Republican enablers of the new corporatocracy

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

For the past year we have been entertained by the media villagers and Beltway bloviators covering the uncivil antics of the tea partiers as if it was a WWE WrestleMania event (and just as fake). The conventional wisdom of these media types is that this was a conservative populist movement. It was corporate sponsored astroturf.

Note to the media: "conservative populist" is an oxymoron. Conservatives are all about maintaining the wealth and privilege of the wealthy and privileged. Historically, populists have always been farmers and laborers in progressive movements seeking to challenge the economic status quo and to get a piece of the wealth and privilege from the wealthy and privileged. Read a history book sometime.

Believe it or not media losers, there are issues on which liberals, progressives and yes, even the tea partiers agree. One such issue is the bailout of the Wall Street banks whose casino capitalism nearly destroyed the world's economy. Liberals, progressives and yes, even tea partiers agree that we want the TARP money paid back, we do not want the pirates of Wall Street to receive multi-million or billion dollar bonuses for their reckless destruction of our economy, and we want the perpetrators of these crimes to be prosecuted. And we agree that there must be rules to prevent these crimes from ever happening again.

Not so the Republican Party. Traditionally the party of big corporations and of Wall Street, the Republican Party, while paying lip service to the tea partiers over the past year, is back with hat in hand offering to be the enablers of the new corporatocracy green-lighted by the U.S. Supreme Court (as if the Republican Party ever stopped being the enablers of large corporations and of Wall Street). Republicans Chase Wall Street Donors – WSJ.com:

Republicans are stepping up their campaign to win donations from Wall Street, trying to capitalize on an increasing sense of regret among executives at big financial institutions for backing Democrats in 2008.

In discussions with Wall Street executives, Republicans are striving to make the case that they are banks' best hope of preventing President Barack Obama and congressional Democrats from cracking down on Wall Street.

GOP strategists hope to benefit from the reaction to the White House's populist rhetoric and proposals, which range from sharp critiques of bonuses to a tax on big Wall Street banks, caps on executive pay and curbs on business practices deemed too risky.

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Last week, House Minority Leader John Boehner of Ohio made a pitch to Democratic contributor James Dimon, the chairman and chief executive of J.P. Morgan, over drinks at a Capitol Hill restaurant, according to people familiar with the matter.

Mr. Boehner told Mr. Dimon congressional Republicans had stood up to Mr. Obama's efforts to curb pay and impose new regulations. The Republican leader also said he was disappointed many on Wall Street continue to donate their money to Democrats,according to the people familiar with the matter.

Republicans voted in lockstep in support of American Health Insurance Plans (AHIP) and Pharma to undermine health care reforms last year, despite a record yearly increase in health care costs in 2009. Health care ate up a record 17.3% of US spending in '09, gov't says This was the single largest one-year jump in health-care spending as a share of the nation's gross domestic product since the government started keeping such records a half-century ago. Without health care reforms, this will continue year after year.

Despite the worst economic recession since the Great Depression and the highest unemployment rate in more than twenty-five years, Republicans have announced their intention to filibuster the jobs bill scheduled for a vote in the Senate next Monday. 'The Rachel Maddow Show' for Thursday, February 4th:

SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R) ARIZONA: If it‘s anything like what was passed through the House at the end of last year, I‘m also going to oppose. It‘s just more of the same.

[John McCain does not feel your pain of unemployment.]

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MADDOW: Amazingly, Republicans seem to have decided to run on a “We‘re with Wall Street” platform. During his run against Martha Coakley, Scott Brown promised to oppose President Obama‘s plan to impose a fee on Wall Street banks that haven‘t paid back their bailout money yet.

Republicans are against that. They are in favor of Wall Street not having to pay back the bailout money to taxpayers.

Similarly, this week, government bailed out AIG announced plans to shell out $100 million in employee bonuses. Yesterday, House Democrats introduced a plan to get that money back for the taxpayers by taxing those bonuses.  Today, Senate Democrats followed suit.

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If this AIG bonus outrage thing feels familiar to you, it‘s because last March, during the last round of AIG bonuses, Democrats offered up a similar bill to get the money back. It passed the House by a huge margin, 328 to 93. Of the 93 who voted against it, 87 were Republicans, including the top Republican in the House, Minority Leader John Boehner, and the number three Republican in the House, Mike Pence—voting to let those AIG bankers keep their bonus money that we paid them.

Democratic candidates all over the country are eagerly awaiting Republican votes in favor of the AIG bonuses, again this time around.

If that‘s not enough Wall Street love for you, consider that the top House Republican on budget matters has proposed his own alternative budget to the president‘s budget. The Republican one proposes the biggest, wettest kiss to Wall Street yet: privatizing Social Security.  If Republicans get their way Americans will be able to invest a portion of their Social Security payroll taxes into secure funds consisting of equities and bonds.

Gamble your life savings on Wall Street? What could possibly go wrong? Oh, was that the safety net?

[See GOP Budget Proposes to Ration Medicare, Privatize Social Security | Crooks and Liars]

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There‘s also the Supreme Court ruling last month allowing corporations to pour unlimited money into American politics. It led to a spate of Democratic efforts to blunt the ruling‘s impact, including legislation introduced today by Democratic Senator Sherrod Brown of Ohio.

“Talking Points Memo” did some great reporting this week on how—as expected – conservative-minded, libertarian-minded tea partiers are also disgusted by the Supreme Court ruling on the grounds that it undermines individual freedom to participate in American politics because individual participation just gets big-footed by corporate participation.

One Texas-based tea partier told the Web site “TPM” that this ruling, quote, “attacks everything this country stands for.”

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Dale Robertson, the leader of TeaParty.org, slammed the ruling. He said it, quote, “puts the people at a tremendous disadvantage.”

In the face of that reaction from even the extreme tea party folks that Republicans would love to count as their base right now, here‘s how elected Republicans are treating the ruling so far.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said, quote, “any proponent of free speech should applaud this decision. In Citizens United, the court ended the suppression of corporate speech.”

John Boehner said, “I think the Supreme Court decisions today are a big win for the first amendment and a step in the right direction. Let the American people decide how much money is enough.”

In an election year, Republicans are now doubling, tripling, quadrupling down on standing with Wall Street and big business against the taxpayers.

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Welcome to a Republican Party that is now actively campaigning against the jobs bill, against getting taxpayer money back from the banks, against taxing those AIG bonuses and for seniors, handing their retirement money to Wall Street and for big business‘s right to influence American elections at the expense of the American people—even foreign big businesses.

Democrats, this is a long, slow curveball right across the plate.

Swing, batter, batter, batter, batter, swing.

You tea partiers are being played by the Republican Party and its corporate masters. Wake up and smell the coffee will ya?