-By Dan Scott
The current anger over the AIG bonus money is bringing a long-standing issue to a boil, Corporatism. Corporatists are politically connected business people who influence government policy and laws to financially benefit themselves. One of the marks of a corporatist is that they have fed from the government trough so long that the company losses its ability to compete in the market place. Feeding at the government trough becomes an addiction, and like all addictions binds it’s user’s life to be defined by it. Once addicted, there is no life outside and thus all attempts to reduce their dependence is met with screams of pain from withdrawal and claims you are the villain for inflicting that pain. Whether the company stands or falls is based strictly on government funding. AIG, GM and Chrysler come to mind.
The Democrat Party has had a long-standing love affair with the Corporatist as typified by Senator Christopher Dodd’s (D) less than transparent insertion of language specifically allowing taxpayer funds to pay for bonuses. Notice that only one political party was allowed to write that law in secret to the exclusion of any other voice or oversight. The relationship between Christopher Dodd and AIG has been lucrative for both parties to say the least. Say what you will about AIG being broke now, but prior to 2008’s meltdown of the market they were making money hand over fist. The supercharging of the Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) under Clinton made billions for the investors of AIG it’s officers and employees (including those who ran Freddie Mac – Rahm Emanuel and Fannie Mae – Franklin Raines). In this light, the CRA was a Congressional Quid Pro Quo for financial campaign supporters of politicians like Dodd, Obama and others in a mutual self enriching scheme at the expense of the country and specifically the poor. Let’s not forget that Barrack Obama was the lawyer for ACORN who forced Citibank to make unsound loans under the CRA. Makes you think of why Bears Sterns gave over $500,000 to Barrack Obama, a junior Senator with no supposed connection or benefit to them. They were connected alright, Obama’s legal work set the framework for companies like Bears Sterns for a lucrative business in CDOs up until the debacle. AIG provided the insurance on those CDOs because they all were mislead by the officials (political appointees such as Franklin Raines and Rahm Emanuel) into believing the mortgage based financial instruments had the FULL FAITH AND BACKING OF THE US GOVERNMENT, i.e. the taxpayer.
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Corporatism, Corruption and Fascism”