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"Producer or Parasite?" examines the fallout from socialism, social engineering and the culture of entitlement in America.

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The Parasite Pyramid

January 28, 2009

This is the weekly home page article. For daily blogs, please click on Recent Postings at screen right

Think of parasites as an organizational pyramid or multilevel marketing enterprise. Maybe a better descriptor is Ponzi scheme. At the top of the pyramid are the liberal elite, the union bosses, trial lawyers, environmental gurus and political hacks that exhort Americans to sacrifice more, tighten their belts and stop complaining about higher taxes, loss of personal freedoms and economic opportunity.

At the bottom are the stupid schmucks that support and believe in the parasite elite, expecting to get something out of this whole pyramid scheme. They usually get the short end of the stick - a few handouts and some useless programs. The middle class gets stuck paying for handouts to the parasites, including the very top of the pyramid.

Let’s use trial lawyers as an example. When one of these parasites is advertising for slip and fall injuries or asbestos-related disease on television, they’re aiming at the bottom of the pyramid. They promise to get their clients big money awards with no fees and no risk. Obviously, they neglect to tell these poor folks, who indeed may have a legitimate claim, that they’ll receive just a small fraction of any award. The trial lawyers aren’t advertising to the upper middle class (aka the taxpayers). No self-respecting small business owner, corporate exec, doctor or professional would even consider representation by an ambulance-chaser. The trial lawyers aim their advertising at the poor, unemployed, hopeless and desperate. They are typically in financial trouble, uneducated and unfamiliar with how these legal parasites work their game. So, they end up signing away their rights in a class action suit or bundled case, and receive far less than they deserve. The trail lawyers, on the other hand, make millions, usually by overwhelming the court or the accused with hundreds of simultaneous claims. Just to the clear the docket, many judges will urge the accused to settle, even if they’re completely blameless.

Obviously, trial lawyers resist any legal reforms that would stop this gravy train. They invest heavily in the Democratic Party, donating millions. In fact, in most states, trial lawyers are the largest political donors. They have enormous influence.

Politicians work the system in a similar manner. They promise the poor, uneducated, hopeless or shiftless just about anything to get elected, knowing full well they can’t possibly deliver on those promises. Once in office, they create programs and laws that take money from working Americans and redistribute it to those who can’t or won’t provide for themselves. But, the government is incredibly inefficient in the redistribution of wealth. For every dollar collected in taxes, only 20 cents actually makes it to the person who needs it. The other 80 cents is used up by the government to ‘administer’ the redistribution. Wouldn’t we be better off with private charities doing this work? After all, even the least efficient private charity still delivers 70 cents of every donated dollar to the proper recipient.

Socialist politicians masquerading as Democrats don’t really want private charities to exist because they are competition. Instead, they want government to assume the roles of benefactor, parent, guidance counselor, personal financier, doctor and therapist in the name of ‘fairness’ and ‘compassion’. What’s really going on is that socialist politicians have been able to manipulate the poor and working class to their own advantage, creating a powerful voting bloc. That voting bloc is kept motivated by promises of even more government handouts at the expense of the ‘rich’, who truly don’t deserve their wealth no matter how hard they worked for it. By inciting class warfare, they keep themselves in office.

Much like the trial lawyers who promise big cash awards and instead grab most of it for themselves, politicians promise the poor and working class handouts and special privileges, knowing they can’t deliver. Instead, that money is absorbed by the politicians’ real constituency - huge government bureaucracies, the labor unions representing them and politically connected government contractors who are themselves unionized or generously underwrite liberal causes. There is one other, very important beneficiary of the redistribution game - activist organizations that directly engage with the poor, the disenfranchised and working poor or pretend to represent them in some way. Many, like the ACLU and A.C.O.R.N., receive direct government funding so that they can continue to foment class hatred and despair among millions of Americans, instilling in them a sense of entitlement instead of a sense of empowerment.

