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
Dusty
March 9th, 2013
11:24 am
What? You haven’t heard, MarkV? While in London I bought the Eiffel Tower. Had a little trouble getting my bags checked on leaving London and the French were a bit fussy about the whole thing!
But it was worth it. I have the best windmill in Atlanta and pooh on solar savings. It’s the wind, babee!. I can leave my Christmas lights on all year!
Must run. Now don’t forget…SIXTEEN TRILLION!!
MarkV
March 9th, 2013
11:29 am
Dusty,
Congratulations! And I thought I was the only one who brought the Eiffel Tower home.
Dusty
March 9th, 2013
11:30 am
Thank you, Lil Barry.
It is SIXTEEN point seven TRILLION $$$$ NATION AL USA DEBT. oooWEEE!
Bye now.
MrLiberty
March 9th, 2013
11:32 am
Corporatism forms the foundation of both major political parties. That is why they continue to hold power while parties like the Libertarians, Constitution Party, and others who have intelligently (and based on sound principled stands) figured out that the only solution is to gut government of its power to control the money supply, the economy, tax income, regulate industries, etc.
Sadly, the government school system, the media, and others continue to feed the citizens the lie that there is a difference between the two parties, that the “free market” is the cause of these problems, and that only government can solve these problems (which they of course caused). Even more sadly, most of the sheep who blindly support the two major parties actually believe these lies.
breckenridge
March 9th, 2013
11:45 am
“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.”
Either you missed my point entirely or chose to ignore it.
Americans can be broken down into two classes – assets and liabilities. Assets they pay more in taxes than they receive in government benefits, and I’m excluding retirees from this analysis. Liabilities receive more taxpayer assistance than they contribute.
As fiscal conservatives we need to do everything possible to promote the reproduction of assets and curb the liability class. A very good starting point would be passage of the Freedom Of Choice Act. Beyond that it would befit us to insist our government spend dollars on a campaign discouraging poor the indigent from having kids.
Look there is no mystery here……..the state of Mississippi has the highest percentage of high school dropouts in the nation. They also have the highest percentage of teen births. And yes, they have the highest percentage of the population that are evangelical Christians. Education is the answer, not belief some bullcrap Calvinistic voodoo.
Tiberius - pulling the tail of the left AND right when needed
March 9th, 2013
12:12 pm
“Look there is no mystery here……..the state of Mississippi has the highest percentage of high school dropouts in the nation.”
Maybe so, but I’ll bet more than 20% of their high school graduates can read . . . . (See – NYC)
@@
March 9th, 2013
1:09 pm
breckenridge is proposing population control?
At what point do you think the government would get involved in who gets to stay and who must go?
It’s a double-edged sword, that one. Just ask Japan and countries in Europe. The cramped living conditions warrant it. The younger minority is left to support the aging majority.
The only people I’ve witnessed who support population control are the left.
getalife
March 9th, 2013
1:10 pm
The Dow continues to break records for our anti business, Marxist President to prove once again the right spew nothing but lies.
Tiberius - pulling the tail of the left AND right when needed
March 9th, 2013
1:14 pm
And getalife continues to spew nothing but uninformed nonsense.
@@
March 9th, 2013
1:15 pm
Nazi Germany was not the first or only country to sterilize people considered “abnormal.” Before Hitler, the United States led the world in forced sterilizations. Between 1907 and 1939, more than 30,000 people in twenty-nine states were sterilized, many of them unknowingly or against their will, while they were incarcerated in prisons or institutions for the mentally ill. Nearly half the operations were carried out in California. Advocates of sterilization policies in both Germany and the United States were influenced by eugenics. This sociobiological theory took Charles Darwin’s principle of natural selection and applied it to society. Eugenicists believed the human race could be improved by controlled breeding.
getalife
March 9th, 2013
1:18 pm
Well, I keep reading every single day to try to be informed.
It is good to stimulate your brain so I recommend that you cons try it too.
Mamouian
March 9th, 2013
1:19 pm
The one thing that stands out in these message boards is this getalife guy posting the most childish retorts and taunts that I can remember seeing. At least some on here try to rationally discuss the subject matter. Let’s get rid of corporate welfare for ALL industry and let market forces determine winners and losers, not the president’s favored few.
Tiberius - pulling the tail of the left AND right when needed
March 9th, 2013
1:22 pm
“breckenridge is proposing population control?”
Not what he’s proposing, @@.
He just wants less restrictions on abortions, believing that an easier ability to have one might reduce the number of babies born to people who cannot afford to have one, thereby creating less instances where public assistance is needed.
If I get his drift right . . .
Tiberius - pulling the tail of the left AND right when needed
March 9th, 2013
1:23 pm
“Well, I keep reading every single day to try to be informed.”
