As a lifelong Corporatist Democrat, I’ve always reviled naïve “liberal Democrats,” for their simple-minded mythologies, perhaps the most vexing to me, being the one that goes, “Democrats are the party of the common man, while the GOP is the Party of Big Business.”
I find that kind of “sports fan politics” to be as dangerous as it is misleading.
BOTH major Parties are and have been Corporatist for a very long time.
Neither major political Party cares much about, nor represents the poor or working people “better” than the other. In fact, they both gleefully trample on the working poor in their race for Corporate cash.
The issue has always been whether the partnership between business and government should be business led or government led. For a host of reasons, for the economy to remain stable, it MUST BE a business led model that prevails.
Recently, I came across a Washington Examiner article that seemed to express shock and outrage that Barack Obama was, in fact, a Corporatist, who is beholden to a variety of corporate donors.
“On the one hand, there is the former community organizer Obama. This Obama has made it clear in recent weeks that he is at one with the Occupy Wall Street protesters, saying, for example, when ABC asked how he viewed the demonstrators, that “the most important thing we can do right now is those of us in leadership letting people know that we understand their struggles and we are on their side…”
“But then there is the Obama who is more than happy to accept high-dollar contributions from every Gordon Gecko on Wall Street. As the Washington Post recently reported, Obama has accepted more money — more than $15.6 million — from these people than all of the Republican presidential aspirants combined.
“As I keep saying: They don’t call him President Goldman Sachs for nothing.”
http://www.opensecrets.org/pres08/contrib.php?cid=N00009638
OK, so what’s at all wrong with, or surprising about Barack Obama sidling up to the corporations that have been the veritable “founder of the American feast?”
What rock has the Examiner been hiding under? That money trail is precisely why I’ve been able to happily assert that, “Barack Obama has done what neither McCain, nor Hillary could’ve done – deliver G W Bush’s 3rd term.”
Back in 2008, 3 of the top 7 donors to the Obama campaign were big banks (Goldman Sachs, Citigroup and JPMorgan Chase). UBS, Morgan Stanley, GE, IBM and Time Warner were all among his other major donors. A full 75% of his donations were from Corporate donors.
Moreover, one of Barack Obama’s closest friends and one of his biggest “bundlers” (fund raisers) is UBS Chief Robert Wolf.
According to economic adviser Austan Goolsbee, “The president just likes being around him (Robert Wolf), he has this personal friendship that’s beyond what you see most of the time. Robert is just a fun, relaxed guy and he’s not overly needy.”
President Obama and UBS CEO Robert Wolf on Golf Course
So-called “liberal Democrats” do both the Party and the nation a great disservice by pretending that the great Democratic Party stands against Corporatism, in fact, it’s an outrage, for to be honest, Unions and Union members DO NOT “support the poor, or OTHER working people.” Unions were formed to protect those workers already in those jobs, by making it much harder for new workers or out of work workers to get in. Liberalism and Unionism are hopelessly antithetical on that score. Moreover, such mythologies diminish some of the greatest Democratic accomplishments.
It was a Democratic President (Bill Clinton) who signed NAFTA into law in January of 1994 a full year before the Gingrich revolution was started.
It was a Democratic President (Bill Clinton) who helped shepherded welfare reform through Congress to force the dependent poor back to work.
Much was made of Corporatist Republican G W Bush’s friendship with Ken Lay of Enron, but little was made of the fact that Lay was even closer to fellow Democratic Corporatist Bill Clinton!
Today that insipid “liberal” mythos remains intact, despite the fact that two of Barack Obama’s biggest corporate donors are BP (the energy giant) and Goldman Sachs and that one of his biggest bundlers is Robert Wolf of UBS, while Barack Obama was SUPPOSEDLY beholden to the “liberal” anti-Corporatist and anti-corporate left of this Party.
Recently, when asked what he felt about both major political parties, Mark Cuban answered, “They both scare the hell out of me.”
I’m not sure why Mark Cuban (a Corporate titan) would be scared of the fact that BOTH major political Parties are diehard corporatist, but for those opposed to that ideology….well, they should be VERY afraid.
he’s not overly needy
WTF? Weird.
Cuban’s a maverick. Maybe that’s why he owns the Mavericks.
