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
Thulsa Doom
March 8th, 2013
10:19 pm
“(CNSNews.com) – According to the most recent official estimate by the federal Bureau of Economic Analysis, the Gross Domestic Product for 2012 will be $15.6061 trillion–or about $440.5 billion less than the $16.0466 in debt that the federal government had accumulated as of the close of business on Monday.
In other words, the debt is now approximately 103 percent of GDP.”
Sadly it looks like we’re there already. I think this is also the first time in our nation’s history where our debt exceeded our GDP.
Thulsa Doom
March 8th, 2013
10:21 pm
Forgot to put down that that news clip was from Sept of 2012 so it looks like we blew past the 100% ratio a while back.
bluecoat
March 8th, 2013
10:24 pm
300 billion debt vice deficit.whew must of been lots of vice going on.Where was the vice squad.Sure this did not occur under Clinton?
Bruno
March 8th, 2013
10:25 pm
300 billion debt vice deficit.whew must of been lots of vice going on.Where was the vice squad.Sure this did not occur under Clinton?
Bruno
March 8th, 2013
10:31 pm
This Doobies number has a haunting quality about it:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oJ-5DQ0MmKI
Thulsa Doom
March 8th, 2013
10:32 pm
All right. What the hell is going on? I’m not getting the bluecoat and Bruno copying. What gives?
Hillbilly D
March 8th, 2013
10:33 pm
Thulsa
That makes two of us.
bluecoat
March 8th, 2013
10:34 pm
Thulsa Doom
March 8th, 2013
10:32 pm
All right. What the hell is going on? I’m not getting the bluecoat and Bruno copying. What gives?
Thulsa Doom
March 8th, 2013
10:36 pm
Hillbilly D.,
Sock puppet I guess if he’s mimicking me now and was mimicking Bruno. Bizarre.
Just Saying..
March 8th, 2013
10:38 pm
Where’s this secret Marxist President out to destroy the American free enterprise system we read about so much from the OC Posters here?
Thulsa Doom
March 8th, 2013
10:41 pm
“Where’s this secret Marxist President out to destroy the American free enterprise system we read about so much from the OC Posters here?”
I dunno. I don’t see a secret Marxist president anywhere in sight. But I do see a grossly incompetent president who has a not so secret disdain and contempt for the American free enterprise system.
MarkV
March 8th, 2013
11:03 pm
Thulsa Doom @9:48 pm
“What can I say? You got me there pardner. I do not understand and cannot interpret liberal gobbledeegook. Its a dialect of incoherent rambling that is like German or Russian. I know it when I see it. Doesn’t mean I understand it though.”
Glad you admit your failures. Calling something stupid names does not change anything. What you do not understand is plain English, even when it has nothing to do with anything liberal or conservative. In other words, you fail in literacy, and you try to cover it by bombastic accusations.
MarkV
March 8th, 2013
11:06 pm
Rafe @ 10:03 pm
“I comprehend that you think rate of growth of the debt is somehow the be all/end all of a discussion regarding who is responsible for the nations debt. ….”
Rafe,
We can stop right here. You comprehend nothing. You have absolutely no idea what I “think,” because I have not addressed anything you write about in the above quote and afterwards.
As a matter of fact, I don’t give a fig about all those discussion of who is responsible for what and what this and that statistic shows, whether it is coming from the left or right and which people from both side like to bicker about. Any of those numbers is a result of complex circumstances, and any such discussion here is, in my view, a stupid waste of time.
What I argue is the validity of claims made here. If you paid any attention, you would have seen that that was all I did today. I even pointed it out very clearly in my first post on the subject. I showed that both the claims I responded to were factually incorrect. If you believe I was wrong, show me the error of facts, but I have very little interest in debating anything beyond that.
As another matter of fact, what I hinted on in my first response to Dusty’s post was that she was simply using wrong measures if she so much wanted to talk about the national debt. I had tried in the past to tell her that her arguments would be much better if she learned a little more and started her complaints with the debt/GDP ratio, the size of it at present I myself had called disturbingly high. In such a discussion I was prepared so to make other arguments, but so far I have not been able to persuade Dusty to go there.
