Corporate
Patriotism
U. S. corporations aren’t even subtle about it.
Waving a flag and carrying a big shovel, corporate interests are
scooping up government benefits and taxpayer money in an
unprecedented fashion while the public is preoccupied with the
September 11 attacks and the war in Afghanistan. Shamelessly, the
Bush Administration and Congress have taken advantage of the
patriotic outpouring to fulfill the wish lists of their most
generous corporate campaign donors. Not only is the Treasury being
raided, but regulations protecting everything from personal privacy
to environmental safeguards are under attack by well-heeled
lobbyists who want to stampede Congress to act while the media and
citizens are distracted.
Only a handful in the Congress — members like
Senator Russell Feingold of Wisconsin and Representatives Peter
DeFazio of Oregon and Barbara Lee of California — have shown the
courage to question the giveaways and the quick wipeout of civil
liberties and other citizen protections. In most cases, such as the
$15 billion airline bailout and corporate tax breaks, legislation
has been pushed to the forefront with little or no hearings and only
fleeting consideration on the floor of the Senate and the House of
Representatives.
One of the boldest grabs for cash has been by
corporations seeking to eliminate the Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT),
which was enacted during the Reagan Administration to prevent
profitable corporations from escaping all tax liability through
various loopholes. Not only do the corporations want relief from the
current year’s AMT taxes, but they are seeking a retroactive
refund of all AMT taxes paid since 1986.
This giveaway, as passed by the House of
Representatives, would make corporations eligible for $25 billion in
tax refunds. Just 14 corporations would receive $6.3 billion of the
refund. IBM gets $1.4 billion; General Motors, $833 million; General
Electric $671 million; Daimler-Chrysler $600 million; Chevron-Texaco
$572 million. The 14 biggest beneficiaries of the minimum tax repeal
gave $14,769,785 in “soft money” to the national committees of
the Democratic and Republican parties in recent years.
Soon to join the bailout parade is the nation’s
insurance industry, which is lobbying the Congress to have the
federal government pick up the tab for future losses like those
stemming from the attack on the World Trade Center. Proposals are on
the table for taxpayers to either pick up losses above certain
levels or to provide loans or loan guarantees for reinsurance.
The insurance companies want federal bailouts, but
they continue to insist on regulation only by underfunded, poorly
staffed state insurance departments, most of which are dominated by
the industry. Any bailout or loan program involving the insurance
companies must include provisions which ensure that insurance
companies cannot refuse to write policies and make investments in
low, moderate and minority neighborhoods. Allegations about
insurance company “redlining” or discrimination against citizens
in these areas have been prevalent for many years. It would be a
terrible injustice for citizens to be forced to pay taxes to help
bail out insurance companies that discriminate against them.
Congress needs to address this issue before it even considers public
assistance for the industry.
People-concerns have been missing in all the
bailouts. When the airline companies walked off with $15 billion
plus in bailout money, the thousands of laid-off employees —
airline attendants, maintenance crews, baggage handlers, and ticket
counter employees — received not a dime. Attempts to include
health benefits and other help for these employees were shouted down
on the floor of the House of Representatives.
Last month, more than 400,000 employees lost their
jobs nationwide and the national unemployment rate rose to 5.4
percent, the highest level since 1996. The Bureau of Labor
Statistics said roughly a fourth of the lost jobs were the direct
result of the terrorist attacks of September 11. Bailouts, benefits,
or other aid for these victims of the attacks? No, that’s reserved
just for the corporations under the policies of the Bush
Administration and the present Congress.
Yet it is the workers in the low-wage jobs —
like those in restaurants, hotels, retailing, and transportation —
who are bearing the brunt of the layoffs in the aftermath of the
attacks on the World Trade Center, according to a report from the
New York State Department of Labor. Almost 25,000 people told the
department that they lost their jobs because of the trade center
disaster. An analysis by the department of the first 22,000 of the
claims found that 16 percent worked at bars, 14 percent worked at
hotels, 5 percent worked in air transportation, and 21 percent in a
category termed “business services.” Only 4 percent worked at
Wall Street brokerage firms.
While more workers lose jobs, the Administration
is pushing for authority to expand the North American Free Trade
Agreement (NAFTA) under new “fast-track” authority. The
Department of Commerce concedes that at least 360,000 jobs have been
lost under NAFTA, and private research groups estimate the total may
be twice that number. Now, with unemployment rising to alarming
levels, the Administration decides to cave to pro-NAFTA corporate
demands which will only make the labor picture worse. No bailout for
laid off workers, just a hard crack across the knees.
As Bill Moyers, the author and national
journalist, commented: “They (the corporations) are counting on
your patriotism to distract you from their plunder. They’re
counting on you to stand at attention with your hand over your
heart, pledging allegiance to the flag, while they pick your pocket.”
The present crisis cries out for shared sacrifice
— not the opportunism so blatantly displayed by the nation’s
corporate interests. President Bush and the Congress must summon the
courage to resist the self-serving demands — the kind of courage
and shared sacrifice that guided the brave rescue workers on
September 11.
Ralph Nader (www.citizenworks.org;
November 10, 2001)
