The Boston Globe is reporting bank lobbyists, who demolished mortgage cramdown legislation, are throwing millions of dollars to Congress and hiring a a bunch of former congressional and White House staffers as lobbyists to defeat newly proposed regulations and a consumer protection agency. But wait there's more. Over half of the 2,737 lobbyists “hired to promote the interests of drug companies, insurers, hospitals, health professionals, industry groups and business organizations” used to “work for the government they’re trying to influence.” Teddy Roosevelt had it right - corporations should be forbidden from political activity!  Now if we could just get the Supreme Court to stop ruling that corporations are persons, we may be able to get this nation back on track.

Thom Hartmann