THIS MORNING’S SHOCKING ECONOMIC MATTERS
Income inequality is growing faster under President Obama than it was under President Bush [Huffington Post], as the nation continues to privatize public resources with most of the gains going to the wealthy as services are cut in the name of profit. Although Obama employs much better rhetoric, such as pushing the “Buffett rule,” it has no chance of passing Congress, so is an obvious election ploy. Obama’s actions do not support taxing the rich, it was, after all, Obama who extended the Bush tax cuts for the rich, and Obama voted for the Bush bankster bailout when in the Senate, then did one of his own after becoming President.
The privatization has extended deeply into our prison system, as corporations profit from prisons even while they fund our elections, pushing government to keep a steady supply of prisoners going to the world’s largest incarceration system. This morning Charles Davis has an excellent piece on this, centering on Wells Fargo, who appear to be investing some of their government bankster bailout money into prisons for profit.
And, of course, our hospitals have been largely privatized, so no longer work for the American people. This morning Jeffrey Young has a piece on the “health care” industry getting caught stealing from Medicare to enrich private hospitals, as one should expect when capitalists tap into the federal treasury with profit as their only goal. Corporate media keep the masses from understanding why our health care is so expensive and provides so little actual care.
And finally, in this morning’s economic news, Khadeeja Safdar explains that the rich are thinking about letting the masses go under, as they always do, but have grand plans for themselves when the Big One hits, in an illustrated piece titled “Super-Rich Plan To Survive Apocalypse In Underground Luxury Condos.”
FWIW, I remember when Obama “approved” the extension of the Bush tax cuts for the wealthy. He did NOT want to do it. Remember, the republicans refused to approve any extension of the cuts for anyone else unless it included the wealthy. They pushed it right down to the wire, and it was a matter of extend them all, or the rest of us get screwed. His comments afterward put a good face on it, but there was no doubt in my mind that it was not what he wanted. The Republicans didn’t care if the rest of us lost our tax cut. If they couldn’t give them to their friends, they were perfectly happy to let them all lapse.
Agree.