August 18, 2017

Despite White House Chaos, Trump Delivers Favors for Corporate America

https://www.commondreams.org/views/2017/08/12/despite-white-house-chaos-trump-delivers-favors-corporate-america
"The Trump administration may be dazed and confused about many things, but not about its corporate agenda. From Scaramucci to Spicer, from Kelly to Kushner, one thing doesn’t change at Donald Trump’s chaotic White House: Its devotion to delivering for giant corporations at the public’s expense. During the campaign, Trump directed nearly as much venom toward major U.S. corporations as toward his opponents. He savaged Wall Street, badgered companies for manufacturing products outside of the U.S. and threatened them with onerous penalties. Trump singled out lobbyists who do the bidding of corporations by promising to “drain the swamp.” It was plain enough that Candidate Trump’s anti-industry shtick was bluster. But it wasn’t obvious that he would hand control of the government over to Corporate America. His billionaire cabinet is the most corporate in modern history and his sub-cabinet officials are worse. Trump immediately backtracked on his promise to crack down on lobbyists, choosing to staff his administration with them. Three dozen lobbyists are working for the administration in apparent violation of Trump’s vaunted ethics executive order on conflicts of interest; an additional 100 lobbyists have posts in the administration. While Trump has yet to deliver on Corporate America’s dream for a massive tax cut, he is rushing forward on their other top priority: slashing health, safety, environmental, consumer and other regulatory protections. Likewise, Trump turned to Goldman Sachs, Lockheed Martin, Boeing, OneWest Bank and numerous corporate law firms to fill key posts. The same pattern appears in agency after agency."