GUEST POST: Being “Business Friendly” in the Great Recession.

Wednesday, June 23, 2010
Time: 5:44 PM

It's been a LONG TIME since HatCityBLOG reader I.C. Presumptive has written a guest post for the site so, which is all the more reason I'm excited to post this excellent write-up!

I.C...the floor is yours.
Lowell Weicker, Jr. seems to have suffered some confusion, perhaps even a corruption of his democratic values.  His speech and answers to questions at the Connecticut Conference of Municipalities (News-Times,  June 18) mischaracterizes Connecticut officials and politicians.  Some, if not many of his complaints are true but the core issue he refers them to is false.

He complains the state is unfriendly for business.  The purpose of government, state or otherwise, is to make life friendly for the people not merely corporations.  In a democracy, public wellness trumps corporate convenience, or should.  We don’t see much of that nowadays because officialdom and the public have so conflated public life with that of corporations as to claim they are one and the same.  They are not.  The corporate wealthy who claim that they are the means to public well-being are absurd and increasingly ridiculous on their face.

The Supreme Court in its most recent barbaric exercise of grotesque opinion extended the legal fable that corporations are persons.  Mr. Weicker should ponder how this ‘business friendly’ court has corrupted the nation.  Contrary to the Court’s  ‘Fabulous Five,’ corporations are not persons, they are not even close.   Corporations seek the least responsibility, the most resource wealth that can be grabbed, and leave the state as soon as their public welfare shrinks or make attempts to  manipulate state officials for more.  They are what they have always been, merely devices for piling wealth and for the last 30 years, increasingly designed for piling up all wealth.  They seek to profit without employees if possible, without factories if need be, and as soon as they can manage it, poof!, they are off to China. 

“Business friendliness’ which Mr. Weicker promotes is merely a means of ennabling these gigantic sucking engines called corporations to extract more money out of the state, away from the people who created it.  Being “friendly to business” is a manufactured concept, the only manufacturing most corporations do nowadays.  They seek a maximum wealth transfer out of the public realm, upward into the hands of the rich. Not surprisingly this leaves the rest of us in an ever increasing impoverished, environmental, employment, and social wasteland.

Does Mr. Weicker not travel the state enough to see the blank factory windows and empty employee parking lots in Danbury, Norwalk, New Haven, Waterbury, Bridgeport and New London to mention a few?   The corporations made their money and left us with rubble at worst or ‘Vacancy’ at best.

Weicker characterizes Gov. Jody Rell as being “disinterested.”  Gov. Rell has been very interested, even adamant that the wealth conveyor just described remain in place and untouched.  Don’t tax the rich is her own private fable.  Her fault is her failure to reveal the blackmail involved—“if you tax us we will leave.”  By such fear mongering, individuals and companies bully states, municipalities and the people to grant tax rebates, subsidies, weak rules and regulations and favors of every description.  They bully even to the extent of demanding that regulator agencies be stuffed with corporate hacks and lobbyists.

The people are asked to make sacrifices for the privilege of having one or another corporate dim nut locate here or there.  The political mechanism is visible in its fully evident form in the British Petroleum oil spill.  The federal government and the states involved were very ‘business friendly,’ exquisitely so.  They helped in every way, watched not at all, questioning nothing.

Oil industry drilling standards, industry equipment manufacturing, industry safety equipment, and industry installations were never examined, never questioned and seldom tested.  When equipment was tested, the industry-captured Mineral Management Services agency never demanded or stipulated ‘best practice’ compliance.  Two-thirds of the operating wells in the Gulf do not have the specific mechanism, a blind sheer ram within the blowout preventer for an effective failsafe in case of a loss of well control.  Far fewer have two of them, the present standard, in case of a failure of one..  Even the blowout preventer itself, the one device that was supposed to protect the environment and the work crews from catastrophic failure has worked only six times out of 11 in actual well control incidents.

Deepwater Horizon’s Macondo blowout preventer was never tested.  It was deployed without crucial mechanisms, and never was required to contain or tested for effective working backups. The nation, in some sense, got what it deserved for electing and then accepting the flawed re-election of two dyed-in-the-brain oil men.   They were and remain, politically corrupt to a fault.  Oil may be taken off some birds, separated from some sands and wetlands, but the nation will never be able to take the oil or the contrivances to get it, out of those kinds of men.

