Both Liberals and Conservatives Hate Corporate Socialism (Where the Federal Government Favors Giant Corporations at the Expense of the Little Guy) → Washingtons Blog
Both Liberals and Conservatives Hate Corporate Socialism (Where the Federal Government Favors Giant Corporations at the Expense of the Little Guy) - Washingtons Blog

Tuesday, December 21, 2010

Both Liberals and Conservatives Hate Corporate Socialism (Where the Federal Government Favors Giant Corporations at the Expense of the Little Guy)


President Obama has "compromised" on everything from financial regulation and healthcare to taxes.

Obama claims that all of his "compromising" shows that he's getting things done. After all, politics was long ago defined as "the art of compromise".

On it's face, it makes sense that if both conservatives and liberals hate legislation, it must mean that there was give-and-take, and it ended up somewhere in the middle.

But that isn't necessarily true.

Specifically, as I pointed out last month:

Conservatives tend to view big government with suspicion, and think that government should be held accountable and reined in.

Liberals tend to view big corporations with suspicion, and think that they should be held accountable and reined in.

Okay, stay with me here for a minute ...

Conservatives hate big unfettered government and liberals hate big unchecked corporations, so both hate legislation which encourages the federal government to reward big corporations at the expense of small businesses.

As an example, both liberals and conservatives are angry that the feds are propping up the giant banks - while letting small banks fail by the hundreds - even though that is horrible for the economy and Main Street.

The Dodd-Frank financial legislation wasn't a compromise where things landed somewhere in the middle between liberal and conservatives ideas. Instead, it enshrines big government propping up the big banks ... more ore less permanently.

Many liberals and conservatives look at the government's approach to the financial crisis as socialism for the rich and free market capitalism for the little guy. No wonder both liberals and conservatives hate it.

And it's not just the big banks. Americans are angry that the federal government under both Bush and Obama have handed giant defense contractors like Blackwater and Halliburton no-bid contracts. They are mad that - instead of cracking down on BP - the government has acted like BP's p.r. spokesman-in-chief and sugar daddy.

They are peeved that companies like Monsanto are able to sell genetically modified foods without any disclosure, and that small farmers are getting sued when Monsanto crops drift onto their fields.

They are mad that Obama promised "change" - i.e. standing up to Wall Street and the other powers-that-be - but is just delivering more of the same.

They are furious that there is no separation between government and a handful of favored giant corporations. In other words, Americans are angry that we've gone from capitalism to oligarchy.

So if both liberals and conservatives hate something, it doesn't necessarily mean it's a compromise. It may mean that they feel disenfranchised from a government that is of the powerful and for the powerful.

6 comments:

  1. right, except conservatives love government to give big tax earmarks to corporations the opposite of where you are trying to take this. Conservatives only hate big government when they are not directly benefiting form it.

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  2. Obama was a great madison avenue creation - can't criticize him without the racism tag being applied, so he goes forth and does his master's bidding, which happens to be the same master that Dubya had, etc, etc.

    Too many people are hooked into this two-party oligarchy con game and think they are on the winning team. Family members just think I have lost it and am a radical - but then turn around and ask for financial advice. Clueless!

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  3. It is misguided for anyone to think either party is any better than the other these days. If we could get the government back on the side of the people we could use something better than the two party system.
    I agree that the government is on the side of big banks and big corporations and leaving the little guy to pay for the bigs abuses.
    http://financialrealityrevisited.blogspot.com

    ReplyDelete
  4. Our American Free Democratic society has been overthrown and is frozen from righteous action by total corruption. There seems to be two American economy realities:

    One economic reality is Main Street Capitalism, a tried and true American Capitalism economy of Adam Smith’s Free Market. An economy of Fair Trade, Free Enterprise and Competitive Market free from monopolies; that was the economy that built America and made us the number one economy in the world. We had a gold and silver monetary system that separated real wealth from bankster created fake fiat wealth and our currency became the world trade standard.

    The other “American” economic reality is not “American” at all, but Keynesian world Free Market (free to whom?) economics and is not Adam Smiths capitalism but a world Multinational Corporatism that is best described as Totalitarian and global economic Fascism. Their interest is not the well being of the citizens of the United States of America but to their own self interest of world economic control and world Totalitarian power. In a few months (debt, we have no choice) the United States and individual states will be in receivership to the BIS and IMF Bankster Cartel.

    American Liberals and Conservatives are living in the past, they have blindly trusted and believed their bribed leaders lie’s to them for to long, their ship has sunk. We will see if they clamor aboard the life raft of Austerity and World Governance or fight for their American Independence!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Fascism should more appropriately be called Corporatism because it is a merger of state and corporate power.

    -- Benito Mussolini

    ReplyDelete
  6. If you want a really nasty thought for a descriptor of government, look up kleptocracy...and then the subsection for a narco-kleptocracy

    ReplyDelete

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