Can the people push past politics as usual?
posted Fri, 3 Feb 2012A good article in the Huffington Post this week got our attention. “How Drug Companies Game Washington” outlines the pharmaceutical industry’s tremendous political power. The article is part of a weeklong series that critically examines the influence of special interests on politics.
It’s a timely series. Approval for the performance of Congress is at an all time low. Many Americans have been apathetic towards politics for a long time, believing that one vote or one voice doesn’t matter. But as more people recognize the corruption involved and are affected by the dismal state of the economy, this seems to be changing. More and more people are getting fed up and are starting to speak out.
Everyday citizens don’t have lots of money to pay lobbyists like big pharma does, but collectively, their voting power gets the attention of legislators. When millions of people contact members of Congress about a particular issue, they are forced to pay attention.
We’ve recently seen a surge of grassroots Internet organizing with powerful results. The power of the people stopped anti-piracy legislation that threatened basic American rights (including access to imported prescription drugs) in its tracks.
What does this mean in an election year? Americans need to keep pressuring their legislators. We need to stand up and tell them it’s time to end the dog and pony show so that they can address real issues—like making sure that all Americans have access to affordable medicine.