Thursday, June 22, 2006

Truth in Whoring

Give the Republicans credit for sticking to the Party line, no matter what. When it comes down to a choice between average citizens and their corporate, well-heeled, business-lobby constituents, the Republicans choose the latter every time. The decision is a no-brainer. Whoever lines their pockets gets their vote, pure and simple. It’s the best Democracy money can buy.

Yesterday, by a near straight party-line vote, the Republican controlled senate killed an amendment that would have increased the minimum wage for the first time in a decade. During that decade, Congress raised its own pay by about $35 grand.

Working people on the low end of the economic ladder can’t catch a break. If you toil at minimum wage for forty hours a week, you will languish below the Federal poverty line. You won’t make it, pure and simple.

It’s about time we have some truth in labeling from our Congressional representatives. Therefore, I propose that every member of the House, and every member of the Senate, be required to sport the logo of his or her corporate sponsor(s). Like NASCAR race cars, let’s plaster the suit coats and trousers and blouses of Dennis Hastert and Rick Santorum and Hillary Clinton with corporate logos so that we can easily identify the constituents they serve. Forget the pretense of representing citizen interests -- let’s call a diamond a diamond, a spade a spade; if you serve Exxon in Congress, wear the Exxon logo. If you shill for Wal-Mart, wear the Wal-Mart logo on the seat of your trousers, if you’re in bed with CitiGroup, wear their name.

Let’s mark the people’s “representatives” for who and what they are: corporate whores.

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