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
barking frog
March 8th, 2013
4:49 pm
corporate bailouts are not much different from stimulus.
wouldn’t want the coast guard to let a yacht founder.
@@
March 8th, 2013
4:52 pm
“The way to crush the bourgeoisie is to grind them between the millstones of taxation and inflation.”–Vladimir Lenin
I’m feelin’ the pressure.
Getalife:
No more bailouts.
The big banks are even BIGGER now. They’re even more powerful.
During “the collapse” was there a run on banks here in the U.S.? None of which I’m aware. There were some in Europe.
I wanted to initiate a run AFTER THE FACT to let ‘em know who really holds their fate in hand. I don’t do business with a bank who nickel and dimes me to death.
Aesop's Fables and other Lib Economic Theories
March 8th, 2013
4:53 pm
The Dow Jones Industrial average, adjusted for inflation, is still nowhere near as high as President Bush had it. But if it makes you feel better to lie to yourself amidst all the carnage, just remember, you are sneering at the downtrodden.
It’s all really so sick.
@@
March 8th, 2013
4:56 pm
They think they are entitled to this socialism.
That puts ‘em on par with your side, Getalife.
Politico
March 8th, 2013
4:59 pm
Aesop
Where was the Dow when Bush left? You can adjust it for inflation if you like
bwhahahahahahahahaa
That Black Guy
March 8th, 2013
5:00 pm
two riders were approaching
March 8th, 2013
1:15 pm
when the whole Obama phone thing has been debunked about 50 times why does Barry continue to use it? Am I missing something?
_____________________________________
You might want to tell these guys.
http://obamaphone.net/
Rafe Hollister preparing for an Obamanist America
March 8th, 2013
5:03 pm
Finn sorry for confusing your and Cheesy, I’m just so sorry, you guys are so similar, you could be the same person.
curious
March 8th, 2013
5:06 pm
When Pres. Bush left office, the economy was sinking faster than the Titanic.
That Black Guy
March 8th, 2013
5:07 pm
Jefferson
March 8th, 2013
2:13 pm
When the names fly at the president, you have a crying baby on your hands.
________________________________
ANY president?
Or just THIS one?
barking frog
March 8th, 2013
5:10 pm
I think President Obama likes the word ObamaPhone just as
he likes ObamaCare and besides BushPhone just seems
inappropriate….
curious
March 8th, 2013
5:12 pm
From the Washington Examiner, September 2012.
“where do these “free cell phones” come from?
The program is called Lifeline, established in 1984, originally created to subsidize landline phone service for low income Americans, funded by government-collected telecommunication fees, paid by consumers.
In 2008, the program was expanded to support cell phones which quickly escalated the cost of the program. In 2008 the program cost $772 million, but by 2011 it cost $1.6 billion.”
Obama didn’t take office until 2009, so he doesn’t deserve all the blame.
Rafe Hollister preparing for an Obamanist America
March 8th, 2013
5:12 pm
Politico
Yes, Yes, I am aware that different groups have different unemployment rates. I have been aware of that during the entire Obama regime. Unemployment prior to that was so low, I didn’t get into the weeds trying to figure out who was unemployed.
There is no “political dig”. I have pointed out during most of the last few years that Barry is lucky that his voters do not seem to mind that they are disproportionately affected. Yes, I know that minorities all suffer the worst, no matter who the President is, but so many of his voters tend to think Barry is the best thing since sliced bread and he is personally looking out for them and yet their lives are no better as far as employment is concerned, actually worse under his regime. Just facts pointed out for others to ponder, nothing more, nothing less.
Anything else I can help you with today?.
Aesop's Fables and other Lib Economic Theories
March 8th, 2013
5:13 pm
p-lo – Why would I do that? The threat of obozo the belligerent is what collapsed the market. Why do you blame this on Bush?
And only the corporate welfare that Kyle writes of, the fatal devaluing of our currency and corruption brought it back to where Bush had it.
Rafe Hollister preparing for an Obamanist America
March 8th, 2013
5:17 pm
Where was the Dow when Bush left? You can adjust it for inflation if you like
Politico, that line may come back to haunt you on Jan 20, 2017.
