Throw Them All Out

Throw Them All Out is a phrase we have all heard for years and most of us have used a few times. Peter Schweizer decided to use it as a title for his book. To me, it seems almost an expression of hopelessness, because we have little or no chance of throwing them all out. I would have called it, Where Illegal Acts Are Legal.

Schweizer is a research fellow at the Hoover Institution, Stanford University. His latest book exposes some of the corruption that is rampant in Washington, DC.

News media coverage for the book, including a special segment on Sixty Minutes, focused on insider trading, but I will start with the chapters on the American Recovery Investment Act of 2009 (remember that $787 billion stimulus that was supposed to go for  shovel-ready projects and create all those jobs?).

We could argue as to whether or not the economy can be artificially stimulated by throwing money at it (I believe that doing this might have short term benefits, but seriously harms the economy in the long term), but there can be little argument that everyone suffers when the money is doled out as political favors with little regard for job creation.

From the book: “Crony capitalists don’t care whether a rising tide lifts all boats. They just want to buy their way into the big party boat.” This is evident when you look at how taxpayer funds that were supposed to be used to stimulate the economy and create jobs were used as payoffs to cronies.

From the book: “In 2010, seven of the ten richest counties in the United States were in the Washington, D.C., area.”  Think that might have anything to do with government largesse?

The author of Throw Them All Out admits that listing payoffs from this administration would take a whole book, so he focuses on tax-free loans and grants from the energy department.  80% ($16.4 billion) of such grants went to Obama-connected companies.

Individual bundlers and members of Obama’s campaign finance committee (at least ten members) and more than a dozen bundlers benefited personally, often to the tune of billions, not millions, in what may be the most expensive example of crony capitalism in American history.

Most of us know about Solyndra, but there are many others the lazy media have not covered. For every thousand dollars raised by a member of Obama’s National Finance Committee, they received $24,783,000 in our money. Yes, that’s almost $25 million for every thousand—a return of twenty-five thousand to one.

Fisker Automotive received $529 million in subsidies to build an electric car that will cost $89K each. Top investors include Al Gore and John Doerr, an Obama mega fund-raiser.

Tesla Motors, another electric car company, got $465 million. The primary owners are Obama fund-raisers.

The author devotes a whole chapter to Warren Buffett. He was heavily invested in banks that needed bailouts. While buying and selling shares in companies directly affected, he held a conference call with House Speaker Pelosi (D) and other house Democrats and pushed them to pass a bailout that directly enriched him.  He’s a big donor and supporter of Obama.

Meanwhile, Democrats Dick Durbin and Claire McCaskill, in on the phone calls with Buffett, as well as Orin Hatch (R) were buying shares in Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway. The bailout was a windfall to the company and they cleaned up. Companies connected to Berkshire have received $95 billion in bailouts.

           

George Soros gave $60K to Obama’s senate run and was vital in building his presidential run war chest. He is also a major backer of the Center for American Progress, a far left think tank. Soros speculates in currencies and boasts of causing some to collapse, but also made billions from the bailouts and stimulus packages. He runs a hedge fund and hedge funds gave 83% of their money in the last election to Democrats.

If your heart will stand it, read the book to find out more.

“Power corrupts; absolute power corrupts absolutely.” Lord Acton’s wisdom is borne out in the pages of this book.

Heard enough? Next week’s article will focus on how members of both parties enrich themselves with earmarks. After that—insider trading. You won’t believe it. Or maybe you will. 

This review is from: Go Down Looking

This fourth novel in the Rivers series follows Jake Rivers as he discovers life outside of the small, hard, tight life of his youth. As usual, Ainsworth's deft words encapsulate the sights, sounds, smells and feelings of his realistic and interesting characters. You are not only inside Jake's mind as he discovers the vagaries and truths of relationships, family and corporate life; you care about him, you really care about him. You get angry at him for his pride, temper and misjudgments and are frustrated and puzzled with him by the way life treats him, but neither you nor he ever feel like a victim. His cynical optimism is Jake's most endearing trait and strongest weapon. The universality of Jake's episodes and the drop-dead veracity of the characters and their dialogue produce what I think any serious author of contemporary fiction would strive for: reflective thought, deep empathy, life recalled and lessons learned. Reading Ainsworth is a joy and I think he is one of the great undiscovered talents who will richly deserve the success he will find.