Category Archives: Corporations

The Real Elitists.

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One of the many things Republican teabaggers like to call liberals and progressives is “elitist.” In fact, the term is so common, if you watch Fox News Channel (I’m not sure why you’d want to) it seems the two terms are permanently wed – Liberal Elitist.

Now, I may be slow, but I can’t for the life of me think why the two terms should ever be used in the same sentence, let alone as a description of progressives. It would seem that the nitwits on Fox and Republican teabaggers have never consulted a dictionary. To wit:

Elitism is defined as: 1 – Belief in the concept of superiority. The belief that some people or things are inherently superior to others and deserve preeminence, preferential treatment, or higher rewards because of their superiority.

2 – Belief in control by a small group. The belief that government or control should be in the hands of a small group of privileged, wealthy, or intelligent people, or the active promotion of such a system.

Now let’s examine the policies of the two parties. Democrats believe in fighting for the middle and lower economic classes. They support small business, organized labor, civil rights and fair wages for working people. That doesn’t quite meet the definition of elitism, does it?

Republicans, on the other hand, believe in fighting for the wealthy and large corporations. For more than 40 years, they’ve been trying to break labor unions. They have also succeeded in transferring much of the nation’s wealth upward to the uber rich. In other words, Republicans believe in the inherent superiority of the privileged and the wealthy.

So how do Republicans get away with perpetuating this falsehood? They restate their goals in populist terms to make people think they will benefit, too. They bundle their ideas in ways that create fear and anger. And they simply repeat their lies until enough people think they’re true.

The Other Offshore Disaster.

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For more than two months, the nation’s attention has been focused on the gusher in the Gulf. But there’s another offshore disaster that has been going on for at least 50 years. I refer to the large U.S. corporations that have created subsidiaries and “headquarters” off-shore to avoid U.S. taxes.

But I found it difficult to obtain a list of the companies that have taken advantage of the loophole. Now, thanks to Ariana Huffington’s recent article on the Huffington Post, I have a better idea. In her article, she cited a Government Accounting Office (GAO) report from 2008 that showed 83 of the 100 largest publicly–traded companies in the country had operations in tax havens.

The report cited AIG, AT&T, American Express, Boeing, Chevron, and Dow to name a few. Many set up P.O. boxes in the Caymans and Bermuda. And Halliburton chose to move its “headquarters” to Dubai. That’s disturbing enough. Yet, according to the GAO, 74 of those 83 corporations received government contracts. And, of course, taxpayers were asked to rescue two of those companies (AIG and American Express) through billions in government loans.

So these companies are not only avoiding paying their fair share of American taxes. They are filling their coffers with money from taxpayers like you and me!

At a time when our national economy is struggling and when we’re engaged in two protracted wars, closing this gaping loophole would seem one of the top priorities for Congress. But that would mean that our Representatives and Senators would have to vote against some of their largest campaign contributors. Indeed, according to Ariana Huffington’s article, Washington has been trying to address the issue for nearly 50 years. But each time the issue comes before Congress, the corporate lobbyists prevail.

So while Congress debates the impact on the national debt by extending unemployment benefits for working people, they continue to permit corporations to avoid paying billions of dollars in taxes through loopholes. In fact, the latest figures available show that these corporations pay roughly $16 billion in taxes on $700 billion in foreign active earnings – a tax rate of approximately 2.3 percent!

Of course, politicians (especially Republicans) excuse such welfare by saying that corporations create jobs, and that jobs have never been more needed than now. That may be true. But where are those jobs being created? For nearly 40 years, many of these corporations have been creating more jobs offshore than in the U.S.

That being the case, what do we have to lose by forcing them to pay up?

What’s wrong with politics?

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Depending on your political affiliation (or should I say affliction?) you might quickly answer with Fox News Channel or MoveOn.org. But if we ignore partisanship for a moment, I think we can all agree that the real answer is Congressional representatives who spend more time trying to be re-elected than actually representing.

We have now reached a point in American politics where the election cycle lasts all year, every year. As a result, those who are elected are generally afraid to take a position or a stance for fear of alienating part of the electorate. They also must find and kowtow to donors – usually large corporations, corporate officers, political action groups and the wealthy. As a result, the powerful and wealthy are over-represented.

And the rest of us are under-represented.

