You Spare a Dime?”

Now, it appears likely the conservative five members of the Supreme Court are going to remove the limitations on political campaign contributions by wealthy corporations, which will add even more guns on deck to sink the people’s "Ship of State.”

It will take a very strong president, such as the two Roosevelts, to man the barricades against further encroachment upon the "people’s sovereignty” and I am not convinced, yet, this president is strong enough to do that.

Keith Kreitman has been a Foster City resident for 24 years. He is retired with degrees in political science and journalism and advanced studies in law. He is the host of "Focus on the Arts” on Peninsula TV, Channel 26. His column appears in the weekend edition.