Bankrupting the Nation: Corporate Welfare

Abraham Lincoln said "corporations have been enthroned and an era of corruption in high places will follow, and the money power of the country will endeavor to prolong its reign by working upon the prejudices of the people until all wealth is aggregated in a few hands and the Republic is destroyed.”
Teddy Roosevelt said "behind the ostensible government sits enthroned an invisible government owing no allegiance and acknowledging no responsibility to the people." Even famed capitalist Adam Smith said "the proposal of any new law or regulation of commerce…comes from an order of men whose interest is never exactly the same with that of the public, who have generally an interest to deceive and even to oppress the public, and who accordingly have, upon many occasions, both deceived and oppressed it.” Corporate influence can reach various parts of societies through various means, which many other entities don’t have the ability to do, as they lack the financial resources that corporations have. Here is how: they influence populations via advertising and control and influence in the mainstream media; influence public policy and governments by financing large parts of elections; creating corporate-funded think tanks and “citizen” groups; getting support from very influential political bodies, and influence international institutions and international economic and political agreements. This creates two classes of citizen: those who get the tax breaks, bailouts, subsidies and meetings with politicians and you and me for whom taxes and consumer prices go up and who don’t get to meet with politicians.Visit http://www.ourfuture.org/corporate-welfare and learn. Or see http://www.cjr.org/the_audit/reuters_and_times_union_on_cophp for a recent story.