“Robber Barons”

Predatory Capitalism: The Pharmaceutical, Petroleum, Automobile, Banking And Other Industries Create A New “Gilded Age”!

Ronald 7 Comments

Recent news about many industries make it clear that we are living through a new “Gilded Age”, following the original predatory capitalism of the “Robber Barons” of the late 19th century, followed by the abusive practices of the Ronald Reagan era, predated by the Richard Nixon administration.

Now we have the pharmaceutical industry holding hostages of the sick, disabled, and elderly, with the price of medication going sky high, as with the despicable young hedge fund billionaire who raised a price 5,000 percent until social media forced him, finally, to drop the price increase.

We have the petroleum industry, which does not give a damn about pollution damage, as in the British Petroleum oil spill in 2010, which will damage the long term environmental future in the Gulf of Mexico.  And now oil companies want to drill for oil in Alaska, the worst possible outcome, as we should learn from their mistakes, which have been many over the years.

And we also have Volkswagen having purposely avoided meeting the emission standards set by the Environmental Protection Agency, which should lead to billions in assessment, but also put corporate leaders in prison.  And the General Motors scandal on faulty ignition switches, which caused many deaths and many injuries, should also  lead to prison time and major fines to punish that automobile company.

The banking industry continues exploiting homeowners and their mortgages, and has no conscience in their practices, and their leaders come to Capitol Hill and are worshiped by many members of Congress, when instead, they should be facing prison time for their illegal and unethical business practices.

It is long past time for a major increase in government regulation and intervention to make all corporations accountable, and force them to change their practices, which include horrible exploitation of their work force, as well as consumers.

A new Progressive Era, that promoted by Theodore Roosevelt, needs to develop, along with expansion of the New Deal of Franklin D. Roosevelt, the Great Society of Lyndon B. Johnson, along with the reforms under Barack Obama.

But to do so, the right wing Republican party , which stands in the way of regulating capitalism appropriately, must be defeated for the Presidency, as well as Congress.  And only a future Democratic President can make judicial appointments to insure the long range future of regulation and intervention of the corporate world!

Plutocracy Vs Representative Government: 1896 And 2012 Presidential Elections

Ronald 2 Comments

In the last election of the 19th century, the Presidential Election Of 1896, the corporate plutocrats of the time period—John D. Rockefeller, Andrew Carnegie, J P Morgan—gave financial support to the Republican Presidential nominee, William McKinley, to defeat Democratic nominee William Jennings Bryan, and threatened their workers with lost jobs and closed down industries if Bryan won. They succeeded in electing McKinley, but fortunately within five years, with the assassination of McKinley in 1901, they met their match in the new President, Theodore Roosevelt, who ushered in the Progressive Era, setting the standard for progressives and the later evolution of liberalism among members of Congress and numerous Presidents of both parties, who would work to copy TR’s vision of leadership for the people against the special interests, the powerful corporations. TR also made sure that corporations were unable, ever again, to wield the spending power in campaigns as they had done in 1896.

116 years later, the corporate plutocrats of 2012—including the Koch Brothers, Sheldon Adelson, Donald Trump and a small group of others led by Karl Rove—emboldened by a Supreme Court decision (Citizens United Case) allowing corporations unchecked power to do what was done in 1896, unlimited spending in political campaigns, set out to buy an election, as had occurred in 1896.

So corporate leaders threatened to lay off people if Barack Obama won, and they fully supported the ultimate plutocrat, Mitt Romney, a man who made his fortune destroying jobs and companies, a true Robber Baron, who did not contribute anything to American economic growth, but only his own economic growth!

And despite their massive spending and intrusion into the political process, these plutocrats FAILED MISERABLY!

Democracy won out with the second term victory of Barack Obama, who by winning a second majority popular vote victory, insured the legacy of what he had done on national health care, as well as all of the ideas and visions of TR and every progressive President and program ever since the time of TR, including the New Deal and Great Society.

