How They Justify Collusion; Slate, July 15, 2017

William Saletan, Slate; How They Justify Collusion

"The meeting remained secret until this week, when its details and the emails were leaked to the New York Times. In response, Trump, his aides, and their allies in the right-wing media have presented a flurry of excuses. The excuses are even more damning than the emails. They expose the nihilism of the Trump family and its allies. Here’s the list..."

Cuomo, Stung by a Scandal, Offers Ethics Reforms; New York Times, 11/16/16

Vivian Yee and Jesse McKinley, New York Times; Cuomo, Stung by a Scandal, Offers Ethics Reforms:

"Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo announced on Wednesday a set of ethics reforms that would affect the State Legislature, the State University of New York, the City University of New York and his own office — all of which have been soiled within the last year by corruption scandals and allegations of slipshod management.

Mr. Cuomo, a Democrat, announced that he would appoint a procurement officer to review all contracts and agreements involving state funds “with an eye towards eliminating any wrongdoing, conflicts of interest or collusion,” a clear nod to the revelation this fall that three of his former aides and advisers had orchestrated a yearslong bribery and bid-rigging scheme in which lucrative state economic development contracts were steered to a few favored developers. All three, along with several development executives, have pleaded not guilty to federal corruption charges."

Drugs And Privilege: Big Business, Congress And The EpiPen; Huffington Post, 8/31/16

Michael Winship, Huffington Post; Drugs And Privilege: Big Business, Congress And The EpiPen:

"[Mylan CEO Heather Bresch] should resign for price gouging rather than get a raise, but like so many of her fellow executives Bresch sails serenely on as her fellow Americans drown in health care debt. Her career and the success of her company epitomize everything that so enrages every voter who believes that the fix is in and that the system is weighted in favor of those with big money and serious connections...

And even at half-price, the cost of an EpiPen remains an outrage. In fact, some estimate that the dose of epinephrine used in the injector may really cost as little as a dollar.

In other words, this is one more, big old scam — yet another case of big business trying to pull the wool over the citizens’ eyes and pick our pockets while the government and our politicians mostly look the other way.

The Mylan mess is the cozy relationship between regulators and the regulated in a nutshell. Throughout government, politics and business, cash contributions are made, connections are used, strings are pulled and favors are requested and returned. So the system wins again, corrupt as hell.

But take notice. Realize that the rest of us are more and more aware of how we’re being had — and that we truly must be heard and heeded. Unless the tiny-hearted, gold-digging CEOs of America’s corporations and our leaders get the dollar signs out of their eyes and come to their senses, they are writing a prescription for an angry public response that not even their bought-and-paid-for Congress can hold at bay."