Half of inflation driven by corporate greed, but public too distracted to notice
Editor:
Last week Rep. Katie Porter (D), a first-rate cross examiner, showed why witnesses shake in their boots at the prospect of her precise questioning. But did you hear about it? She exposed how some think freedom is meant to serve their own needs and wants.
She extracted admissions in Congressional testimony that half of all inflation is due to increased corporate profits by Republican donors. They are picking voters pockets.
In fact some inflation is due to Ukraine and Russia cutting off gas and grain supplies, some is Chinese factory shut downs, and some is our historically low unemployment, and some is the War in Ukraine. But half is greed and none due to Biden’s budgets.
Some of the numbers on total price increases feeding corporate profit are:
1. Medical insurance – $69 billion more profit despite COVID;
2. Gas – the biggest five oil companies at $59 billion dollars with another $89 billion in stock repurchase to increase stockholders’ equity;
3. Food – agribusiness an extra $389 billion.
In fact polls which show that Republicans are more trusted with the economy reflect 50 years of repeating out-of-date data and political dogma. Democrats have to find a way to strip these lies bare in less time than it takes Republicans to tell them. None of the following facts seems to be enough.
Fact: The country’s deficits have only increased under every Republican president since 1982. They have gone down under every Democratic president since 1990.
Fact: Three people have more wealth than the bottom half of our nation.
Fact: Republicans have three proposals to cut or eliminate social security.
Fact: Before it goes into effect in January, Sen. Rubio has now sponsored a bill to reimpose price fixing for our medicines which will cost us the trillion dollar savings on drugs Biden pushed through.
Faced with facts like these it’s legitimate to ask if voters stuck in the ’80s have any savvy. Or is it a case of CPAC and MAGA adapting Russian, Brazilian, Turkey, and Hungarian economic and racist propaganda? They do support each other’s conventions and rallies.
In our best, most prosperous times, both Democrats and Republicans understood that economic prosperity depends on is keeping democracy healthy. MAGA types and CPAC were simply not allowed in the Republican Party.
There is extensive history from the ’40s to ’70s detailing how conservative Republicans kept them in their place – on the margins as mere nuisances spouting unhinged, unworkable, wild-eyed, fact-free conspiracy theories.
In a serious world Rep. Porter’s dissection disclosing corporate greed would put Democrats in the lead in this election.
I’ll keep saying it but the Republican Party will only be cleaned up and democracy preserved if it loses and is forced to again respect facts and the lessons of history. America was founded on an idea they do not understand. Time has not changed that. Being persuaded by self interest and heavy-handed anti-democratic foreigners and economics geared to profit cronies is too dangerous to tolerate. MAGA and CPAC dogma is antidemocratic and hurting peoples’ wallets.
K. Porter just gave a Master’s Class in keeping your money in your wallet and everyone was too wound up to notice it. She understands democracy is selfless and wages of idealism are universally tangible.
Conrad F. Cropsey
Albion
