Transparency in Government

Arlen Specter changed his mind on Card Check last week.  Why?  I would like to say that it was an elder statesman making a decision that he grappled with for a long time in his heart and mind as to what would be better for his country.  Unfortunately, that is not the case.  Specter's decision was based (as most of our elected officials decisions are based) on the next election cycle.  He is up for reelection in 2010 and facing an uphill battle in the primary.  Specter chucked Card Check in a desperate attempt to appease Republicans in his state who are against it (of course the "Party of NO" is against it) and in the process take a calculated risk that this would ensure a victory in 2010.  The latest polls would indicate that, alas, this was a risk not worth taking.  This transparent attempt to hold on to power is likely the only transparency in government we are likely to witness in the near future.

Why is Card Check important?  The monied interests that run our government and their king, Ronald Reagan, declared war on the Labor Movement in the early 1980's.  The first battle in this war was the Air Traffic Controllers Strike.  The king and his minions won that battle decisively and were cheered by the middle class.  Little did they know that this was the first salvo in the death of the middle class.  How could they know?  Thirty years of Republican revisionist history had been crammed down their throats.  The lie was that Capitalism had created the middle class.  When in fact it was the Labor Union movement that created the middle class.

The king's next move was more clandestine.  The decision was made by the king and his minions that manufacturing would be supplanted by the Financial Services industry as roughly 20 to 25% of GDP.  This went swimmingly until about 2007 when those chickens came home to roost.  But hey, with very little manufacturing there was no need for Labor Unions anymore.  No labor, no unions.

Card Check can begin to restore the Labor Union movement.  But as Arlen Specter's transparency proves, it will be a struggle against the monied interests desire to keep "the people" under it's thumb and the politicians greed to keep their power safe from the mob.