Blaming Barack Obama for their thievery is hilarious or would be if it wasn’t a form of mass ignorance.   It wasn’t the president’s but the public’s ‘shucking and jiving’ with such thieves which left us the problem.  The president can only be faulted like most of the American public itself for holding simple minded beliefs.  We insist as a nation on believing in the sincerity, competency and public loyalty of an economic system and its corporate agents that have become corrupt, totally self-centered and unbelievably irresponsible.  The president, like Americans generally, want fervently to believe in the sacred market and its sacred cow, the corporation. 

When I was a boy, Americans used to laugh at India because its people allowed sacred cows to wander the streets, defecating and menacing as they saw fit .  But 60 years later Americans allow ‘sacred cow’ corporate executives to wander the streets and fields of the nation.  They direct their enterprises, pollute the land, water, air and public culture. They proclaim their exceptional contributions and demand “favorable treatment by market friendly governments [to allow] the rich to prosper.”  That’s Ajay Kapur, Citigroup’s chief strategist propagandizing for more “business friendly” government.  How few laugh at these people, let alone complain or challenge their unmitigated audacity in claiming they have lives to live while denying the rights of the rest of us to the means of life.

Lowell Weicker accuses Attorney General Richard Blumenthal’s “litigious” officiating as having made the state unfriendly to business.  If that is true it is because those business were invariably, crudely dishonest and polluting.  They were and some still are polluting not only the environment but our democratic public values of fairness, life safety and economic well being.  The number of brownfield sites in the state alone testifies to previous government failures.

The likes of a Pfizer robbing New London of its municipal wealth only to leave in a few short years from a fit of corporate pique, or because a CEO wanted to be closer to his home or live in some other world, as they all inevitably do.  Such incidents display the true aspect of modern business and its purposes.  It doesn’t have anything to do with a ‘free market.’  It has to do with enslaving the nation.  It’s called self-interest.

The problem is not that corporations are policed too much but that they are policed so little.   For they have no socially enlightened self control mechanism and absolutely zero interest in developing one.

What Mr. Weicker fails to mention is that major portions of business operate merely as agents of that gigantic wealth pumping engine.  But in our indulgent social and political theology, capitalism cannot be criticized.   Rather it must be praised as though it were the hand of God, the almighty ‘free market.’   Unfortunately, but true to its design, that market is increasingly ever less free and ever more designed to serve merely itself and no others.   How many of us are watching?  How fewer still attempt to do something about it?


0 Comments:

Add a comment

© 2024 Hat City Blog | READ, WATCH, AND LEARN.
No part of the content or the blog may be reproduced without prior written permission.
PEOPLE-POWERED MEDIA.

Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License

INDEPENDENT PARTY OF DANBNRY
DATABASE COMING SOON


“Facebook”“Twitter”“Email”

trans_button
CITY OF DANBURY VIDEO ARCHIVE (Dec 2012-present)

The Mercurial (RIP)
Danbury News Times
Danbury Patch
Danbury Hamlet Hub
Danbury Daily Voice
Tribuna Newspaper
CT News Junkie
CT Capitol Report

10.03.18 (PDF):
"Approval of Danbury Prospect Charter School"

10.30.20 (HatCityBLOG VID): Charter School discussion during 2020 interview with Julie Kushner

2018 (RADIO): WLAD
"State Board of Ed signs off on Danbury charter school proposal"

08.20 (VID): CT-LEAD
"Stand up for Education Justice" Rally

08.20.20 (OP-ED): KUSHNER: "Charter schools are not ‘magic bullet’ to improving Danbury schools"

09.13.20 (OP-ED): CHAPMAN
Candidate for state Senate supports charter school for Danbury

01.15.21 (VID): CT-LEAD
Danbury Prospect Charter School press conference

03.19.21 (OP-ED): CT MIRROR
"Danbury leaders do not want a charter school"

04.01.21 (OP-ED): CT-LEAD:
"Why did Sen. Kushner vote against us?"

