The September 2011 Co-Presidents Message, Bonnie & John

Is democracy as we know it on its way out? According to the Pew Research Center, the proportion of the U.S. public expressing trust in the federal government has fallen from just under 80% in the late 1960s to barely 20% today. Another poll by the European Union in September, found that only 29% of voters in its 27 member-states trust their own national governments. Fewer than 20% believe that their elected representatives are capable of successful action against financial empires.

An example that supports the European view is the Murdock affair. In this case, British governmental officials did not do their jobs for over five years, allowing Murdoch’s media empire to make millions through information obtained by phone hacking. It was a clear betrayal of trust for greed, not only by Murdoch but also by governmental officials who were complicit in the crime.

In the United States, the rich corporations lobby legislators to secure changes in the laws to help them create more jobs; then, they outsource the jobs to other countries! They also steal our taxpayer-funded research and build plants in Asia to make the products cheaply and sell them back to us! Then, they want us to give them a free pass to repatriate those dollars tax free that they have accumulated in foreign countries. Our workers walk the streets looking for jobs that have been taken to other countries, while the rich get richer by siphoning profits and taxes into their own pockets.

When are we going to stop this? When are we going to get rid of the lying corporate CEOs, and the lying politicians who use corporate funds to get reelected? When are we going to stand up and shout: ENOUGH IS ENOUGH? 2012 elections are just ahead. It’s time for us to act!

Politics is not a spectator sport!

JAM