Crony Capitalism

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Comment by Yvonne Starks on March 1, 2010 at 8:29pm

Did past presidents and vices go out on the town on TV reporting to tout individual companies like this? Helping SELL their businesses to the masses? I don't remember anyone (ie., the Bush prezs) from the political world MARKETING Enron, Exxon, et al....
The business advantages...taxes, special deals, etc., yeah, old as the hills politics...but this seems so MUCH MORE blatent...all the OLD with added NEW....much more marketed, much more inner corruption (her political AND business relationships tied tight together...recusing or not)....
Thank you, Tom, for standing up for CAPITALISM. This segment was total political crony corruption with added advantage of USING THE STIMULUS to market these windows (as Maddow made it "all okay"---hey, it's not the evil Halliburton!)

Comment by Alex Poulter on March 1, 2010 at 8:22pm

Excellent idea! I could not agree more.

Comment by Stephanie Williams on March 1, 2010 at 3:42pm

Generation Zero makes this point as well showing the shift of the Dems to Big Business, that is those who pay to play. Anyone who pays attention sees this alignment of the elites (now the Dems) and those who need favors from govt. to enrich themselves, whether "green" enterprises, Wall Street, Goldman Sachs, trial lawyers, etc. I agree this palm greasing is as old as the hills - or the presence of humans on this planet. Since the entrepreneur class is typically conservative and more aligned with Repubs and Libertarians I would like to see the grass roots movement develop a national to local marketplace for its followers to showcase like-minded businesses, professional practitioners, etc. from its members so that we can patronize those American patriots who support a free market, strong US, and the conservative principles that bring us together in this movement to take back our country. Any thoughts??

Comment by J Cox on March 1, 2010 at 12:09pm

When government is in the middle of business it is not Capitalism..

Comment by Tom Warner on March 1, 2010 at 11:27am

I hate it when I hear people refer to Crony Politics as "Crony Capitalism." The sneaky back room political deals that fatten the wallets of certain anointed "political entrepreneurs" has nothing to do with "capitalism." It is politics, not capitalism. Capitalism does not deserve the bad reputation it gets when associated with Cronyism. It's as if I reference a newborn child as a Nazi baby. The child has nothing to do with Nazism, and it does not deserve the negative association.
How about we discontinue such references since capitalism itself is a system whereby citizens enjoy individual rights and property rights with respect for law and the allowance of free minds and free markets.
In Liberty,
Tom Warner

Comment by Political Chips on March 1, 2010 at 11:23am

Alex did not post this video but i get your point. The big difference today is that the "new" media / social networking sites will expose or communicate these stories to the masses unlike at any other time in our history. Thank you for your response.

Comment by Steve Shute on March 1, 2010 at 11:09am

Actually, Alex, this was happening during the Bush Administration, and during the Clinton Administration, and Bush I, and in basically every other administration for at least the last 90 years. How about the S&L crisis of the late 1980s (Lincoln Savings and Loan, Silverado S&L)? How about WorldCom and Enron in 1997-2001? Or Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac? And don't even get me started about the big financial services companies, like Goldman Sachs and JP Morgan Chase. I could go on, and on, and on, and on, and on, and on...

We need to recognize that our government is owned, bought and paid for by companies that have a vested interest in bills that are passed by the same people that they give millions upon millions in campaign contributions to support. This is a game that's almost as old as politics itself.

We need to find and run people that will inoculate themselves (as much as possible) from this kind of shenanigans. Unfortunately, members of BOTH political parties participate in this garbage.