OK, so yesterday I wrote a post about the “rich” (Oligarchs) people who mostly come out of Silicon Valley in California and their right wing push to turn America into a FASCIST “playground” where they make all the rules and the rest of us peons should simply be happy with the “crumbs.” (Now, I’m characterizing the post) So today, as I often do, I logged into “Yahoo Finance” right after opening my computer and there was an article from Kevin O’Leary (whoever he is) titled: “Kevin O’Leary Says If You Want To ‘Steal’ Rich People’s Money With Taxes, Go Ahead — But They’ll Move And ‘Find A New America’ Like England Did.”
It’s almost as if O’Leary’s comments came straight out of Gil Duran’s book “The Nerd Reich.” Of course, O’Leary failed to point out these “rich people” have been robbing the American Treasury via right wing “tax cuts for the rich” for the past 40+ years – to the tune of, by some accounts I’ve read, OVER $40 TRILLION! (Coincidentally, that’s our national debt) The threat is they’ll move to places where they won’t have to pay as much in taxes – “like Texas or Florida.” To that, I say “don’t let the door hit ya where the good Lord split ya.” In Washington State we’ve already witnessed Jeff Bezos move to Florida at the thought he might have to help pay for the services of the “commons” by actually paying even close to his fair share of taxes. NONE of the proposed taxes (a capital gains tax) would have prevented him from his luxurious life style but, hey, I don’t miss him a bit.
What I’ve been talking about is the federal government raising taxes on the “rich” in order for America to become something resembling the rest of the “first world” countries that O’Leary suggests these mogals of the AI business world might move to in order to avoid the taxes. Well, the way I see it, they might move themselves but the likelyhood of moving their corporations with them seems unlikely. And, I don’t think ANY of them want to lose access to the American markets. Honestly, I wouldn’t miss (f)Elon Musk a bit if he decided to, say, move back to South Africa. Maybe he might decide to relocate to Russia?? And, the rest of these “Venture Capitalists” could move wherever they want, but the reality is the U.S. markets won’t be going with them. If they want to destroy the world via AI let them do it from somewhere else.
The reality is that the U.S. has, by far, the best “climate” of taxation than any other first world country – which is one of the main reasons we don’t have universal health care. My hope is the young people who are running for Congress in the upcoming mid-terms win their elections and start pushing out the people who are standing in the way of the kind of progress which might allow their generation to participate in the economy of the U.S. to a degree somewhat resembling the generations that came before them – like the generation I’m in (“baby boomers”).
I still vividly remember my first job when I was 15 years old as a “bus boy” in a restaurant a couple miles from where I grew up. I made $1.25 per hour, got a free meal at the lunch break (dinner – I was working at night after school) and I had FREE and full health care as part of the job. Back then both health insurance companies and hospitals were “non-profit” organizations. It wasn’t until the late 1970’s into the 1980’s that I was forced to go without health insurance because I chose to start a small farm along with a small business. I was working long hours and making “short” income. But, both my daughters were born (via “C section”) when I had no insurance and I was able to pay off the bills ($3000 for the first daughter and $5000 for the second) in a couple years each time via monthly payments to the hospital.
Of course now, if you’re young and don’t have one of the rare jobs that provides health insurance you are in “deep doo doo” if you’re in one of the low paying jobs which have become prevalent in our society – working in the service economy and you get sick. For women, becoming pregnant can be a life threatening issue in many of the states around the country (by having a mis-carriage for example) not to mention the potential of massive medical bills – if there’s even a facility close enough to where you live for pre-natal care. Some states, for example, still haven’t agreed to Medicaid expansion which covers low income individuals and the Trump regime is in the process of taking that away from MILLIONS of Americans as I’m writing this.
All of this is the “progress” we’ve experienced since the days of Milton Friedman pushing the idea of “free markets” (there are no “free markets” – just markets “free” to you, but not to me) and corporations being loyal to their shareholders and not their communities and Lewis Powell sending a “memo” to the National Chamber of Commerce laying the groundwork for the corporatocracy we’re “enjoying” today – with the corporate leaders suggesting if you decide to find ways for me to pay my fair share of taxes I’m going to move away. Honestly, the business climate in America has become “disgusting” – OK, I’ll say it, “deplorable.” This wave of computer “entrepreneurs” seem to be saying they wouldn’t have started their companies unless they could make BILLIONS in the process.
We’re talking about a cohort of computer geeks who’ve figured out how to get rich via the internet which was, in essence, put forth by our government or with government support. These companies have come to expect HUGE tax breaks whenever they make an expansion. For example, as Amazon puts out new locations they let different “low income” communities kind of like “bid” for their entrance to the community via the best tax breaks. Soon after they’ve moved in the residents of the community begin to realize it’s becoming more and more difficult to stay there because prices of real estate, for example, becomes out of reach for anyone “starting out.” (That’s not to mention, in the case of Amazon, the reports of them abusing OSHA laws in their treatment of employees)
A quick reminder: The foundation of fascism is a corporate/government partnership – which we are experiencing right here in the U.S.A. – where the tech bros. are all over Trump (and sons) every chance they get. And, I have to include the crypto “bros.” right there with the “tech bros.” Of course, Trump will support ANYONE who will make him money.
