Great article written by Simon Johnson, a former chief economist at the International Monetary Fund (IMF), where he argues that it is not oppressive government policies that hurt the economy.  He presents research suggesting that in fact, legislators are VERY friendly to lobbyists employed by big businesses.  The more financially and politically powerful the lobbyists, the more likely legislators are to act in their favor. The financial industry, which employs some of the most financially and politically powerful lobbyists of them all, actually got exactly what they wanted out of legislators: the ability to take high risks for high financial rewards without the burden of government regulation.  And look where that got us.

So the moral of the story is this: we need more, not less regulation over big business.  The Republican party fairy tale of the anti-business big government destroying the economy is simply wrong.  The problem is that government treats big business too well…to the point where big business is free to sacrifice the well being of our country and its people to increase its bottom line.  The 2008 financial crisis demonstates the consequences all too well.

Powerful armies of well-funded lobbyists bend legislators and fund certain candidates (yes, I do mean the current Republican candidates) to get government to do exactly what they want: to stay out of the way of big business and their profits, no matter what the costs to society.  It’s time for the people to have an army of our own.  This is why we need to vote.