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“we renew our resolve that America will never be a socialist country”
someone should alert Trump that America is now a hotbed of socialism but it’s socialism for the rich.
everyone else is treated to harsh capitalism.
in the conservative mind socialism means getting something for doing nothing.
this pretty much describes General Motors receipt of 600 million dollars in federal contracts plus 500 million in tax breaks.
since Trump took office some of this corporate welfare has gone into the pockets of GM executives.
chairman and CEO Mary Barra raked in almost 22 million dollars in total compensation in 2017 alone but GM employees are subject to harsh capitalism.
GM is planning to layoff more than 14,000 workers and close three assembly plants and two component factories in North America by the end of 2019.
the nation’s largest banks saved 21 billion dollars last year thanks to Trump’s tax cuts some of which went into massive bonuses for bank executives.
on the other hand thousands of lower-level bank employees got a big dose of harsh capitalism.
they lost their jobs.
banks that are too big to fail courtesy of the 2008 bank bailout enjoy a hidden subsidy of some 83 billion dollars a year because they have the backing of the federal government.
this hidden subsidy gives Wall Street’s giant banks a huge advantage in 2017.
Wall Street’s bonus pool was thirty one point four billion dollars.
so take away the hidden subsidy and that bonus pool disappears along with most profits.
Trump and his appointees at the Federal Reserve are easing bank requirements put in place after the bailout but they will make sure the biggest banks remain too big to fail.
when he was in business Trump perfected the art of using bankruptcy to shield himself from the consequences of bad decisions.
socialism for the rich at its worst while leaving employees twisting in the wind. now all for America executives who run their companies into the ground are getting gold-plated exit packages while their workers give pink slips.
under socialism for the rich you can screw up big time and still reap big rewards.
Equifax is richard smith retired in 2017 with an 18 million dollar pension in the wake of a security breach that exposed the personal information of 145 million customers to hackers.
Wells Fargo’s carry toll stet departed with a hundred twenty five million dollar exit package after being in charge of the unit that opened more than two million unauthorized customer accounts.
whatever happened to the idea of a meritocracy?
an economic system that allows everyone to get ahead through hard work and economic gains go only to those who deserve them.
around 60 percent of America’s wealth is now inherited.
many of today’s super-rich have never done a day’s work in their lives.
Trump’s response has been to expand this divide by cutting the estate tax to apply only to estates valued at over twenty-two million dollars per couple.
Mitch McConnell is now proposing that the estate tax be repealed altogether.
to the conservative mind the specter of socialism conjures up a society in which no one is held accountable and no one has to work for what they receive.
yet that’s exactly the society Trump and the Republicans are promoting for the rich.
meanwhile most Americans are subject to an increasingly harsh and arbitrary capitalism.
they need stronger safety nets and they deserve a bigger piece of the economic pie.
if you want to call this socialism fine.
I call it fair.
what do you think do you think the current system is fair?”
– Robert Reich: Socialism of the Rich, Capitalism for the Rest
Robert Reich summed up beautifully in a short video what I’ve been saying for several years now about the projection and cognitive dissonance espoused by a plurality of individuals.
-Tom
P.s. If you’d like to work with me I don’t charge any fees I’m not going to sell you something you don’t want or need: http://workwithtom.fireyourboss.xyz
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