@@
March 8th, 2013
5:18 pm
Don’t Rely on a Quack Doctor
By Robert Higgs | Monday March 4, 2013 at 8:36 PM PST
A man goes to his doctor for a routine checkup. The doctor performs a perfunctory examination and informs him that unless he receives an experimental treatment the doctor has devised, he will soon become disabled. “What’s it cost, Doc?” the man asks. “Well, unfortunately it’s not cheap, Mr. Smith, and I can’t tell you exactly how much the total cost will be until the entire treatment has been completed, but unless you get this treatment, you will soon be in big trouble.”
The man agrees to undergo the treatment. He has to sell some of his possessions and go deeply into debt to pay for it, but, relying on the doctor’s advice, he believes that the alternative to getting the treatment would be catastrophic.
After the treatment, however, the man actually feels worse than before. So he visits his doctor and is startled when the doctor reports that he has relapsed and must undergo the same treatment again or he will probably die. As before, the doctor cannot say in advance how much the treatment will cost.
So, the man sells more of his possessions and goes even further into debt to finance the treatment. To his surprise, shortly after its completion, he feels even worse, and the doctor informs him that he has relapsed again and will have to undergo the treatment again lest he die shortly.
The man sells his remaining possessions, exhausts his capacity to borrow, begs money from his relatives, and has the treatment a third time. After its completion, he feels horrible. Once more, the doctor reports that his condition has not been improved and therefore he will have to undergo a fourth round of treatment.
This time, however, the man is completely broke, so he resigns himself to his imminent demise, puts his personal affairs in order, spends as much time as possible with close friends and family members, and waits to die.
But he doesn’t. Indeed, after a year, he is still alive and feels much better than he did immediately after his treatments. To everyone’s astonishment, he returns to work, feels fine, and considers himself lucky to have had a spontaneous recovery from a disease that threatened to take his life.
Having repaired his financial condition after ten years of normal, happy, healthy working life, the man’s curiosity gets the best of him and he visits a different doctor, an old Austrian, who examines him thoroughly and reports: “There is absolutely nothing wrong with you; nor do I see any indication that anything was seriously wrong with you before you began the treatments. You appear to have been misdiagnosed and treated for no good reason, and the treatments made you sick. When the treatments stopped, you returned to your previous, normal, healthy condition.”
(The foregoing is a parable about government intervention in the economy.)
————————————————————
LBB is right. It’s not so much that he believes Obama gave away free phones, it’s that the woman in the video believed he gave her a phone.
She voted for a phone?
getalife
March 8th, 2013
5:21 pm
Mindlessly blaming our President accomplishes nothing.
Want to cut corporate welfare?
Unite with the majority to change it or shut up about welfare.
Politico
March 8th, 2013
5:21 pm
“The threat of obozo the belligerent is what collapsed the market. Why do you blame this on Bush? ”
If you and your rw websites say so
bwhahahahahahaha
Lil' Barry Bailout - OBAMAPHONE!!!
March 8th, 2013
5:21 pm
Politico: I’m not arguing the disparities because they do exist
—————————
All ethnic groups did better under Our President Bush than under the Obozo regime.
Politico
March 8th, 2013
5:22 pm
“Politico, that line may come back to haunt you on Jan 20, 2017.”
may or may not, but how stupid is it to tout the high of the Dow under Bush when everyone knows that it was much less than that when he left?
Politico
March 8th, 2013
5:23 pm
“p-lo – Why would I do that?”
Intellectually honesty for one, but you usually do not display too much of that, but do blather on
getalife
March 8th, 2013
5:24 pm
“The threat of obozo the belligerent is what collapsed the market. Why do you blame this on Bush? ”
That is just plain ignorant.
“This sucker could go down” w.
It collapsed on his watch and he had no clue about the global economy.
Jefferson
March 8th, 2013
5:27 pm
Still sore about the elections, I see. Grow up and enjoy life, crying don’t make it better.
Politico
March 8th, 2013
5:28 pm
Rafe
For the record, I’m just countering Aesop’s point about the Dow and his cherry picking of data. I don’t give any President as much credit or blame for the Dow as many like to do.
