Corporate welfare alive and well in the Obama administration
Who is happiest with President Obama’s nominees to head the EPA (Gina McCarthy) and the Energy Department (Ernest Moniz)? As Tim Carney explains, it’s neither environmentalists on the left nor free marketeers on the right, but the lobby groups that seek as many beneficial — for their corporate members — government subsidies and mandates as possible:
Although Obama regularly talks about ending “corporate welfare,” battling the “special interests” and creating a “level playing field,” he has steadfastly supported government favors for the ethanol industry — favors that increase costs for drivers, taxpayers, ranchers and grocery shoppers.
The Solar Energy Industries Association also applauded Obama’s nomination of McCarthy and Moniz. Solar companies profit from a production tax credit that Obama recently fought to extend, and a plethora of stimulus subsidies such as loan guarantees, tax credits and grants.
Check who’s investing big in solar energy, and you’ll notice a lot of politically connected names, such as Al Gore, Warren Buffett and Vinod Khosla.
And this is not a new thing for the president, Carney notes:
Obama never has been anti-business. His stimulus amounted to billions in corporate subsidies. His health care bill is a boon to hospitals and drug-makers. He was the most important supporter of Bush’s bailout outside the Bush administration in 2008.
Carney’s right. Obama isn’t anti-business. He’s anti-markets.
As I have written before, both liberals and conservatives need to recognize the nexus of Big Government and Big Business is more problematic than either one on its own. Democrats and Republicans both have a bad tendency to scold the industries they don’t like while protecting the ones they do.
Big Green Energy is one industry the Democrats definitely like. As Carney puts it, the idea is: “Politicians and bureaucrats tell business what to do, and business gets to make a profit doing it.”
But only the biggest businesses benefit from that arrangement: Only they can afford the lobbyists who help shape the legislation and absorb the costs the legislation foists on them. The upside for them is they become further entrenched in their markets, keeping smaller competitors at bay and, in some cases, virtually guaranteeing themselves profits. That builds up a lot of economic sclerosis over time, and it’s one reason America has lost some of its competitive edge.
The good news is that our economy is still dynamic enough — as opposed to, say, many of those in continental Europe — to overcome that sclerosis if we start to unwind that Big Government/Big Business relationship. Obama’s nominees for EPA and Energy suggest that won’t be happening in the next four years. The GOP would do well to spend that time changing its own M.O.
– By Kyle Wingfield
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615 comments Add your comment
Tiberius - pulling the tail of the left AND right when needed
March 8th, 2013
1:18 pm
“no we hold him responsible.”
Since when?
Finn McCool (the system isn't broken; it's fixed)
March 8th, 2013
1:21 pm
why does Barry continue to use it?
He’s a bit slow. He still doesn’t understand it was a program started by a previous administration.
@@
March 8th, 2013
1:22 pm
I wonder if Aynie lets his/her doctor prescribe antibiotics for the common cold?
HDB
March 8th, 2013
1:22 pm
Tiberius – pulling the tail of the left AND right when needed
March 8th, 2013
1:13 pm
Tibbi….understand your point, but SOMEONE’s making money NOW in the home wind-turbine market….or else you wouldn’t have the market choices that are now available ($1500 – 23,000)! Just imagine how the market would be now if the market hadn’t been closed in 1982………
Aynie Sue
March 8th, 2013
1:23 pm
Bruno, there is no long-term if the short-term kills! Have you ever heard of an economy working its way out of recession by austerity? For God’s sake, it took WW2 to jump-start our economy after the Hoover-Republican depression!
Tiberius - pulling the tail of the left AND right when needed
March 8th, 2013
1:24 pm
And if GE couldn’t make it against Siemens, HDB, they don’t deserve to be in that market.
Finn McCool (the system isn't broken; it's fixed)
March 8th, 2013
1:24 pm
“no we hold him responsible.” Since when?
turn off the Fox News and turn on Maddow, or go read a few articles at Alternet.org, Truthout, Salon, slate, Rolling Stone, Esquire. or go read Krugman.
If you open your eyes you will find a lot of liberals bitchin and moanin about Obama. You just choose to keep the blinders on.
@@
March 8th, 2013
1:30 pm
If you open your eyes you will find a lot of liberals bitchin and moanin about Obama.
It’s difficult to hold someone responsible when you believe him to be responsible for your well-being.
