Column: Ted Hinnenkamp, My Point of View

On Nov. 17, the Freeborn County DFL Party voted unanimously and enthusiastically to support the Occupy Movement in New York, in Minnesota and all over the country.

Finally, Americans are standing up to and speaking out against the way that corporations and Wall Street have hijacked our nation’s economy and democracy with their rapacious greed. The Occupiers have sometimes been accused of not having a coherent message. Not true. People of all ages are protesting:

• The bank bailouts: Banks were bailed out with no accountability and no repercussions for those who committed reckless, if not criminal, acts. Because our elected officials chose to remove regulations such as Glass-Stiegel, these financial institutions have nearly destroyed our economy. And many of these same financial wizards are earning huge bonuses and lecturing the rest of us. No new legislation has been passed that truly protects our economy from further reckless policies.

• The unfair tax system: The Bush era tax cuts to the wealthy, ensuring that the 1 percent pay lower taxes than the rest of us, continue. Corporations such as General Electric don’t even pay taxes, and get a rebate instead. And corporations turn around and move their jobs overseas.

• Money in politics: The Supreme Court in their Citizens United decision ruled that corporations cannot be regulated or even monitored in the amount of money they give to campaigns or politicians running for office. So not only can corporations, in many ways, control people’s lives, they now can secretly buy access and influence over the people who are supposed to represent us. People such as the Koch brothers spend millions on think tanks, elections and politicians who support them. This cannot be good for democracy. There is a movement afoot to pass a constitutional amendment to get rid of this political corruption, but it will likely take a long time and an uphill battle to fight against the 1 percent to get it passed.

• Lack of jobs: The unemployment rate is staying above 9 percent. While President Obama has proposed a jobs bill, the Republican Congress refuses to do anything. One Republican candidate for president, Herman Cain, said that if people don’t have a job it’s because they don’t want one. Not unlike Herbert Hoover during the Great Depression, Republicans again say that the government has no role in improving the lives of its citizens.

• Foreclosures: Many working and middle class people are being foreclosed on because of the deceitful lending policies of the unregulated banks. Most economists agree that the owning of property such as a house is what provides families with the assets to get to and stay in the middle class.

• High cost of college: A college education is out of the range of more and more low income and middle class families. Republicans in Congress insisted on cuts to Pell Grants that many students rely on to get through college. They were not successful last summer, but cuts were made to students in graduates programs. Students who do eventually graduate are saddled with crippling debt.

• Attacks on the middle class: Unions, Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid and other middle class programs are under attack. These programs have done so much to provide economic stability and support to the American people.

While some Democrats have not fought hard enough against these corporate forces, let there be no doubt that this is a plan hatched by the Republican Party at the behest of their wealthy corporate donors.

So the DFL Party of Freeborn County stands firmly and proudly with the Occupy Movement. We also believe that for democracy to survive, the citizens of America need to stand up, get informed, talk to neighbors and participate. It is our only hope.

 

Ted Hinnenkamp is a member of the Freeborn County DFL Party.