Corporate Welfare = Creeping Facism

[merrill]

Fascism Creeping = Corporate Welfare

Those of us who are familiar with the world's history know that the old line "power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely" isn't just a cute phrase, but it's a fact of human nature, and its invariably proven throughout human history.

Democracy was a concept started to make sure the power of the state is held within the hands of all the people, and never within a select few. As soon as power is concentrated, it is inevitably abused. This creates a cycle of creeping fascism.

Democracy means power of the people, by the people, and for the people, and the United States of America was founded on this principle. Under this principle, the people need to be informed, educated, and need the power to make the decisions for the state. When these conditions are met, Democracy can flourish. When these conditions are not met, then Democracy disappears.

Our founding fathers wanted to insure Democracy for our country. Benjamin Franklin created the public library, the purpose being no citizen will be secluded from public knowledge. He also founded the public school, the purpose being no citizen will be without a basic education.

There were other steps needed to preserve Democracy that were never taken, that were not written in the Constitution, because they could have never been predicted.



Fascism Creeping

 

[merrill]

This is why our founding fathers allowed the Constitution and law codes of our country to be versatile, to change to the needs of the time. If certain anti-Democratic phenomenon were foreseen by our founding fathers, they would have abolished them before they even began.

Our founding fathers could not have predicted that the corporation itself would become its own entity, with its own rights, and eventually have the ability to operate above the law.

Our founding fathers could have not predicted that corporations would continue to merge, until all our press, products, and services were practically coming from the same rich elite entity of people. Our founding fathers could not have predicted that the United States would create Security Agencies to operate internally and abroad in ways which would benefits profits and lessen human rights.

If our founding fathers would have predicted the future, they may have protected us from corruption of power, but they couldn't predict the future, and they knew they couldn't predict the future, so they equipped us with the tools to protect ourselves. Unfortunately, fascism is slick, and people are trusting.

People don't realize how the merging of companies can undermine Democracy. They are trusting that their government's version of "national security" is more important than human rights. The people are complacent and trusting, and don't understand their responsibilities under Democracy.

But now, the power is with the rich, and their power is growing. One day the laws themselves will protect the powerful beyond the reach of our Democracy. Before its too late, the people could stop this concentrating power, if they so realized its threat. Or, the people can be comfortable with the changes happening in their country, and trust that everything always ends up working out for the best, despite inevitabilities proven throughout time.

Fascism Creeping

 

[Truthmatters]

lets remember what Grover Norquist said about this country.

He wanted to shrink it so he could drown it in the bath tub

 

[g5000]

lets remember what Grover Norquist said about this country.

He wanted to shrink it so he could drown it in the bath tub

No, he said he wanted to shrink the government so he could drown it in the bathtub.

 

[merrill]

Promoting Facism State by State

TABOR is Coming by Grover Norquist and Koch Bros sells out state governments, public schools,SRS services etc etc to private industry = Grab Your Wallets!

Beware: TABOR Is Coming | Dollars & Sense

 

[g5000]

Our founding fathers could have not predicted that corporations would continue to merge, until all our press, products, and services were practically coming from the same rich elite entity of people.

Nonsense!

We have more variety in our press than at any time in our history. The internet is chock full of news sources. And anyone can start a blog.

In America there is scarcely a hamlet that has not its newspaper. It may readily be imagined that neither discipline nor unity of action can be established among so many combatants, and each one consequently fights under his own standard. All the political journals of the United States are, indeed, arrayed on the side of the administration or against it; but they attack and defend it in a thousand different ways. They cannot form those great currents of opinion which sweep away the strongest dikes. This division of the influence of the press produces other consequences scarcely less remarkable. The facility with which newspapers can be established produces a multitude of them; but as the competition prevents any considerable profit, persons of much capacity are rarely led to engage in these undertakings. Such is the number of the public prints that even if they were a source of wealth, writers of ability could not be found to direct them all. The journalists of the United States are generally in a very humble position, with a scanty education and a vulgar turn of mind.

Tocqueville: Book 1 Chapter 11

Still true today. Especially the bit about journalists "with a scanty education and a vulgar turn of mind".

As for products, there are umpteen shopping sites online. I can buy stuff from any country on Earth. And frequently do.

