FOLLOW THE MONEY

As a business owner for 25 years and a one-time lobbyist in Washington D.C., I affirm the comments of Mssrs. Hoogendyk and Littman when they say; "Follow the money". The state legislature in Lansing and the Congress in Washington do not, and have not for decades, represent the citizens of this state or country.

Entrenched politicians, through the financial capacities of our two popular political parties and special-interest businesses, individuals and groups, have become self-serving, demogogic charlatans responsible to none other than the benefactors who have effectively bought and paid for legislative influence and votes. Bribery in the name of "political contributions" has effectively stolen the government from the people.

Citizen apathy and our pathetic state "education" system, along with an openly accepted form of bribery, have brought us to the point where our state and federal legislators, ignorant of economics and deaf to their constituents, refuse to consider cuts in spending in favor of increased taxes....even as Michigan and our country spiral downward into an economic abyss.

Support of the many and growing number of "programs" and special-interest contributors is designed to keep politicians in office and a certain block of voters beholding to them and continue to be lawmakers' most pressing concerns. It is becoming more and more disingenuous for us to refer to rampant political corruption as a phenomenon once commonly thought to exist only south of our U.S. border.