Obama's Corporate State

Big Government/Big Business alliances are one of the things that the left likes to associate with the right (You fascists!). In reality, they are almost always a function of left-wing government.

Coyote Blog has one of the best descriptions of this dynamic that I've seen, starting with a discussion of tax policy and S-Corporations, and ending with this:

In Europe, entrepreneurship is made extraordinarily difficult. This is part of the deal that the political elite have with the largest companies in their countries — we will protect you from potential new competitors, we will bail you out when times get tough, and you in turn will support us politicians. One only has to look at the turnover of the top 30 companies in the US since 1970 vs. the top 30 in Germany or France to see this at work. Political turnover is even slower, as an elite group of ministers run the country, almost no matter the party voted in office. The economy as a whole suffers, but for the top 1000 or so men in power, the system works to protect their position, be it in government or in the largest industries.

And now we bring this system to the US. Small business owners and entrepreneurs are punished with higher taxes in order to bail out politically powerful but failing companies like GM or Citicorp. Welcome to America, the new corporate state.

Back when I was a wee lad (and a Democrat), we used to sneer at the idea that what's good for General Motors is good for America. Boy, howdy, times have changed.