The same is true of services.

 

[merrill]

The nations conventional media has been bought up by the right wing thinkers aka owned by the few. Yes this is true. It's in your own backyard.

 

[Truthmatters]

the right wants this governmnet dead.
that way the corps can control everything

 

[Late2TheParty]

Too many confuse being for the free market equating to be pro-business, when it is this attitude that leads to corporate fascism.

 

[Oldstyle]

This is why our founding fathers allowed the Constitution and law codes of our country to be versatile, to change to the needs of the time. If certain anti-Democratic phenomenon were foreseen by our founding fathers, they would have abolished them before they even began.

Our founding fathers could not have predicted that the corporation itself would become its own entity, with its own rights, and eventually have the ability to operate above the law.

Our founding fathers could have not predicted that corporations would continue to merge, until all our press, products, and services were practically coming from the same rich elite entity of people. Our founding fathers could not have predicted that the United States would create Security Agencies to operate internally and abroad in ways which would benefits profits and lessen human rights.

If our founding fathers would have predicted the future, they may have protected us from corruption of power, but they couldn't predict the future, and they knew they couldn't predict the future, so they equipped us with the tools to protect ourselves. Unfortunately, fascism is slick, and people are trusting.

People don't realize how the merging of companies can undermine Democracy. They are trusting that their government's version of "national security" is more important than human rights. The people are complacent and trusting, and don't understand their responsibilities under Democracy.

But now, the power is with the rich, and their power is growing. One day the laws themselves will protect the powerful beyond the reach of our Democracy. Before its too late, the people could stop this concentrating power, if they so realized its threat. Or, the people can be comfortable with the changes happening in their country, and trust that everything always ends up working out for the best, despite inevitabilities proven throughout time.

Fascism Creeping

For a person that purports to know something about history you sure show an amazing ignorance towards it.

The "power" has always been with the rich, no matter what form of government you're speaking of...Democracy, Republic, Socialist, Communist...it doesn't matter, people with wealth have power, always have...always will. What's made this country so great is that we have a set of laws designed to protect everyone...not just the wealthy. The "rule of law" is what protects Americans...and is something the Founding Fathers actually made it rather difficult to change with good reason.

 

[merrill]

"we have a set of laws designed to protect everyone...not just the wealthy. "

Is that so? It doesn't necessarily work that way. look at the discrepancy in tax laws.

How about this?

One factor in this has been the decline in unions. In 1973, more than one-third of private production workers were unionized, which drove up wages. And the presence of unions drove up wages elsewhere as non-union shops competed for talent. Over the past 25 years, unionization has dropped to less than half its former strength, taking wage pressure off employers and reducing wages across the board.

There's also been a high social cost to this re-ordering of things. Johnston presented statistics from the CIA World Factbook showing that the US now ranks 183rd among the nation's countries in real domestic product growth rates. Our income distribution (gini) index number puts us well under several dozen countries (including all the world's social democracies)—all of whom are now more equitable than we are. "A high index number always means an exploding rich, a struggling middle class, and a desperate group of poor," Johnston noted.

How did this happen? People are working just as hard—actually harder, if you take into account work done off the books. They're working longer hours. Large corporate employers like Wal-Mart and restaurants like KFC, Pizza Hut and Taco Bell have recently gotten in trouble for locking people in and making them work off the books, under the threat of losing their jobs.

Some companies are refusing to pay overtime. When workers go to labor authorities to lodge complaints, budget cuts have ensured that there's nobody's there to listen, let alone act.

"Free Lunch: How the Wealthiest Americans Enrich Themselves at Government Expense (And Stick You with the Bill)"

UUA: A Voice of Economic Populism

 

[trickydickyUK]

Fascism Creeping = Corporate Welfare

Those of us who are familiar with the world's history know that the old line "power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely" isn't just a cute phrase, but it's a fact of human nature, and its invariably proven throughout human history.

Democracy was a concept started to make sure the power of the state is held within the hands of all the people, and never within a select few. As soon as power is concentrated, it is inevitably abused. This creates a cycle of creeping fascism.

