The second post covered how American businesses and wealthy citizens are being shaken down to contribute to the Obama inauguration events, a happening that will likely cost the American taxpayer over $150 million to finance. Yesterday, we reviewed the first two “gangs” of people that are in cahoots with Washington to reap benefits and perks at the expense of the American taxpayer. These two gangs are the military-industrial complex and the Wall Street/Washington complex.
Today, we will review the other two “gangs” that are in cahoots with Washington politicians. The concept of Washington “gangs” comes from a new book written by Jeffrey Sachs of Columbia University. The book is titled “The Price of Civilisation.”
Mr. Sachs says the US economy is caught in a feedback loop: ''Corporate wealth translates into political power through campaign financing, corporate lobbying and the revolving door of jobs between government and industry; and political power translates into further wealth through tax cuts, deregulation and sweetheart contracts between government and industry. Wealth begets power, and power begets wealth.''
In about fifty words Mr. Sachs has summarized how the buying and selling of America works. We no longer live in a democracy, we live below a tier of elitists that trade taxpayer wealth and freedoms for their own reward, greed, and enrichment. That is why no major issue ever gets resolved in this country. There are powers and “gangs” that do not want them solved, it would upset the cozy arrangements that these elitists have established among themselves.
I use the word “gangs” because that is what Mr. Sachs calls them, as outlined in an article by Ross Gittins of The Sydney Morning Herald. The final of the four gangs are described below:
- The third gang, according to Sachs, is the Big Oil/military-industrial/Washington complex, which has put the US on the historical path of heavy importation of oil and oil dependence and a deepening military quagmire in the Middle East, which costs America both wealth and the blood of its armed forces: ''Since the days of John D. Rockefeller and the Standard Oil Trust a century ago, Big Oil has loomed large in American politics and foreign policy. Big Oil teamed up with the automobile industry to steer America away from mass transit and towards gas-guzzling vehicles driving on a nationally financed highway system.''
Recall when the massive Gulf Of Mexico oil spill occurred, everyone was going after the scalps of BP, the major oil company that operated the well that exploded. Most people forget that while Obama talked tough relative to BP, he was the largest political benefactor of BP’s campaign donation to the political class. Also recall, that it is my recollection, that no executive of BP went to trial or jail for this ecological disaster. Were they protected by the gang alliance?
Big Oil has been on the side of the Pentagon and the military/industrial complex in making sure that America has a large Navy and associated large defense budget to protect the shipping of oil from the Persian Gulf. Two gangs working together to drain taxpayer wealth for corporate interests.
- The fourth gang is the healthcare industry. This industry is by far, the largest industry in the country, accounting for about 17% of US gross domestic product, according to Sachs: ''The key to understanding this sector is to note that the government partners with industry to reimburse costs with little systematic oversight and control. Pharmaceutical firms set sky-high prices protected by patent rights; Medicare [for the aged] and Medicaid [for the poor] and private insurers reimburse doctors and hospitals on a cost-plus basis; and the American Medical Association restricts the supply of new doctors through the control of placements at medical schools. The result of this pseudo-market system is sky-high costs, large profits for the private healthcare sector, and no political will to reform.'
Pretty damning accusations but probably not far from the truth, if far at all. Starting later this week we will be doing a long series of the disaster that is Obama Care and we will see that Washington/health care industry incest is just as prevalent and just as bad as the Wall Street/Washington incest we discussed graphically yesterday with people moving back and forth between high ranking government positions and high paying jobs in the health care industry.
Sachs concludes that the following reality checks verify his hypothesis that there are four gangs in existence in Washington that manipulate elections via financial donations to manipulate legislation for their own good and the good of their respective gangs:
- Corporate profits in 2010 were at an all-time high.
- Chief executive salaries in 2010 rebounded strongly from the Great Recession.
- Overall Wall Street compensation in 2010 was at an all-time high.
- While several Wall Street firms paid civil penalties for financial abuses, no senior banker faced any criminal charges.
- There were no adverse regulatory measures that would lead to a loss of profits in the finance, health care, military. and energy industries.
- Major companies and political contributors like General Electric annually make billions of dollars in profits but pay very little in taxes (in fact, General Electric makes billions of dollars in annual profits and usually works the tax code so that it gets a tax refund from the Federal government and the American taxpayer).
- Alternative energy companies like Solyndra and their owners and investors were major, major contributors to mostly Democratic politicians over the past few years, the vast majority of companies never produced anything of value for society but were voracious users of and wasters of taxpayer wealth.
- Alternative car companies like Fisker (not even an American company!) and Tesla and their owners and investors were major, major contributors to mostly Democratic politicians over the past few years, neither company of which has come up with a viable auto for the mass market or other rewards for the taxpayer funding.
- Recent news articles have pointed out how Apple and Google are becoming masters of legally evading taxes by passing their revenue and profits through offshore accounts.
These are not secrets. These facts are in the public domain, trading taxpayer wealth via investments in alternative energy and car companies for political financial support, using the tax code to avoid paying taxes like General Electric does, using the tax code to avoid taxes by going offshore, etc. Why hasn’t anyone in Washington done anything about these well known atrocities?
Well, now you know, because these atrocities and affronts benefit the four gangs, as identified by Sachs, and these gangs are in partnership with the Washington political class. Our politicians have become slaves to their own personal greed and career ambitions, they do not care to bite the gang hands that feed them, that stroke them, that finance them.
That is why the following steps from “Love My Country, Loathe My Government” are vitally important to breaking the chains that link the four gangs to the Washington political class:
- Step 1 would reduce Federal government spending by 10% a year for five years in order to get to a balanced budget. A balanced budget has less slush funding available to take care of “gang” related needs and favors.
- Step 6 would allow only private citizens to contribute to election campaigns. PACs, unions, businesses, and lobbyists would no longer be allowed to finance election campaigns, especially useful when trying to keep their incumbent political friends in office.
- Step 8 would strengthen and reform the Federal Elections Commission so that it actually enforces strict campaign finance laws and rules rather than continuing with the "fox guarding the hen house" model we have today.
- Step 39 would impose term limits on all Federal politicians, making them “one and done.” This would help break the feedback loop that exists today where gangs feed the tills of incumbent politicians in order to gather favors from these incumbent politicians after they get reelected.
Years ago a hit movie drama named the “Gangs Of New York” was released to critical acclaim. Maybe Mr. Sachs should follow that lead and look for a movie deal for his concept, “The Gangs Of Washington.” I would suggest that this is really not a drama, more like a comedy and joke, the perfect vehicle for the Keystone Kops, the Three Stooges, etc. where the politicians in Washington play themselves in the film.
Our book, "Love My Country, Loathe My Government - Fifty First Steps To Restoring Our Freedom And Destroying The American Political Class" is now available at:
www.loathemygovernment.com
It is also available online at Amazon and Barnes and Noble. Please pass our message of freedom onward. Let your friends and family know about our websites and blogs, ask your library to carry the book, and respect freedom for both yourselves and
others everyday.
Please visit the following sites for freedom:
http://www.reason.com/
http://www.cato.org/
http://www.robertringer.com/
http://realpolichick.blogspot.com
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=08j0sYUOb5w
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