‘See Spot Run’ is reading, getalife, but I wouldn’t go so far to say that you’re better informed by doing so.
Neither are DNC talking points.
getalife
March 9th, 2013
1:33 pm
Well, watching fox, reading drudegey and listening to rush makes you uniformed and clinging to a failed ideology and party.
rw media has zero credibility but that does not stop you from spewing their bs.
Tiberius - pulling the tail of the left AND right when needed
March 9th, 2013
1:37 pm
And since I do not read Drudge, nor listen to Rush, you once again make an uninformed statement, getalife.
And while I do watch Fox News Channel, I usually only watch their news programs, not their opinion programs.
You DO know they have news programs, don’t you?
Of course you didn’t!
getalife
March 9th, 2013
1:39 pm
fox is a joke like you con.
Tiberius - pulling the tail of the left AND right when needed
March 9th, 2013
1:46 pm
Someone has obviously never watched a Fox News Channel news program.
The ONLY news network to consistently have both left and right represented when discussing political topics on their news shows.
Epic fail, getalife.
Tiberius - pulling the tail of the left AND right when needed
March 9th, 2013
1:47 pm
“fox is a joke like you con.”
Types the poster who can never write in complete sentences . . . .
getalife
March 9th, 2013
1:51 pm
I do watch fox, msnbc but mostly the corporate news network.
I try to filter out ideology talking points and corporate bs to help the gop.
Then I look back to history to see the precedent and outcomes.
Moral of the story, trying to find the truth from corporate media takes a lot of reading before I can decide.
Tiberius - pulling the tail of the left AND right when needed
March 9th, 2013
1:55 pm
You believe everything the DNC tells you like a good little myrmidon . . .
. . . and you write like a NYC high school graduate.
getalife
March 9th, 2013
1:57 pm
Your turn con.
Tell me what you do to find the truth.
Nothing but repeat rw talking points so I crusherd you con.
getalife
March 9th, 2013
1:57 pm
crushed you.
And I am more informed.
Tiberius - pulling the tail of the left AND right when needed
March 9th, 2013
2:03 pm
“Nothing but repeat rw talking points so I crusherd you con.”
You mean like rw talking points such as supporting a woman’s right to an abortion, supporting gay marriage, disagreeing with the invasion of Iraq, and the Patriot Act?
Those rw talking points, getalife?
Not so informed as you think you are, are you?
And I’m not even remotely crushed by your comments.
Hopeful
March 9th, 2013
2:03 pm
Well written Kyle it’s hard to take in
getalife
March 9th, 2013
2:05 pm
Sure con, now that you know they are losing arguments.
Tiberius - pulling the tail of the left AND right when needed
March 9th, 2013
2:08 pm
“Sure con, now that you know they are losing arguments”
Except I’ve been supporting them since I’ve been able to vote, which was back in 1976 (except of course the latter two, which I was against from the very beginning).
So once again, you post uninformed nonsense, getalife.
getalife
March 9th, 2013
2:12 pm
I stop reading your crap a long time ago because you are an arrogant jerk thinking you are better than others and you are not con.
Tiberius - pulling the tail of the left AND right when needed
March 9th, 2013
2:13 pm
“I stop reading your crap a long time ago”
Which once again proves your ignorance . . . .
Thanks for admitting it finally.
Aesop's Fables and other Lib Economic Theories
March 9th, 2013
2:22 pm
Nearly 312,000 federal workers and retirees owed more than $3.5 billion in back taxes as of Sept. 30, 2011, the agency said. The year before, about 279,000 workers and retirees owed $3.4 billion.
deadbeat liberals, most of them probably work at the white house or irs.
You wanted taxes so bad, now pay them, jackasses.
breckenridge
March 9th, 2013
2:59 pm
Yes, that’s correct. I mean come on now, smell the coffee kids, 40% of kids born today are born to parents on Medicaid. That’s not sustainable.
The long term answer, of course, is to dissuade taxpayer aid recipients to not get pregnant in the first place. But I have no idea how to accomplish that.
breckenridge
March 9th, 2013
3:06 pm
“The long term answer, of course, is to dissuade taxpayer aid recipients to not get pregnant in the first place. But I have no idea how to accomplish that.”
Pardon my double negative. Obviously I meant to say dissuade taxpayer largesse recipients from getting pregnant in the first place.
So where is exactly is this idea dropping bombs on Americans, on American soil, covered in the Constitution? Right there with indefinite incarceration without being charged with a crime I suppose.
@@
March 9th, 2013
3:17 pm
Where the heck are my posts going?
getalife
March 9th, 2013
3:18 pm
@@,
I stole them
@@
March 9th, 2013
3:23 pm
Dammit! Everytime I try to respond to Tiberius regarding breckenridge, my post evaporates.
