U.S. political process is a 'money engine’
Editor,
With regards to your recent column, “Health care hypocrisy”:
It’s the money – it’s always the money.
In the UK and Europe we have very short election campaigns and very tight restrictions on the amount of corporate donations to political parties which leaves a lot more room, money and encouragement to focus on the issues.
That’s why we have had paid parental leave and universal health availability for decades.
The whole political process in the US is a money engine. The donations, the long campaigns, the constant polling – it’s a huge job creation program, and I am sorry to say many (by no means all) journalists just go with the flow instead of doing the hard work of investigating real issues.
Of course you do get some issues coming to the fore in the US — but most of those, like the Me Too movement, attract support and money as a legal (and therefore a moneymaking) opportunity. The issue of a hard working self employed family struggling to pay $30,000 a year for health insurance is simply lost in the grandstanding, suing and moneymaking.
And it all starts again the minute a new President enters the White House.
Instead of issues, it’s political tribalism — scarily up a notch following the Senate acquittal.
Except in Savannah, where local issues like development seem to have led to a City Council change and a non-partisan approach to them. Maybe that is happening in other places. Let’s hope.
Maggie
