Sure, tax cuts to the moneyed class, and "bread", er, spending designed to benefit their holdings, or mollify the masses such that they can continue to enrich the few hundred.
The reason politicians in the US engage in such shenanigans is that those wedge issues are the "circuses" that allow the status quo of imperialist militarism, supported by both parties, to continue. Is it mere coincidence that neither party opposes the health-industrial complex, or the military-industrial complex?
>It wouldn't be that difficult to set up a grassroots organization that raises more money to lobby for a carbon tax than oil companies spend on lobbying for subsidies. Even so, politicians would still keep oil subsidies and merely only pay lip service a carbon tax because the former boosts the economy in the short term, and the latter is the opposite.
Isn't it more parsimonious to conclude that the reason is that the grassroots organization can't keep up the flow of money in the way that the few hundred can?
> Is it mere coincidence that neither party opposes the health-industrial complex, or the military-industrial complex?
At the end of the day, if the government really wants to do something, corporations have no choice but to comply, like with the Sherman Antitrust Act or the lockdown during the pandemic. There's nothing stopping them from opposing the military-industrial complex or the health-industrial complex outside themselves. They just don't want to because neither would grant them any short term political benefits. Both parties share a hatred of Big Tech, but they still can't get anything done because they hate each other more than they hate Big Tech.
Er, when's the last time the Sherman Antitrust Act got enforced? Given that last time, are there any modern corporations that would seem to deserve the antitrust treatment, but aren't getting it for some reason? How much are those corporations donating to Congress? Enforcement just doesn't happen because then the money train would stop.
This ain't exactly parsimonious. You're going on about "political benefits", but why introduce additional complexities like that when the bribery uh lobbying er aggressive donation strategy is public knowledge, super obvious, and almost entirely bipartisan? [0][1] This doesn't even include Big Oil, Big Pharma, Big Ag, etc... It makes me uncomfortable, too, but pretending it's about politicking is just silly.
[1] This doesn't apply to the most recent presidential election. Note that most of the cash went to Democrats. I can't really blame them. My thesis is that big corps lobby the gummint in order to ensure Good Business; it's sensible that the big corps might realize that another term of Trump might be more disruptive than beneficial
The reason politicians in the US engage in such shenanigans is that those wedge issues are the "circuses" that allow the status quo of imperialist militarism, supported by both parties, to continue. Is it mere coincidence that neither party opposes the health-industrial complex, or the military-industrial complex?
>It wouldn't be that difficult to set up a grassroots organization that raises more money to lobby for a carbon tax than oil companies spend on lobbying for subsidies. Even so, politicians would still keep oil subsidies and merely only pay lip service a carbon tax because the former boosts the economy in the short term, and the latter is the opposite.
Isn't it more parsimonious to conclude that the reason is that the grassroots organization can't keep up the flow of money in the way that the few hundred can?