You’re spot on, by the way. Here’s the first two paragraphs form a column at Fiscal Times yesterday.
f you’re wondering why the rich are getting richer, ask Mr. Bernanke.
President Obama has accused Mitt Romney of being a “reverse Robin Hood” – taking from the poor and giving to the rich. Ironically, that’s exactly what Fed Chair Ben Bernanke is doing, with the blessing of the Obama White House. Mr. Bernanke has again opened the central bank spigots, promising another round of quantitative easing, or bond and asset purchases, aimed at keeping interest rates low for the foreseeable future.
The upshot? Rising gasoline prices which will hurt low-income Americans, reduced income for retirees, and soaring stock prices. While seniors worried how they could cope with diminished incomes, the 40 wealthiest people in the world saw their net worth jump by $29 billion this past week.
Read more at http://www.thefiscaltimes.com/Columns/2012/09/18/Bernanke-A-Reverse-Robin-Hood-in-Middle-Class-Clothing.aspx#Ae7cbwMWUwcHSdwx.99
That’s exactly why I’ve been saying for years that Barack Obama has delivered G W Bush’s 3rd term.
He followed the “Bush Doctrine” assiduously in the Mideast and continued Bush’s Keynesian non-stimulating “stimulus packages” and “big banks & business bailouts” economically.
I am a Corporatist, NOT because I believe, “Corporatism works better than the unfettered free market,” it doesn’t, BUT dumb people don’t do well in such an economic free-for-all. It’s merely that Corporatism “can work,” whereas socialism (the government-run/command economy) CANNOT.
Still, I don’t believe in lying to the poor and the ignorant.
WHY even bother? I mean, in the end, what are they going to do about it?
Clarence Darrow was absolutely right that “Government is the tool by which the strong/rich despoil/abuse the weak/poor.” I believe most real “liberals” merely PRETEND to lament that, when in fact, it CAN BE no other way.
Government can no more be made into a “tool for the advancement of the people,” any more than a jug of soured milk can be made into a vat of fine cognac.
The greatest lie is that of the “helping hand of government.”
I believe most real “liberals” merely PRETEND to lament that, when in fact, it CAN BE no other way.
I’m sure there’s a lot of pretending going on, but I think a fair number of middle class liberals really believe (lament). I know a lot of people who are “dumb” enough that they’re lucky there are smarter, richer people out there creating companies, managing, etc so that the dumb people can have a job and earn an income independent of government hand-outs.
Last year I was in a discussion with one of these “dumb” people. A nice guy who’d do anything for you. He’s a hard core Dem and kept talking about “level playing field.” Trouble is, for 99% of us, we have a level playing field and guys like him, are like the guys who line up in a football game across from a college prospect. If they’re not college material, they’re going to get their butts kicked.
Corporations have room for people of all levels and types, from janitors, unskilled labor, skilled labor, computer programmers, managers, etc.
Darrow was right.
Jefferson, Franklin, even Jackson and Lincoln ALL knew that….THAT government is the tool of the most powerful and can NEVER be harnessed by the poor/weak.
There’s an old and very crude saying that goes, “Kittens don’t f*ck cats.” Those who insist on believing the fantasy of government being run FOR and BY the poor and workingclass people insist on, in effect, believing that “kittens CAN f*ck cats”
As far as that “level playing field,” that too is mythos.
In reality, we ALL come into this world damaged, either through abuse/neglect at one extreme and the softness of affluence at the other. In many ways the person raised soft and with “advantages,” is often the most handicapped of all. They often lack the hunger, the drive that defines the “winner.”
Again, most of these mythologies are in place to make those who’ve gotten ahead without feeling they’ve “earned it,” to feel a little better about themselves….in their view, “At least I lament it.”
But what good does that do?!
If you feel that bad, open your heart, open your home….open your purse. Most such people don’t, ergo they really don’t lament the “natural order of things” at all….so long as they’re doing OK.
Nothing wrong with that. . .just admit it, is all I say.
If there’s anything worse, or more degrading than pity, it’s false or fake pity.
“It was a Democratic President (Bill Clinton) who signed NAFTA into law in January of 1994 a full year before the Gingrich revolution was started.
“It was a Democratic President (Bill Clinton) who helped shepherded welfare reform through Congress to force the dependent poor back to work.”
I actually think that both of those are good things.