本文发表在 rolia.net 枫下论坛PART 4 --- HOW BIG BUSINESS BOUGHT OUR GOVERNMENT
Asst.Prof.,HISTORY, University of North Carolina Benjamin C. Waterhouse:
Lewis Powell was a well-respected citizen of richmond,Virginia.
He was a corporate lawyer, a partner in a prestigious corporate law firm, and friends with an executive at the Chamber of Commerce named Eugene Sydnor.
And Sydnor asked his friend if he would draft a position statement that he could submit to the Chamber of Commerce that would then sort of form the framework for how to make the organization more able to confront what they thought was a growing threat to business interests.
Narrator:
Powell's memo laid out a strategy to radically alter public perceptions,ensuring that big business interests could dominate public policy.
Powell advocated a, "vast purge" of liberal elements in society.
He saw how corporate money could own the media and talk louder than organized labor and consumer protection groups.
But for Powell, a future Supreme Court Justice, the real end game was business control of law and politics.
To make their point, the Chamber of Commerce created very clever advertising to influence public opinion.
The U.S.Chamber of Commerce and the recently formed elite Business Roundtable, and exclusive club of CEOs, joined forces to lobby Congress and push their agenda with major campaign contributions.
Their goal: To buy congressional votes to implement a corporate makeover of America.
Author,Robert Kuttner:
You had massive lobbying beginning in '76,'77,'78, for cutting taxes on rich people, trickle down economics. Cut capital gains taxes, cut dividend taxes, cut income taxes, and the economy will flourish. Some of the Democrats start drinking the Kool-Aid along with the Republicans.
1971: lobbyists in DC 175.
2008: lobbyists in DC 33000.
NARRATOR:
Next, big business set its sights on the biggest threat to their bottom line, the wages and benefits of the American workforce, especially union members, who,starting in the 1930s, had won bargaining power for wages, working conditions and benefits.
But instead of negotiation, big business wanted control.
The Powell Memo: " Businessmen should use their financial muscle to shape the politics of the country. Nor should there be reluctance to penalize politically those who oppose it."
By 1978, business outspent organized labour three to one to defeat a bill that would have made it easier for workers to join unions.
This was a critical turning point, setting in motion the decline of organized labour as a major political force and the voice of working Americans.
President of the United Auto Workers, Douglas Fraser:
I believe leaders of the business community, with few exceptions,have chosen to wage a one-sided class war today in our country, a war against working people, the unemployed, the poor, the minorities, the very young and the very old, and even many in the middle class of our society.更多精彩文章及讨论，请光临枫下论坛 rolia.net
Asst.Prof.,HISTORY, University of North Carolina Benjamin C. Waterhouse:
Lewis Powell was a well-respected citizen of richmond,Virginia.
He was a corporate lawyer, a partner in a prestigious corporate law firm, and friends with an executive at the Chamber of Commerce named Eugene Sydnor.
And Sydnor asked his friend if he would draft a position statement that he could submit to the Chamber of Commerce that would then sort of form the framework for how to make the organization more able to confront what they thought was a growing threat to business interests.
Narrator:
Powell's memo laid out a strategy to radically alter public perceptions,ensuring that big business interests could dominate public policy.
Powell advocated a, "vast purge" of liberal elements in society.
He saw how corporate money could own the media and talk louder than organized labor and consumer protection groups.
But for Powell, a future Supreme Court Justice, the real end game was business control of law and politics.
To make their point, the Chamber of Commerce created very clever advertising to influence public opinion.
The U.S.Chamber of Commerce and the recently formed elite Business Roundtable, and exclusive club of CEOs, joined forces to lobby Congress and push their agenda with major campaign contributions.
Their goal: To buy congressional votes to implement a corporate makeover of America.
Author,Robert Kuttner:
You had massive lobbying beginning in '76,'77,'78, for cutting taxes on rich people, trickle down economics. Cut capital gains taxes, cut dividend taxes, cut income taxes, and the economy will flourish. Some of the Democrats start drinking the Kool-Aid along with the Republicans.
1971: lobbyists in DC 175.
2008: lobbyists in DC 33000.
NARRATOR:
Next, big business set its sights on the biggest threat to their bottom line, the wages and benefits of the American workforce, especially union members, who,starting in the 1930s, had won bargaining power for wages, working conditions and benefits.
But instead of negotiation, big business wanted control.
The Powell Memo: " Businessmen should use their financial muscle to shape the politics of the country. Nor should there be reluctance to penalize politically those who oppose it."
By 1978, business outspent organized labour three to one to defeat a bill that would have made it easier for workers to join unions.
This was a critical turning point, setting in motion the decline of organized labour as a major political force and the voice of working Americans.
President of the United Auto Workers, Douglas Fraser:
I believe leaders of the business community, with few exceptions,have chosen to wage a one-sided class war today in our country, a war against working people, the unemployed, the poor, the minorities, the very young and the very old, and even many in the middle class of our society.更多精彩文章及讨论，请光临枫下论坛 rolia.net