By: Jim Hoover
According to Jim Mulva (above), the CEO of ConocoPhillips, 74% of Americans are un-American.
No kidding.
A recent NBC News/Wall Street Journal Survey found that 74% of Americans favor eliminating tax credits for the oil and gas industries as a way to reduce the federal budget deficit.
In spite of a grilling by Democratic members of the US Senate (what we all know was a grandstanding event), Mulva refused to apologize for calling it “un-American” to end subsidies to the Big 5 oil companies.
This clearly indicates that bloated corporate executives are so cocksure that they have a stranglehold on us, the media, and our government that they need not fear repercussions from any quarter, even with language that insults us and our intelligence.
They have increasingly had their way with us from the late 1970s to the current time. Now they have a Democrat in the White House, a stymied Democratic majority in the Senate and a radical right-wing majority in the House. The first two represent a duality of ineffectiveness and soft pedaling, while the latter a singularity of proto-fascist tyranny.
In addition, a predominantly radical right-wing Supreme Court has hamstrung fair elections by helping to infuse billions of dollars into the right wing side of the argument. The corporate media, doing their bidding, has given credence to conservative lies and bias for reactionary economic and cultural values the radical-right-wing-hijacked Republicans have driven back a century.
With a solid political, media and business infrastructure pushed and pulled in a plutocratic lockstep of proto-fascist molds, why shouldn’t Mulva spit in the face of the common people.
Isn’t it about time for the people to react against the arrogance of the fat cats who feed from the trough of the taxpayers and then utter derisive insults into our faces?
Would we allow a common thief to steal food out of the mouths of our children and then excuse him for cursing us?
Jim Mulva only represents one fat cat picking our pockets. It is all of the CEOs who make Faustian bargains with corporate boards to take away obscene pay. That money comes out of the hides of investors, workers, taxes not paid, and stockholders who deserve more.
Little taxed and less regulated, it is still corporate anarchy, fat, ugly and supercilious. Behemoth financial corporations like Goldman Sach continue playing loose and reckless with speculative finances, now on the commodities markets, helping to drive up gas prices by more than 70 cents a gallon.
Emboldened by the fact that none has been prosecuted, this after taking big bundles of subprime mortgages lent out largely to low-income, highly risky borrowers and with the help of a bogus AAA rating sell them to other brokerage houses, making billions and busting banks.
And while Goldman Sachs, for example, was selling these bundles, “They turned around and placed massive bets against the mortgage market knowing that it was going to collapse,” according to Matt Tiabi in his book Griftopia.
So why wouldn’t grifters of all stripes be bold and disrespectful of the suckers who blindly chase other bogeyman for their financial crimes. Their lackey Republicans point to unions and too many angry and inattentive voters, like trained dogs, take the bait and attack pension funds or public workers as the bad guys who caused the recession.
Why wouldn’t the perpetrators insult those they consider inferior patsies, including Senators.
After several Senators called for an apology, CEO Jim Mulva claimed “nothing was intended personally.”
Jon Kyl, often a buffoon, as well as a Republican Senator from Arizona, can relate to ludicrous statements. When called for lying about 90% of family planning funds being for abortions when it is only 3%, his spokesperson said, “ [It was] not intended to be a factual statement.”
Certainly in the current corporate media world, we might say nothing is intended to be factual…only self-serving or perhaps, entertaining.
CEOs Believe We Are Stupid!,
Jammer
26 May 2011Yep – good article. But of course nothing was ‘intended personally’ .. the ole political two-step. ‘The People’ really should try rallying together on some of these major concerns – we’re supposed to be in control!
2centsworth
27 May 2011What are the tax credits that they are getting. Aren’t they the same ones that all businesses get from the IRS. If there are others please list them. Also, does anyone know what the profit margin is at an oil company? Just curious as it seems that everyone is jumping onto the band wagon against the oil companies. In many cases rightfully so, however does anyone on hear know what drives the price of gas? I would like to hear from people….
ocjim0
27 May 2011Speculators are free to invest their surplus millions in an index which was formed by Goldman Sachs and a few other Wall Street leech companies, an index whose only purpose is to push up gas and other commodity prices. Since the first Bush, there is no regulation of such activities to protect consumers or buyers and sellers, including the current leadership.
Tax credits were originally meant for fledgling companies to encourage exploring for oil. Now like crop supports they go to multi-millionaire and billionaire farmers and oil companies.
2centsworth
27 May 2011So tell me what drives the prices in futures trading, is it Supply and Demand or just fat cats sitting in an office saying lets screw the American public. Leave your hatred for capitalism at the door. And of course it is Bushes fault. How typical..
ocjim0
27 May 2011No these are not necessarily fat cats speculators. Like any investor, they want to put their money into investments with great returns. The suspension of regulation happened first with the Bush Sr administration. All self-serving politicians approved the anti-regulation binge, including Clinton in 1999. This is not a one-political-party blamefest, at least not until the kill-Medicare and kill-all-regulation Republicans arrived. Dems probably are as effective in denying people their protection from corporate leeches in their spinelessness.