Now that it has been just over a year since the banking collapse, hindsight is getting closer to 20/20 vision. Although we will probably never know the entire truth about how deep the "sleaze" went, the deregulation of the financial system and capitalist greed were clearly involved in the debacle. What will we know about what really motivated the healthcare debate - a year from now?

Will we only see by hidsight that the healthcare reform battle is being fought with influence bought by lobbyists  from big drug manufacturers and insurance companies? Just look at how their stock prices have fluctuated through the news cycles of the past year. Add to that the fact that Senator Joe Lieberman,(I-CT) the filibuster leader against reform, "has accepted over $110,000 from private health insurance company Aetna in campaign contributions so far this year. "

Additionally, Lieberman's wife, Hadassah, has been an employee of Hill & Knowlton,a firm that lobbies on behalf of the healthcare industry.

It is difficult to ignore the fact that politicians appear to be motivated more by money from lobbyists, and less by their constituents.

"In 2009, Aetna has already spent over $2 million dollars in lobbying for a health care system (sic) based on private coverage, while denying countless claims for patients who need treatment."

Who pushes for legislation? Lobbyists. Who pays the lobbyists? The CEO's on Wall Street.

One thing is certain; the stock market dive to below the six thousand mark, effected just about everyone with a retirement portfolio.

Now think about what would have happened if former President George W. Bush had managed to push through his plan to privatize Social Security and tie it to the stock market? Utter and complete catastrophy is the only thought that comes to mind.

We have to realize that the stock market is as tied to the government as Social Security is.

The George W. Bush theory of "happiness" through privatization was a recipe for catastrophe - waiting to happen. Yet during the Bush Administration, we did not hear keep your hands off my Social Security, the way we have recently been hearing, "Keep your hands off my Medicare?"

The only way to put government back in the hands of the people is to pass significant campaign finance reform legislation and rules for lobbyists. The problem is - politicians will not vote against the hand that feeds them. Hence, the repeated failure of past efforts to pass campaign finance reform legislation.

As for Mr. and Mrs. Senator Joe Lieberman? Perhaps history tends to repeat itself because we look at it with a blind eye.

Additional Recommended Reading

More Americans dying from lack of healthcare than from 9/11 attacks on World Trade Center

Is Wall Street changing the rules of Capitalism?

The economic collapse of America: What the future may hold