This country

[Unit 5302]

There is very little difference between a democrat and republican in government, currently. They don't care about standing for what they believe. They simply hold the party line, which is to oppose the other party line.

The federal reserve controls the economy, with the government having a significant impact as well. While controlling inflation and interest rates, the federal reserve attempts to keep the economy in a state of controlled growth.

Job outsourcing is most certainly not all low paying positions. Most are middle class wage jobs that are going out the door. Low paying jobs remain, and are largely what our economy has been able to produce in replacement of the middle class jobs that have left. NAFTA has been a complete failure. Not only have millions of US jobs been outsourced since it's inception, but working conditions in Mexico have NOT improved. Illegal immigration from Mexico into the US is up dramatically, and the percentage of poor people in Mexico has actually increased with no positive impact on their wages. That is the result when you create a free trade policy without protecting the people of the target country or your own home country. Simply put, the United States government intentionally exploited the workers in Mexico in an effort to improve corporate profitability. The corporate profitability led to nothing more than a dramatic increase in executive level compensation. In many cases the executive compensation skyrockets because of stock incentive programs which gives even more power to the companies executives and presents a conflict of interest with shareholders. CAFTA will result in exactly the same scenario. It will make a few people in the US, and a few people in Central America very rich while most people suffer.

While lower-middle and true middle class families have deteriorated in buying power as a result of weak and corrupt unions along with a direct failure of the United States government to protect citizens from corporate policies which stand directly in the face of capitalism such as mergers that create monopolies. Exxon-Mobil ring a bell? Peoplesoft-Oracle? Compaq-Hewlitt Packard? Washington Mutual-Providian? JP Morgan-Bank One? Bank of America-MBNA? Wells Fargo-Norwest? AOL-Time Warner? Bell Atlantic-GTE to form Verizon? Verizon-MCI? Sprint-Nextel? One of the most important concepts to capitalism is competition. The anti-trust commissions have turned their back on dozens of dangerous mergers that will or have resulted in a negative impact on consumers. While industries like oil continue to report record profits after a huge merger between Exxon and Mobile, the US government decides to give them a few billion dollars as a subsidy! Companies like GE pay no taxes because they had "losses." Meanwhile our judical system is allowing bankrupt companies that screwed their investors to emerge from bankruptcy into industries so competitive they can't possibly compete, and while they're at it, why not ax all the pensions to help the "working class" people in America.

A conservative movement seems to be sweeping across this country pushing ever harder to grab control of the government and force their opinions and religion onto all citizens through the passage of laws and legislation that turn social norms into laws. We have a congress that stops work in order to debate creating laws to stop life support being removed from a dead woman with no brain. Maybe it's good that our government spends more time debating how to police the actions of private sport leagues than how to create a free trade agreement that not only protects US citizens but also helps the people in the region it's targeting.

Oh, and if we could oppress a few defenseless countries because they don't think the best way to live is our way, that'd be great. Hey Cuba, I know you haven't done anything to us in 50 years, but we really need to keep that embargo up because... umm... because you made rich people in the US angry 50 years ago, and they still run the government!

Anybody that has faith remaining in the executive, judicial or legislative branches of this country is simply blind or stupid. The American people need to spend a little time educating themselves and a lot less time letting the media educate them. Perhaps then we'll have the wisdom to rise up, go to the polls and force necessary changes in the government so we can keep our way of life.

As of today... right now? It doesn't look real good to me. US citizens are stupid. They believe the garbage they see on CNN and in the mainstream media. That's proof enough for me.