@@
March 8th, 2013
1:30 pm
It’s kinda like the battered wife syndrome.
Finn McCool (the system isn't broken; it's fixed)
March 8th, 2013
1:30 pm
it took WW2 to jump-start our economy after the Hoover-Republican depression!
No, look at GDP, we were back to pre-market crash levels by 1936. The Roosevelt switch to austerity measures and we started to crash all over again but he caught it in time. That 2nd dip is what WW2 got us out of.
Junior Samples
March 8th, 2013
1:32 pm
Big Oil and the Electric companies have enjoyed subsidies and tax breaks for many decades as the result of their lobbyists. So if the scales are tipped in the direction of “Green Energy” for a couple years, yes, I’ll consider that as an attempt at leveling the playing field.
Rafe, have you heard of keeping your enemies closer?
Tiberius - pulling the tail of the left AND right when needed
March 8th, 2013
1:34 pm
“If you open your eyes you will find a lot of liberals bitchin and moanin about Obama. You just choose to keep the blinders on.”
There is a difference between bitchin and moaning about him because he hasn’t done more for you, than to hold him responsible for what he hasn’t accomplished, Finn.
You DO know the difference, don’t you?
breckenridge
March 8th, 2013
1:34 pm
Completely off topic but I’m looking at House Bill 512 which passed the House yesterday. This legislation will allow people to take guns into various places, including bars. Umm….I’m all for owning guns for personal protection but is a bar full of gun wielding drunks really a great idea? It sounds like a recipe for a whole bunch of police overtime.
Tiberius - pulling the tail of the left AND right when needed
March 8th, 2013
1:38 pm
“I’m all for owning guns for personal protection but is a bar full of gun wielding drunks really a great idea?”
Well, it might cut down on the drunk driving numbers, breckenridge . . . .
Lil' Barry Bailout - OBAMAPHONE!!!
March 8th, 2013
1:40 pm
Libs get ticked when companies “sit on trillions in cash” and they get ticked when they use it to repurchase shares. They obviously have a tenuous grasp on reality and aren’t happy, no matter what.
getalife
March 8th, 2013
1:42 pm
When our President tries to cut it, you cons and your party fight against it.
Lets cut the crap.
Until you cons stop slobbering on the wealthy, nothing will get cut but programs that help Americans.
Hypocrites and self defeatism must stop now or shut up about welfare.
Lil' Barry Bailout - OBAMAPHONE!!!
March 8th, 2013
1:50 pm
I didn’t invent the word “Obamaphone”. The Obamaphone lady did. Take it up with her.
Bruno
March 8th, 2013
1:50 pm
Bruno, there is no long-term if the short-term kills! Have you ever heard of an economy working its way out of recession by austerity? For God’s sake, it took WW2 to jump-start our economy after the Hoover-Republican depression!
Flipping that around, there is no short-term if the long-term kills, Aynie. It works both ways. Both are important, if you haven’t discovered that in your own personal life.
Per WW2 being necessary to “jump start” the economy, that should give you a clue about the effectiveness of Keynesian stimulus spending. FDR embraced every spending program that came down the pike for more than 10 years with only minimal improvement in the economy. And in case you didn’t know, the farm subsidies we struggle with today were auditioned during the FDR years. In a nutshell, we still pay farmers to NOT grow crops in order to keep prices artificially high.
getalife
March 8th, 2013
1:53 pm
The cuts end our recovery so enjoy the better unemployment numbers today.
Finn McCool (the system isn't broken; it's fixed)
March 8th, 2013
1:53 pm
There is a difference between bitchin and moaning about him because he hasn’t done more for you
Like I said, the blinders are on and are NOT coming off.
Scooter
March 8th, 2013
1:54 pm
It’s discouraging when self righteousness creates a changing environment where rent seeking is a key to success. Ask yourelves how much of that self righteous influence would be obstructed by the FairTax.
Aesop's Fables and other Lib Economic Theories
March 8th, 2013
1:54 pm
The rich get richer and the poor get poorer, it’s the obozobomb.
Tiberius - pulling the tail of the left AND right when needed
March 8th, 2013
1:56 pm
“The cuts end our recovery so enjoy the better unemployment numbers today.”
Yeah, ’cause a miniscule cutting of the rate of increases in our already bloated spending is just so . . .
. . . . austere.
Lil' Barry Bailout - OBAMAPHONE!!!
