I can’t help but think it has reached a zenith. But you could be right, it may just be that information is reaching us now more than ever.
There is a political science theory called “regulatory capture” that basically argues that regulating agencies end up being captive to the industries they regulate because nearly all of their interaction is with they people they regulate, and because there are few other interests lobbying for attention. We see this most obviously in the SEC where regulators serve a few years and then jump into a hedge fund job. Can’t help but think of the opportunities for quid pro quo there; get some dirt on a stock market participant and instead of doing the job leverage it by blackmail into a million dollar career. Even Congress pretty much abdicates everything to the executive branch unless there is a major scandal such as the IRS targeting conservatives, but even in cases like that they just hold hearings but dole out nothing worse than forcing someone to take their pension early. No punishment. No real reform. Those regulated lobby for regulations knowing the ways to avoid them. This is not an argument for regulation rather an argument why it is doomed to fail in the most critical areas while enabling all types of corruption up and down the chain.
We could rattle off a list of known faults in Congress; that they are exempt from many of the rules and laws, they can do insider trading, they got the inside track on new regulations and can adjust their investments accordingly and this is just in the “grey area” of corruption. I read a story years ago about a couple of swamp things who bought an island from the US government because they were the ones who engineered its sale from the government. I am told Dianne Feinstein traded some desert land which became a federal reserve in return for interest in a gold mine (unverified). And on and on it can and does go. They will never reform themselves. Party politics really only serves to obscure the corruption while ensuring patronage and preventing internal course correction. To move up the ranks in a party you almost have to corrupt yourself along the way.
And even the little things mean a lot to them. Sugar price supports is an often cited example. If the price of sugar goes up 2 cents a pound it means hundreds of millions to the sugar producers and yet there will be no cry from the people who barely notice the 12 cents per month they have to spend. But the avenues for corruption in that alone are incredible.
The regulation, compounded with the regulatory capture, compounded by the lack of oversight is open door to corruption. And it sure seems like its gotten worse as more clever ways to exploit any one issue materialize. Like I said above, I cannot imagine how Hillary was able to get away with using office of Sec of State to raise billions in private donations. It may come back around after all (for a variety of reasons and laws broken) but the total lack of resistance to it at the time is mind blowing. Can you imagine anyone, any time before or again, who would be able to do that? And what does the silence really tell us about the feeding frenzy at the trough?
We have to blow out that candle and start to tie more threads to the Republic. We all have to speak up a little more. It isn’t going to change unless the people demand it. Some in the media are biting around the edges but a lot of the time it reads like controlled opposition, while others unfortunately have a tone that turns people off. I believe there are still some Democrats who are furious - even if they, like many on the right, don’t know where to point their anger. A natural “bi-partisan” coalition is out there imo, if the right message is coolly but relentlessly delivered to the people. We will always disagree on policy but I think most people can agree that the rules of the game need to change. Political power had to be decentralized. While “Obamacare” may never be fully repealed the Senate bill to devolve control via block grants to the states is a small step in the right direction. At some point though the system itself needs to change to where Washington is dispossessed from the idea that they can regulate, tax and spend in any area they choose and any manner they dictate whether it is command & control or “block grants”. The Republic was not designed nor built to be managed in the way it has been over the last two generations and is only now starting to reveal its faults.
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