I give up.
getalife
March 9th, 2013
3:24 pm
I wonder how many companies today can survive without corporate welfare.
Is corporate welfare too big to cut?
josef
March 9th, 2013
3:43 pm
Thought I’d stop by and say hello, but most of the folks on here right now seem to be the ones from Big Daddy’s verandah.
IF you check in Dusty, I STILL want to know what that read was you thought of me and my opinion, you know how much I like to give that, and when asked? That’s a rare happening… -)
HILLBILLY
Don’t know if you’ve seen this or not, but I was impressed. Lots of citations from the footnotes of MAJOR historians… found it while digging around on John Randolph…
http://www.slavenorth.com/index.html
Tiberius - pulling the tail of the left AND right when needed
March 9th, 2013
3:51 pm
And as we all know, josef, MAJOR historians are the way to go . . .
josef
March 9th, 2013
3:57 pm
TIBERIUS
But, of course…especially when they support your own textbook-approved version. They’re off on the theological dogmatic cherry picking over at Big Daddy’s right now, different dance, same tune.
Tiberius - pulling the tail of the left AND right when needed
March 9th, 2013
4:02 pm
Cherry-picking over at Bookman’s?
How unusual . . .
josef
March 9th, 2013
4:08 pm
TIBERIUS
It may be home, and home may be where the heart is, but I must say of my own (and their opponents), there’s plenyt of Cherries Jubliee served on that dinner table…
Lil' Barry Bailout - OBAMAPHONE!!!
March 9th, 2013
4:12 pm
Corporate welfare…just another thing Obozo complains about but does nothing to fix…to go along with Gitmo, perpetual war, deficits, Iran’s nuclear program, health care costs, and unemployment.
Obozo: Do-nothing.
Karl Rove
March 9th, 2013
4:23 pm
Here is a true American hero in today’s Washington Post op ed. Best candidate we got for 2016:
“”"”"”"”"”"The Senate has the power to restrain the executive branch — and my filibuster was the beginning of the fight to restore a healthy balance of powers. The president still needs to definitively say that the United States will not kill American noncombatants. The Constitution’s Fifth Amendment applies to all Americans; there are no exceptions.
The outpouring of support for my filibuster has been overwhelming and heartening. My office has fielded thousands of calls. Millions have followed this debate on TV, Twitter and Facebook. On Thursday, the White House produced another letter explaining its position on drone strikes. But the administration took too long, and parsed too many words and phrases, to instill confidence in its willingness or ability to protect our liberty.”"”"”"”"”"”"”"”"
Rand Paul shows how things should get done in the Senate as long as the liberals are in control. We all know that Black communist and his buddy Holder are up to no good and can’t be trusted with Nukes.Look at what that Reno gal did to David Koresh,
We need more patriots ready to rise up to federal tyranny like Paul!
Tiberius - pulling the tail of the left AND right when needed
March 9th, 2013
4:27 pm
Ah, well, josef. I guess we do need to have some consistency in life . . .
Tiberius - pulling the tail of the left AND right when needed
March 9th, 2013
4:27 pm
And Karl Rove.
Really? Hyperbole much?
Aesop's Fables and other Lib Economic Theories
March 9th, 2013
4:44 pm
So this is all we get? We just have to do without a president for the next 4 years?
Hillbilly D
March 9th, 2013
4:50 pm
josef @ 3:43
I have seen that sight before but you know mus’nt mention such as that in polite society. You’ll have the high and mighty genuflecting and they’re liable to hurt something.
Hillbilly D
March 9th, 2013
4:55 pm
I guess we do need to have some consistency in life . . .
Being a human (at least allegedly so) I fall short same as everybody else but I’ve always tried to live by one thing; I have to hold myself to the same rules and standards as I hold everybody else to. So if it ain’t right for you to do it, it ain’t right for me to do it either and on the flipside, if it’s okay for me to do it, then it’s okay to do it, too.
I never cease to be amazed at how many folks (nearly everybody) have one set of rules for themselves and their team/tribe/whatever, and a completely different set for the others.
Aesop's Fables and other Lib Economic Theories
March 9th, 2013
4:59 pm
Looked at another way, just 58.6% of Americans work today, down from 60.6% when Obama took office. The average over the previous two decades was 63%.
There’s also the fact that 3.7 million workers have gone on the Social Security disability program since mid-June 2009, the fastest enrollment pace ever.
And the libs pat themselves on the back.
Lil' Barry Bailout - OBAMAPHONE!!!
March 9th, 2013
5:09 pm
Yep, more dependency = more Democrat voters.