Full disclosure: I wrote the previous few paragraphs prior to the mid term elections – which more people than me were waiting for Trump to intervene in some kind of nefarious manner. However, just as the organizers of the “No Kings” protests suggested, if “we the people” show a MASSIVE turnout at the polls repudiating the republican party – well, that was the recipe for success – AND, it happened.
Now that democrats have taken control of the letislative branch of government the real work is just beginning. There is too much on their “plates” for me to even attempt a list here (plus it’s really late as I started writing). I just want to emphasize what many of “us” have been saying – once the democrats take control they MUST follow through on – at least – the basic “promises” that were made during the campaign. Let’s start with the Epstein files. The pedophiles need to be exposed – and that likely includes Trump. (Some of these tech bros. have some answering to do as well in regards to Epstein) Also, beginning the planning process on how to transition America into a “Medicare for all” health care system should begin on day one. Many Americans just can’t wrap their minds around the reality “Medicare for all” would be CHEAPER and provide better OUTCOMES than our present FOR PROFIT health insurance system.
The other area I believe MUST be addressed ASAP – whether Trump and the republicans like it or not – is the issue of the environment and “climate change.” The reality is the United States has fallen well behind the other advanced nations in dealing with the climate. China is the leader in the world in solar technology (and production of solar panels), wind energy, and clean energy cars – EV’s. The Chinese car manufacturers are building the best cars in the world. The so-called “Inflation Reduction Act” of the Biden administration had several initiatives which were encouraging the use of renewable/clean energy. Since Trump 2.0 the manufacturing of electric cars in America along with “green energy” has moved in the wrong direction. Not only should there be government incentives for people to purchase electric cars – but the push to build a network of charging stations (they were making progress pre- Trump 2.0) should be resumed. (Full disclosure: I drive a Ford Mustang Mach e – a really nice all electric vehicle and I have 32 solar panels on my outbuildings)
Since the beginning of Trump 2.0 the oversight of our food, air, and water supplies has been turned back (possibly) by decades. That needs to be reversed ASAP. Also, reversing the cuts to Medicaid and SNAP is a great place to start while the details of a transition to Medicare for all is being figured out. One more thing off the top of my nearly 80 year old head, resuming the investment in early childhood education and finding a way to fund child care so parents can afford to go to work (oops, that’s two things) seems critical to me.
Oh yes, a plan to deal with the housing crisis – a plan that makes it realistic for young adults who are just getting started out in their adult lives to be able to afford a place to live – which would include the ability to buy a home if that’s what they desire. OMG – there’s so much that needs to be done the democrats just need to get busy “on day one” with the work of making things better for “we the people” – starting at the bottom and working up toward the middle class UNDERSTANDING there also needs to be a lot of accountability (meaning investigations) of the CORRUPTION that has permeated Washington DC over the previous two years. And I can’t leave off investigations into the Iran fiasco PLUS the murders of the “boat people” in the Caribbean and Eastern Pacific. Who ordered them, who pulled the “triggers?”
No president nor his family nor his donors should be pulling in BILLIONS each year when their focus should be on doing the WORK necessary for working class Americans. So, the democrats are going to have to do these two things at once – policy that benefits “we the peoplle” and investigations that leads to accountability for those who’ve chosen to rip off the American taxpayers. Stay tuned…..
Final Thought: The 2026 mid-term election has been historical. I told my son I was on the edge of my seat waiting for this election and hoping for the best – similarly to how I was acting back when Nixon and Watergate were ongoing. I consider the abuse and malfeasance of Trump and his sycophants to far exceed the lawbreaking of the Nixon years. Trump believes he’s got immunity because of our right wing SCOTUS – but, I have to say mixing business into the daily routine (crypto, stock trading, etc.) to me, is not something that would be considered to be included in “immunity” for basic government duties. I’m still holding out hope (One of the two remaining issues on my “bucket list”) I will llive long enough to see Trump behind bars. His actions are those of a mafia don and he (and his family) MUST be held to account for – as an old saying when I was on the farm goes – “making hay while the sun shined,” It was as if the Trump clan were grabbing as much MONEY as they could while the republican Congress was standing by as if none of the GRAFT was happening. It was OBVIOUS it was happening!
Lastly: Trump has piled about $12 TRILLION onto our national debt in his two terms in the “White House.” To me, there’s only one way to “fix” this problem and that is to increase taxes on the wealthy and the corporations that are making profits in the hundreds of BILLIONS and, yet, lobbying for more ways to avoid paying taxes. It’s the height of hypocricy to me to read about tech BILLIONAIRES who’ve made vast fortunes due to being located in the U.S. and yet, they complain about taxes and regulations as if they and their corporations have no obligation to the commons. Reading “The Nerd Reich” is one of the more “eye opening” books I’ve read (and I’ve read well over 100 non-fiction books in the politics current events section of the bookstore since I retired in 2014) and this book gives the names of some of the “Tech bros” I would classify as the GREEDIEST people I’ve ever learned about. Most of us know about (f)Elon Musk – but we don’t talk/think too much about the others – the Silicon Valley fascists according to Doran. They are dangerous, they’re cramming “data centers” and “AI” down our throats at a rate I believe to be threatening the world economy. I truly hope I’m wrong, but it feels to me like we’re going to – in the coming months – face the “mother” of all bursting “bubbles” which will be the latest iteration of republican “messes” the rest of us will be tasked with “cleaning up.” Possibly worse than the 2008 financial crash. Yikes!!!