IS AMERICAN POLITICKING ANY DIFFERENT FROM SO-CALLED CORRUPT ASIAN DEMOCRACIES?

It is fascinating to watch how the health-care reform debate in US has degenerated in to dirty politicking. The way the so-called right fringe interest groups seem to be able to mobilize support of the Republican politicians makes one wonder whether the American politicians are any way different in overall behaviour vis-à-vis their counterparts in Asian democracies, say, India, Philippines or Indonesia.

President Obama is trying to bring about health-care reform which the right-wing people are opposing tooth and nail. President Obama presented his case to the Congress in his address. The way he explained, his plan sounded rational. He was also at pains to mention that health-care plan his administration wants to go forward with includes ideas from both sides of the aisle.

However, the Republicans remained unimpressive. During Obama’s speech one Republican congressman even tried to heckle by shouting “You lie”. Of course, that was loutish third rate conduct very reminiscent of how many legislators in some of the Asian democracies behave.

But more than the outlandish behaviour of a Republican congressman, the more striking thing is the energy and ease with which the interest groups have been mobilizing Republican legislators’ support in opposing Obama’s health care reform plan.

One may wonder, is the Obama plan really that bad causing the Republicans to baulk at it? Or, is it just the ideological difference that is prompting the rightists to oppose the proposed reform for the heck of it? Or, is there something else that is causing the Republican politicians to rally behind the interest groups?

A quick review of supposedly neutral print and TV media suggests that the interest groups opposing the health care reform in US are being mostly funded by – former Republican politicians, some corporate entities (who fear they potentially stand to lose due to the proposed reform) or right-wing organizations funded by various corporate bodies.

Surely, it just can’t be that Obama’s proposed reform is catastrophic as the right-wing folks would like the people to believe. So, if the proposed reform has some merit, why are the Republican politicians of the current Congress opposing it instead of contributing to it to make it better and more potent? And, President Obama has made it clear that he is willing to consider any good suggestion from the Republicans.

Well, the answer is simple: the said Republican politicians are being ‘incentivised’ by big fat corporate entities that are fearful that the proposed reform will hit at their profit making potential. One may ask at this point, does that mean the American politicians are also purchasable like their counterparts in Asian democracies? Again, the answer is: YES, of course; a lot of them are indeed purchasable! And, this is something not new, it has been happening for decades.

So, how does it happen in US then? Why does the world not get to hear about money related scandals in Washington? Well, the big corporate entities mostly engage lobbyists who act as the conduits for the ‘incentivisation’ of the politicians – whether through huge donations or through skilfully crafted pecuniary benefits that are not easily detectable or which can not be labelled as bribe.

There is a quid pro quo involved in this ‘incentivisation’ game – the politician supports or opposes, as the case may be, to protect some corporate entities’ interest and in return that politician gets some ‘compensation’. The inscrutable and complicated way in which the corporate entities ‘buy’ favours from American politicians is itself a topic justifying some course in a university to understand the whole ramification of it.

The corporate bodies have on their payrolls brilliant financial and law experts who camouflage the ‘incentives’ in such a way that they appear innocuous and generally remain undetectable unless somebody goes after it specifically, say, a special prosecutor. There lies the main difference in the manner American politicians are ‘purchased’ or made ‘amenable’ and politicians in some of the Asian democracies are ‘purchased’ or made ‘amenable’.

In a democracy like India, politicians are quite often ‘purchased’ brazenly, unabashedly through bribes in hard cash, or in kind like giving out a prime real estate or an expensive vehicle. Favours like giving a job to a politician’s relative is considered minor and don’t cut much ice these days.

Now, back to US: The way there has been a sustained campaign against Obama’s proposed health care reform – be it through ad campaigns (some of which apparently are conveying utter falsehoods) or mobilizing hecklers at town hall meetings, or getting thousands of people in Washington on 12th Sept – is surely indicative of one thing: some corporate bodies feel their bottom line profit is going to be hit.

So, just as the corporate bodies in Asian democracies engage in devious ways, by using politicians as pawns, to scuttle government policies they perceive to be harmful to their commercial interest similarly one finds some American companies doing the same thing in this health care brouhaha.

In this context one may feel curious to ask, what the so-called dirt-sniffing media do in US with regard to ‘incentivisation’ of politicians? Do they not expose the wheeling and dealing activities? After all, the American media have created an image in the world as if they are the only people in this profession on this planet who bring out ‘dirt’ with regard to politicians!

Anecdotal data seem to suggest there is some kind of unwritten understanding in American media world that they will try not to ferret out any political scandal in Washington which has its roots in ‘incentivisation’. There are some exceptions though to this but they are few and far between. The American media more readily goes after scandals in Washington which involve some politician sleeping with a woman other than one’s wife.

So, this is a brief snap shot of how a lot of American politicians are manipulated by corporate bodies for sake of protecting their business interests. It is just that American media for decades have been successful in projecting an image to the world as if the American politicians are the paragon of virtues and moral uprightness.

Besides, on the world stage the American politicians follow an aggressive image projection helped by powerful American media to beat their drums worldwide. And, in that din any question about skeletons in their cupboards gets blown away! Didn’t some one say that nexus between a politician and powerful media makes a ready made script for an award winning movie?!!