There’s been a lot of analysis of the state of the union show (I don’t call it an “address” because it really is just show business). As I see it, the Democrats are blowing it again. And it’s not just because of incompetence or the lack of a spine (though, yes, those are annoying qualities). It really can be found in the way the party treats the Jack Abramoff story and chooses to ignore the real corruption story: the outrageous looting of companies at the expense of millions of Americans.

I was reminded of the real story by a headline a few days ago in the Financial Times: “Delphi seeks to tear up labour deals.” You may remember that back in November the company’s CEO Steve Miller had concocted a deal that would plunge Delphi into bankruptcy, gut the living standards of the workers (cutting wages from $26 an hour to $12.50 an hour) but pay executives and senior managers hundreds of millions of dollars in severance packages and bonuses.

Now, the FT reports that Delphi “is set to ask a bankruptcy judge to tear up its labour contract with its 33,000 US blue-collar workers as a way of stepping up pressure on trade unions to accept deep cuts.”
Behind the Abramoff scandal is the sad reality that there is no opposition party in our country when it comes to putting a leash on corporations. Politicians from both parties aid and abet the construction of a legal system that makes it possible for a guy like Steve Miller to screw his workers and enrich himself.

As I’ve written here before, United Airlines executives are doing the same thing (millions of dollars are going to be doled out to execs after workers have given $4 billion in concessions).
From where I sit, Abramoff is a nickel-and-dime cheat. And I’m not convinced that campaign finance reform—though I’m all for it—will all of a sudden make the Democratic Party more likely to take on abusive corporate power.

There’s too much evidence that, ideologically, most Democrats don’t see a problem with corporate power run amok.
Why do we sit by and allow the bankruptcy laws to be used to bludgeon workers, particularly while executives make off with millions of dollars? Executives at these companies are essentially engaging in legalized looting—using the cloak of the law to force concessions from the average worker in order to enrich themselves.

At a minimum, we need to change the bankruptcy laws. If a company goes into bankruptcy, if its going to demand wage cuts from its workers, executives have to be hit with the same proportional hit to their pay and benefits. And, as an aside, the law should prohibit companies from using bankruptcy to shred pensions—because pension money, after all, really belongs to workers (it is compensation that they’ve deferred to a later date).

Sure, jail Abramoff and ban freebies. But, keep an eye on what really hurts the average American.