But it is funny to see him tout the high but make excuse after excuse (his usual m.o) for why it went down
Finn McCool (the system isn't broken; it's fixed)
March 8th, 2013
5:28 pm
The Worst Mistake in U.S. History — America Will Never Recover from Bush’s Great Foreign Policy Disaster
http://www.alternet.org/news-amp-politics/worst-mistake-us-history-america-will-never-recover-bushs-great-foreign-policy
amen, brother
getalife
March 8th, 2013
5:28 pm
See what I mean about debating with liars?
I yield the floor.
Proceed cons.
Stay the course.
Rafe Hollister preparing for an Obamanist America
March 8th, 2013
5:30 pm
may or may not, but how stupid is it to tout the high of the Dow under
whomever, because we know that this high is not a permanent thing. So, why are the Dems so excited about this temporary condition, that Obama had little if anything to do with.
Politico
March 8th, 2013
5:32 pm
Rafe
Thanks for the clarification. Did that article you posted mention that these disparities exists regardless of who is in office and no matter what the unemployment rate is? If not, why do you think they didn’t do that?
Lil' Barry Bailout - OBAMAPHONE!!!
March 8th, 2013
5:33 pm
Pearl Harbor happened on FDR’s watch. We properly blame the Japanese.
Americans stopped paying their mortgages on Our President Bush’s watch. Blaming Our President Bush is intellectually lazy and is motivated solely by partisanship.
Our President Bush fixed the mess created by the parasites. Nearly all the TARP money has been repaid.
Now, if we could just get back the tens of billions Obozo spent buying GM and handing it to union thugs.
Finn McCool (the system isn't broken; it's fixed)
March 8th, 2013
5:33 pm
Dems so excited
hyperbole much?
Politico
March 8th, 2013
5:35 pm
“So, why are the Dems so excited about this temporary condition, that Obama had little if anything to do with.”
I can only assume it is the same reason you don’t call out Aesop and Barry for touting the market under Bush. Many on the left are no different than many on the right, they will credit when it is good and deflect or ignore when it doesn’t meet the narrative. Intelligent man like yourself is fully aware that is a two way street, right?
Rafe Hollister preparing for an Obamanist America
March 8th, 2013
5:35 pm
Finn, alternet written by left wing unicorns. BTW I’m working hard to make sure I respond to you when you post and to Cheesy when you post.
I tried to create a helper, to answer Cheesy’s posts, so I could concentrate on your posts, but they now have all comments from new names going to moderation, so that didn’t work out so well.
Dusty
March 8th, 2013
5:38 pm
Well, as usual. I will do my duty. We have a 16 trillion dollar debt because President Obama has increased it greatly. Bush didn’t do it. Reagan didn’t do it. OBAMA DID IT. I did not want you to forget since Finn & Cheesy & AJC don’t mention it often.
Sequester cuts: I don’t care about the White House visits. Stopping it was a pollitical call. Nothng else. We’ll get over this silly stuff but we will remember who instigated it.
But I WOULD LIKE TO KNOW, how many illegal immigrants were released from prison into Georgia’s population? These people were Federal lawbreakers. Georgia’s government would also like to know just what the Feds think they are doing. What next for sequester? I suggest closing every golf course because they alter the environment, use a lot of water, and are expensive to keep going. NO mo golf! Then we’ll know the president means business!
Rafe Hollister preparing for an Obamanist America
March 8th, 2013
5:43 pm
I can only assume it is the same reason you don’t call out Aesop and Barry for touting the market under Bush.
LBB/Aesop guys please quit boasting about the Dow under Bush, because it went up and down back then. Even though the Dems think Barry is special, it will still go up and down.
Aesop's Fables and other Lib Economic Theories
March 8th, 2013
5:44 pm
The Dow Jones average on January 4, 2008 was 12,800.18.
On April 4, 2008 it was 12,609.42.
And on September 26, 2008 we had 11,143.13.
On August 29, 2008, the democrats nominated a total socialist whackjob and the Dow was at 11,543.55.
One month later – October 10, 2008 8,451.19.
Total sell off.
Chew on that, obozobots.
Rafe Hollister preparing for an Obamanist America
March 8th, 2013
5:46 pm
If not, why do you think they didn’t do that?
