Dear Mr. Berko: What's wrong with America when the drug company and my health insurer conspired with my doctor to deny a procedure and offer an alternative medication? Why has my diesel Volkswagen been recalled? Why did my mortgage company overcharge me by $3,692 and force me to resort to a lawsuit to get it back? Why were unauthorized fees added to my bank account? Why do defense contractors, such as the company I work for, get away with bid rigging? Why are stockbrokers ruining my pension plan? Why does Pfizer charge $12 for a Celebrex pill that costs the company 8 cents? I've a friend who gets his DUIs fixed, a dermatologist acquaintance who charges Medicare for facials and a vet selling medication for three times the online price, and I know two members of Congress who (for cash contributions) granted profitable government contracts to our competitor. I'm disgusted. I just wanted to get this off my chest. I don't expect an answer because there isn't one. — J.S., Wilmington, N.C.
Dear J.S.: Thanks for expressing the anger and frustration most Americans feel but can't put into words. Your letter was heartfelt and well-written. Though the buck should stop at the top, that's where our national greed begins.
We pine for the days when the world was flat, when doctors were like Marcus Welby. When General Motors ads said "come away with me, Lucille, in my merry Oldsmobile." When Folgers was "good to the last drop." When you could "trust your car to the man who wears the star" and when "Friendly Bob Adams" made loans at Springleaf Finance.
This clearly refers to most members of Congress and 90 percent of the lobbyists who give advice to Congress. A Catholic priest with whom I used to play a monthly chess game offered the following passage from the Book of Jeremiah:"They have held fast to deceit, they have refused to return. ... They do not speak honestly; no one repents of wickedness, saying, What have I done!" They are the cretins in Congress, the 14,800 registered lobbyists and the 4,300 non-registered lobbyists.
On Jan. 21, 2010, the U.S. Supreme Court handed down a decision that reshaped the business of politics. Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission opened the floodgates to campaign spending. The justices ruled that political spending (limitless contributions by corporations) is protected as free speech under the First Amendment.
So we get the best government money can buy.
Some call this phenomenon in social economics "trickle-down evil." It reminds us that evil begins at the top – think the White House administration and Congress – then filters down by imitation and gravity to the corporate world and then goes lower.
The Citizens United decision offers enormous latitude while setting the tone for the future. That's why Brian Moynihan of Bank of America, Lloyd Blankfein of Goldman Sachs, Jon Corzine of MF Global and Heather Bresch of Mylan will never spend a day in jail; they just smirk and give us the finger.