Unfortunately, running for state or national office has become so expensive that few can raise enough money to run an effective campaign. And, perhaps due to that fact, politicians who are successful in getting elected don’t want to risk losing their offices in the next election. So they don’t always vote their conscience. Instead, they vote according to the polls. Or according to the party bosses. There can be no better examples (and warnings) than Gov. Charlie Crist of Florida and Senator Blanche Lincoln of Arkansas. They are viewed as too moderate by activists in their respective parties, so they faced difficult primaries. So difficult, in fact, that Crist was forced to bow out of the Republican primary and run unaffiliated.

This backlash from the parties has a chilling effect on our political debate. For example, many Democrats wanted universal (single-payer) health care, but they voted for a watered-down, protect-the-insurance-companies health care reform bill, instead. Why? Because their political opponents and the media would have labeled them Socialists, Communists or worse.

During the George W. Bush administration, the White House introduced a plan for immigration reform. The bill attempted to address the complexity of the problem. But Congress refused to pass it because many Republicans and the conservative media were angered by what they considered “amnesty” for undocumented workers. And representatives of both parties were afraid to alienate potential Latino voters. So, instead of trying to fix the problem, they collectively kicked it down the road.

Of course, there are exceptions. If you visit www.PolitiFact.com you’ll discover that President Obama has lived up to the vast majority of his campaign promises. Indeed, he has repeatedly stated that he’d rather be “a good one-term President, than a bad two-term President.” I hope he’s rewarded for that stance. And I think he will be. You see, I sincerely believe the majority of voters on both sides of the political spectrum are sick and tired of politics as usual. Unfortunately, the political parties are more concerned with winning elections than principle.

It’s up to all of us to make the two parties care more about the well-being of the nation than their scorecards of political wins and losses. We can do that by pushing for campaign finance reform – especially now that the Supreme Court has ruled that corporations may spill their coffers into any candidate’s pocket or purse.

Corporations Fueling Immigration Problem

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With all the controversy created by Arizona’s new immigration bill, I think we should consider the role corporations have played in creating this problem. For the past 30+ years, our large corporations have been “outsourcing” manufacturing jobs to places like China, India, Indonesia and Mexico. Our TVs are now made in China, Korea and Japan. Our DVDs are made in China. Our clothes and toys are made in China. Our shoes are made in China, Indonesia and Mexico. Our computer software is created in India. Our appliances are made in China and Korea. Many of our cars are made in Japan and Korea. The list goes on and on.

We’re told the reason our corporations have exported our jobs is that American consumers demand lower and lower prices. Really? Of course, consumers want to pay as little for products as possible. But at what cost? High unemployment? Lower wages? Fewer benefits? No health care? No pensions?

Face it, the real reason corporations export jobs is to maximize profits by avoiding reasonable wages and benefits. Most of all, they want to avoid organized labor, which has forced corporations to treat employees fairly.

Now, let’s look at the industries which hire most of the undocumented workers – fast food outlets, meat-packing plants, roofing companies, landscaping businesses, corporate farms and other labor-intensive businesses. Why do they hire illegals? Because these are industries which, for a variety of reasons, are unable to export jobs to other countries. So, the only way for these industries to cut salaries and benefits is to hire illegals. After all, illegals have no voice. They are so desperate to find a job that they are willing to endure long, dangerous treks arcross the desert or to deal with human traffickers in the hopes of being hired. They can’t organize unions. They can’t pressure the government for higher minimum wages. They can’t sue the corporations. All they can do is work for the salaries and benefits the corporations are willing to offer them.

As long as we allow corporations to continue to hire illegal workers without serious consequences, this problem is unlikely to change. They know that the federal, state and local governments will continue to cut corporate taxes and reduce regulations in an attempt to replace jobs that our corporations have exported. They know that investors won’t care as long as their stock values continue to rise. They know that the majority of consumers will never boycott products made by illegals as long as prices are low. They know governments will provide education, health care and other benefits for their employees and their families at no cost to the corporations. And if their illegal workers are deported, these corporations know that there will be plenty of other illegal immigrants to take their place.

So my question is this: Why are we punishing illegal workers when we should be punishing unethical corporations?

A Brief Summary of Republican Teabagger Values.

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In the past few weeks, we’re getting a really good picture of what the Republican teabaggers have in store for America.