05.06.21 (VID): Danbury rally to fully fund public schools

10.07.21 (VID): Danbury City-Wide PTO "Meet the Candidates" education forum

10.07.21 NEWSTIMES
Danbury candidates quarrel over charter school, education funding

01.10.22 NEWSTIMES
"New operator named for Danbury charter school: ‘I’m a huge advocate for parent choice’"

01.10.22 NEWSTIMES
"Some Danbury Democrats ‘open minded’ about charter school after new, CT operator named"

01.21.22 (OP-ED): CT MIRROR
"Lessons from Danbury: Ending the dual process for charter school approval"

02.09.22 NEWSTIMES
"Proposed Danbury charter school won’t open in 2022, governor leaves funding out of budget"

02.18.22 NEWSTIMES:
Danbury residents plead for charter school funds in 9-hour state budget hearing: ‘Just exhausted’

03.05.22 (LTE):
Time has come for Danbury charter school

03.12.22 (OP-ED): TAYLOR
"Why I am excited about the Danbury Charter School"

03.16.22 (LTE):
"Why a Danbury Charter School?"

04.02.22 CT EXAMINER:
"Crowding and a Lack of Options for Danbury Students, But No Agreement on Solutions"

04.04.22 (OP-ED): DCS
"Danbury Charter School plans debut"

04.07.22 (PODCAST): (CEA)
"SENATOR KUSHNER DISCUSSES POINTS OF OPTIMISM FOR DANBURY PUBLIC SCHOOLS"

04.18.22 (VID): CT-LEAD
Protest press conference

04.25.22 (RADIO): WSHU
Latino group call on Connecticut lawmakers to open a Danbury charter school

06.03.22 (OP-ED): KUSHNER:
"Career Academy ‘a great deal for Danbury"

trans_button
On September 26, 2007, ten plaintiffs filed suit in response to an arrest of aday laborers at a public park in Danbury, Connecticut. Plaintiffs amended their complaint on November 26, 2007.

The amended complaint states that plaintiffs sought to remedy the continued discriminatory and unauthorized enforcement of federal immigration laws against the Latino residents of the City of Danbury by Danbury's mayor and its police department.

Plaintiffs allege that the arrests violated their Fourth Amendment rights and the Connecticut Constitution because defendants conducted the arrests without valid warrants, in the absence of exigent circumstances, and without probable cause to believe that plaintiffs were engaged in unlawful activity. In addition, plaintiffs allege that defendants improperly stopped, detained, investigated, searched and arrested plaintiffs. Plaintiffs also allege that defendants violated their Fourteenth Amendment rights when they intentionally targeted plaintiffs, and arrested and detained them on the basis of their race, ethnicity and perceived national origin. Plaintiffs raise First Amendment, Due Process and tort claims.

Plaintiffs request declaratory relief, damages and attorneys fees.

CLICK HERE TO READ/DOWNLOAD MAYOR BOUGHTON'S DEPOSITION

CLICK HERE TO READ/DOWNLOAD MIKE McLACHLAN (then MAYOR CHIEF OF STAFF) DEPOSITION

Danbury Area Coalition for the Rights of Immigrants v.
U.S. Dept. of Homeland Security
3:06-cv-01992-RNC ( D. Conn. )

(02.25.08) Court docket

(10.24.07) Memorandum in Opposition to Defendant's Emergency Motion for Protective Order

(09.26.07) Press Release

(12.14.06) Complaint


Barrera v. Boughton, No. 07-01436
(D. Conn. filed Sept. 26, 2007)

(02.25.08) Court Docket

Amended complaint

Defendants' Motion to Dismiss for Lack of Subject Matter Jurisdiction

Defendants' Motion to Dismiss State Law Claims

Plaintiffs' Opposition to Motion to Dismiss

Order on Motion to Dismiss

Defendants' Answer to Amended Complaint

NEW HAVEN REGISTER: Immigrant's 2006 arrest was flawed Danbury mayor testifies

(10.05.07 (VIDEO) Boughton mislead the public about Danbury's involvement in raid

