Everyone always blames the politicians. The mules blame the pachyderms, and vice-versa. I don't like politicians, but I don't think they're the cause of all the problems we are having now either. I blame the REAL power, the money that got them there in the first place! That's who they actually serve, not us.
Consider:
The foreclosure mess, it's tragic. It was caused, mostly, by unbridled, greedy, predatory lending by a bunch of unscrupulous banks and mortgage companies that took advantage of over-inflated house estimates during a housing bubble that they knew would burst, without care or concern for the borrower. They weren't politicians, they were thieves.
The banking fiasco. When they were de-regulated, big banks began buying up all the small, independent banks. Then they could charge any crazy, exorbitant fee, surcharge, rate they wanted to, even a fee to close your account! They keep on sticking it to even the smallest depositor while their CEOs get multi-million dollar bonuses each year. They even get multi-million dollar 'golden parachute' payouts when the bank goes insolvent and all the little employees lose their jobs!
The credit card industry. Now there is a choice bunch! They would take a person who had perfect credit, perfect payment history, and a low rate, and suddenly institute the '20 day billing cycle'. This little beauty was designed to ensure that your payment would be late BEFORE YOU GOT YOUR BILL! This way, they could charge you an outrageous "missed payment fee", a "late fee" and bump your single digit rate to 36%. You then had to make sure that you paid each payment within 20 days in order to avoid those added fees! Of course the bills came every 32, 33, 34 days or so. Best of all, If you disagreed with any of this you have the option of paying your entire bill (plus all those fees) immediately. They weren't politicians, they were vampires.
The medical industry. Thanks to the legal industry you can't afford to get medical help without insurance. And thanks to greed in the insurance industry, many people can't afford insurance. So people who just can't afford insurance take their chances, and when they need health care, often just go to the local E.R. When they can't pay, the hospital has to pass the loss on as higher rates, which get billed to those that DO have insurance, those insurance companies pay more out and need more profit so they raise their rate, and so on, and so on, and so on.... Obamacare may be seriously flawed, but at least it is an attempt to fix this situation.
Pharmaceutical industry. Why should people have to die because they can't afford their medicines? I know, I know, there are programs... but the difficulty of jumping through all the hoops is too much for some of the elderly or seriously ill people. I know, I've seen it, I've tried to help. Some of the drug co-pays are just too much for some people and they would rather not take them than starve. That is a shame!
Speaking of feed for livestock, yes, it's expensive! With corn being genetically modified by Monsanto to produce more starch than protein so that it's better for ethanol production, and kills its own bugs, and resists Roundup, it just HAS to cost more! And soybeans too! Oh, let's not forget that drought thingy! Around my neighborhood you can say "drought" and that lets you charge (currently) $15 a bale for hay that a year ago last spring was $3 a bale. Of course if the drought ended today, please don't expect them to lower their prices to 'pre-drought levels'. That would just be un-American! So there goes your price of meat.
And how about Walmart. They come into small to medium sized towns and drive all the locally owned stores out of business! Sure, they hire some folks, at minimum wage, with no or few benefits. And what do they sell? Junk made overseas. Look at the labels! China,Taiwan, Mexico, Thailand, Vietnam. That's where your hard earned American money is going, folks! Even the food products, just check the labels.
Internet sales. You can't hardly FIND a book or music store anymore! Internet stores have put all of them out of business. Barnes and Noble is the last of the chain stores and they can hear the clock ticking. Why? Internet stores don't need employees. There's one of your sources of unemployment right there. Amazon can supply almost anything to anyone , anywhere in the country with a few employees in a building in Seattle. Much of it is drop-shipped, sometimes from overseas. Again, your money goes out of the country, jobs lost, what a pity.
Perhaps in the 50s or 60s the idea of a "trickle down economy" might have worked. Today you'd be kidding yourself to believe in it. All the big corporations, for that matter wealthy individuals, keep the bulk of their assets tax-sheltered in overseas accounts. We couldn't tax them if we tried! So there goes that source of funding for schools, health programs, roads, elderly. Oh, and that 'trickle down' effect that everyone is waiting for is trickling down in Bangladesh, India, and wherever else these fat cats are farming their labor out to in order to get it cheaper! Yup, another cause of unemployment and another funnel of our money going out of the country.
They aren't politicians. They want you to look at the politicians. They own them.
"Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain, ..." -Wizard of Oz
"Be afraid,...be VERY afraid!" -Newt
it's about time someone starts talkin about the truth of the matter 
