Sarah Palin’s latest speech at the Iowa Tea Party last week has received a lot of attention – even positive attention from the NY Times – due to its effective and groundbreaking content. Palin spoke extensively about crony capitalism, and what she calls the “permanent political class” on both sides of the party line. These are the wealthy, intellectual elitists of America who have made it so big that their egos have become as overblown as their bank accounts. Consequently, they have determined that they know what’s best for us “regular people.” Forget vast right-wing or left-wing conspirators, these permanent political class leaders are in a party of their own and they have been conspiring together like one big Mensa meeting-of-the-minds as a totalitarian faction.
We Americans should be most angered by these crony capitalists in our country because in retrospect, they are responsible for the world’s hatred toward us. If anyone has blood on their hands, it’s the corporate crony capitalists because they misrepresent what a free market society is all about. They have mastered the art of using taxpayer money to pad their own pockets and have deceived the American people with false representation so they can either accumulate more wealth or strategically position themselves for re-election.
Let’s consider some real life leaders from this permanent political class that Palin was referring:
Example #1: Michael Bloomberg. Here is a self-appointed third term mayor of New York City with a net worth of over $18 billion. Bloomberg made a determination that he was above the law and disregarded the voice of the people despite numerous polls that showed widespread support for term limits in the few months leading up to his election. In 1993 and 1996 city voters passed term limits by overwhelming margins,
but apparently Mr. Bloomberg decided that the “regular people” really didn’t know what was good for them and felt he was an exception to this rule and to American constitutional law.
Recently, Mayor Bloomberg received a lot of criticism over his refusal to have any religious clergy or first responders at the ten-year anniversary ceremony of the September 11th attacks. This is a prime example of how a permanent political class member operates, or more precisely, how a dictator operates. One self-appointed leader who defiantly disregards the appeals of the very people he leads while claiming his decision is for their own best interest. How else does a Gadhafi get into power? Dictatorships don’t happen overnight; they result from years of subtle alterations of societal laws and a breakdown of the principles it once held dear.
Mr. Bloomberg claims, “We’ve tried very hard to keep the focus away from politics and politicians and on families where it belongs.” Let’s be accurate here, it’s not “we” it’s you that has tried to keep the focus, or rather the power, on yourself. Even Governor Christie spoke out on the exclusion of former Governor of New Jersey Donald Di Francesco from the list of speakers. He said, “If we allow New York to make every one of these decisions with just New York, no one from New Jersey would be there… I’m standing up for the people of my state. That is my job.” Yes Christie has a clear understanding of his job responsibilities, to stand up for his people. Mr. Bloomberg, however, feels he needs to punish his people for opposing the Ground Zero Mosque – something he strongly supports. It’s confusing to determine which side of the fence he is on, the religious or the anti-religious side. When it comes to erecting an Islamic community center at Ground Zero that would “include a 500-seat performing arts center, a lecture hall, an exhibition space, a swimming pool, a gym, a culinary school, a restaurant and a prayer space for Muslims,” according to CNN, Mr. Bloomberg is in favor of religious expression (regardless of the fact that this building which would house the mosque was struck by landing gear from one of the planes and was covered in human remains). But when the grieving families of the 9/11 tragedy prefer to have a ceremony that includes prayerful religious expression and support from clergy, he is against it. Score one for the Atheists of America – a mere 14% and climbing – especially with political leaders such as Bloomberg holding public office.
Moreover, Mayor Bloomberg stands in support of the group of atheists – or more fittingly “anti-theists” – that filed a lawsuit against displaying the Cross at Ground Zero. A Cross that was not built by human hands but was miraculously left standing amid the rubble. A cross that provided comfort to the brave firefighters who ceaselessly and tirelessly searched for body parts around the clock. And a Cross whose display is supported by 72% of Americans, according to a recent Rasmussen survey. Mr. Bloomberg is against religious expression at the 9/11 Ceremony, he is against displaying the Cross at Ground Zero, but he is in favor of building the Muslim Mosque. And he rides the subway daily with all the regular folk of New York City. But when it comes to hearing their voice he deafly turns his head in politically correct defiance. Spare us the phony subway riding Mr. Mayor and go back to your strech limo.
While it is clear that Bloomberg capitalized from our free market system, one may attribute his cronyism to utilizing this success to establish his dictatorship – a regime which seeks to erode the very system he used to advance himself.
Example #2: Jon Corzine. This is a man whose history is all about banking and finance, but somehow when he became governor of New Jersey he mysteriously forgot his expertise and nearly bankrupted the state. This Wall Street multimillionaire funneled nearly half a million dollars of his own money to Bergen County’s Democratic machine boss Joseph Ferriero, who was convicted on three federal felony corruption counts. Even as Ferriero was being investigated by the grand jury, Corzine proudly supported his policies and endorsed him. Sound eerily familiar? It didn’t come as a surprise when Obama campaigned for his crony Corzine since he had previously associated himself with the likes of Tony Rezko and Rod Blagojevich.
Similarly to Bloomberg, Corzine attempted to buy his election, but failed. He dedicated more than $120 million of his own money in his campaigns. He even spent a combined $100 million on successful bids for U.S. Senate in 2000 and governor in 2005. Fortunately, the American people decided that character counts more than dollars do. Unfortunately, this is not always the case. As Sarah Palin explained, money often buys votes and power because in the world of corruption and favor trading, one hand washes the other.
While Corzine was governor, the people of New Jersey were crippled with mounting unemployment and billions in new taxes and home foreclosures. New Jersey also experienced the highest national tax increase per resident in the nation, which instigated a mass-exodus of its residents. When Corzine entered office, government went from big to colossal in New Jersey. One thing most economists agree upon is to never raise taxes in a recession, but Corzine managed to do just that.
Again, this is a guy who was Chairman and CEO of Goldman Sachs and served on the U.S. Treasury Department’s borrowing committee, you would think he knew a little something about prudent spending and macroeconomics. As many Americans ask themselves everyday about our President, did he do it on purpose? While Governor Corzine’s spending binge was enough to put Paris Hilton to shame, Obama has been able to put both of their combined spending binges to shame. But his shamelessness should come as no surprise especially if we recall Obama’s shameless endorsement of his permanent political comrade despite Corzine’s suspicious ties to other crooked comrades. In the grand scheme of life, dishonesty thrives on bribery, which feeds on deception. Like one giant pyramid of smoke and mirrors.
There is a cult of politicians that meet regularly behind closed doors and mastermind ways to successfully sabotage the economic prosperity of America. Their quest for wealth has been achieved and their opulence has become a mundane and predictable bore, so power replaces money as their new thrill-seeking venture.
They strive to grow government because they subconsciously crave dependence from the people they govern, not autonomy or freedom, for without this their lives would be devoid of meaning. Fortunately for the sake of the hardworking and honest “regular” Americans, we have someone like Sarah Palin working just as hard to make sure this corruption is brought to light.
