These aspiring oligarchs just don't remember what happens even to oligarchs when the rule of law dissolves. Vladimir Putin had his thugs murder the oligarchs who lost his favor. The Krupps and Thyssens thought they could control Hitler and their support of the Nazis didn't work out too well either.
Whether it be contract law or the right to a fair trial or our strong protections for private property, the rule of law is a key foundation that makes America a great place in which to do business. Supporting Trump -- who would establish a dictatorship and dissolve the rule of law -- is the most shortsighted and foolish thing a businessperson can do.
Trump openly talks about deportations and concentration camps, whose inmates will presumably be sent there without the right to counsel or to a trial. No one, no matter how wealthy, is safe when government can do that.
There is another reason why corporate ownership doesn't want universal health care. People are generally (and fairly) afraid of changing their health care. If someone switches jobs, there's a good chance their health insurance would change, which creates a hassle in the best case and may be quite disruptive in the worst case. U.S. style health care creates job lock-in, and it discourages entrepreneurship, and both of these "features" is of benefit to incumbent businesses.
Maybe 15 or 20 years ago, likely right after the Financial Crisis, William Cohan, business writer and reformed Wall Streeter wrote a piece in the NYT that talked about college graduates. He argued that the top grads went to school for a PhD. The next tier went to med school. The next tier went to law school. Then the overwhelming cohort of the class went to work in some sector or another. But the bottom cohort of the class, unable to get a real job and far from being able to hack it in a PhD, MD or JD program went to business school for an MBA. Having gone to business school and finding that in 3 years I was less challenged than on one undergraduate course, I think he's right. And I think it tell us that the business world is led by the dimmer bulbs in the candelabra, not the brightest. Before the Financial Crisis the nerds they hired promised big profits from Collateralized Mortgage Securities. Trump promises big profits thru tax cuts. Devoid of critical thinking, all they see is a fat wallet.
Before the financial crash I remember reading that top students had switched to careers in finance. A close family member who had graduated at the top of his class went to Harvard Business School for an MBA/finance degree. He then got a job at Lehman — you can guess how that turned out.
Karma. There was a guy I went to school with who landed a job at Goldman. He was very glad to tell us how much money he was making (and all of the other Masters of the Universe stories). He got laid off in a cutback after about a year and we never heard from him again.
It’s easy to find glaring inconsistencies in conservative thought. For example, is Biden a feeble old man or a powerful villain persecuting Trump via the AG of a city he has no formal authority over.
Another is the trope that the government can do nothing well. Then why do we spend trillions annually on defense? Shouldn’t we outsource defense? Uncle Bob’s Air Force or the First Texas Navy?
And what about policing? Does the government do that well?
I think the reason the corporations don’t want the government taking over healthcare is because they don’t want their workers to leave. It’s got nothing to do with ideology. If a worker has government healthcare they can go anywhere and work as many hours as they desire. One has only to look at colleges and TA’s. The colleges make damn sure that TA’s do not work over 30 hours a week. Many employers employ that tactic. Ditto for many city government jobs.
I don''t think the question is whether they are smart or not, Paul. This is a country that has between 800 and 900 billionaires and who knows how many hundred-millionaires. At the same time almost 40% of Americans can't come up with $400 in an emergency and more that 60% are living from paycheck to paycheck. This is actually a much more unstable society than we imagine. And people are looking for answers as to why. In my opinion the fear is that people will put those things together and organize at the bottom. What would happen if trade unionists and tenant organizers and Black Lives Matter, etc. were to coalesce? That's the great fear and why so much money is being poured into Moms for Liberty and similar organizations that point to available scapegoats. What a segment of the the super-wealthy hope to do with this is create back fires (think wildfire control) that are sufficiently disorienting to make it hard for people to see straight to organize. I think they see Trump as their current best ticket to mobilize the sorts of people who will do that for them. I think that's what they get from him. They are probably more than willing to lose money in the short run if they can accomplish that goal. Then they will ditch Trump.
CEOs don't want to lose control over people's health insurance because it forces people to stay at terrible jobs lest they lose their coverage in a transition elsewhere. The ACA's elimination of "pre-existing condition" carve-outs lessened that control somewhat, but especially if you have any health issues you're managing, you can't risk losing access to your existing doctors, going on months-long waitlists for access to care, or even waiting out the 30-90 day period before your new benefits might kick in elsewhere.
"Wall Street has responded — predictably, I suppose — by whining and throwing temper tantrums. And it has, in a way, been funny to see how childish and thin-skinned the Masters of the Universe turn out to be. Remember when Stephen Schwarzman of the Blackstone Group compared a proposal to limit his tax breaks to Hitler’s invasion of Poland? Remember when Jamie Dimon of JPMorgan Chase characterized any discussion of income inequality as an attack on the very notion of success?"
Here's an easy book to write: White Collar Rage. Just take your current book and globally replace "rural" with "corner office." Same mindset. They both want to be little kings, respected and obeyed, but never questioned. Of course, the key word is "white."
People go into business to make money. Business exists to provide for the CEO and shareholders. Government should exist to provide for the Citizens. I never understood why/how anyone could think a businessman was better than someone dedicated to public service.
These aspiring oligarchs just don't remember what happens even to oligarchs when the rule of law dissolves. Vladimir Putin had his thugs murder the oligarchs who lost his favor. The Krupps and Thyssens thought they could control Hitler and their support of the Nazis didn't work out too well either.
Whether it be contract law or the right to a fair trial or our strong protections for private property, the rule of law is a key foundation that makes America a great place in which to do business. Supporting Trump -- who would establish a dictatorship and dissolve the rule of law -- is the most shortsighted and foolish thing a businessperson can do.