First, a Kansas-based wingnut wrote a racist immigration law which he peddled to the Arizona legislature. Of course, they were all too happy to embrace it. Now he’s peddling the same bill to other states. So far, at least 12 states are considering it.

Second, the NRA and its Republican enablers have succeeded in pushing through new conceal and carry laws throughout the country. It is now legal to carry a gun in any national park. In Arizona, you may now carry a concealed weapon without a permit. And thanks to a new law in Louisiana, you may even carry your gun to church – because we all know that to truly worship Jesus, you have to be ready to nail a few Muslims.

Third, the Grand Obstructionist Party threatened, for weeks, to filibuster financial reform. They actually chose to defend Wall Street against Main Street! Who cares if abuses by Wall Street collapsed our economy and cost taxpayers trillions of dollars?

Fourth, BP Oil and its partners blew up 11 employees and unleashed an oil gusher a mile deep in the Gulf. Now, considering the Republican-loaded Supreme Court recently declared that corporations have all the rights of individuals, you might expect that the BP CEO and a few other corporate officers would be facing charges of manslaughter and more (What is the penalty for killing an entire ocean?). But of course, the Supreme Court only awarded corporations individual rights. No doubt, they never intended to hold corporations to the same standards as individuals when it comes to responsibilities.

Fifth, Senate Democrats asked for unanimous consent for a bill that would greatly expand BP Oil’s liability for the Gulf tragedy. The bill was first blocked by an objection from Senator Lisa Murkowski. It seems she was more impressed by the nearly $300,000 in campaign contributions from oil companies than the plight of Gulf Coast fishermen.  Ensuing attempts have been blocked by Tom Coburn, another Senator who relies on contributions from big oil.

Sixth, Arnold Schwarzenegger announced that he refuses to raise taxes in order to balance California’s budget. So, instead, he is cutting welfare benefits for more than one million of California’s unemployed. Of course, California is not alone. Similar measures have been instituted in Arizona and several other states. Indeed, Arizona’s legislature cut funding for health care for poor kids until they found out that the state would lose more in federal funding than it would save. Meanwhile, the Arizona dimwits continue to cut taxes for corporations and the wealthy.

Finally, teabagger darling, Rand Paul, displayed his true colors on The Rachel Maddow Show when he refused to say he would have voted for the 1960s Civil Rights Bill. What he did say is that he thinks private businesses should be able to do what they want, even if that means refusing to serve non-whites.

This is just a brief recap of wingnut values. One can’t help but conclude that if the Republican teabaggers have their way, America’s coasts will be covered in oil, the public schools will be closed, and the streets will be filled with angry, homeless, poor people who are armed to the teeth.

Corporate “Citizens”

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Anyone who has ever founded a corporation knows that the entity exists only on paper. It’s a legal agreement between the shareholders and the government. Incorporation is designed to encourage the creation of jobs by offering legal protection to the shareholders in the event the corporation defaults on its financial liabilities. That’s it. It’s a legal “veil” of financial protection. Yet the current Supreme Court has disregarded long-established legal precedents to give corporations the same rights as individuals with regard to freedom of speech.

For the Court to make this ruling, it had to re-write the Consitution in two regards. One is that, according to the Court, money is now the equivalent of free speech. Two is that corporations are equal to individual citizens. If protecting a woman’s right to make decisions with respect to her own body is evidence of “activist” justices, what do these rulings represent? Super activism?

But now that conservatives on the Court have created this quagmire, I suggest they take it a step farther.

Why not rule that corporate “citizens” are subject to the same criminal codes as individuals? After all, aren’t conservatives always reminding us that rights must be accompanied by responsibilities?

So if a young male is sentenced to 5-10 years for robbing a convenience store, why shouldn’t the CEO of a corporate giant get at least that many years if that corporation defrauds millions from customers? If an undocumented immigrant is jailed and deported when found working in a meat-packing house, doesn’t it stand to reason that the corporation’s CEO be subject to penalties, including jail time, for hiring that immigrant? If a teenager is imprisoned for vandalizing public property, why shouldn’t BP executives get a prison sentence for causing the Gulf catastrophe?

Wouldn’t it be satisfying to see BP executives (and their government regulators) handcuffed and forced to do a perp walk in front of the national media? And once they’ve been imprisoned, maybe we should put them on a diet of water and seafood from the Gulf.

The Republican Playbook.

