If corporate laws are not in place to prevent corporate electioneering by November, it will be the beginning of the end of democracy in America.  Huge multinational corporations will unleash billions of dollars into US elections, destroying any hope of real debate.  Advertising works, not on everyone, but enough to sway the middle 20% that determines election results.  And that will do it.

The changes will be gradual, but extreme.

Once wholly corporate sponsored politicians take control and dissent is drowned out, they will do what corporations do: whatever it takes to make as much money as quickly as possible.  Exxon and the petrochemical industry will destroy the environment and keep us dependent on foreign oil, which in turn will keep us involved in foreign wars that will bankrupt the nation and send many young Americans into harm’s way.  Financial institutions will build another bubble, get out before their small investors know what hit them, and wreck the economy again.

The few remaining manufacturers will maim and kill more workers as OSHA and workplace safety regulations become a thing of the past.  Multinational corporations and those who control them at the top don’t like paying taxes for education, labor law enforcement, or environmental enforcement so kiss all that goodbye.

And don’t think if you get abused by an insurer or your credit card company or the maker of an exploding gas tank that you’ll be able to find the relief your government does not provide you in a court of law.  The courthouse doors at the Supreme Court have been shut for some time now, but the doors of the lower courts and state courts will follow suit as more corporate politicians appoint corporate judges and more elected judges have metaphorical corporate logos on their robes.

Racial justice laws, women’s rights, and gay rights will be eliminated in all but name only since they restrain corporate power.  Boeing, Lockheed, Halliburton, and Xe will make sure that the budget for military hardware and mercenaries will increase.

Insurance companies will reap record profits as more people lose health coverage, go into bankruptcy (which will provide precious little protection), lose their homes, and get nothing of what they thought they paid for in premiums, whether it be for homeowners’, health, or auto insurance.  The middle class will be slowly impoverished and grow more embittered toward a political system over which they will realize they have no influence.

The internet will be monetized as corporate telecommunications companies set up electronic toll booths requiring website owners to pay to have their sites at full speed on each internet service provider’s service.  They will attempt to control the internet the way only a few corporations own all the television and most of the radio outlets in the nation.

Weapons and the violence associated with them will be rampant as manufacturers eliminate the few remaining safety restrictions.  Police, fire fighters, nurses, teachers, machinists, auto workers, and truckers will see their unions dissolved over time.  Wages and benefits will plummet, college costs will increase beyond the rate of inflation, health care and insurance costs will skyrocket.

We will be left with a country with little real freedom, exploding poverty, an uneducated population, and a few extremely rich corporations at the top.  If this decision stands, it’s the beginning of the dark ages.

That means extraordinary measures are required.  Legislation to control corporations and require them to have restrictions in their charters on political activity, packing the Supreme Court, a movement to impeach three of the five who participated in Bush v. Gore (and made this possible since Bush added the other two members of the majority – Gore appointees wouldn’t have done this), street demonstrations, letter/e-mail/social site/blog campaigns, donating to progressive candidates, and constantly attacking corporations that engage in political advertising, conservative politicians, and right-wing judges who don’t respect the law must all be part of the agenda.

We can’t just wait for those we elected in 2008 to do the right thing.  We must pressure them, attack the conservatives, and let the progressives know we’ve got their backs if they keep up the fight.  Fight however you can whether it’s your organizational skills, your money, your sense of humor, your campaign skills…whatever you do, get in the game!

Time to amend the slogan: “Yes We Can…By Any (legal) Means Necessary.”

KO:

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