Crony Capitalism

From the Stoa this day, I see the orbits of fate beginning to come together. Threads of action are converging and bundling that will shape our future for a hundred years to come.

Remember, fate is not destined or pre-ordained at all. We make our own fates as individuals and as a collective, be it a family, nation, or culture. We may not be able to choose our larger fate, but if enough of us push in another direction, we may be able to mitigate the effects.

The other day I saw a multi-billion dollar purchase of IBM stock by the government-lauded, vetted, and loved, Mr. Warren Buffett. Mr. Buffett has a history of not liking IBM. Not liking tech stocks in general. So why the huge turnabout? Makes me wonder.

IBM has not done anything to warrant, in my opinion, such a move by anyone, let alone "Wizard of Smart" such as Mr. Buffett. IBM ditched the PC market years ago and has moved into software that services large companies and organizations....what was that? They moved away from the PC and got into software and service for large organizations. He paid high for the stock despite the preferential treatment. More than he would have paid for any other deal of that size...so what does he see that the rest of us do not? What is his "Return on Investment"? Perhaps it is not money but influence that he has purchased.

Wonder if they are going to plug into the government for all the tracking software and hardware they are going to need to properly control a large, 300 million+ population. Cradle to grave healthcare, CTG welfare, CTG interventionism. Interesting.

I think we all need to pay attention to IBM for the next few years and see exactly what they are up to. Heck, I read that the SEC even gave IBM a waiver for reporting these large stock purchases as Mr. Buffett was purchasing them so the price was not driven up by his activities. Kept his purchase price low. Favoritism? Naw. None there.

GE has lead the way with Crony Capitalism. They push for the elimination of incandescent light bulbs even as they are building new factories in China to produce the new CFLs. They shut down all their American production and put thousands of American out of work. Immelt is named to all the important Federal committees and steers things in his direction. Shame on us for not yelling about this.

GE Health shows a 57% increase in profits from the year prior and pays ZERO Federal income tax on this revenue because they are able to use accounting rules and foreign holdings to shelter the income. Not illegal, but very favorable to them. Something I can not do, for sure. This happens even as the IRS hires thousands and thousands of new agents to dig ever deeper into the pocket of the common American. This is not smelling very well.

While I'm at it, I've got another gripe I want to air out. Scientific projects are being cancelled to make room in a shrinking discretionary portion of the Federal budget. Projects that have run for a decade or more to the tune of $10 billion for the entire decade. $80 billion for the 30 year run of the space shuttle; only to be cut. Yet at the same time I hear about the government throwing about $300 billion here, and $250 billion there. Simply ridiculous numbers. And that is for a SINGLE YEAR!

TRILLIONS of dollars down the Crony hole, the populist hole, the agenda hole. Money that can cure cancer, launch Man to Mars, explore the Solar System for natural resources (preserving the Earth) an such, yet we hose it down a black hole that will only grow larger and the dependent folks continue to multiply.

Crony Capitalists will only multiply. Look at Wall Street Banks. They were the darling of the Obama administration during the last election cycle. Now they are eeeevil. The Feds will feed, but they are loyal only to their own ambitions. Companies will continue to court the Feds knowing the risks because the payoff is HUGE...nothing less than the public tax trough.

Look to the late 1800's for a historical example. It took the Feds to break down the monopolies that emerged at that time. Now, if you think that this was done in the interests of the people then you are sadly mistaken.

The monopolies were broken up because their power became so great that they began to challenge the very power of the Federal Government itself. Once broken up they were more easily regulated. Regulation does not seize the methods of production, but it does set the ground rules for their production. This is a de facto control of those industries. The Feds actually had to take a BAILOUT from Mr. JP Morgan (yep, that guy) to keep the government going after a financial crash. How humiliating to be propped up by a private individual.

Watch IBM. Watch Microsoft. Watch Apple. Watch Government Motors. There are eddies and currents in the fabric of our society right now that should be greatly concerning people these days. Watch the Occupy Wall Street folks and look for the strings that are jumping that puppet. The strings run through Obama and into those pulling Obama's strings. A massive matrix of like-minded and similarly governed NGOs and "non-profits".

Keep an eye out and prepare. Tough times are right around the corner.

Live well.

--Zavost