Trump openly talks about deportations and concentration camps, whose inmates will presumably be sent there without the right to counsel or to a trial. No one, no matter how wealthy, is safe when government can do that.
There is another reason why corporate ownership doesn't want universal health care. People are generally (and fairly) afraid of changing their health care. If someone switches jobs, there's a good chance their health insurance would change, which creates a hassle in the best case and may be quite disruptive in the worst case. U.S. style health care creates job lock-in, and it discourages entrepreneurship, and both of these "features" is of benefit to incumbent businesses.
100% agree. Ideology my fanny.
Maybe 15 or 20 years ago, likely right after the Financial Crisis, William Cohan, business writer and reformed Wall Streeter wrote a piece in the NYT that talked about college graduates. He argued that the top grads went to school for a PhD. The next tier went to med school. The next tier went to law school. Then the overwhelming cohort of the class went to work in some sector or another. But the bottom cohort of the class, unable to get a real job and far from being able to hack it in a PhD, MD or JD program went to business school for an MBA. Having gone to business school and finding that in 3 years I was less challenged than on one undergraduate course, I think he's right. And I think it tell us that the business world is led by the dimmer bulbs in the candelabra, not the brightest. Before the Financial Crisis the nerds they hired promised big profits from Collateralized Mortgage Securities. Trump promises big profits thru tax cuts. Devoid of critical thinking, all they see is a fat wallet.
Before the financial crash I remember reading that top students had switched to careers in finance. A close family member who had graduated at the top of his class went to Harvard Business School for an MBA/finance degree. He then got a job at Lehman — you can guess how that turned out.
Karma. There was a guy I went to school with who landed a job at Goldman. He was very glad to tell us how much money he was making (and all of the other Masters of the Universe stories). He got laid off in a cutback after about a year and we never heard from him again.
It’s easy to find glaring inconsistencies in conservative thought. For example, is Biden a feeble old man or a powerful villain persecuting Trump via the AG of a city he has no formal authority over.
Another is the trope that the government can do nothing well. Then why do we spend trillions annually on defense? Shouldn’t we outsource defense? Uncle Bob’s Air Force or the First Texas Navy?
And what about policing? Does the government do that well?
I think the reason the corporations don’t want the government taking over healthcare is because they don’t want their workers to leave. It’s got nothing to do with ideology. If a worker has government healthcare they can go anywhere and work as many hours as they desire. One has only to look at colleges and TA’s. The colleges make damn sure that TA’s do not work over 30 hours a week. Many employers employ that tactic. Ditto for many city government jobs.
Ideology? Nope.
I don''t think the question is whether they are smart or not, Paul. This is a country that has between 800 and 900 billionaires and who knows how many hundred-millionaires. At the same time almost 40% of Americans can't come up with $400 in an emergency and more that 60% are living from paycheck to paycheck. This is actually a much more unstable society than we imagine. And people are looking for answers as to why. In my opinion the fear is that people will put those things together and organize at the bottom. What would happen if trade unionists and tenant organizers and Black Lives Matter, etc. were to coalesce? That's the great fear and why so much money is being poured into Moms for Liberty and similar organizations that point to available scapegoats. What a segment of the the super-wealthy hope to do with this is create back fires (think wildfire control) that are sufficiently disorienting to make it hard for people to see straight to organize. I think they see Trump as their current best ticket to mobilize the sorts of people who will do that for them. I think that's what they get from him. They are probably more than willing to lose money in the short run if they can accomplish that goal. Then they will ditch Trump.
Or perhaps they feel if they ally themselves with the pitchfork brigade then they won't have to fear them. Also dumb.
CEOs don't want to lose control over people's health insurance because it forces people to stay at terrible jobs lest they lose their coverage in a transition elsewhere. The ACA's elimination of "pre-existing condition" carve-outs lessened that control somewhat, but especially if you have any health issues you're managing, you can't risk losing access to your existing doctors, going on months-long waitlists for access to care, or even waiting out the 30-90 day period before your new benefits might kick in elsewhere.
Krugman wrote with some astonishment how offended the big banksters were where Obama chided them with gentle criticisms around 2009-2010:
https://observer.com/2010/09/waaaaah-street-executives-emotion-and-outbursts-of-obama-rage/
https://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/25/opinion/krugman-egos-and-immorality.html
"Wall Street has responded — predictably, I suppose — by whining and throwing temper tantrums. And it has, in a way, been funny to see how childish and thin-skinned the Masters of the Universe turn out to be. Remember when Stephen Schwarzman of the Blackstone Group compared a proposal to limit his tax breaks to Hitler’s invasion of Poland? Remember when Jamie Dimon of JPMorgan Chase characterized any discussion of income inequality as an attack on the very notion of success?"
If the billionaires drive the country into a ditch, they will end up in ditches at the hands of the hoi polloi.
And none of want the Taliban or any other power wielding Oligarchy or Authoritarian.
Here's an easy book to write: White Collar Rage. Just take your current book and globally replace "rural" with "corner office." Same mindset. They both want to be little kings, respected and obeyed, but never questioned. Of course, the key word is "white."
Bravo.
People go into business to make money. Business exists to provide for the CEO and shareholders. Government should exist to provide for the Citizens. I never understood why/how anyone could think a businessman was better than someone dedicated to public service.
"On the day Biden was inaugurated, the Dow, NASDAQ, and S&P 500 all hit record highs.
"(...)
"That was January 20, 2001."
Um, no. That was January 20, 2021. Joe Biden has *NOT* been president for 23 years.