By Todd Smekens
Muncie, Indiana BLOG – Who benefits from corruption? Let’s take a look at a couple of rankings to prove what I’ve been saying about Indianapolis lawmakers over the past 5+ years. The corruption mainly comes from the Donor to the Political Class. Also, as I’ve pointed out over the last several election cycles, most of the donors are coming from outside the Hoosier state. Hoosiers are literally being robbed of their representation in Indianapolis and Washington D.C. Our conservative SCOTUS has ruled there are no signs of political favor for these donations. As Hoosiers would say, “That’s bullshit.”
Every election season brings in millions of dollars from political organizations operating outside our state. I’ve even pinpointed several of the major donors like the Defense and Pharmaceutical Industries, Koch brothers and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. Why doesn’t our state press focus on these large donations robbing Hoosiers of their democracy?
The donor money is used to buy ads in local media – print ads, television ads, and radio spots. The Donor Class also corrupts the free press meant to serve Americans. It’s a form of hush money.
I’ll give you local examples in upcoming articles.
However, if we look at the rankings recently released, they also point to who is benefiting from these donations to our lawmakers. Conversely, who is getting screwed by the policies made by corrupt lawmakers?
Let’s look first:
At the end of 2015, HealthGrove compiled air pollution data for all 50 states based on data from The Centers for Disease Control. Air pollution rates were tallied by determining how much of the air was made up of particles smaller than PM 2.5 and at what concentrations. HealthGrove took the data and compared it with cancer rates in each state. Not surprisingly, the states with highest pollution rates also have higher rates of cancer deaths than states with low air pollution concentration.
I highlighted the last sentence so you’d be sure to catch it – the states with higher pollution also have higher rates of cancer deaths.
So, who did Healthgrove rank as the most polluted state?
Indiana is ranked #1, and the worst county for pollution is Posey. For those who don’t know, Posey is located near Evansville where four of our ‘super-polluting’ coal-fired plants are located.
So, who is benefitting from all this pollution? Certainly not Hoosiers who are developing cancer from poisoned air. Certainly not seniors or our youth who develop serious asthma and other breathing disorders due to inhaling poison.
Well, let’s take a look at Chief Executive’s Magazine. As the Ft. Wayne Business Weekly recently wrote, Indiana ranks #5 for places to do business by Chief Executives. Why such a high ranking?
Indiana was ranked in the same place last year as well, due in part, according to the magazine, to the state’s predictable tax rates and state legislature. In ranking the states, the magazine looked at taxation and regulation, workforce quality, living environment (Indiana scored more than seven out of 10 on each metric) and whether or not a state is a right-to-work state, which Indiana is.
Chief executives love low taxes and little or no government regulations. Look at what Donald Trump is doing with the EPA. Do you think maybe Mike Pence has been directing him after polluting the Hoosier state?
Charles and David Koch own Mike Pence and so does Duke Energy. Do you think the coal-filled barges pulling up to AEP’s power plants in Southern Indiana are loaded with Koch owned coal?
By the way, the same Ft. Wayne business magazine also revealed that as you expand metrics beyond those favorable to corporate executives, Indiana drops from 5th to 16th. Why did it drop so far?
…what lowered the Hoosier state’s ranking was its place for quality of life (45th), the quality or education and educational opportunities (29th) and the quality of its workforce (36th).
Do you think the quality of life might be inversely related to pollution?
Also, if our quality of life is so important to professors, why are they supporting economic policies which favor the polluters? I mean, how many ‘super-polluting coal burning plants’ are located in Hamilton County?
Corporate executives and Oligarchs who comprise our Donor Class are funneling huge sums of money into political elections and have for a very long time. In return for this money, they buy silence from our media and favors from our politicians. These favors equate to low corporate taxes and little or no government regulations from lawmakers. The states most favorable to the Donor Class are ranked high by the Donors, like Indiana.
Our country is now taking so steady a course as to show by what road it will pass to destruction, to wit: by consolidation of power first, and then corruption, its necessary consequence. ~ Thomas Jefferson
