04-30-2020, 05:41 AM
(This post was last modified: 04-30-2020, 05:42 AM by Eric the Green.)
(04-29-2020, 03:13 PM)Warren Dew Wrote:(04-29-2020, 02:47 PM)Eric the Green Wrote: forcing fanatical, right-wing, neo-liberal Republicans to vote for left-wing Keynesian measures.
Establishment Republican Senators, which still includes most of them, have always been willing to give away taxpayer money to their special interests, just like the Democrats. And at this point, the big banks and other monopolists have the establishment of both parties in their pockets, so the majority of the "stimulus" that went to bail out big business, and indirectly, banks, is hardly surprising.
Neoliberals love government spending - as long as it goes into their pockets and not someone else's.
The Democrats did not vote for the money to go to the big companies. The Republicans are the neo-liberals, and neo-liberals claim to be against government spending and taxes, but neo-liberal presidents like Reagan, Bush and Trump end up bankrupting the state. That is their aim, in the hope that a bankrupt government won't be able to spend money for the benefit of certain ethnic groups. The COVID relief money was voted by congress but administered by the neo-liberal Trump and his admin, and that's why the money went to the big banks and corporations.
Remember, the proper definition of neo-liberal often gets confusing, just like the definition of populist. The most common definition of neo-liberal equates to libertarian economic policies, and these are the main plank in Republican platforms. Neo-liberals are classical liberals on economics, and that's where the name comes from. Their ideological heroes are Mises, Hayek, Milton Friedman and Ayn Rand. Paul Ryan was the most enthusiastic promoter of neo-liberalism in the congress, even personally distributing the literature of these theorists to other members. Neo-liberals propose lower taxes and regulations on business in hope that their benefits will trickle down from the "job creaters." But there is no trickle; it is only a tinkle. Democrats are not neo-liberals per se, despite the confusing name, but establishment and "new" Democrats often compromise with neo-liberal policies, because of the power of neo-liberals in our rigged and corrupt political system.