Following the Money to Failure

Insurance companies are fighting the health care bill to the tune of 1.7 million dollars a day. That's $1,700,000 dollars. My source? NPR.

Energy companies are spending that much--maybe even more--to stop legislation to stop global warming. Same source.

Understand--these figures are not for a year or a month or even a week. These are figure for one day to sway our government and our nation to vote the way these industries want us to vote--even though our interests are not even remotely in their heads.

It's all about money--their money.

Think how much lower our costs would be if the insurance and energy industries just gave it back to us.

Check it out: For one million dollars, a company can hire forty individuals at $25,000 per year. This is without health insurance, of course--but if we add that number to the mix, they can still hire thirty-three individuals.

At the rate of wasted money for just one of these industries--and remember we're not talking about bonuses, obscene as that word is--if the total sum of money spent on lobbying against the legislation for a year was used for job creation, according to my calculations, about 20,683,333 people could be employed at a salary of 25,000 with 5,000 for benefits and other costs.

If we do the math for both industries--insurance and energy--the number of employed doubles.

The recession is now over.

But I forget where I am--and so instead of helping the people of our nation, we allow the rich to lobby over the media at exorbitant rates and change the minds of those who are easily swayed--including legislators who know better, but care about their job more than they care about the good of the country.

Let's never forget the Alabama congressman who stopped the proceedings because he wanted to make sure two of his pet projects for his state got funded. Mr. Congressman, it's not about you and it's not about Alabama. It's about this entire great nation.

Let's change the priorities of some of our biggest corporations and put the money where it will do the most good--giving Americans jobs.

And one more thing--that profit for the insurance company I wrote about earlier--2.9 billion dollars. At 30,000 per worker, that profit could have been utilized to hire about 96,666 Americans.

Recession over.

I'm sorry--forgot where I am again. Recession still on. Greed and self interest rule.