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Burying the Big Myth
Accuracy in Academia ^ | August 7,2006 | Julia A. Seymour

Posted on 08/07/2006 1:29:27 PM PDT by JSedreporter

Many people believe that government and business are warring factions, and that political parties typically align with one or the other. But the truth, as Timothy P. Carney points out in his new book, is that big business is often in bed with big government and that both Republicans and Democrats have helped forge a partnership that consistently rips off ordinary Americans.

Carney's new book, The Big Ripoff: How Big Business and Big Government Steal Your Money, exposes this nasty partnership in detail—from Boeing subsidies to Ethanol mandates—and shows just how taxpayers lose their money and their voice in Washington.

Carney, currently a fellow with the Competitive Enterprise Institute, calls the idea that big business wants a smaller government “the big myth,” but as a myth it is not borne out by the facts. He explains that even in 1935, New Dealer FDR was seen as an enemy of big business, despite the Chamber of Commerce and other businesses’ SUPPORT of New Deal expansion.

But the myth persists today. The fall of Enron was called a failure of “anarchic capitalism,” Carney explains, but really Enron flourished under heavy regulation (which it lobbied for) and constantly asked for government handouts. People viewed the lawsuits against Big Tobacco as a government crusade against big business, but in the book, Carney exposes the intricate settlement agreement that ensures that companies like Phillip Morris USA stay in business and squash their competition, all with the help of the government.

So how is this counterintuitive scenario possible and why should you care?

Carney, a contributing editor for Human Events conservative weekly newspaper, and former political reporter for syndicated columnist Robert Novak, gives you the breakdown of how it happens and gives you reasons to care in Ripoff.

The short answer is that politicians have the power to help or hinder businesses, so businesses come to the source of power to ensure that their profits continue to increase. It’s a nasty game, but if companies don’t play they lose. Microsoft was rebuked by politicians in Washington several years ago because Bill Gates did not want to play politics, Carney recounts. So now, companies play, and you lose.

You lose, “because government action doesn't create wealth--it redistributes it. This mean’s Enron’s government-aided profits come from somewhere—you,” he writes.

Carney explains the many ways the government robs you: through subsidies, mandates, targeted tax breaks, prohibitions, eminent domain takings, bailouts, loans and loan forgiveness, as well as regulations. And each time it happens, “we all sacrifice a little bit of our freedom” he says.

“…if the government starts restricting our freedom to benefit somebody else—somebody we don’t think deserves it—we ought to be upset because the restrictions have a real cost. Government action makes us poorer and less free. On a strictly economic level, government action almost always reduces the net wealth of society.”

So if you want to know how Enron happened, why your Coke is made from high fructose corn syrup instead of sugar, how the cartelization of the tobacco industry occurred, and the criticisms of ethanol, you should definitely pick up a copy of The Big Ripoff. Perhaps then you won’t fall into the trap of believing “the big myth” anymore.

Julia A. Seymour is a staff writer for Accuracy in Academia.


TOPICS: Government
KEYWORDS: bigbusiness; biggovernment; bigtobacco; bookreview; corruption; eminentdomain; enron; ethanol; fdr; freemarkets; microsoft; newdeal; sugar

1 posted on 08/07/2006 1:29:29 PM PDT by JSedreporter
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To: JSedreporter
why your Coke is made from high fructose corn syrup instead of sugar

There is increasing evidence that this switch is a major factor in the obesity epidemic in America. All so a few sugar farmers can be paid much above the world price for sugar and in the process come close to destroying the Everglades.

2 posted on 08/07/2006 1:38:42 PM PDT by Restorer
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To: JSedreporter



damn lobbyists


3 posted on 08/07/2006 1:57:30 PM PDT by LauraleeBraswell (Try reading the article before you post)
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To: Restorer
Term Limnits

The only viable solution

4 posted on 08/07/2006 2:00:39 PM PDT by Pietro
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To: JSedreporter

The butthole bank I work for actively solicits PAC contributions to support PAC activities that do not help consumers. The suggested donation for my salary was $500. There are over 50,000 people at my salary level or higher.


5 posted on 08/07/2006 2:04:12 PM PDT by King Moonracer (Bad lighting and cheap fabric, that how you sell clothing.)
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To: JSedreporter
Oooooh, are you going to get it now, you communist you.
</ Sarcasm>
6 posted on 08/07/2006 3:10:25 PM PDT by itsahoot (The home of the Free, Because of the Brave (Shamelessly stolen from a Marine)
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To: lucysmom

related article. ping.


7 posted on 08/07/2006 3:14:42 PM PDT by Sam Cree (Don't mix alcopops and ufo's)
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To: Marxbites

ping


8 posted on 08/07/2006 3:15:33 PM PDT by Sam Cree (Don't mix alcopops and ufo's)
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To: JSedreporter

Good find. If businesses are getting government goodies, they are not anti-big government.


9 posted on 08/07/2006 3:17:49 PM PDT by Zack Nguyen
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To: JSedreporter
Milton Friedman's Free To Choose video series
... of other workers. Both unions and government restrict freedom. Friedman explains how the competition of employers for the talents of workers leads to ...
... the consumer. These agencies restrict freedom, stifle beneficial innovation, and become agents for the industries or groups they are intended to regulate. ...
... of other workers. Both unions and government restrict freedom. Friedman explains how the competition of employers for the talents of workers leads to ...

free to choose - Google Video

10 posted on 08/07/2006 3:24:32 PM PDT by Zon (Honesty outlives the lie, spin and deception -- It always has -- It always will.)
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To: Zon
... by "approved" or "authorized." Friedman shows how "established" industries or methods, seek government protection or subsidization in their attempts to ...

free to choose - Google Video

11 posted on 08/07/2006 3:26:37 PM PDT by Zon (Honesty outlives the lie, spin and deception -- It always has -- It always will.)
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To: Zon

It all leads to parasitic elitism doesn't it???

Only kidding, thanks for the link.


12 posted on 08/07/2006 3:50:21 PM PDT by King Moonracer (Bad lighting and cheap fabric, that how you sell clothing.)
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To: Restorer
There is increasing evidence that this switch is a major factor in the obesity epidemic in America

Wrong.

All so a few sugar farmers can be paid much above the world price for sugar and in the process come close to destroying the Everglades.

Right.

13 posted on 08/07/2006 4:18:46 PM PDT by Mase
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To: Zon
Funny, I just watched Volume 3, the failure of Socialism. The guy from the University of Chicago(probably a big lib) was arguing how great employee controlled companies are, crowing about Weirton Steel.

Lessons from the recent failure of Weirton Steel's ESOP

by John D. Russell May 2004

Weirton Steel's 20-year experiment in worker-ownership ended in bankruptcy May 2003 leaving thousands of workers with worthless stock. Pension promises have since been broken and health benefits terminated

I laughed out loud.

14 posted on 08/07/2006 4:42:17 PM PDT by Malsua
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