[R-G] [BillTottenWeblog] Corporate America Gets a Bail-out Bonanza

[Bill Totten]

by Ralph Nader, Nader.org

AlterNet (April 07 2008)


Is there a larger, more exploited, defenseless group of undifferentiated
Americans than the 133 million individual federal income taxpayers?
Their dollars are used to subsidize organized corporate interests,
giveaway taxpayer assets like minerals under the public lands, and bail
out speculative, self-enriching corporations and their crooked bosses.

As large corporations, and their trade associations, complete their
takeover of the federal government - a process that President Franklin
Delano Roosevelt called fascism in 1938 - the corporations become the
government.

Just look at the recent headlines in the business press. Article after
article features abuses and over-runs by companies contracting with the
Department of Defense and other agencies. The enormous volumes of waste,
fraud and poor delivery affecting the Iraq war-occupation now only
produces ho hum newspaper and television stories.

Recently, the student loan scandals, exorbitant burdens on students
graduating from college imposed on them by companies with influence in
Washington, like Sallie Mae, whose government guarantees make a mockery
of capitalism, have riled members of Congress to some modest action.

Once again this year, the big boys on Wall Street stretched the envelope
of risk and greed and ran down to Washington, DC to be bailed out by the
accommodating Federal Reserve. Chairman Ben Bernanke testified before
the Senate that he had no choice but to take on about $30 billion of
Bear Stearns obligations or there could be a run on other big banks.
Where was the Federal Reserve when this credit, debt and risk spree was
building during the past five years?

There is no penalty for failure - whether on Wall Street or in
Washington, DC for misusing or wasting the taxpayers' monies.

When the heads of Citigroup and Merrill Lynch were asked to leave their
positions recently as CEOs after tanking their companies' shares, they
could barely avoid tripping over the many millions of dollars they were
taking with them through the exit door. Among many perverse incentives
operating within these Wall Street firms, there are rewards for failure
- big bucks rubber-stamped by the look-the-other-way, well paid Boards
of Directors.

Back in 1971 and 1980 respectively, the White House proposed a $250
million loan guarantee for Lockheed, and a $1.5 billion loan guarantee
for Chrysler with the government taking back warrants that it later sold
for a profit. There was intense debate and discussion at public hearings
in the House and the Senate before they authorized the guarantees.

Now federal agency bailouts of big business, even Mexican oligarchs,
rarely seek Congressional approval. Just have the Executive Branch do
what it wants. No public hearings. Midnight bailouts without transcripts.

I asked a powerful Senator: "What are the discernable legal limits on
the Federal Reserve's bailout authority and how much total risk can the
Federal Reserve heap on the taxpayers?" "Can they go to a trillion
dollars?" He did not know.

Shifting deficits, debts and unfair burdens to individual taxpayers
while the rich and powerful become either tax escapees or big time
welfare recipients keep pushing a limitless envelope on today's and
tomorrow's taxpayers.

The New York Times' prize-winning reporter David Cay Johnston, has
written two books Perfectly Legal (2003) and just recently, the best
seller Free Lunch (2007) that document these megatrends of corporate
socialism - privatizing corporate profits and socializing corporate
losses on the backs of individual taxpayers.

What can be done about these gigantic runaway sprees?

First, pass legislation that broadens individual taxpayers' right to sue
in federal court against waste, fraud and abuse, including those
receivers of bailouts - the reckless, avaricious corporations who have
Uncle Sam in their back pockets.

Second, have a voluntary checkoff on the 1040 tax return inviting
individual taxpayers to join their own taxpayer defense organization.
Such a group would have millions of small dues paying members and an
on-the-spot skillful watchdog group in our national capital.

Finally, place our public elections off the private auction block and
have them funded by well promoted voluntary checkoffs on the tax returns
together with a certain amount of free radio and television time for
ballot-qualified candidates seeking federal office.

These and other proposals, such as giving shareholders more power to
restrain their top executives, will give taxpayers some grip on the
wide-open spigot of taxpayer dollars delivered to the misfits of the
giant corporate world.

(c) 2008 Nader.org All rights reserved.

http://www.alternet.org/story/81518/
	

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