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If you’ve ever been directly involved with a state or national political campaign, you may know that the people operating the campaigns are generally law school and political science graduates who view political campaigns in the same way most people view sports. It’s all about winning – often at any cost. That stated, it seems that Republicans take this philosophy to a completely different level.

Following is the Republican checklist for getting candidates elected:

1 – Create a variety of “think tanks” to “study” political issues. These groups are generally labeled with patriotic sounding names. A few examples are American Enterprise Institute, Cato Institute, Center for Individual Freedom, Center for the Study of Popular Culture, Coalitions for America, F.A.I.R., FreedomWorks, Heritage Foundation, Leadership Institute, National Taxpayers Union, Club for Growth, Center for the Defense of Free Enterprise, American Center for Law and Justice, Family Research Council, Catholics United for the Faith, National Right to Life Committee, Center for Military Readiness, United Seniors Association, United States Border Control, American Civil Rights Institute, Media Research Center, Students for Academic Freedom… (Are you ready to salute, yet?).

The organizations bill themselves as independent and they generate lots of studies that are used to attack Democratic values. They also generate many of the Republican-sponsored bills that are introduced in Congress or in state legislatures. For example, the NRA wrote the liberal “Conceal and Carry” laws that have been passed in many states. And Kansas-based F.A.I.R. wrote the ill-conceived immigration bill recently passed in Arizona.

2 – Control the discussion. Ever wonder why Republican pundits on news programs never shut up? By controlling the discussion, they hope to control the agenda. They want the public to view each issue through a Republican lens. If Democrats bring up an issue first, Republicans do everything possible to re-frame the issue in a way that benefits them.  So Democrat-sponsored financial reform becomes a “government takeover” of banks.

3 – The big lie. The bigger the lie, the better. For example, a provision in the health reform bill designed to help people create living wills, became “death panels to pull the plug on Granny.” T.A.R.P., which was passed by the Bush administration to avoid worldwide financial collapse, is suddenly an example of Obama-inspired “Socialism”. And gays are an abomination under God, except for the ones Republicans sleep with.

4 – Names that disguise the reality of legislation. Bush’s “Clear Skies Initiative” was designed to weaken environmental protections. And “No Child Left Behind” was designed, not to improve education, but to punish impoverished schools with the most problematic enrollments.

5 – Wealth redistribution. You know how Republicans are always talking about Democrats wanting to redistribute wealth from the top down? (See #3) For 40 years, Republicans have been redistributing wealth upward.

6 – Small government. By repeating this mantra, Republicans have succeeded tapping into people’s dislike and distrust of bureaucracy. But it’s really just a cover for deregulation of stock markets, commodities, pharmaceutical companies, oil companies, etc. Republicans abhor anything that stands in the way of corporate profits, even if it prevents calamities such the BP oil geyser in the Gulf. Funny how Republicans never seem to mind big military and big Homeland Security.

7 – Fear. The Bogeyman is going to get you unless you vote Republican. Only Republicans can save you from terrorists, communists, socialists, fascists, secularists, gay marriages, gays in the military, immigrants, drug lords, etc., etc.

8 – Unity and payback. You’re either with us or “agin” us. Compromise is a dirty word. So is bipartisanship.

9 – Activist judges. You’ve heard all about the evils of activist judges who rule on behalf of civil rights and the woman’s right to choose. But have you heard about the activist judges who decide the outcomes of elections and give corporations the rights of individuals, including the right to donate millions to Republican candidates?

10 – Media whores. Namely Fox News Channel and Rush Limbaugh who can be counted on to repeat Republican talking points without question.

11 – Obstruct Democrats in every way possible, then blame Democrats for the delays.  Just look at the current situation in Washington.  Republicans have invoked the filibuster rule more times this session than any other time in history to “stop Obama’s socialist agenda.”

12 – Repetition, repetition, repetition. This goes hand in hand with the big lie.  If they keep repeating a lie long enough, people begin to think it must be true.

Small government = Big fraud

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In 1980, Ronald Reagan declared that the government is the enemy of business and our citizens.  And led by the “Great Communicator”, Republicans set about down-sizing government by eliminating “red tape” and regulations; an effort that continues to this day.  It’s a tantalizing argument.  After all, who wants their taxes to go toward unnecessary bureaucracy? 

