Republicans: One Dollar, One Vote

I was talking to a friend this morning about the difference between the two parties when I said that one party believes in one-dollar-one-vote; the other believes in one-person-one-vote. His response was "Get real. They're both the party of money."

In reality, it goes way beyond that.

Case in point: have you ever contemplated just how much money the US government spends on private contractors? The numbers are astronomical -- and getting bigger all the time. Business is, as they say, good. Very good.

It's clear to me that the Republicans are on the cutting edge of this: their business plan, their dream if you will, is to cut taxes to zero and send home all the government employees. Then borrow the money necessary (from China and Saudi Arabia) to hire the private contractors who will provide the "appropriate" government functions. These corporations will be answerable, of course, to their shareholders who will get guidance from the annual report and the amount of profit that the corporation is able to produce.

Don't laugh: we're closer to that than most people think. It's already how we provide health care to (most of) our citizens, if by "care" you mean paying ever-escaling premiums for a shrinking base of coverage. After all, no company can stay in business unless it makes a profit, right? And the best way to make more profits is to increase revenue and cut expenses. You don't have to be an "elitist" to know that.

Pretty soon, Social Security will become privatized, too. Don't give your money to the government! That's a Ponzi scheme. Invest it in the stock market -- I hear Bear Sterns is offering a pretty good return on your investment.

National security? Blackwater is the coming paradigm for that. Do you realize how many private contractors are packing heat in Baghdad?

All this fuss and bother about the "unitary executive?" Nonsense. The US government is merely recognizing reality: that there is a "better way" of running things. The corporate way. One dollar one vote.

The Ownership Society: One dollar one vote. Or more precisely, one share one vote. Better yet: ten thousand shares ten thousand votes.

The worst part, of course, is that the US Constitution is a meaningless piece of paper at that point. How -- and whether or not -- you vote has become a trivia question for nostalgia buffs.

No wonder the majority of people don't vote. No wonder the majority of people think there is no difference between the candidates. No wonder people don't think anyone cares about them.

But -- god knows -- people are not bitter. And real people don't think they are.

Only brie-eating, latte-sipping, volvo-driving, white wine drinking, anti-corporate communist elitist liberals would make the mistake of thinking -- or saying -- that.