Thulsa Doom
March 8th, 2013
11:06 pm
MarkV,
Simmer down Mark. You made a weak comparison using flawed stats. It got exposed. Just deal with it and relax.
Bruno,
There’s a documentary special right now on the Ramones. I’m not a big Ramones fan but I figured you might appreciate it. Doomy out for the evening.
Bruno
March 8th, 2013
11:13 pm
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nkUDgSAs_ks
bluecoat
March 8th, 2013
11:25 pm
Lay in there MarkV,don’t give up.You see what they are doing to me.
Bruno
March 8th, 2013
11:35 pm
Lay in there MarkV,don’t give up.You see what they are doing to me.
bluecoat
March 8th, 2013
11:44 pm
Mark notice when I copy I do not change my name.That is for a reason.Now when they copy see they or he puts his name in there.Lay in there do not let the copy cats discourage you.
Splavistic
March 9th, 2013
12:01 am
GOP loves it when THEIR guy is in the pocket of big business. GOP loves it when THEIR guy lowers the unemployment rate. GOP loves it when THEIR guy kills terrorists. EFF the GOP.
Lil' Barry Bailout - OBAMAPHONE!!!
March 9th, 2013
7:25 am
GOP loves it when THEIR guy lowers the unemployment rate. GOP loves it when THEIR guy kills terrorists. EFF the GOP.
——————–
Guilty as charged. And by implication, you hate it when the GOP does those things.
Splavistic: Party before country.
Aesop's Fables and other Lib Economic Theories
March 9th, 2013
7:26 am
REP. NASTY PELOSI: This president has been so respectful, given so much time to the Republicans, to the point that one time in one of our meetings, I said to the president: ‘Mr. President, I’m busy, and I don’t have any more time for this. You have to be the busiest person in the world. If and when they come up with a new idea, why don’t we just call you back into the room.’
Where’s the laugh track button at Kyle?
We need it.
Lil' Barry Bailout - OBAMAPHONE!!!
March 9th, 2013
7:33 am
Nasty thinks a “new idea” is finding something else to tax.
Aesop's Fables and other Lib Economic Theories
March 9th, 2013
8:07 am
“It’s always the wacko birds on right and left that get the media megaphone,” McCain told Huffington Post’s Jon Ward in a story titled “John McCain: Getting Back To Maverick, With An Eye On Retirement.”
Where would one begin tearing this statement apart? How many ripe obominations are littered throughout it?
I do love the words “retirement” however.
Georgia
March 9th, 2013
8:15 am
Duh, I still haven’t quite made myself clear…I still have more comments…..I need to express myself good, duh…….wait! I’m not finished…..duh……..duhhhhh…..that’s not what I meant….duh…..you said something bad about what I said good, duhh…
I said something good, duhhhh
ESADuPOS
Aesop's Fables and other Lib Economic Theories
March 9th, 2013
8:16 am
FO
Lil' Barry Bailout - OBAMAPHONE!!!
March 9th, 2013
8:31 am
No need to stoop to her level, Aesop.
indigo
March 9th, 2013
8:32 am
Barry – 7:25
That charge is nothing more than a stereotype.
Because Splavistic seems to be a liberal, you just assume he would “hate” the GOP for doing something he approves of.
Typical faulty thinking from you.
Lil' Barry Bailout - OBAMAPHONE!!!
March 9th, 2013
8:35 am
The Not-Bluffing Bluff
We’ve heard this kind of talk from the Administration for over a year now, and maybe they even mean it…so far, the mullahs show every sign of thinking the U.S. is, in fact, bluffing.
That much was made clear Tuesday when General James Mattis, the blunt-spoken Marine in charge of U.S. Central Command, testified to the Senate Armed Services Committee. “Are the current diplomatic and economic efforts to stop Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapons capability, are they working?” asked Oklahoma Republican Jim Inhofe.
“No sir,” the general replied. The evidence, he noted later in his testimony, was that Tehran’s “nuclear industry continues.”
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887324178904578342524220826336.html?mod=WSJ_Opinion_LEADTop
——————
Heckuva job, Obozo.
Obozo: Do-nothing coward.
Lil' Barry Bailout - OBAMAPHONE!!!