So TR, belatedly, a century ago, and particularly in 1912, as well as Barack Obama in 2012, reaffirmed the massive victory of progressive ideas and programs, and sent a warning to the corporate plutocrats—YOUR DAYS OF ABSOLUTE CONTROL AND LAWLESSNESS ARE OVER! More government regulation and oversight is on the horizon! The people have won over special interests!

Mitt Romney Might Be Mentally Unbalanced And A Threat As President! Something To Consider As Presidential Election Approaches!

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Mitt Romney has been the most consistent liar of any Presidential nominee in American history, if one examines the way he has run his campaign for President, and also looks at his background, both in public office, in the business world, and in his life experiences.

Romney is considered worrisome as a future President because of his hypocrisy, his deceit in words and actions, and his consistent pathological lying about everything imaginable!

Psychologists would term Mitt Romney as having ASP, Antisocial Personality Disorder. This means that he can be charming and is handsome, and uses those factors to confuse people as to his intentions and motivations. He is consumed by his own mad need to increase his personal wealth, no matter who he hurts in the process, and when demonstrated that he is lying or deceptive, he doubles down on his lies, until, as in the Presidential debates, he confused everyone with his quick switch to the opposite views of everything he had run on in the Presidential primaries.

Romney feels “entitled”, displays narcissism to the extreme, and likes to dominate and control others. And he has no regret, and claims not to remember, bullying a young classmate and leading a gang in forcibly cutting his hair; or using his father’s position as Michigan Governor to wear a police officer’s uniform and stop motorists; and having the gall to back the war in Vietnam, but make sure that he did not serve, by using the excuse of doing a Mormon mission in Paris, France!

With Bain Capital, he caused the collapse of businesses, the laying off of workers, and did whatever would advance his own fortune, having no compassion for those who were victims of his “Robber Baron” Gilded Age mentality!

Romney wiped out records of his work at the Salt Lake Olympics and his Massachusetts Governorship, which meant that there had to be unethical, if not illegal, activities being covered up, because if not, why do that?

Romney has shown no concern for the rights of women; the plight of the poor; the struggles of the middle class; and is unwilling to show his own financial records and taxes, and to discuss his role in the Mormon Church. He feels the American people are not entitled to know anything about his background, and that the news media are the enemy, and that means he will be the most uncommunicative President since Richard Nixon!

Romney is willing to do anything to harm those not his friends, and looks with disdain upon the “47 percent” in his Boca Raton presentation, when he thought he was safely able to express his true views and personality. That event is a warning of what would likely be one of the most corrupt administrations in American history, were he to be elected to the White House!

Mitt Romney is a chameleon, a charlatan, a massive liar, a narcissist, and in many ways a sociopath who would be dangerous with the power to be Commander in Chief, likely to take us into more foreign wars, and violate the Bill Of Rights with impunity!

Who is the true Mitt Romney? No one knows, and to elect him is to take a massive gamble which would likely lead to disaster on many fronts!

The Irony Of Oil Industry Subsidies And Jay Rockefeller

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About a week ago, the five major oil company executives appeared before a Senate committee to defend their right to retain government tax breaks, despite all time profits in the industry, as oil and gasoline prices continue to rise.

There was outrage that the executives, or at least the Conoco Phillips CEO, said it was “UnAmerican” to take away the billions of dollars of subsidies, at a time of budget deficits and the nation on the brink of a showdown on raising the debt limit.

Particularly notable was the condemnation of the industry leaders by Democratic Senator Jay Rockefeller of West Virginia, whose great grandfather was the original oil baron, John D. Rockefeller, the so called “Robber Baron” of the late 19th and early 20th century!

It was a wonder to behold Senator Rockefeller being outraged at the abuses of the industry! It brought back memories of the Gilded Age of the late 19th century, which so much resembles what has been going on in America since the Age of Ronald Reagan in the 1980s!