By Anselm Staack
While millions of Americans have lost their jobs and are facing eviction, with new market highs, the billionaires easily have made over $700 billion in wealth increase.
For these die-hard “capitalists” the government provided trillions in Federal Reserve subsidies, corporate tax cuts, and COVID-19 aid; with a massive increase in the national debt for revenues lost due to their policies.
That same 1% and Corporate America also got 83% of the trillions in benefits from the GOP 2017 Tax “Reform,” while the safety net and social services were cut for the rest with a puny middle class tax.
Corporate America mostly used its tax cuts to make massive stock buybacks which fattened executives and billionaires instead of repaying workers for prior concessions. Now, they get bailouts for COVID-19 because they didn’t save during the good times.
In Alaska, billions of public resource revenue and credits continue to fill the coffers of oil companies by laws fashioned by Republican Gov. Sean Parnell. now-Senator Dan Sullivan, and our current Lietenant Governor — with cuts for the rest of us.
Donald Trump suddenly bestows upon bankrupt Kodak a special contract. Its stock goes up 2,000 percent in one day. Now halted for obvious possible manipulation.
It is clear why the wealth of 95% of Americans has been flat after being adjusted for inflation for 40 years while the wealth of the 5% has increased multiple times. The system has been rigged for the wealthiest.
Many of America’s wealthiest and Congress-corporate connected are the true “socialists” who have benefited handsomely from government policies for the past 40 years.
Now comes President Donald Trump’s COVID-19 Executive Order which goes after the pension funds and healthcare trusts of the workers. The fine print – it will have to be paid back.
Then, Trump dangles that he’ll make the payroll tax cut permanent if he gets reelected. That would devastate Social Security and Medicare.
Don’t fool yourself, Trump knows exactly what he’s doing. It’s called “The Art of The Deal.”
The GOP purposely wanted to give Trump the role of hero to support his re-election campaign. The economy needs new targeted help for the masses, not more money borrowed from those who already need it.
It’s all about what the people think they are getting — not about the schlock and slop they are served. It’s about scoring political points, not well-tested appropriate and properly targeted financial policies.
After Trump’s re-elected, and doesn’t have to run again, he certainly doesn’t have to care about his “Voodoo Economics” and the spineless GOP that enabled him.
The ultra wealthy simply own Congress and they don’t want to give anything up. Why should they — they own the government. China didn’t take American jobs — Wall Street and Corporate America shipped them overseas for decades.
And most of the wealthiest don’t really work for lots of it anyway. Much of their wealth is passive income for which they provide little physical or mental labor.
Quite frankly, there will be less Medicaid, Social Security, and Medicare payments if the poor, uninsured, and the aged die off earlier due to COVID-19 or general poverty. The younger workers can continue to labor on to increase the fortunes of the billionaires.
But little of this would be possible without a clearly rigged system supported by the public provided socialist “capital” by the president, Congress, and the Federal Reserve — targeted to those at the top.
Trump is worried about washing his hair, flushing toilets, those “nasty” women and is determined to destroy the Postal Service; while he and Melania vote by mail.
Mnunchin, Kudlow, McConnell and the GOP continue fretting over all those lazy workers while they propose more trillions for the fat cats.
No time for COVID-19 long-term effective measures, and where 40% of test results arrive too late to be clinically meaningful anyway.
It’s not personal or a conspiracy, it’s “just business.” Dickens’s Ebenezer Scrooges (before supposed redemption) are still very much with us.
• Anselm Staack, is registered non-affiliated, is a CPA and an Attorney who has been an Alaska resident for over 45 years. He was the Treasury Comptroller for Alaska under Gov. Jay Hammond and worked directly on the creation of the Alaska Permanent Fund and Corporation. He resides in Juneau. Columns, My Turns and Letters to the Editor represent the view of the author, not the view of the Juneau Empire. Have something to say? Here’s how to submit a My Turn or letter.
