The United States of Corporate Welfare

I’m a baby boomer, and ever since I was a child, all I ever got was how bad and evil Socialism was. Right on the heels of that was the dreaded “Communist” word. The Democratic Party (or “Liberals”) over the decades was harangued by the Right whenever they tried to help our citizens get social services that were needed (Universal Health Care, Social Security, etc.). Somehow this indicated a sinister Communist plot or some such nonsense.

Throughout the years all I’ve heard is Free Market, De-Regulation, and Laissez-faire. My God, it went on and on for decades. There was never any money for the lower or middle classes to enhance their lives; only somehow, there was always money (we’re talking trillions here) for illegal incursions into foreign lands, lending money to our “buddy, buddy” foreign countries, etc. Congress even continually raided the Social Security money stockpile leaving behind worthless IOUs among other reprehensible schemes. The reasons are obvious, I’m incensed about them and I’ll write about some of this egregious behavior another day.

What really gets me is now that those in power and the “money bags” corporations like Bear Stearns, Lehman Brothers and now AIG are getting OUR money for THEIR duplicity (if not outright criminal behavior) in money management. So the people’s “Socialism” (read: helping our fellow citizens in time of need) is a political borderline to the Godless Communists, yet corporate “Socialism” (read: let’s keep the good old boys from the Ivy Schools losing their money and prestige) is now accepted behavior. The spin is lovely: “They are too big to have them fold…the negative impact on the world market is too great.”

How many times over the years were our citizens sneered at and looked down upon if they were on that contemptible dole called “Welfare”? There were even “Welfare Queen” stories through the years. One was embarrassed to use food stamps.

But the well-fed, upper class cronies of the Bush Administration and the mighty multi-national corporations are using OUR taxpayer dollars to bail themselves out. Not their brothers-in-arms and the multi-nationals’ billions, but our money. Now “Corporate Socialism” will become the new social order and, still, the people of this country will not get Universal Health Care, Secure Retirement and government aid. This is disgraceful. As far as I’m concerned this is no longer a society embracing Capitalism. We are now the Corporate Welfare State (though the euphemism will be “bail-out”), and I do not see it changing in the coming decades.

Sadly, I’m convinced that whoever wins this election will maintain the status quo and keep the multi-nationals rolling in the dough through sweetheart deals and give them our taxpayer dollars when they collapse from fraud and mismanagement. I bet you none of the executives of these bailed out banks and mortgage companies will see a day in prison. Of course, we will still have no money to help the citizens of this country… Despicable.