Because the article was not about unemployment disparities, it was about the improvement of the economy in Feb, it improved in some areas, not in others. Pretty simple, maybe you should read it!
Politico
March 8th, 2013
5:47 pm
1st day of Bush’s Presidency 10587
last day 7949
“On August 29, 2008, the democrats nominated a total socialist whackjob and the Dow was at 11,543.55.
One month later – October 10, 2008 8,451.19.”
And what is it today?
bwhahahahahahahaha
Rafe Hollister preparing for an Obamanist America
March 8th, 2013
5:49 pm
improvement of the economy
should be improvement in unemployment.
Politico
March 8th, 2013
5:50 pm
Rafe
I knew the answer when you originally posted it. Again those disparities have existed for years. They are being highlighted for one reason and one reason only.
Do you think when the housing bubble was on the ascent and it was a major driver in assisting employment that the same publication was highlighting those disparities? They existed then as they do now.
MarkV
March 8th, 2013
5:50 pm
Dusty: “We have a 16 trillion dollar debt because President Obama has increased it greatly. Bush didn’t do it. Reagan didn’t do it. OBAMA DID IT.”
Percent change in national debt:
Regan 188.6%
Bush 89.0%
Obama 53.6%
http://www.skymachines.com/US-National-Debt-Per-Capita-Percent-of-GDP-and-by-Presidental-Term.htm
Anybody who would want to start arguing with me about better measures of the national debt changes, do not bother; I am well aware that this is not one, I am simply responding to the claim as written.
Aesop's Fables and other Lib Economic Theories
March 8th, 2013
5:51 pm
Don’t like the facts, eh?
And how much will it cost the United States to get it back up there, p-lo?
Finn McCool (the system isn't broken; it's fixed)
March 8th, 2013
5:53 pm
But I WOULD LIKE TO KNOW, how many illegal immigrants were released from prison into Georgia’s population?
I’m more worried about the white male conservative militia whack jobs running about freely.
Finn McCool (the system isn't broken; it's fixed)
March 8th, 2013
5:54 pm
white male conservative militia whack jobs running about freely.
Oh, I left out “angry”. Angry cause a white male just can’t get ahead in this world.
creepy and sad
Aesop's Fables and other Lib Economic Theories
March 8th, 2013
5:55 pm
(Needless to say, if President Bush made as extensive use of drones as Obama is doing, the Left would be rending every garment and staging hunger strikes.)
Even your own people laugh at you now, liberals.
Lil' Barry Bailout - OBAMAPHONE!!!
March 8th, 2013
5:57 pm
MarkV: Percent change in national debt:
——————
We don’t pay interest on the percent change in national debt. We pay interest on the dollar amount.
Obozo has done more damage to the U.S. finances than any of his predecessors.
Lil' Barry Bailout - OBAMAPHONE!!!
March 8th, 2013
5:59 pm
By the time Obozo leaves office, he will have racked up as much debt as all of his predecessors combined.
Thanks, Democrats.
Finn McCool (the system isn't broken; it's fixed)
March 8th, 2013
6:01 pm
Thanks, Democrats.
We hope to get there and blow right past that historical number.
Finn McCool (the system isn't broken; it's fixed)
March 8th, 2013
6:02 pm
We don’t pay interest on the percent change in national debt. We pay interest on the dollar amount.
ie, I haven’t a clue on how to read ‘percent change”
getalife
March 8th, 2013
6:03 pm
cons want to go back to w’s losing 750,000 jobs a month but our President gave us steady job growth until the gop cuts.
The fed will not stop the stimulus until full employment.
Proceed.
Lil' Barry Bailout - OBAMAPHONE!!!
March 8th, 2013
6:03 pm
i.e., who cares
F. Sinkwich
March 8th, 2013
6:06 pm
“Civil rights leader Rev. Jesse Jackson is in Venezuela on Friday where he delivered a eulogy for the recently deceased Venezuela President Hugo Chavez. With actor Sean Penn in the front row, Jackson delivered a somber prayer that Chavez’ soul would find peace in the afterlife. He praised Chavez’s record as president…”
There exists no shame, whatsoever, among lib ilks.
Shame, shame, shame.