[thechat] "Democracy can be bad for you"

[matthew garrett]

one more thing about Dubya and the anti-environmental movement in general:

They say that protecting the environment is bad for business and therefore
the economy. So let's say that BigOilCompany has to tighten their emissions
by installing more scrubbers, etc. Those scrubbers cost BOC lot's of money,
but that money does not dissappear from the economy. It goes to
BigScrubberCompany and they spend it on their employees and materials and
whatever. So where is the harm to the economy? And why do the politicians
care? BSC will have lobbyists too, so they'll still get their payola...

matt



> From: "Bruce Heerssen" <bheerssen at visualbridge.tv>
> Reply-To: thechat at lists.evolt.org
> Date: Wed, 4 Apr 2001 11:11:28 -0500
> To: <thechat at lists.evolt.org>
> Subject: RE: [thechat] "Democracy can be bad for you"
> 
> I think it's unfair to characterize George W. as a dumb ass. It may be true
> that
> he negatively impacted several of the corporations he ran, but that is not
> necessarily a bad thing from his perspective or from that of his shareholders.
> If you've never noticed, one of the thing that happens when you restructure a
> corporation -- institute massive amounts of layoffs, sell capital, or just gut
> the company in order to minimize debt -- is a jump in stock price due to
> short-term gains in working capital. That pleases the investors. Forget what
> the
> long term consequences might be, how many hard-working people are adversely
> affected, none of that matters to the powers that be. As long as the
> shareholders make money in the short term.
> 
> In short, people get rich driving large companies into the ground. That may
> not
> be right, or ethical, but it's certainly not stupid.
> 
> But his greatest achievements, from the industrial sector's point of view,
> have
> been his actions as governor of Texas. While governor, he allowed antiquated
> oil
> refineries to operate on contracts that have been grandfathered for over
> TWENTY
> FIVE years, which has resulted in very high pollution levels and lower
> efficiency than modern plants. He has privatized the power producers in the
> state, with the effect being rising energy costs, decreasing sevices, and
> decreased spending on new power plants and maintenance of existing plants.
> Just
> like California. (hopefully it won't reach the point Cali has) Now the energy
> producers are making money hand over fist and all the while bemoaning the
> state
> of the energy sector.
> 
> Can you tell I'm angry about this? I'm afraid that he will have a similar
> effect
> on the country as a whole.
> 
> And yes, he did get an enormous boost from Daddy. But that doesn't really mean
> shit. He still has had to toe the line -- industry's line. But he's not simply
> a
> puppet. He is doing the work of monied interests for his own reasons, which
> are
> indistiguishable from those of said insterests. That is what is truly
> abominable
> about the man.
> 
> I don't like him. I didn't vote for him, and I don't want him in office. I
> think
> he just might be the 'ruination of america'. There's a lot more to dislike
> about
> the man, but I'll leave that for another time.
> 
> - Bruce
> 
> P.S. - If my remarks seem inflamatory, it's just because a chord has been
> struck
> within me. I respect everyone's opinion, even if it's wrong ;)
> 
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: thechat-admin at lists.evolt.org
>> [mailto:thechat-admin at lists.evolt.org]On Behalf Of Ron White
>> Sent: Wednesday, April 04, 2001 10:09 AM
>> To: thechat at lists.evolt.org
>> Subject: RE: [thechat] "Democracy can be bad for you"
>> 
>> 
>> Actually his Daddy's advisors were smart enough to do that... W is just a
>> little puppet for the old school Cold Warriors... He is and always will be a
>> dumb ass... Let's just hope Chaney's heart holds up or we will be in a world
>> of shit... and don't bring up the fact that he went to Yale... Does anyone
>> actually believe he would have gotten in without help from Daddy?? The only
>> business he has been a part of that he didn't run into the ground was the
>> Texas Rangers and that's only because it is almost impossible to destroy a
>> sports franchise's value.
>> 
>> Thanks,
>> Ron White
>> 
>> 
>> 
> 
> 
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