But it’s not just the poor and working class Americans who look to government handouts. Wall Street has snagged billions in taxpayer money to prop up billionaires and a culture of entitlement. Unlike the millions of poor and working poor that have only one vote to cast, the relatively small number of Wall Street honchos and financiers write big campaign donation checks. They buy their political clout, just like trial lawyers. Ask Democrats Barney Frank and Chris Dodd. When the Wall Street people overstep their bounds, when they truly screw up, these cobras lean on the American taxpayer. And the American taxpayer is completely unaware that the government, steered by politicians, dispenses money based on political considerations above all else. So, if billions are handed out to the poor, millions of poor each get a couple bucks. If billions are handed out on Wall Street, millions of bucks go to just a few people. The top of the parasite pyramid generally gets the same amount of money as the bottom of the pyramid - it’s just spread out among fewer people. And they have no problem taking it. After all, it’s free!

It’s not perfect, but it’s the best there is

December 29, 2008

The Democratic Party and its left-wing supporters aren’t happy with America, the Constitution, the tax code and the role of government. If only they could remake America in the image of other failed socialist endeavors, like England, Canada, France, Sweden or even the old Soviet Union. Then, they would love that America more than the one our founding fathers envisioned. If only they could scrap the Constitution and rewrite it for a more ‘contemporary’ society to eliminate any reference to God, duty, personal responsibility and public virtue. Then, they could begin to ‘believe’ in the Constitution.

And, if only they could change the tax code so that it was more like Sweden, where the upper income ranges were taxed as high as 85%, then maybe there would be more to like about America. Never mind that it kills personal incentive and/or moves wealth out of the country. It would be more ‘fair’ to those who don’t achieve, don’t outperform and lead lives with low expectations. And finally, if only government could intrude and control every aspect of every one’s lives except the ruling elite then finally there would be an America even a Democrat could love with all his/her/its heart.

America isn’t perfect. The Constitution isn’t perfect. But both are a whole world better than anything dreamed up by anyone else on this planet at any point in time. When the poop hits the fan, who does the world turn to for help, France? Russia? No, when there’s a tsunami, a famine, an earthquake, ethnic cleansing, economic distress or despotic excess, everyone in the world expects America to jump into the fray and lead the way. Then, they can sit back and armchair-quarterback our actions, especially that cesspool of corruption - the United Nations.

When nations are finally able to throw off the yoke of communism, socialism or totalitarianism, what is their first impulse? They look at America’s system of government, our free market economy and a largely classless society as a worthy ideal, and attempt to organize a constitutional republic. Which begs the question, if the American ideals are so desirable, and most free people hope to emulate it, why are the Democrats so fiercely invested in changing them? Why do Democrats and their leftist masters hate what America and Americans have accomplished over the last 200 years?

The answer is simple. They weren’t responsible for this country’s greatest achievements. Everyday working Americans, entrepreneurs and yes, capitalists, were the ones who built this country into a world power. And now, the socialists want to remake it into some kind of hopeless and dreary utopia. Perhaps they can find someplace else to work their experiments. Canada is nice this time of year. Much like Siberia.

From each according to his abilities, to each according to his needs.

October 27, 2008

Obama has made no secret of his wealth distribution jihad. And, the paralells to Karl Marx just keep piling up. He has promised to right all wrongs, take from the rich and give to the poor. This, of course, has the effect of a feeding frenzy. The parasites, sensing a payday, are already rejoicing. But that celebration may be premature and probably short-lived. That’s because the masses voting for Obama’s redistribution plan aren’t the ones to benefit from it. The payoff will be enormous for trial lawyers, lobbyists, Hollywood types, and other moneyed members of the liberal elite. The average working stiff will instead get stuck with the bill, or at the very least, won’t get much in return for his/her vote.

Obama and Biden will institute a statist form of socialism that effectively closes off opportunity and upward mobility for those who haven’t already clawed their way to an elite status. They’ll do this with crippling taxes, mountains of red tape and invasive social engineering. Outside of American Idol, the doors to personal achievement and true wealth-building will be closed. In other words, America will now resemble the rest of the world. For all their class warfare demagoguery, it’s the Democrats who want to formalize and freeze class distinctions. It keeps them in power for as long as they can fool the working and middle classes into believing they are the party of the common man. That was a lie way back in FDR’s day, as much as it is today. And once Democrats control the White House, Congress and the Supreme Court, they will pass laws and regulations to make sure they’ll never be voted out. Our most fundamental right will have been taken away.

