When United States of America became the United Corporations of America

by Mary MacElveen

There is a wonderful (American) TV show that will end its run after many years of entertaining us and giving those who often do not know the inner workings of the White House a lesson on how the executive branch works.

The show I speak of is "The West Wing." Many people through these past five years have craved a president like President Jeb Bartlet. After all, he is intelligent and speaks in coherent sentences and does not seem to take that many vacations.

In the 2004 presidential primaries, actor Martin Sheen (who plays President Bartlet) endorsed Governor Howard Dean’s bid to become the Democratic candidate ... I think Howard Dean would have resembled a President Bartlet.

The reason I want to familiarize those of you who are reading this around the globe who may not know of this wonderful show, is for one reason and that will be come apparent shortly ... in the West Wing episode "Shut Down" the fictional president, Jeb Bartlet decides to shut down the government when he and the GOP led congress cannot see eye to eye on budget cuts.

Towards the end of this episode the GOP speaker of The House, Haffley cites that the government doles out billions of dollars "like candy to children ... welfare paternalism, regulation, taxes, and quotas are why people can’t find jobs."

President Bartlet states that his administration has created more jobs and Speaker Haffley says it is "due to the American spirit and not Washington bureaucrats."

Within this heated exchange a line cited by President Bartlet is the most important and relevant line that crosses into reality when he states: "Not everyone can pull themselves up by their bootstraps, Mr. Speaker."

That very line is the reason I write this column today.

Where ever you live, there are citizens in your own countries who are not able to "pull themselves up by their bootstraps" ... and it is the responsibility of every government to be the safety net to help those less fortunate and not to turn their backs on them as George W. Bush just did one day after giving his State of the Union address.

Making a trip to Nashville, Tennessee ... while defending huge profits made by Exxon/Mobil, Bush said: "consumers socked with soaring energy costs should not expect price breaks."

So much for the "compassionate conservative" he (Bush) has touted himself to be.

All one can see is the blood-thirsty conservative ... Bush, a former oil man, whose administration is very friendly to big oil also said: "I think that basically the price is determined by the marketplace and that’s the way it should be."

Isn’t it incumbent upon him to first look out for the American people who are not able to pull themselves up by their bootstraps instead of defending huge profits made by Exxon/Mobil?

You would think so...

When Bush came to power, this nation stopped being the United States of America and became the United Corporations of America ... Exxon/Mobil’s profits for last year was $36.13 billion.

While speaking of converting corn, wood, grasses and other products into ethanol, Bush said: "I believe in a relatively quick period of time, within my lifetime, we’ll be able to reduce if not end dependence on Middle Eastern oil by this new technology."

Bravo, Bush ... you are only a day late and a dollar short formulating this idea ... you almost sound like former Vice President Al Gore calling for this measure.

Coming from Gore, it has credibility ... but not from you, Bush. Some experts have even said that we have crossed the threshold to quickly and adequately implement these programs.
...but, that is not the focus of this column. While Bush states that the American people should not expect price breaks, there is a President who has not turned his back on Americans ... his name is Hugo Rafael Chavez Frias of Venezuela.

According to El-Universal.com: "CITGO, a subsidiary of oil state holding Petroleos de Venezuela (PDVSA) has sold near 45 million gallons of fuel oil at discounted prices for poor families in the United States, a press release from the Venezuelan Government reported."

I want to remind my readers that the oil was sold at 40% below market value. Please remember that as you look back to see how much Exxon/Mobil has made in this previous year.

I would even be so bold as to say that President Chavez, while not turning the backs on America’s poor, realizes that not everyone can pull themselves up by their bootstraps.

While he is not our president, he sees it as his responsibility to help the poor, even when they do not live in Venezuela.

Next month the citizens of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania will become the newest recipients of this oil where underprivileged residents in New York neighborhood of Bronx, Vermont, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, and indigenous reservations in Maine are enjoying this gift from the Venezuelan people.

On being sworn in as Bolivia’s president, President Evo Morales and Venezuela’s President Hugo Chavez implemented a true humanitarian plan where Venezuela will send Bolivia US$150 million in oil and and Bolivia will send Venezuela food ... both presidents realize that it is their responsibility to help their country’s poor.

While some capitalists will sound the alarm of industries being regulated by the state, one only has to look at the high prices of home heating oil to know something is wrong when they see huge corporations making obscene profits and so many people struggle to make ends meet.

I have nothing against a free market system, but it must be fair.

Often the company shareholders are fairing better while so many people go cold this winter ... then again, they are the ones who contribute handily to campaign coffers. It is a sick symbiotic relationship.

While many citizens may clamor against the state regulating any industry, I ask my fellow Americans to look at their oil bills ... and the amount of money they pay for gas to fill up their cars. Then, I want them to think about the huge profits just made by Exxon/Mobil.

Are you about to spontaneously combust?

While Bush is sounding ’eco-friendly,’ the companies that make various use-once-and-throw-away items we use, one must realize that many of them are made of plastic. Plastic is an oil-based product ... how much are you paying for these items? Do these items squander the precious resource known as oil? Isn’t this something you should also be concerned about? But, then again, this is a topic for another discussion.

As the fictional speaker of the House in the ’West Wing’ speaks of the ’American spirit,’ I’m left to wonder just how much spirit is left in all of us. How much more can we tolerate as Bush turns his back on us?

The price of oil is not the only item where he (Bush) has turned his back on us. As reported by the AP (Associated Press): "The budget-cutting bill awaiting President Bush’s signature may only make a small dent in the nation’s huge deficit, but he is expected to propose more cuts in his 2007 plan, including farm subsidies, Medicaid and Medicare."

Again, he (Bush) is turning his back on those who cannot pull themselves up from their bootstraps. If he truly wants to make a dent in the huge deficit, what he must do is to repeal the hefty tax cuts that go to the top one percent of this country and end this bloody quagmire in Iraq that is killing so many and draining our federal reserves.

At this point, where most Americans feel as if Washington, D.C. refuses to listen to our concerns, we must remember that Washington is killing the American spirit ... not us.

How do we bring back the American spirit and resolve this dire situation?

I say let’s all have dialogue and let those in Washington know how we’re feeling ... the next time any candidate sends you a campaign pledge through the mail, send a copy of your bills right back to them and write: "You’re kidding! Right?"
What needs to be done is to end the employment of those elected officials who work against this American spirit ... and I can think of quite a few.

Can you?

Mary MacElveen

mary@vheadline.com

http://www.vheadline.com/MacElveen