4 ms·

When was the last time Congress did something for the people against corporations?

e40 8y ago
A long, long time. Sadly.
VikingCoder 8y ago
Congress did things for people all the time: Making it marginally easier for those with means to save some money by reducing their taxes... because they took away some essential service from those without means. Which "helps motivate" the people without means to stop being so lazy. /s
gowld 8y ago
Here's a 2010 data point: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Consumer_Financial_Protection_Bureau https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Consumer_Financial_Protection_...
- imglorp 8y ago
  And a 2018 data point: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-equifax-cfpb/exclusive-u-s-consumer-protection-official-puts-equifax-probe-on-ice-sources-idUSKBN1FP0IZ#ref https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-equifax-cfpb/exclusiv... So it used to be okay but in the new climate, CFPB has been gutted and is now the Corporation Financial Protection Bureau.
- deleted 8y ago
  [deleted]
rayiner 8y ago
That's a false dichotomy. Corporations are the basic units of the wealth-creation engine that gives Americans among the highest standards of living in the world, not to mention employs almost all of them. Doing what's good for the corporations is usually also what's good for people.
- zentiggr 8y ago
  Maybe in some fantasy corporation-league version of America, but I see a constant stream of "oh, you lobbyists want concessions for your anonymous sponsors/donors/owners? Sure, always glad to get more votes paid for!" The only way to keep the general populace from getting trampled as far as they will allow is to push back against all this. I've said elsewhere, vote out every incumbent Congressperson. Once the current paid members are gone, if the new set appears to be voting by donor status, vote them out too. Keep voting them out until we find a few decent souls who realize that we the people are serious about being represented, not sold. I would use campaign contribution reports as a "who should be first out the door" list... individual personal donations of fixed maximum size only, everything else counts against.
  - spaginal 8y ago
    If you want to reduce corporate influence, reduce the size and influence of government. The more a central authority takes and dictates, the more lobbying and money will be the influence that runs them. When you have a powerbase of politicians that can make or break conpanies, industries, and entire regions with a law or regulation, you will naturally have players interested in that space working for their own interests above all else.
    - s73v3r_ 8y ago
      That's not going to reduce corporate influence at all. It'll do the opposite. Power abhors a vacuum. If government cedes power somewhere, who do you think is going to pick it up?
    - zentiggr 8y ago
      Deregulation is the worse case in that sliding variable... an effectual government balances between the various parties, preventing corporate abuse of power at the expense of individuals. When existing government gets hijacked by power brokers, that's where we the people should step up and say no by voting out the worst offenders. Tha's our check and balance, and where I despair of getting people to understand and care.
jonas21 8y ago
The last time the Democratic party had control of congress? e.g. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dodd%E2%80%93Frank_Wall_Street_Reform_and_Consumer_Protection_Act https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dodd%E2%80%93Frank_Wall_Street... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Credit_CARD_Act_of_2009 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Credit_CARD_Act_of_2009 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patient_Protection_and_Affordable_Care_Act https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patient_Protection_and_Afforda... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lilly_Ledbetter_Fair_Pay_Act_of_2009 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lilly_Ledbetter_Fair_Pay_Act_o... etc.
- deleted 8y ago
  [deleted]
- mindslight 8y ago
  Re #3 - Could you please explain how penalizing people for choosing to not patronize certain corporations fits that criteria? Because that seems like a huge boon to the corporations, basically cementing their positions and outweighing the procedural concessions they traded.
kinsomo 8y ago
> When was the last time Congress did something for the people against corporations? It's certainly not going to do anything if the people assume advocacy is a lost cause and give up without even trying.

e40 8y ago

A long, long time. Sadly.

Congress did things for people all the time: Making it marginally easier for those with means to save some money by reducing their taxes... because they took away some essential service from those without means. Which "helps motivate" the people without means to stop being so lazy. /s

gowld 8y ago

Here's a 2010 data point: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Consumer_Financial_Protection_Bureau https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Consumer_Financial_Protection_...

imglorp 8y ago
And a 2018 data point: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-equifax-cfpb/exclusive-u-s-consumer-protection-official-puts-equifax-probe-on-ice-sources-idUSKBN1FP0IZ#ref https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-equifax-cfpb/exclusiv... So it used to be okay but in the new climate, CFPB has been gutted and is now the Corporation Financial Protection Bureau.
deleted 8y ago
[deleted]

rayiner 8y ago

That's a false dichotomy. Corporations are the basic units of the wealth-creation engine that gives Americans among the highest standards of living in the world, not to mention employs almost all of them. Doing what's good for the corporations is usually also what's good for people.

zentiggr 8y ago
Maybe in some fantasy corporation-league version of America, but I see a constant stream of "oh, you lobbyists want concessions for your anonymous sponsors/donors/owners? Sure, always glad to get more votes paid for!" The only way to keep the general populace from getting trampled as far as they will allow is to push back against all this. I've said elsewhere, vote out every incumbent Congressperson. Once the current paid members are gone, if the new set appears to be voting by donor status, vote them out too. Keep voting them out until we find a few decent souls who realize that we the people are serious about being represented, not sold. I would use campaign contribution reports as a "who should be first out the door" list... individual personal donations of fixed maximum size only, everything else counts against.
- spaginal 8y ago
  If you want to reduce corporate influence, reduce the size and influence of government. The more a central authority takes and dictates, the more lobbying and money will be the influence that runs them. When you have a powerbase of politicians that can make or break conpanies, industries, and entire regions with a law or regulation, you will naturally have players interested in that space working for their own interests above all else.
  - s73v3r_ 8y ago
    That's not going to reduce corporate influence at all. It'll do the opposite. Power abhors a vacuum. If government cedes power somewhere, who do you think is going to pick it up?
  - zentiggr 8y ago
    Deregulation is the worse case in that sliding variable... an effectual government balances between the various parties, preventing corporate abuse of power at the expense of individuals. When existing government gets hijacked by power brokers, that's where we the people should step up and say no by voting out the worst offenders. Tha's our check and balance, and where I despair of getting people to understand and care.

jonas21 8y ago

The last time the Democratic party had control of congress? e.g. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dodd%E2%80%93Frank_Wall_Street_Reform_and_Consumer_Protection_Act https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dodd%E2%80%93Frank_Wall_Street... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Credit_CARD_Act_of_2009 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Credit_CARD_Act_of_2009 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patient_Protection_and_Affordable_Care_Act https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patient_Protection_and_Afforda... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lilly_Ledbetter_Fair_Pay_Act_of_2009 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lilly_Ledbetter_Fair_Pay_Act_o... etc.

deleted 8y ago
[deleted]
mindslight 8y ago
Re #3 - Could you please explain how penalizing people for choosing to not patronize certain corporations fits that criteria? Because that seems like a huge boon to the corporations, basically cementing their positions and outweighing the procedural concessions they traded.

kinsomo 8y ago

> When was the last time Congress did something for the people against corporations? It's certainly not going to do anything if the people assume advocacy is a lost cause and give up without even trying.