This is not idle speculation. The Mackinaw Center discovered such a plot in Michigan, where Democratic legislators, lobbyists and various ‘grass roots’ groups were attempting to create legislation and policy that would have guaranteed Democrats total control of state government with no accountability and no public recourse. They could not be voted out of office. By the way, this went unreported in the state’s largest newspapers and TV stations. A few radio talk show hosts were the only ones to mention this overt abridgement of voting rights and representative government. Michigan Republicans were able to muster a creaky, tepid response that put the measure on hold. To Democrats, this was only a temporary setback. They lie in wait. One wonders how many other states have similar measures in play.

Can you live in servitude?

October 22, 2008

Americans, on average, make for really lousy serfs and servants. A couple hundred years enjoying unequalled freedoms, a largely classless society and social mobility make Americans a very independent sort of people. They chafe and complain under too much authority and too many rules. Better get used to it. A life of servitude awaits at the end of the Obama song and dance routine. Even the parasites who voted in the Anointed One and the creatures inhabiting Congress will find that life won’t be so rosy once the Gang of Three takes over. Barack Obama, Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid will begin where Lenin began. Hopefully, they won’t end up where Stalin did.

They’ll shake down the rich. When the rich are no more, they’ll shake down the merely affluent. When the affluent are gone, they’ll start on the ‘middle class’. One detail Obama omitted in his oratory: There aren’t enough wealthy people to give the masses what they’ve been promised. The top 2% of wage earners can’t begin to pay for the other 98%, even if the government took away everything they have. It does not compute. But, most Americans have been so poorly served by the public education system they can’t figure it out. Hhmm.

The Democrats will be swept into office by pandering to the parasites, promising them the riches earned by the producers. And, those parasites aren’t necessarily the stereotypes that first come to mind. In fact, the most pernicious, coldly effective parasites are members of the liberal elite. They are affluent, educated, politically connected insiders. They firmly believe in class distinctions provided, of course, that the prevailing social structure puts them at the very top. Everyone else is here to carry their bags and wash their cars. In cascading order will come the others — bureaucrats, moneylenders, unions, and at the very tail end, the people who truly need to be helped.

It is stunning that so few Americans are uninvolved in something so important. A recent study suggests that fewer than 15% of Americans know who Nancy Pelosi is, even as she endeavors to take food off their tables, money out of their wallets and boost energy costs into the stratosphere. But what Americans don’t know and don’t care about will condemn them to a life of servitude. The promised change is coming.

A bitter harvest

October 21, 2008

America’s parasites are welcoming the presumed ascendancy of Barack Obama to the highest office in the land. He’s made promises up and down the socio-economic ladder to just about anyone he thinks will be able to cast a vote, legally or illegally. There will be more pork, says Obama. There will be more handouts, says Obama. There will be more welfare of every form, says Obama. And he’s not hiding the fact that there will be more taxes to pay for it all. But, that tax will be paid only by the richest in the land, who couldn’t possibly have made that money by their own effort, comittment and risk. It was wealth accumulated by some nefarious, unknown means that in all fairness must be distributed to all. So says Obama. And when elected, he and his Democratic henchmen will put this country through a wrenching, hellish transformation.

Obama, the one we’ve all been waiting for, knows nothing of wealth creation and what makes this country so very different from the rest of the world. And if he does, he doesn’t care. Like Lenin and the Bolsheviks, Obama, Pelosi and Reid will experiment with the economy, the political process, the role of government and the structure of society. We will be the guinea pigs, as will our children and their children. They will solidify their power so that the Democratic party can never be voted out of office and government can grow exponentially. This, they have solemnly promised America. They don’t have to hide their agenda anymore. The parasites, who outnumber the producers, focused on the promises of easy money and government handouts, cheerfully giving up their economic freedoms.

The transition into socialism will be subtle. The transformation into a socialist state, with its ruling elite, party apparatchicks and clueless masses will not. When millions of middle class Americans are jobless, homeless and hopeless as Obama twists the knobs and fiddles with our fates, it will be too late to point out that the Democrats made their intentions very clear. And even the parasites will suffer. Because they’re no longer needed to vote, apply political pressure or write big campaign checks. They’ll be cast aside and told to fend for themselves — a bitter harvest to be sure.