March 9th, 2013
8:37 am
indigo: Because Splavistic seems to be a liberal, you just assume he would “hate” the GOP for doing something he approves of.
——————
Wrong. I assume he would do that because after describing what the GOP might do, he “EFFED” them.
Typical lack of reading comprehension from you, yet another in a long line of victims of public schooling.
breckenridge
March 9th, 2013
8:48 am
I’m 94 years old and I’ve been in a wheel chair for 26 years due to debilitating arthritis in my knees. But last weekend a friend flew me out to California and took me to the Trinity Broadcasting Studios in Costa Mesa. I got a spot right in the front row and a little while later pastor and faith healer Benny Hinn came out. He preached for a while and then came down, laid his hand on my head for about 2 seconds, and told me to get up and walk. Not only did I walk but I did the Jitterbug, the Charleston, the Twist and the Hustle. I was feeling so good I finished off the day with 41 cartwheels and 17 back flips.
God bless Benny Hinn! He truly is a miracle worker! Oh sure some people say bad things about him – that he’s a fraud, a shyster, a con man, a quack, a charlatan, a two bit weasel, a ferret-faced heap of monkey dung, etc – but I’m telling you the Lord works in mysterious ways through Prophet Benny! You jest gots to have faith!
Lil' Barry Bailout - OBAMAPHONE!!!
March 9th, 2013
8:56 am
Benny Hinn, Obozo, and their respective followers seem to have a lot in common.
bluecoat
March 9th, 2013
8:58 am
March 9 2013,Obama President of USA.Trying to right the ship.Hard to do with all the stumbling blocks put in his path.
Lil' Barry Bailout - OBAMAPHONE!!!
March 9th, 2013
9:00 am
“Stumbling blocks”. The Constitution, for one. Math, for another. And finally, reality.
J. A. Sudduth
March 9th, 2013
9:13 am
Individuals pay all taxes. The notion that it matters what businesses pay is false, just another liberal lie.
Rafe Hollister preparing for an Obamanist America
March 9th, 2013
9:25 am
You have absolutely no idea what I “think,” because I have not addressed anything you write about in the above quote and afterwards.
MarkV you have got me there! I surely have no idea what you think as it is hard to make sense of much of anything you write, but when you post something inane, that tells the part of the story that supports Obama, I seem unable to stop myself from providing the rest of the story that you chose to leave out. So, go on with your efforts to patch over Obama’s faults and cracks and I will try to ignore your efforts.
A good spackle guy is hard to find, so I’m sure Barry appreciates your efforts.
bluecoat
March 9th, 2013
9:27 am
Scotus will handle the constitutional part,As for the math,no problem there as I’m aware of.Reality will be a better world to live in,Remember he is not a magician only one against many.Think Hinn and Obama looking for an astrologist,the one Reagan used.Beware making fun can turn on you fast.
bluecoat
March 9th, 2013
9:35 am
Barry if you are looking for a spackle guy I have no recommendations.But if you can find some eary 70’s spackle it is much better than this goo made today..
bob
March 9th, 2013
9:38 am
I think Obama and dems would disagree Kyle. Maybe you should pony up 500K so you can gain access to Obama and ask him. Yes Kyle, you can buy time from Obama by donating 500K for quarterly “updates”. His defenders have no problem, do as I say and not as I do ! Repubs sells access, bad. Dems sell access, we won’t be bothered discussing it.
bob
March 9th, 2013
9:43 am
bluecoat ,
“Obama President of USA.Trying to right the ship.Hard to do with all the stumbling blocks put in his path” !
you mean like asking why eavesdropping on terrorist cell phone calls is bad but shooting Americans on American soil is okay ? I can see why he stumbles on that. Or asking Obama how he can go to bed while his “friend” Chris Stevens and the embassy come under attack and finally checking back on the condition of his “friend” 8 hours later ?
breckenridge
March 9th, 2013
9:51 am
Lil’ Barry Phone as you know, because I’ve told you about six hundred times, 40% of children born in America today are born to parents or a parent on Medicaid. Well how many of them do you think will grow up to be republicans? Somewhere between none and one? Every time they have a kid they’re just sticking their hand in your back pocket and taking money out of your wallet. This is why, as fiscal conservatives, we need to do everything we can to promote comprehensive sex education, birth control, abortion and sterilization. Because if we don’t in a couple of decades they’ll all get together and elect a super-Obama that will tax your earnings at 94%. And you’ll end up living in your car or under a railroad bridge while they’re eating at Ruth’s Cris every night on your nickel. And they won’t even bother to send you a Christmas card.
