Ethics and Corruption in Government, Corporations and Institutions

I have contemplated the writing of this post for two weeks.  I have long been concerned about the level of corruption that exists among elected officials.  The Maine Sunday Telegram on June 20, 2010 had an article titled Big Business: Losing the Fight to do Right. ( http://www.pressherald.com/opinion/big-business_2010-06-20.html).  This article examined the levels of corruption and unethical behavior by both corporate and public institutions.  It was written by Dan Boxer and Peter Pitegoff.  This article has weighed on my mind ever since.
Unethical behavior and corruption does exist at all levels and it is most evident when we look at Congress and see how they give in to the big corporations and do not act in the best interests of the people who elected them. Members of Congress are owned by big corporations and banks.  Their lobbyists control the legislative process and the people lose out.  How can Susan Collins and Olympia Snowe defend their votes against extending unemployment benefits to millions of people including thousands here in Maine.  They say it is because of increasing the deficit.  Well for the eight years of the Bush Administration they didn't worry about the increasing deficit and funding trillions of dollars for an unwinable war.  If we weren't spending billionsof dollars a day on two wars we might be able to get our economy back into shape and bring back some jobs that have been outsourced.  Where is their concern for their constituents?
At the state level we are decimating human services and education because no one is willing to think of a new way to do government.  Do we need to increase the sales tax?  Probably.  We never should have decreased it in the first place.  We always need to be prepared for the bad times as well as the good and we need to be prepared to take care of our neediest citizens.  If the system isn't working then we need to look at what is wrong and how to fix it.
 I believe that this unethical behavior permeates all of our institutions, political, corporate and religious.  It is all about how much money you can wrest from the people.  In tough economic times religious organizations need to put on hold capital campaigns that suck  money from people who cannot afford it.  Businesses, including the big banks and Wall Street,  need to stop ripping off the consumer and ruining our economy by employing risky business practices.. 
Power and greed have taken over and we have lost all sense of community and how to care for each other and for our country.
I despair of ever changing this behavior.  I fear that it will be the downfall of our society if it hasn't already begun.
I am usually a very upbeat, positive person but this is a very sad and dangerous situation for our town, state and country.