Senator-elect John Fetterman (D-Pa.) promises to, “make sure Wall Street, hedge fund managers, and mega-millionaires pay their fair share,” and that he’ll “fight for a tax code that ensures . . . corporations like Amazon . . . don’t get away with scamming the system, and finally pay their fair share like the rest of us.” Meanwhile, the owner of Amazon used his privately-owned newspaper, like all the other corporate media, to campaign for Fetterman with millions worth of free slanted coverage.
Picking one example at random, in August, the Washington Post opinion page featured a piece by Jennifer Rubin congratulating Fetterman on, “running a brilliant campaign,” against, “TV snake-oil salesman Mehmet Oz, infamous for hawking quack medical remedies. Oz is also a multimillionaire who has been living in New Jersey purchasing a home in Pennsylvania less than a year ago.” Oh, and Amazon gave two contributions of $38,344 each to Fetterman’s campaign. But it gave nothing to Oz’s campaign.
That’s strange. It’s almost like Amazon didn’t believe the candidate’s promise to raise Amazon’s taxes.
We know what will happen next. Senator-elect Fetterman will not “fight for a tax code that ensures . . . corporations like Amazon . . . don’t get away with scamming the system, and finally pay their fair share like the rest of us.” Besides, the Republicans would dutifully feed the jaws that bite them to protect Amazon with a filibuster if Fetterman actually did introduce tax fairness legislation. In six years, if anyone remembers, voters won’t be angry with Fetterman, however. They will remember that it was the Republicans, once again, who protected the rich when the regular hoodie-wearing man of the people Senator John tried to get justice.
The rich and corporations have moved away from the Republican Party. The wrap-around election year campaigning for Democrats masquerading as “news” exists because the corporations and rich people who own the legacy media coordinate their messages with the Democrats. That was the whole point of the 2016 email leaks. It showed reporters actively coordinating their coverage to box out Bernie Sanders during the primary, and later doing the same to Trump.
So why the hell do the Republicans keep playing along? With all that money and corporate power tilting the election playing field with censorship and deliberately biased coverage, can Republicans ever again get a fair shake in elections? No, of course not. It’s obvious. And all the talk about Trump being the reason we didn’t see a midterm red wave just distracts us from the real problem. The corporate media can afford to abuse Republicans because Republicans are stuck in the 1980s.
Clearly establishment Republicans have left the candle burning in the window just in case those big fat corporate interests ever decide to come home. They gaze wistfully out the window, hoping to catch a glimpse of Bill Gates’ pudgy gut jiggling up the lane. Perhaps that shiny thing in the distance is the moonlight dancing off Jeff Bezos’ scalp as he approaches Mitch McConnell’s Kentucky office? Year after year, the establishment waits by the phone hoping the corporations will come home to the Republican Party so they can get back to the good old days.
I’ve got some bad news for establishment Republicans: The corporate oligarchs have shacked up with the Democratic Party. You are yesterday’s whore. In fact, the Democratic Party has solidified their union by giving birth to a love child with blue hair and tattoos. The new child happily dines at the lavish corporate table while her indulgent parents listen to obviously fake speeches about “fairness” and “equity.”
Republicans should not stay in this abusive relationship with a partner who delivers beating after beating. There are plenty of growing constituencies that feel locked out of the woke/corporate partnership: paycheck Americans, retirees, and millions of small business owners who all suffer in this woke economy.
Fetterman is right about corporations paying less than their fair share. A corporation pays a flat tax of 21 percent while a small business proprietor can pay a much higher tax rate which includes both income tax and self-employment tax. Yet small businesses account for the majority of job creation in the country.
What would happen if the Republicans were to introduce or co-sponsor a tax bill that created tax burden parity between small and large businesses? Such a bill might include a provision which taxed corporate stock purchases (all purchases, not just corporate buy-backs) as a type of dividend payment because, let’s be honest, that’s how most corporations launder their profits back to their owners without paying dividend taxes. I say tax all corporate stock purchases because to do otherwise would create a giant loophole allowing Corporation A to buy the shares of Corporation B in exchange for Corporation B doing the same for A.
This would place the media in a perplexing position. Should they defend their economic interests by opposing tax parity? Such a move would risk alienating the mass of low-information voters who still believe the Republicans are the party of the rich. More likely, they would find some way to call the proposal “racist” or accuse it of contributing to “climate change.”
Corporations have declared war on the Republican Party and the 2022 midterm results show that their tactics can achieve dramatic results in spite of significant cyclical and economic headwinds. For the good of American democracy, the Left/corporate alliance must be split.
And, by the way, it would be great for the economy and helpful in fighting inflation if the tax code didn’t favor big but inefficient corporate dinosaurs over our nimble and innovative small businesses. Maybe if the corporations have to compete with small businesses on a level playing field, they won’t have as much excess money to spend on Democratic political campaigns. Tax fairness for corporations? Great idea, Senator Fetterman. Every Republican should co-sponsor.