MarkV
March 9th, 2013
9:56 am
Rafe Hollister @ 9:25 am
”MarkV you have got me there! I surely have no idea what you think …”
But that has not prevented you from telling me what I think.
“but when you post something inane …”
Except, you cannot point out what that is.
“So, go on with your efforts to patch over Obama’s faults and cracks …”
Ditto.
bluecoat
March 9th, 2013
10:21 am
Being on medicaid does not make one an idiot.I would hope 100% Democrat.
Now you people that vote democrat or having any problem deciding.Copy beckenridges statement keep it handy.Election time just read then go vote.enough said.
breckenridge
March 9th, 2013
10:38 am
“Being on medicaid does not make one an idiot.”
No, it does not. What it means is one does not have enough money to purchase healthcare. But Medicaid, like all social programs, should be a short term solution and not a lifestyle. And once people get comfortable with any lifestyle they’ll want to continue it. So they will vote for a candidate that is most likely to not disrupt that lifestyle.
What do you suppose is the correlation between dropping out of high school and being on Medicaid? I don’t know but I have to believe it is quite high. Are high school dropouts idiots? Not necessarily but they’re uneducated and have very limited earning potential. Should they be having kids? I would say “no” 100% of the time.
MarkV
March 9th, 2013
10:41 am
Thulsa Doom @ 10:19 pm
“I think this is also the first time in our nation’s history where our debt exceeded our GDP.”
You think wrong.
http://visual.ly/united-states-debt-percentage-gdp-1940-2012
Dusty
March 9th, 2013
10:58 am
Well, good morning. The sun is shining.
I got up early so I could count the national debt again. I did not miss a single quarter or nickle and it all added up to the same thing. AGAIN! Yep! Sixteen trillion !!
Obama is busy at work saving money though. Yes sir. He shut down the visitors at the White House. I mean he may even cancel the annual Easter Egg Hunt. Malia is protesting at this moment. But saving all those eggs may really help. Wasn’t it Nancy Pelosi who said, “When the taxes come home to roost, we’ve got to have eggs in the basket”? Or something like that
Anyway, that’s my real financial report for the day. Kyle may give you statistics and MarkV will give you percentages but I give you the REAL thing. JDW will thank me too ’cause he knows I’ve lived overseas just like he & Kyle have done. One whole weekend in London for me. I learned a lot. Like…it’s still SIXTEEN TRILLION
MarkV
March 9th, 2013
11:06 am
Dusty,
I gather you did not spend 16 trillion that one weekend in London. Good for you. Were you at least tempted? What would you have bought if you had those 16 trillion?
Dusty
March 9th, 2013
11:09 am
Don’t pay any attention to MarkV and his pretty graphs. There’s a lot more Just go to Google and call up pretty graphs and there they are. MarkV just loves ‘em. I bet he will decorate Easter eggs with graphs.
Well, somebody’s got to do it. but I think Kyle might object. He likes pretty graphs too and this is his territory. Now, that’s just a helpful hint. Graph on at your own risk!
Lil' Barry Bailout - OBAMAPHONE!!!
March 9th, 2013
11:12 am
“a super-Obama that will tax your earnings at 94%”
—————
Not going to happen. Even if the residents of this country vote for one even more liberally fascist than Obozo and 94% tax rates were enacted, neither I nor most anyone else would earn an income. Why bother, when it’s just going to be confiscated? Your contention makes no sense whatsoever.
MarkV
March 9th, 2013
11:14 am
Dusty,
I like pretty flowers and pretty birds more than pretty graphs!
Lil' Barry Bailout - OBAMAPHONE!!!
March 9th, 2013
11:14 am
Dusty, you should update your numbers. The treasury’s latest debt figure is $16.7 trillion.
http://www.treasurydirect.gov/NP/BPDLogin?application=np