1) What do Enron, the Soros Economic Development Fund, Papa John’s Pizza, Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company, MTV, the Bank of Palestine, and Deutsche Bank have in common? Give up? You financed their foreign marketing and sales activities when the Federal government’s Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC) gave them billions and billions of dollars of your tax money.
Why is your tax money being used for by these multinational and multi billion dollar entities? OPIC provides loans and loan guarantees for investments in developing and emerging markets, offers “political risk insurance” (covering losses resulting from things like coups, terrorism, and expropriation), and supports other financial funds that invest in companies doing business in emerging markets. Yes, just like a stockholder you invest in the future of these companies. Unlike a stockholder, you get nothing positive in return while absorbing any future negative ramifications such as a loan default.
When set forth by President Nixon in 1969, OPIC was positioned as a way to “contribute to the economic and social progress of developing nations” by encouraging venture capital to pursue investments that might normally be deemed too risky. Today, it functions like a corporate welfare program for rich entities at the expense of the American taxpayer. Specifically, recent OPIC investments and associated crony capitalism included the following, according to a recent article in the National Review Online:
- An OPIC-backed project helped with the production of olive oil in Argentina.
- Papa John’s got taxpayer support for its development of pizza franchises in Russia.
- OPIC money was used for hotel renovations in Uzbekistan.
- Obama political campaign fundraiser James Torrey, a board member of MicroVest Capital Management, was nominated to serve on OPIC’s board of directors in 2010 even though MicroVest Short Duration Fund LP and MicroVest + Plus LP received about $8 million in insurance for their own projects in Azerbaijan, Georgia, and Nicaragua.
- The Soros Economic Development Fund was approved for $3.9 million for renewable-energy projects in Moldova in 2013. The Soros fund’s legal general counsel is a former OPIC senior commercial associate.
- A Porsche/Jaguar/Land Rover dealership in Ukraine owned by Winner Imports received $20 million in 2013. Joe Biden’s “very good friend” John Hynansky is chairman/CEO of Winner Auto Group.
2) While former politicians might fade away, apparently their leftover campaign funds do not. According to a recent analysis by the Center For Public Integrity, millions of dollars are sitting idle in the former politicians’ bank accounts.
For example, former Indiana Senator Evan Bayh has been out of office for over four years but he still maintains a campaign account of almost $10 million that sits idly by and gathers interest and growth. He could donate this money to a valid charity but he has not, despite urging Americans to embrace a “spirit of devotion to the national welfare beyond party or self-interest.” Apparently, his spirit of devotion did not include donating his $10 million stash.
But he is not alone. Analysis of campaign records shows that at least nine former members of Congress each control at least a million dollars worth of unused campaign cash. Dozens are sitting on campaign cash piles in the hundreds of thousands of dollars, resulting in an overall total of $100 million.
Would could $100 million do for others outside of the political realm? According to the Center For Public Integrity:
- $1 million of the $100 million could feed 12,000 Syrian refugees for a month, by Oxfam America’s estimate.
- “Fairly transformative” is how Janet Baker, vice president of development for Keep Indianapolis Beautiful, described what $1 million from Indiana native Bayh’s stash could do for her $3.5 million-per-year charity that spruces up neighborhoods, plants trees and runs youth programs.
- In light of how poorly our veterans are being treated by the Federal government, Joyce Raezer, executive director of the National Military Family Association says: “The Congressmen, they could have a huge impact. Their money would be direct support that has immediate benefit.”
In the meantime, almost 50 million Americans are on food stamps, our veterans are suffering mightily as a result of the actions or inaction that many of these former Congressional people took, and over 20 million Americans are unemployed or underemployed. Surely, that $100 million can do more good out in the hands of worthy charities than sitting idly by on some likely pipe dream that these people can get back into politics again.
We should have a new rule: once a politician is out of office for two years, he must dissolve his extra campaign cash, after paying all of his campaign bills. If he wants to reenter politics down the road, let him start over like every other new person entering politics has to do. Even better, impose term limits so that once out of office, a former politician has no legal ability to reenter public office (www.howmuchworsecoulditget.com) and thus, has to disperse his leftover campaign cash.
3) Wasteful and idiotic spending is a trademark of the Federal government across all kinds of Federal programs. The most recent example of such incompetence is a recent report from the Treasury department which found that about 25% of the payments from the IRS Earned Income Tax Credit was paid out erroneously, costing the American taxpayer about $15 billion a year.
The Treasury Department and IRS have been around a very long time. The Earned Income Tax Credit has been around a very long time. Despite these facts of longevity, the Federal government still has not gotten the hang of doing the program without a 25% error rate. Pathetic.
4) The Washington Examiner reported on My 12, 2014 that a bill had been introduced in the House of Representatives that, if passed, would prohibit all members of Congress from traveling in first class while traveling on taxpayer expense on commercial airlines. That is the good news: in times of a soaring national debt, there is no reason for taxpayers to fund first class, elite travel for Federal politicians who are traveling on government business.
The bad news: why they were ever allowed to fly first class in the first place is the real scandal and waste of money.
5) Let’s stick with this theme of Washington politicians and bureaucrats taking better care of themselves than they take care of taxpayers who actually work and pay for these Washington perks. In mid-May, Treasury Secretary Jack Lew testified before Congress recently that the IRS needed have an additional $1.2 billion to spend this year because of the agency's increased responsibilities under Obama Care.
However, Lew failed to mention the following atrocious spending that has recently happened within the IRS, spending that had nothing to do with serving the American people:
- The IRS has recently splurged on millions of dollars the IRS on new office furniture and remodeling.
- According to reporting by the Washington Free Beacon, total spending by the IRS just to buy office chairs and repaint offices from 2010 to the present is $96.5 million.
- This is more than the IRS spent on those items during all eight years of George W. Bush's presidency.
- Analysis of invoices showed that upwards of $1,200 was spent to purchase just one office chair for IRS employee use.
First class travel and comfy chairs while millions of Americans suffer, sounds about right for this political class.
This will do it for this month’s political class insanity. From wasteful spending overseas to wasteful spending within Washington to an inability to their jobs, politicians and bureaucrats in Washington continually amaze with their chutzpah and ineptness when it comes to being competent. More lunacy and idiocy next month, guaranteed.
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:
Term Limits Now: http://www.howmuchworsecoulditget.com
http://www.reason.com
http://www.cato.org
http://www.robertringer.com/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=08j0sYUOb5w