Democracy means power of the people, by the people, and for the people, and the United States of America was founded on this principle. Under this principle, the people need to be informed, educated, and need the power to make the decisions for the state. When these conditions are met, Democracy can flourish. When these conditions are not met, then Democracy disappears.

Our founding fathers wanted to insure Democracy for our country. Benjamin Franklin created the public library, the purpose being no citizen will be secluded from public knowledge. He also founded the public school, the purpose being no citizen will be without a basic education.

There were other steps needed to preserve Democracy that were never taken, that were not written in the Constitution, because they could have never been predicted.



Fascism Creeping

The creeping fascism is known as the "totalitarian tiptoe." It is becoming more of a totalitarian sprint at the moment though. So many people are waking up to the fascism that the establishment are trying to lock down as quickly as possible.

Also there is also another factor: The "prison without" bars. If people think they live in a free and open society why would they stand up against the system. But eventually the prison without bars become the prison with bars and people realise they are living in a fascist state. Its a case of the real agenda coming to the forefront as is seen in the US right now.

A good video that explains it so much better than myself.

David Icke: Prison Without The Bars ? Video

 

[merrill]

And how about this:

Enforcement is a joke these days, because there simply are no cops. Johnston said that, while the number of US taxpayers is growing rapidly, the number of IRS auditors is down by a third—and, not surprisingly, cheating is on the rise. The story is the same at the Department of Labor, OSHA, and other agencies tasked with keeping America 's economic and employment rules fair and equitable.

Johnstone then boggled the crowd with a blunt assertion: "We pay billions of dollars in taxes that never get to the government." Much of the sales tax we pay at big box stores and shopping centers is diverted to the large companies that own the stores. It's just one of the many swindles these chains have learned to perpetrate against city and county governments.

This is so effective that the Cabela family, which owns a chain of big-box sporting goods stores, receives 137% of its profits from taxpayer subsidies. If they couldn't work this scam, they wouldn't be in business at all.

The heart of the wealth transfer is tax increment financing (TIF). Store owners come to town leaders and offer to build a new store that, they promise, will "create jobs." In exchange, the city gives them the land, builds the store to their specifications, and finances it all with tax-free municipal bonds (which are usually held by associates of the store owners).

To cap it all, the store keeps the sales tax generated in the store to pay off the bond holders. If the store is built on government land, it's also exempt from paying any property taxes.

UUA: A Voice of Economic Populism

 

[Truthmatters]

yeap that is the republican leaderships plan.

Give it all to the corps and have the little guy pay for it

 

[merrill]

Absolutely. It's been going strong for about 30 years.

 

[bripat9643]

Promoting Facism State by State

TABOR is Coming by Grover Norquist and Koch Bros sells out state governments, public schools,SRS services etc etc to private industry = Grab Your Wallets!

Beware: TABOR Is Coming | Dollars & Sense

How does TABOR equate to "corporate welfare?" TABOR is a tax limitation amendment.

 

[bripat9643]

Your first error is the claim that unions drive up wages. That's wrong. Unions drive up wages only for union members. To do this they have to limit employment in unionized trades. That means fewer people employed in these fields that were better paying even without being unionized. In short, unions reduce the average wage. They don't increase it.

The rest of your claims are equally fallacious.

"we have a set of laws designed to protect everyone...not just the wealthy. "

Is that so? It doesn't necessarily work that way. look at the discrepancy in tax laws.

How about this?

One factor in this has been the decline in unions. In 1973, more than one-third of private production workers were unionized, which drove up wages. And the presence of unions drove up wages elsewhere as non-union shops competed for talent. Over the past 25 years, unionization has dropped to less than half its former strength, taking wage pressure off employers and reducing wages across the board.

There's also been a high social cost to this re-ordering of things. Johnston presented statistics from the CIA World Factbook showing that the US now ranks 183rd among the nation's countries in real domestic product growth rates. Our income distribution (gini) index number puts us well under several dozen countries (including all the world's social democracies)—all of whom are now more equitable than we are. "A high index number always means an exploding rich, a struggling middle class, and a desperate group of poor," Johnston noted.

How did this happen? People are working just as hard—actually harder, if you take into account work done off the books. They're working longer hours. Large corporate employers like Wal-Mart and restaurants like KFC, Pizza Hut and Taco Bell have recently gotten in trouble for locking people in and making them work off the books, under the threat of losing their jobs.

