Item: an old friend has a son of whom he is proud;
the son, an aeronautical engineer working for a major airplane manufacturer
whose planes we all fly on, has recently been appointed to a staff whose duty
it is, working for the manufacturer, to review and certify the safety of
airplane designs, on behalf of the FAA,
(bold added intentionally.) That is, the
staff reviews their company’s design, and in the name of the FAA certifies that
is acceptable as meeting all safety standards. The rationale is that the FAA lacks the
expertise and resources to conduct the required review. As I interpret it, the FAA and the company have
switched roles, with the FAA now serving as the public relations agent for the
company, assuring the public (that’s you) that the product is ok. Think about it the next time you fly.
Item: the Washington
Post notes in an about federal workers column that the Agriculture
Department is planning to privatize the inspection of poultry nationwide to
save its resources in the face of budget cuts. So one private corporation will
be inspecting and certifying another private corporation on behalf of the
federal government to assure you that your chicken dinner is not only yummy but
safe. Meanwhile, new standards for food
safety have been delayed for several years since their first announcement. Supposedly it’s to clear up the wording of
regulations; insiders say large food producers are privately protesting and
stalling. Doesn’t that make your chicken
taste better and better?
Item: a Federal
Reserve Governor warns that the banking reform initiatives passed in 2010 as
the Dodd-Frank Bill are fizzling due to private strong resistance from Wall
Street banks, especially JPMorgan Chase and Goldman Sachs. The resistance has grown stronger since 4 of
the 19 large banks failed to pass the “stress tests” mandated for them by the
legislation. Resistance is also strong
against the “Volcker Rule”, which prohibits banks from using more than 10
percent of customer deposits to “do business with” other banks on their own
behalf. As you recall, that rule is
aimed at preventing banks from engaging in risky speculation with their
customers money by, among other things, engaging in derivatives trading and “off-the-books”
short-term transactions.
Item: I’ve noted before the way gas prices go up
and up, even when supply is up and demand is down. Defenders like Robert Samuelson say its
justifiable because it’s a world market and, since everyone needs oil, the oil
is ”price-inelastic.” That’s obfuscatory
language for monopolistic or oligopolistic pricing, i.e., charging regardless
of the users’ ability or willingness to pay.
Do you recall how prices vary at stations on this side versus the other
side of town? Then why do prices in
America, which has growing supplies, have to be up because demand is high in
China? Hmm. Could it be because Exxon-Mobil is no longer
an American corporation?
The struggle for dominance between corporations
and sovereign states is not taking place in a galaxy far, far away. The battlefields are at your grocery store,
your airport, you gas station, your bank, and a thousand other places where you
live. When Supreme Courts award another
victory to corporations, or corporate lobbyists stem another attempt at
government regulation, it’s you that loses.
Think about it.
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