(09.18.07) Yale Law Students expose Danbury involvement in raid

(12.14.06) VIDEO: Interview with Yale Law Students at FOI presser

(12.14.06) VIDEO: Danbury 11 FOI complaint media roundup

City Clerk Jean Natale standing next to skinhead sparks outrage

(10.03.06) VIDEO: Danbury 11 rally

(09.29.06) VIDEO: Danbury 11 case deepens

Word of raid spread across the country

(09/29/06) VIDEO: Danbury 11 protest news conference

(09/29/06) Immigrant newspaper "El Canillita" gives best account of ICE day labor raid at Kennedy Park


trans_button Santos Family Story
VIDEO: Tereza Pereira's ordeal with ICE agents

VIDEO: Danbury Peace Coalition Immigration Forum (April 2006)
featuring Mayor Boughton and Immigration attorney Philip Berns

VIDEO: 2007 Stop the Raids immigration forum at WCSU

2007: Community protest anti-immigration forum

A tribute to Hispanic Center Director and immigrant activist Maria Cinta Lowe



trans_button
2023 MUNICIPAL ELECTIONS

Results:
11.15.23 Recanvass return
(Head Moderator Return Format)

11.07.23: Election night returns
(Head Moderator Return Format)

11.07.23: Initial returns


ESPOSITO FINANCE REPORTS:
Oct 10 2022
Jan 10 2023
Apr 10 2023
Jul 10 2023
Oct 10 2023

ALVES FINANCE REPORTS:
Apr 10 2023
Jul 10 2023
Oct 10 2023

CAMPAIGN SLATE DATABASE
Dem/GOP slate/ballot position

VIDEO: DRTC convention
VIDEO: DDTC conveniton


2021 (ALVES/ESPOSITO)

TOWN COMMITTEES
(VID) DDTC nomination convention
(PDF) DDTC campaign slate flyer

(VID) DRTC nomination convention
(PDF) DRTC campaign slate flyer

FORUMS/DEBATES
(VID) 2021 Danbury City-Wide PTO educational forum

CAMPAIGN FINANCE
First quarter
Alves Apr 10th SEEC filing

Second quarter
Alves Jul 10th SEEC filing
Esposito Jul 10th SEEC filing

Third quarter
Alves Oct 12th SEEC report
Esposito Oct 12th SEEC report

CAMPAIGN MAILERS
Alves "Jan 6th" attack mailer 10.21.21
Esposito "you can't trust Alves" attack mailer 10.20.21
Alves mailer 10.20.21
Alves mailer 09.30.21
Esposito mailer 09.28.21
Alves mailer 09.27.21
Esposito mailer 09.27.21


PAST CAMPAIGN COVERAGE

2005 (BOUGHTON/ESPOSITO)
Danbury 2005 election results
Newstimes Dean Esposito profile (10.25.05)

2007 (BOUGHTON/ABRANTES)
Danbury 2007 election results
(VID) Helana Abrantes TV ad
(VID) BRT tax deferral presser
(VID) Helena Abrantes "Community Forum" interview

2009 (BOUGHTON/GONCALVES)
Danbury 2009 election results
(VID) 2009 Danbury City-Wide PTO educational forum
(VID) 2009 Danbury Chamber of Commerce mayoral debate
(VID) 2009 DDTC nomination convention

2011 (BOUGHTON/TABORSAK)
Danbury 2011 election results
(VID) Saadi/Nero campaign kickoff

2013 (BOUGHTON/NO DTC ENDORSED CANDIDATE/MCALLISTER)
Danbury 2013 election results
(VID) 2013 DDTC nominaiton convention

2015 (BOUGHTON UNCHALLENGED)
Danbury 2015 election results

2017 (BOUGHTON/ALMEIDA)
Danbury 2017 election results
(VID) Al Almeida concession speech
(VID) 2017 Danbury City-Wide PTO educational forum
(VID) Al Almeida nomination acceptance speech

2019 (BOUGHTON/SETARO)
Danbury 2019 election results
(VID) 2019 NewsTimes Editorial Board interview with Mark Boughton and Chris Setaro
(VID) 2019 Danbury City-Wide PTO educational forum
(VID) 2019 Danbury Chamber of Commerce mayoral debate
(VID) 2019 convention endorsement speeches from Mark Boughton and Chris Setaro