Trojan Libertarians and the Corporate Kleptocracy

Thanks to the corporate media, running for national office is so costly; you need to be independently wealthy or indentured to deep-pocket donors. In the beginning, our Congressional leaders learn to accept that reality. But I think they also grow accustomed to living like royalty on the lobbyist’s dime. In the business of national politics, survival is a slippery slope.

Thus transparency, which most of us think is a good idea, can be too much like sausage making. It may taste all right if you avoid thinking about how it was made.

Health care reform, we are told, will probably work out in the long run; but it’s hard not to choke on the shameful deals and giveaways to the lobbyists. At this point, I suppose, it’s enough that Democrats will get the credit if it turns out to be more good than bad.

It’s ironic that the final bill more closely resembles something the Republicans were advocating as an alternative to the Clinton reforms. This was supposed to be a "market-based" solution that hinged on private enterprise, rather than (gasp) a government run solution like those enjoyed by nearly every other civilized country in the world. But so many politicians are cowed by Glenn Beck, Rush Limbaugh and "libertarians" fighting for individual liberty and freedom from government oppression that they hold up their crucifixes to ward off the evil spirits of socialism. Never mind that our highway systems, public schools and police departments are already hopelessly socialistic. In Mexico, many of the major highways are owned by corporations. Profits are generated mainly by tourists because the locals can’t afford to use them.

Of course, facts mean little to the true believers of capitalist free enterprise. They know that the corporate kleptocracy generates wealth for the well connected at the expense of those who aren’t as clever or connected. It’s economic Darwinism.

But the plot thickens when you learn that multi-billionaires like the Koch brothers, two of the world’s richest, spend billions creating "libertarian" think tanks like the Cato Institute, and networks of "grassroots" organizations they control. These networks have been phenomenally successful at promoting anti-big-government sentiment with appeals to individual liberty and freedom from government oppression. They have funded "tea party" groups and were behind the media attacks on British climate scientists accused of fudging the data on climate change. Of course, their bias would have nothing to do with the fact that their oil refineries and tankers are credited with more than 200 oil spills.

What is most disturbing is the public doesn’t see that their "libertarian" propaganda is really about weakening government to the point that it is incapable of protecting us from predatory corporations. The opposite of government regulation of corporations and investment banks is not individual liberty, but unlimited freedom for predatory corporations. That’s why shock jocks like Glenn Beck and Rush Limbaugh, who are employed by the corporate owned media, are paid tens of millions to spread the message.

Final Note: Jim Hightower came up with the "Corporate Kleptocracy". Maybe I should reference his article about the Koch brothers, worth about $200 billion each. I think they are tied for 19th place as the world’s richest. Their father founded the John Birch Society, and they are rabidly fascist in their leanings.

-- Gene Bullock, Newsletter Editor for Kitsap Dems