Conservatives believe in limited government, state rights, and to quote Dave Rubin, “blah-blah-blah.” Those ideas don’t bother me, and I get where they’re coming from. Capitalism is for the middle-working class, and the poor. For the rich, it’s government aid and socialism.
The first major act passed in the United States was the Tariff Act of 1789 enacted by Alexander Hamilton. The purpose of the act was stated as:
“Whereas it is necessary for that support of government, for the discharge of the debts of the United States, and the encouragement and protection of manufacturers, that duties be laid on goods, wares and merchandises.”
This tariff protected American textiles from cheaper British textiles. This act also helped those whom owned the American textile factories.
Meanwhile, in 1791, the Whiskey Tax was imposed to generate revenue for war debts (Revolutionary War). The Tariff Act protected the money makers, while the Whiskey Tax hurt the rural poor of western Pennsylvania where the making and selling of whiskey was there only way to make a living.
J.P. Morgan (who I have written about before) received $700 million dollars from various forms of United States government’s (local, state, federal), and was handed so much public land, you could fit fucking France inside of it.
“From 1996 to 1998, the U.S. wood and paper products industry took $3.6 billion in profits. They paid $500 million in taxes and received $759 million in tax breaks. Two dozen wood and paper companies paid less than nothing in taxes; they actually received taxpayer money. For example, in 1998, Weyerhauser’s taxes were minus $9.5 million. In 1994 the state of Ohio granted a package of subsidies to International Paper, including a $7 million loan and a $700,000 grant to buy equipment, a $3.4 million tax credit, $420,000 in sales tax exemptions, and a $90,000 job training grant.” - ’Strangely Like War’ pg. 127
From 1998 to 2005, the sporting goods store Cabela’s was able to make deals to get around $25 million worth of subsidies per store. From 2004 to 2006, made $223.4 million worth of profits, and $293.7 million worth of subsidies. Cabela’s made 70.3 million more in subsides than they did in profits in that time period. Furthermore, West Virginia gave Cabela’s a sudsidiy worth $115 million. as Author and journalist David Cay Johnston writes, “the state could provide free lunches for 50 years to all the West Virginia children who are so poor that they qualify for that form of welfare.” Why feed the hungry and poor, when you can give the money to Cabela’s?
Professor Scott Galloway of NYU Stern School of Business wrote about a possible deal between Amazon and the city of Chicago:
“As part of their bid for Amazon’s second headquarters, state and city officials in Chicago proposed to let Amazon keep $1.3 billion in employee payroll taxes and spend this money as the company sees fit. That’s right: Chicago offered to transfer its tax authority to Amazon and trusts the Seattle firm to allocate taxes in a manner best for Chicago’s residents.”
Knowing that Amazon employees make less than thirty thousand a year, and that Bezos made sure Seattle couldn’t do a tax to help the homeless and housing crisis. I’m sure that Bezos is going to use that tax money for the better good.
Foxconn, if the name sounds familiar, let me give you a quick reminder. Foxconn is the Taiwanese company that in China had to put nets around their facility, because workers were committing suicide by jumping off the top of the building.
Well, in Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker and Donald Trump are promoting the possibility of a Foxconn factory coming to Wisconsin. Conservatives who celebrate this, prove their slavery to the powerful or the willingness to be gerbils on a wheel. Actually, it shows how full of shit they are about the “free market.” Republicans are full of shit about the “free market” just as Democrats are full of shit about “we’re all in this together” (and other bullshit cliches like that).
What’s infuriating about Scott Walker (preventing African Americans in Milwaukee from voting) is that just a few years ago he destroyed public unions saying that Wisconsin couldn’t afford it, and passed “right to work” laws. Why pay workers in a way that gives them dignity and contribution to society when you can pay a company with a horrific work environment, and workers can make nothing while being a slave
These are just few of many examples of how local and state governments are corrupted too. In the end, it’s just the same bullshit game. Fucking politics…
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