Government is run by corporations, lobbyists

Why are we so afraid of government control? In the 1900’s, hundreds of American fortunes were made by capitalists who used the power of government to gain advantages over competitors or to profit from public resources. The Vanderbilts, Astors, and many more built their railroad fortunes on a $100 million in federal and state grants and 200 million acres in federal land grants. American taxpayers, subsidized these so-called self-made millionaires.

During the first World War, the Dupont Empire, after our government seized German chemical patents, gave Dupont assistance in building plants. The nuclear power industry and the Internet are both products of technologies that were developed in government laboratories. Corporations thrive on “Big Government.”

The American people have accepted the propaganda that CEOs deserve to make huge bonuses and salaries because the myth that they are smarter and more deserving than anyone else in the work force. Wake up America! Their incompetence and greed caused the banking system to collapse, throwing a nation in turmoil, all while the American taxpayer bankrolls their greed and ineptitude, with bonuses for failure.

The corporations that failed call government interference socialism, however, did not a socialist system bail them out? And did not Socialism (our government) send out a Stimulus Package and loaned billions to the automobile giants? Americans are powerless pawns dominated by the greed of Wall Street and the imploding of the corporate structure.

Pat R. O’Malley Ann Arbor