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Tuesday, August 23rd, 2022

America used to regulate business. Now government subsidizes it

Author:     Robert Reich
Source:     The Guardian (U.K.)
Publication Date:     Sun 21 Aug 2022 06.19 EDT
 Link: America used to regulate business. Now government subsidizes it
Stephan:   Robert Reich, in my view, has it right when he says, "the three-decades-long shift in power to big corporations has transformed industrial policy into a system for bribing them to do the sorts of things government once demanded they do as the price for being part of the American system. This is the result of the Citizens United decision which legalized corporations buying politicians, particularly MAGAt politicians, as a man would rent the attention and submission of a whore.
President Joe Biden is applauded after signing into law the Chips and Science Act of 2022. 
Credit: Carolyn Kaster / AP

The Clean Air Act of 1970 authorized the government to regulate air pollution.

The Inflation Reduction Act, which Joe Biden signed into law this past week, allocates more than $300bn to energy and climate reform, including $30bn in subsidies for manufacturers of solar panels and wind turbines.

Notice the difference?

The Guardian view on Biden’s green deal: leadership after Trump’s denialismRead more

The Inflation Reduction Act is an important step toward slowing or reversing climate the crisis. It also illustrates the nation’s shift away from regulating businesses to subsidizing businesses.

From 1932 through the late 1970s, the government mainly regulated businesses. This was the era of the alphabet soup of regulatory agencies begun under Franklin D Roosevelt (the SEC, ICC, FCC, CAB, and so on) culminating in the EPA of 1970.

The government still regulates businesses, of course, but the biggest thing the federal government now does with businesses is subsidize them.

Consider Joe Biden’s biggest first-term accomplishments:

  • the Chips and Science Act (with $52bn of subsidies […]
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2 Comments

  1. Albus Eddie on Tuesday, August 23, 2022 at 6:17 am

    Note that this editorial is in a UK newspaper. One wonders if such ideas can even be published in a major US paper anymore.

    • Rev. Dean on Wednesday, August 24, 2022 at 12:26 am

      The Guardian is a well respected news source and one of the best in the world. I trust them to dig for the truth. They are better and more progressive than all U.S. papers. I do trust them more than any other paper.