Corporate Welfare

Rainer Hachfeld, Neues Deutschland

[T]o crush in its birth the aristocracy of our moneyed
corporations, which dare already to challenge our government
to a trial of strength,
and bid defiance to the laws of our country
--Thomas Jefferson

[T]he sheer power of corporate capital . . .
makes it difficult to even imagine what
a free and democratic society would look like
(or how it would operate) if there were publicly
accountable mechanisms that alleviated
the vast disparities in resources, wealth, and income
owing in part to the vast influence of big business
on the U.S. government and its legal institutions
--The Role of Law in Progressive Politics,
Cornell West

Roughly speaking, I think it's accurate to say
that a corporate elite of managers and owners governs
the economy and the political system as well,
at least in very large measure.
The people, so-called, do exercise an occasional choice
among those who Marx once called
"the rival factions and adventurers of the ruling class"
--"Government in the Future,"
Noam Chomsky

Freedom and Unity
--Vermont State Motto
____________

Some perspective, from the Burlington Free Press (9/23/08).

Before Congress approves the $700 Billion bailout for the nation's profligate and exploitive financial institutions, "leaving the firms, its shareholders and executives free to reap the benefits of public assistance," we should consider other national needs.

"The price tag for the bailout is stunning considering the wrangling Vermont's congressional delegation had to go through to get $2.5 million in federal heating assistance for the state that was already authorized. What other programs that serve ordinary Vermonters and other everyday Americans must be sacrificed in order for Washington to come up with the $700 billion?"

The Monday Free Press reported a Republican filibuster blocked passage of the "Warm in Winer and Cool in Summer" Act (Sanders, Welch Push for Heat Aid.)

"The bill would help poor Americans across the country by nearly doubling federal funding for the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program from about e$1.3 billion a year to more than $2.5 billion a year. In addition to helping families heat their homes in cold states such as Vermont, it would help people cool their homes in states with extremely hot summers.

"Current federal funding for the program is down 23 percent from just two years ago, the Vermont lawmakers said.

"Heating oil prices are up 35 percent from last year, while applications for help from the federally funded Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program, or LIHEAP, are up 25 percent."

In Florida, eligible residents may apply for assistance one time per year for a one month credit, with the maximum fixed amount allowed being $135. So each eligible household may receive a maximum of only $135 per year energy credit. Funds for the LIHEAP program are usually depleted before the end of the year.

Another program aimed at reducing the burden on the needly, the Section 8 housing program, which provides funds to assist eligible households reduce their monthly rent payments is now working on the 2003 rolls. So Section 8 in Tallahassee, Florida, is a mere 5 years in arrears. They are not taking any more applicants.

They open their books for registration a couple of times per year on an unannounced schedule. If one is fortunate to make it onto the list during the brief and unscheduled sign up days, one can be assured of waiting several years before one's application will see the light of a bureaucrat's day. It seems attrition is the order of the day for the common man.

For them that has, Mr. Bernanke is advocating for expediency.