Joe the Plumber for President

October 16, 2008

Our man Joe has verbalized the angst of productive Americans across the country: Why are we bothering to work so hard if the rewards are taken away before the ink on the check is dry? Barack Obama’s intent was made very clear in his brief exchange with our intrepid plumber — don’t even try. Just lay back and let the government take care of you. Obama wasn’t speaking to Joe. He was speaking to his constituents who eagerly await the day when they can get even more for doing even less. Obama doesn’t know how to speak to Joe because Obama doesn’t understand how business is grown, how wealth is created, or what it takes in terms of risk and sacrifice to do so. He is so steeped in Marxist philosophy that the simplest of business concepts is beyond his comprehension.

Joe understands that every increase in income tax, either for himself or his business, delays his ability to hire another employee, which in turn prevents the business from growing. Joe also understands that he has to pay tax on any profit before he can plow that money back into the business. Therefore, the higher the tax rate, the less money to be put back into the business. Joe isn’t putting the money in his pocket. He’s trying to build a business by reinvesting in it. That’s how small business are bootstrapped from nothing. If the business does well, Joe and his family do well. If the business suffers, Joe still pays his employees and still pays his bills, but he and his family make sacrifices. If Joe is willing to take the risk, put his money on the line, work day and night, he should be given the chance to smell success. After all, very few small businesses succeeed, and it’s not for lack of trying. But, Americans continue to try, starting thousands of new businesses each year.

Sen. Obama doesn’t grasp this. He wants to take Joe’s reinvestment money and hand it out to whomever the Gang of Three (Obama, Pelosi, Reid) thinks will vote their way. Yes, it’s that simple. The Gang of Three will make sure that any new spending will be directed toward maximizing their political power and growing their voting bloc. They are the champions and enablers of redistribution. Joe the Plumber called it: We will slip into socialism when the Gang of Three takes power, should Obama capture the presidency. The parasites will celebrate.

Free Money for Everbody

October 13, 2008

Stub your toe? Break a fingernail? Borrow more money than you should have? Obama’s administration will make it right for you, aided and abetted by a Congress rushing to save the ‘middle’ class. Let’s fully understand what Obama and Biden are promising: As a homeowner, should you fail to pay your property taxes, the federal government will pay them for you. If you fail to make your monthly mortgage payments, the federal government will either, a) make those payments for you, or; b) allow you to renegotiate the principal, or; c) walk away from your obligation with no consequences. If this should come to pass, or if anything near this should make it out of a Congressional committee, the world financial markets can expect another series of catastrophic financial shocks courtesy of the good ole US of A.

These kind of campaign promises, if ever realized, would literally vaporize the value of all residential real estate in the country. If any mortgage, even those issued or guaranteed by the federal government, can be ‘renegotiated’ at any time during its term, then the value of that property is also subject to change. Therefore, a deadbeat can stop paying off his/her mortgage whenever they like and then renegotiate the terms and principal. This would also have the effect of lowering the value of the property attached by that mortgage. The lender would have no recourse. In order to recoup the loss, the lender, even if it’s the government, would need to raise interest rates for those who do pay, and add exhorbitant fees to the borrowng process. The deadbeat’s neighbors would feel the pain, as well. Their homes could be devalued as well, adding instability and volatility to home prices. That’s the last thing this battered economy needs.

But logic and reality don’t prevent the Obama campaign from promising what amounts to free money for those who don’t take responsibility for themselves or simply want something for nothing. Imagine the thousands of parasites who’ll rush to buy a home with the expressed intent of defaulting on the mortgage so that they can get a 30-40% reduction in the principal just for the asking. What kind of unimaginable consequences would that spawn? It’s obvious that Obama courts not working Americans but rather those who benefit from this kind giveaway and who outnumber productive citizens at the voting booth. It sets a dangerous tone that has parasites voting themselves every kind of perk at the expense of those who work and attempt to live within their means. And those parasites inhabit every part of the socio-economic spectrum: Just ask Hollywood and TV producers about their spanking brand-new $200 million in tax credits, courtesy of the banking bailout bill.

But then, Obama and Biden promise that only the ‘rich’ will pay. And when that 5% of the population is eventually beggared by the demands of the other 95%, what then, Mr. Obama? To whom do we turn to feed the beast once the wealthy are decimated or leave this country? How will business grow, how will capital be formed? Once the wealthy disappear, there will be only two sources of capital - government and union pension funds. The transition to socialism will be complete.