COMMENTARY

Peter Burgess

This is a pretty catchy cartoon that I came across on the #OWS stream. It's titled 'The Bosses of the Senate'. Its a little dated now, after all the cartoon is from January 23, 1889. But this cartoon deserves a little explanation.

I think we all get the part that moneyed interests are now controlling the US Senate. Any effort to help either small business or the middle class is currently being blocked by Republican Senators, as evidenced by their unanimous rejection of the Presidents Job Bill.

The OWS movement recognized this problem with moneyed interests from the onset. They aren't wasting their time occupying DC or going after politicians, instead they're going after those who control our politicians for their own purposes.

Because of the small size of this cartoon, its hard to see it all. You can see the Big Money coming in through their own private door labelled 'Entrance for Monopolists', which is wide open. But whats harder to see is the small door on the upper level. This door, the 'People's Door', is barred and locked, with a sign saying 'Closed'.

When I see this closed door, it not only reminds me of the US Senate, but also the US House of Representatives, where 236 of 242 Republican have signed an anti tax oath proffered by Grover Norquist. By their oath, these Republicans aren't beholden to their constituents, they're beholden to Grover Norquist and his ultra rich handlers. Any effort at suggesting that large corporations or the ultra rich pay their fair share in taxes is considered a non-starter by these 236 Republicans. But thanks to OWS, the runaway income acceleration of the top 1%, who the Republicans are bent on protecting, has been illustrated on almost every media outlet.

At the beginning of this post, I noted that this cartoon was from a OWS stream. But that is not where it is originally from. It is actually from the US Senate Website.

http://tinyurl.com/3uawwos #ows