Betsy DeVos proves Congress is corrupt

By: Nate Sikora – Staff Writer

The confirmation of Betsy DeVos as Secretary of Education proves unequivocally that money can buy anything. Additionally, it proves that our system of government in the United States is as corrupt as ever.

She was confirmed by the Senate in an unprecedented vote of 51-50 with Vice President Mike Pence breaking the tie with an affirmative vote. National opposition was so strong that even two Republican senators, Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) and Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), voted against her.

It did not take long for investigators to unravel Devos’ past monetary contributions to the Republican Party as well as to members of Congress – not even to mention her lack of knowledge about education (the irony).

Also, her track record highlights her promotion of private and charter schools, which have statistically been proven to have no change in educational outcome relative to public schools. With that being the case, why is she such a proponent of them?

Well, as you could guess, there is money tied in those endeavors. She is a multibillionaire that never attended a public school, never took out any federal loans, and her children never went to public schools.

Yet Republicans think she is qualified to be Secretary of Education, which helps run public schools. The media and basically all of America have kicked the dead horse of facts that show how unqualified this billionaire is in attempting to run our country’s education programs. With all this against her, how did she still get approved by the Senate?

The Senate approved her because she bought a majority of the senators. Essentially, she bought the “yes” votes needed for her to pass. Up to this date, the DeVos family has donated over $200 million to the Republican Party and has donated hundreds of thousands of dollars to Republican senators over the years.

Even Ohio’s own Senator Rob Portman received $51,000 in donations from the DeVos family. Portman voted to approve her. But there aren’t any conflicts of interest, right? How is this legal?

The history of campaign finance in the U.S. is too extensive to detail here, but the essential piece that must be recognized is that, through Supreme Court decisions, bribery has become legal for political campaigns.

What was the purpose of the DeVos family to donate all that money? Was it merely out of their political beliefs, or was a quid pro quo action in the mix? It was only the latter, and her nomination and confirmation proves it.

The actions of Congress have gone beyond partisan politics. This is about the education of our nation’s children, which has been the integral part in sustaining our nation’s greatness over generations.

Now the nation’s future is in jeopardy because of campaign contributions to greedy, spineless senators who put party over country. The confirmation of Betsy DeVos as Secretary of Education is indisputable evidence that our campaign finance system has corrupted the highest offices of the land.

Congress is no longer beholden to people but rather elitist donors like Betsy DeVos who make politicians their puppets.

Photo Courtesy MLive.com