Unfortunately, that argument neglects one very important fact:  For a government or, for that matter, any organization to operate efficiently, it must have some way to enforce its rules.  Without enforcement, the criminals, the unscrupulous and the greedy will prosper at the expense of the law-abiding.  By gutting Government regulation, Republicans have encouraged runaway greed. 

Want a few examples?

The financial collapse of 2008 and current recession were the direct result of gutting the Glass-Steagall Act which created firewalls between financial investment institutions, insurance companies and banks of deposit.  The housing crisis was the result of a lack of oversight with regard to mortgage lending.  The estimated $80 billion in Medicare fraud is made possible by the fact that there are precious few regulators.  The run-up in oil prices in 2007 was the direct result of Republican deregulation of the commodity markets.  And the rampant fraud in military and construction projects in Iraq and Afghanistan was the result of no-bid contracts with little to no oversight.

The list could go on and on. 

Yet despite all evidence to the contrary, conservatives continue to push for more deregulaltion.  Why?  For some conservative legislators, it may be a misguided and misinformed philosophical decision.  However, the cynic in me is more likely to believe that our representatives are paid to push for deregulation by the large corporations which contribute to their campaigns.

What else could explain why the conservatives in Congress continue to fight regulation of our “too big to fail” financial institutions even after their misadventures nearly led to the collapse of the world economy?

The New Definition of Conservative.

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Upon listening to Republican economists and some of the speakers at the CPAC convention, I think I better understand their vision for America. In a word, it’s bleak. 

These people not only want to prevent health care reform and reduce national debt. They want to block any further government programs to save or create jobs. They want to allow market forces to “correct” the economy. Of course, they want to eliminate even more regulation, cut taxes and shrink government. Finally, they want to eliminate “entitlement” programs such as Social Security and Medicare.

Imagine what their vision would do for most Americans!

By most estimates, unemployment would rise to more than 15 percent. Of course, there would be no safety nets to help those without jobs or homes. Large corporations would continue to grow by swallowing weaker ones. And since corporations would be unregulated, they would not only influence Congress. They would virtually own it.

Hmmm, I always thought the definition of conservative is to preserve, save and protect. But to these people, it seems to mean quite the opposite.

What kind of country do Republicans envision?

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Given the Republican response to President Obama’s initiatives, one has to wonder exactly what the Republican vision for our nation actually is.  To try to determine that, let’s look at recent events.  If Republicans had prevailed on their opposition to the TARP bailouts of Wall Street banks, most economists believe that the entire world economy would have collapsed and we would be in the midst of a 2nd Great Depression.  Republicans argued against bailouts to General Motors and Chrysler which likely would have forced both into bankruptcy putting up to 10 million workers on unemployment.  Republicans fought the stimulus plan which, by even the most conservative estimates, has saved or created up to 2 million jobs.  And they have continued to whine about the growing deficits under Obama while lionizing Reagan for tripling our national debt.

The Republican alternative to Obama’s attempts to save our economy?  Tax cuts for the wealthy despite the fact that most economists believe such cuts would do nothing to alleviate our situation.  In fact, many feel that the tax cuts could make things worse!

Republicans have fought any form of banking regulation.  They have voted to keep the status quo on an unsustainable health care system that results in 33,000 deaths each year for lack of access.  They have voted against increasing benefits for military veterans.  Republicans refuse to allow the federal government to negotiate lower prices for pharmaceuticals as Canada and many other nations have done.  They are opposed to spending money to encourage the development of reasonable alternatives to fossil fuels.  They dismiss the international scientific community’s warnings of global climate change.  They have long stated their disdain for “entitlements” such as Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security.  They are vehemently opposed to labor unions.  They are opposed to social services for the poor, saying that they should be the responsibility of faith-based organizations.  Republican-appointed Supreme Court justices voted to corrupt our election process by permitting corporations (even those based overseas) to spend unlimited amounts of money in support of candidates who favor their positions. 

Under the Bush/Cheney regime, Republicans started two wars with no clear plan on how to win them, and no plan to pay for them.  (Indeed, they intentionally obscured the actual cost of the wars – in terms of dollars and lives.)  And they awarded billions to Halliburton and other corporations through no-bid contracts. 

The Democratic Congress has shown a decided lack of unity and will.  But based on the Republican record, why would anyone want to return the Republican Party to power?  Or their even less-pleasant brethren – the members of the Tea Party?