The Latest economic news is that the gap between the rich and the rest of us is growing. This is further proof of the continued decline of the middle class in America. Those responsible for the current economic situation, due in large measure to unregulated speculation, may have seen their wealth diminish somewhat (they remain wealthy) while millions of Americans of lesser means have been catapulted into an exceedingly precarious economic situation. In a society that prides itself in punishing those who commit crimes, most of those who have propelled many of us into the economic abyss remain essentially unscathed. Not only have they escaped justice, they seem to be thriving.

While the President attempts to address the pressing issues that pursue and perplex the society at large, millions upon millions of corporate dollars flow into the hands of members of the Congress and the Senate from the bountiful pockets of a veritable sea of lobbyists. These monies have one primary purpose and that is to create obstacles to the reform that the majority of the people desire. Money and power have effectively corrupted democracy in this country to the point that real and substantial reform has become near impossible.

The purported values of the wider culture have been supplanted by the lure of money and power. There is no escaping this conclusion; the evidence for it is too overwhelming. Is this the nature of our politics?