Corporate takeover is ruining America

When the market crashed in 1929 and FDR was elected president, he inherited much the same economic mess that Obama has inherited. With no help from Republicans he created government jobs, Social Security, reined in corporations with rules and regulations and gave power back to the people.

Unions created the strong middle class and in those days the wealthy paid as much as 90 percent of their income in taxes.

When Reagan came into office, he did away with those rules and regulations, gave tax breaks to the wealthiest and corporations thinking the market would control itself. He forgot about the human factor of greed and power corrupting.

There was a reason why the founding fathers created a constitution giving power to the people - not corporations. Corporations, unconstitutionally, made corporate personhood a new law that gives them the same rights as individuals.

Corporations now own the Republican Party and the news media. They have infiltrated our government with lobbyists and people from corporations like Enron making energy policy that nearly bankrupted California, Cheney's Halliburton making billions war profiteering, and insurance companies making policy on health care. Our government has become a revolving door. They have the money to hire the best talent to brainwash us into believing that government is bad and we should have less of it, however, lack of regulation has led to the oil spill in the Gulf, the problem in Arizona, and lack of unions has led to the mine tragedy in North Carolina, but - just blame the poor: those lazy people who don't want to work.

No folks - it's the rich and powerful on welfare that are the problem. Two-thirds of corporations pay no taxes at all.

Capitalism is based on greed and greed is not a Christian virtue. We must stop this corporate takeover of our government or we will truly be a nation of sheep. Read "Screwed" by Thom Hartmann.

Cecile Powell

Schaumburg