Some companies are refusing to pay overtime. When workers go to labor authorities to lodge complaints, budget cuts have ensured that there's nobody's there to listen, let alone act.

"Free Lunch: How the Wealthiest Americans Enrich Themselves at Government Expense (And Stick You with the Bill)"

UUA: A Voice of Economic Populism

 

[Oldstyle]

"we have a set of laws designed to protect everyone...not just the wealthy. "

Is that so? It doesn't necessarily work that way. look at the discrepancy in tax laws.

How about this?

One factor in this has been the decline in unions. In 1973, more than one-third of private production workers were unionized, which drove up wages. And the presence of unions drove up wages elsewhere as non-union shops competed for talent. Over the past 25 years, unionization has dropped to less than half its former strength, taking wage pressure off employers and reducing wages across the board.

There's also been a high social cost to this re-ordering of things. Johnston presented statistics from the CIA World Factbook showing that the US now ranks 183rd among the nation's countries in real domestic product growth rates. Our income distribution (gini) index number puts us well under several dozen countries (including all the world's social democracies)—all of whom are now more equitable than we are. "A high index number always means an exploding rich, a struggling middle class, and a desperate group of poor," Johnston noted.

How did this happen? People are working just as hard—actually harder, if you take into account work done off the books. They're working longer hours. Large corporate employers like Wal-Mart and restaurants like KFC, Pizza Hut and Taco Bell have recently gotten in trouble for locking people in and making them work off the books, under the threat of losing their jobs.

Some companies are refusing to pay overtime. When workers go to labor authorities to lodge complaints, budget cuts have ensured that there's nobody's there to listen, let alone act.

"Free Lunch: How the Wealthiest Americans Enrich Themselves at Government Expense (And Stick You with the Bill)"

UUA: A Voice of Economic Populism

The decline of unions in the private sector didn't come about because of changes to the tax laws, Merrill. In large part it was high union wages that prompted a migration of jobs. In the 70's textile jobs left the New England for the Carolinas because non-union workers there were much cheaper. Over the next twenty years textile plants in the Carolinas became unionized and as the wages went up, textile jobs went to places like Honduras, Mexico and China.

As for large corporations forcing people to work "off the books"? That's horseshit. If you're a large corporation and you have that as company policy then you'll be hit with a lawsuit so fast it would make your head spin. I've done the corporate thing and the regulations concerning workers hours and overtime are strict as hell. Most corporations try as hard as possible to completely eliminate overtime because it IS so expensive. They don't "lock people in" as you've accused.

 

[bripat9643]

Who is to blame for that? Simple: turds like you are to blame. People who think government should control development or subsidize it are to blame. That's exactly the policy Obama and Congressional Democrats pursued with the so-called "stimulus" bill. That's why we have things like the Solyndra bankruptcy and the GM bailout. That's what crony capitalism is.

And how about this:

Enforcement is a joke these days, because there simply are no cops. Johnston said that, while the number of US taxpayers is growing rapidly, the number of IRS auditors is down by a third—and, not surprisingly, cheating is on the rise. The story is the same at the Department of Labor, OSHA, and other agencies tasked with keeping America 's economic and employment rules fair and equitable.

Johnstone then boggled the crowd with a blunt assertion: "We pay billions of dollars in taxes that never get to the government." Much of the sales tax we pay at big box stores and shopping centers is diverted to the large companies that own the stores. It's just one of the many swindles these chains have learned to perpetrate against city and county governments.

This is so effective that the Cabela family, which owns a chain of big-box sporting goods stores, receives 137% of its profits from taxpayer subsidies. If they couldn't work this scam, they wouldn't be in business at all.

The heart of the wealth transfer is tax increment financing (TIF). Store owners come to town leaders and offer to build a new store that, they promise, will "create jobs." In exchange, the city gives them the land, builds the store to their specifications, and finances it all with tax-free municipal bonds (which are usually held by associates of the store owners).

To cap it all, the store keeps the sales tax generated in the store to pay off the bond holders. If the store is built on government land, it's also exempt from paying any property taxes.

UUA: A Voice of Economic Populism

 

[Meister]