March 8th, 2013
1:57 pm
I’m not sure what will make the progs happier…an economy that improves so they can credit their messiah, or an economy that tanks so they can blame it on Real Americans and the sequester.
Class of '98
March 8th, 2013
1:59 pm
“This is what the dean Baker book is all about. No one really wants a “free market”.”
There are arguments that can be made that any and all regulations can be done without, assuming we can develop an educated and discerning consumer culture.
Lots of morons bought into Adjustable Rate Mortgages because they ASSUMED the government was watching out for them and wouldn’t let anyone take advantage of them. Well, many people were wrong about that.
If they hadn’t been brainwashed into thinking government regulation is always benevolent, perfect and wise, they may have been more skeptical about the terms of the loan, done more homework, and relied on themselves to protect their interests instead of a government regulation.
This is just one example.
Even child labor laws are hypothetically unnecessary, if our consumer culture were more discerning and educated. Don’t like a company that employs children? Boycott. Don’t buy from them, and tell your friends. The market will correct it.
This is an extreme example of course, but saying “no one wants a free market” isn’t always true. A “free market” corrects itself if the consumer pays enough attention to where his or her money goes and doesn’t rely on the government to do it for them.
Tiberius - pulling the tail of the left AND right when needed
March 8th, 2013
1:59 pm
“Like I said, the blinders are on and are NOT coming off.”
Sorry, Finn. I didn’t include the bitchin and moaning you libs do at President Incompetent because he’s not tough enough on Republicans. Or that he didn’t raise taxes enough. Or that he didn’t push for Stimulus III or IV.
My bad.
Aesop's Fables and other Lib Economic Theories
March 8th, 2013
2:00 pm
It’s the obozobomb!
Record 89,304,000 Americans ‘Not in Labor Force’ — 296,000 Fewer Employed Since January
Fewer tax payers, less revenue, more takers, tweak the job numbers and make the minions cheer this unmitagated disaster, obozobombs away!
Tiberius - pulling the tail of the left AND right when needed
March 8th, 2013
2:01 pm
Class of ‘98 . . .
Well written!
independent thinker
March 8th, 2013
2:02 pm
“”"”"”"”"”"hursday afternoon in Toledo, Ohio—where the story has received significant play in local media—United Auto Workers president Bob King joined Palast and Service Employees International Union vice president Tom Woodruff to call upon the US Office of Government Ethics to look into Romney’s financial disclosures and their failure to list the Delphi investments. Along with several groups like CREW and Public Citizen, the union leaders also sent a letter to OGE demanding a formal investigation.
“The American people have a right to know about Governor Romney’s potential conflicts of interest, such as the profits his family made from the auto rescue,” said King. “It’s time for Governor Romney to disclose or divest.”
As Palast reported, a trust in Ann Romney’s name listed “more than $1 million” invested with Elliott Management, run by hedge fund guru and GOP mega-donor Paul Singer. (That’s the minimum amount of disclosure required by law, so it could have been much more than $1 million.) Singer subsequently snapped up large amounts of stock in Delphi at pennies on the dollar, and then, along with other hedge funds, demanded that the government assume pension responsibilities and bail the company out—or they would shut it down, thus crushing General Motors as well.
The government acceded, Delphi became lucrative again and then went public, and Elliott Management and its investors—including Romney—reaped enormous rewards.”"”"”"”"”"”"”"
http://www.thenation.com/blog/170967/did-mitt-romney-break-law-failing-disclose-delphi-investments
Finn McCool (the system isn't broken; it's fixed)
March 8th, 2013
2:03 pm
Sorry, Finn. I didn’t include the bitchin and moaning you libs do at President Incompetent because he’s not tough enough on Republicans.
or the bitchin about the drone program
Don't Tread
March 8th, 2013
2:04 pm
Ethanol as a fuel additive is a complete failure and we need to quit subsidizing this. This stuff creates more problems than it solves and needlessly increases the price of fuel.
Finn McCool (the system isn't broken; it's fixed)
March 8th, 2013
2:07 pm
So what the bad predictions tell us is that we are, in effect, dealing with priests who demand human sacrifices to appease their angry gods — but who actually have no insight whatsoever into what those gods actually want, and are simply projecting their own preferences onto the alleged mind of the market.
krugman on the markets and the naysayers who predicted doom and gloom the last 4 years.
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/08/opinion/krugman-the-market-speaks.html?partner=rss&emc=rss&_r=1&
Finn McCool (the system isn't broken; it's fixed)
March 8th, 2013
2:08 pm
I wish I could say that it’s all good news, but it isn’t. Those low interest rates are the sign of an economy that is nowhere near to a full recovery from the financial crisis of 2008, while the high level of stock prices shouldn’t be cause for celebration; it is, in large part, a reflection of the growing disconnect between productivity and wages.
Krugman
Class of '98
March 8th, 2013
2:09 pm
Thank you, Tiberius.
Jefferson
March 8th, 2013
2:13 pm
When the names fly at the president, you have a crying baby on your hands.
getalife
March 8th, 2013
2:13 pm
Brainwashed by fox and rw media to think cutting big oil or bank welfare is bad.
You think we should cut SS and Medicare instead so you can shut up about welfare.
Peadawg
March 8th, 2013
2:14 pm
“Corporate welfare alive and well”
Yes we know. ALL welfare, no matter who it goes to, needs to be cut. Period.
bluecoat
March 8th, 2013
2:18 pm
Libs don’t like it when companies use money to repurchase shares.DUH What if they do not have any stock in that co.?Lets see some facts to back up more of your bs.
Tiberius - pulling the tail of the left AND right when needed
March 8th, 2013
2:18 pm
“Brainwashed by fox and rw media to think cutting big oil or bank welfare is bad.
You think we should cut SS and Medicare instead so you can shut up about welfare.”
Some of us believe they ALL should be cut.
You? Not so much.
Tiberius - pulling the tail of the left AND right when needed
March 8th, 2013
2:20 pm
“When the names fly at the president, you have a crying baby on your hands.”
Given the fact that he’s the ultimate in crying babies, Jefferson, maybe we should rename President Incompetent that . . .
getalife
March 8th, 2013
2:22 pm
“You? Not so much.”
I stand with our President on his agenda of deficit reduction.
I think cuts should start after we reach full employment.
Class of '98
March 8th, 2013
2:24 pm
Hey getalife, let me ask you an honest question… Let’s say the federal government did away with all tax breaks for oil companies and instead imposed a enormously burdensome tax rate on them.
What do you think the oil companies would do in response to that. A) keep prices the same. B) lower prices. C) raise prices.
How would the price of a gallon of gas doubling affect the American economy? How would it affect you and your family?
JF McNamara
March 8th, 2013
2:24 pm
LOL @ Tiberius, SMH…
“Come back when our GDP growth is at 6% or more per year”
The GDP growth rate has only topped 6% 4 times since 1965 with the last time being 1984. The annual average is 3.23%. By your standards, we have had a terrible economy since 1984.
getalife
March 8th, 2013
2:24 pm
What happened when our President tried to cut corporate welfare cons?
What did you type on this blog about cutting big oil welfare?
getalife
March 8th, 2013
2:26 pm
Thanks for proving my point class.
bluecoat
March 8th, 2013
2:27 pm
slobber,drivel,drooling,all the results of envy.Want facts just look at your cons.friends and neighbors.Riding around in a gm product,talking on your Govn,taxpayer supported phone and whining all the way.
Class of '98
March 8th, 2013
2:29 pm
I’m sorry getalife, what was your point?
I’ll ask again: If the fed levied an incredibly burdensome tax rate on oil companies, would they: A) keep prices the same. B) lower prices C) raise prices?
You are a broken record when it comes to tax breaks for oil companies. I just want to see if you recognize what an impact oil prices have on our economy.
Heck, I don’t even care if you answer my rhetorical question, I just want to see if you can come up with a intelligent response.
Finn McCool (the system isn't broken; it's fixed)
March 8th, 2013
2:29 pm
Everyone wants cuts; they just don’t want the programs they use and rely on to be cut. Cut someone else’s programs!
Tiberius - pulling the tail of the left AND right when needed
March 8th, 2013
2:30 pm
“I stand with our President on his agenda of deficit reduction.”
Get back to me when he HAS an agenda for deficit reduction.
Besides a campaign speech.
Tiberius - pulling the tail of the left AND right when needed
March 8th, 2013
2:32 pm
” By your standards, we have had a terrible economy since 1984.”
Now you’re finally catching on, JF McNamara.
I think we’re supposed to be better than”average”.