Gov. Palin has no regrets as she shakes up things from the outside

On "Hannity" discussing crony capitalism, Occupy Wall Street and the GOP presidential race:
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h/t: SarahNET

- JP

Sarah Palin: How Congress Occupied Wall Street

As published at The Wall Street Journal Online:
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Mark Twain famously wrote, "There is no distinctly native American criminal class except Congress." Peter Schweizer's new book, "Throw Them All Out," reveals this permanent political class in all its arrogant glory. (Full disclosure: Mr. Schweizer is employed by my political action committee as a foreign-policy adviser.)

Mr. Schweizer answers the questions so many of us have asked. I addressed this in a speech in Iowa last Labor Day weekend. How do politicians who arrive in Washington, D.C. as men and women of modest means leave as millionaires? How do they miraculously accumulate wealth at a rate faster than the rest of us? How do politicians' stock portfolios outperform even the best hedge-fund managers'? I answered the question in that speech: Politicians derive power from the authority of their office and their access to our tax dollars, and they use that power to enrich and shield themselves.

The money-making opportunities for politicians are myriad, and Mr. Schweizer details the most lucrative methods: accepting sweetheart gifts of IPO stock from companies seeking to influence legislation, practicing insider trading with nonpublic government information, earmarking projects that benefit personal real estate holdings, and even subtly extorting campaign donations through the threat of legislation unfavorable to an industry. The list goes on and on, and it's sickening.

Astonishingly, none of this is technically illegal, at least not for Congress. Members of Congress exempt themselves from the laws they apply to the rest of us. That includes laws that protect whistleblowers (nothing prevents members of Congress from retaliating against staffers who shine light on corruption) and Freedom of Information Act requests (it's easier to get classified documents from the CIA than from a congressional office).

The corruption isn't confined to one political party or just a few bad apples. It's an endemic problem encompassing leadership on both sides of the aisle. It's an entire system of public servants feathering their own nests.

None of this surprises me. I've been fighting this type of corruption and cronyism my entire political career...

[Read More]

- JP

Scott Conroy: Palin's ‘Crony Capitalism’ Mantra Gets ‘60 Minutes’ Boost

If Cain fades, Gingrich may be well positioned to contend seriously for her endorsement.
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Scott Conroy at RealClearPolitics muses if Gov. Palin had run for president, one of her campaign's landmarks would have been Sunday night's episode of "60 Minutes":

In the venerable CBS News program's opening segment, Hoover Institute fellow and Palin adviser Peter Schweizer previewed his forthcoming book, "Throw Them All Out," which details allegations of legal, yet ethically dubious insider trading and conflicts of interest among members of Congress.

“There are all sorts of forms of honest graft that congressmen engage in that allow them to become very, very wealthy,” Schweizer told correspondent Steve Kroft. “So it's not illegal, but I think it's highly unethical, I think it's highly offensive, and wrong.”

Schweizer has been described in various news reports as a “foreign policy adviser” and a “speechwriter” for Palin. In fact, he is both of those things, and far more than that.

Though he has managed to stay largely under the radar until now, Schweizer’s influence on Palin since joining her staff last spring has been profound.

When Palin was still mulling a presidential run back in September, she delivered a closely watched speech in Iowa that served as a preview of sorts for Schweizer’s new book. In the speech, it was the former Alaska governor’s references to “crony capitalism” and “the permanent political class” that picked up the most attention -- buzz phrases that appear near the very beginning of Schweizer’s new tome.

“This is a book about how a Permanent Political Class, composed of politicians and their friends, engages in honest graft,” Schweizer writes in the introduction to his book, which goes on sale Tuesday. “Let’s call it crony capitalism.”

Along with Steven K. Bannon, the filmmaker behind the pro-Palin documentary “The Undefeated,” Schweizer’s influence has been instrumental in leading Palin to a renewed focus on her political roots as a reformer.

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But now Bannon is considering embarking on a new film project based on many of the themes in Schweizer’s book, and Palin appears ready to reinsert herself more prominently into the 2012 fray, though not as a candidate

[More]

- JP

Gov. Palin: American Crony Capitalism Brings Jobs to Finland

As posted on Facebook
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Yesterday, another shoe dropped in the chronicles of the Obama administration’s crony capitalism. A start-up electric car company with ties to Al Gore got a $529 million loan guarantee from Obama’s Department of Energy to build luxury electric cars...in Finland! Leaving aside the fact that to date only two of these $97,000 cars have been sold (one of them to a movie star), we might at least hope that this ridiculous exercise in the government picking winners minus any competitive, transparent process (Al Gore’s venture cap firm) and losers (the taxpayers subsidizing a car no one wants) would produce manufacturing jobs in the United States. Isn’t that the alleged purpose of Obama’s stimulus giveaways?

It’s bad enough that we borrow money from foreign countries to give to foreign countries. Now we borrow from foreign countries to finance jobs in foreign countries. (This kind of reminds me of the $2 billion assistance President Obama provided Brazil for their off-shore energy developments, while shutting down or blocking much of our own off-shore domestic drilling. He’s in favor of energy jobs in Brazil. But in America? Not so much.)

Do you think, as the President tours the country campaigning on the taxpayer’s dime, he understands that voters in Finland won’t get to decide whether or not he keeps his job in 2012, but voters in Michigan and Ohio sure will? In fact, I’m sure the millions of unemployed workers in every state will want to learn why the Obama administration gave half a billion dollars to finance “green” cars built in Finland.

While they’re at it, the geniuses in the White House could also explain the $1.2 billion they gave to SunPower, a company that makes Solyndra look like a blue chip stock. SunPower’s market capitalization is $800 million, but the company is in debt $820 million. What a great investment, huh? Your tax dollars at work, America! If President Obama wants answers about this, he better act fast because his Department of Energy was already caught revising history by scrubbing SunPower’s name out of old DOE press releases. The President should start by asking Democrat Congressman George Miller about the company. Rep. Miller was the leading advocate for giving money to SunPower, which hired his son as a lobbyist.

When President Obama signed his nearly trillion dollar stimulus boondoggle into law, he mortgaged our children’s future. And for what? Financing jobs in Finland? Propping up near bankrupt companies with connections to congressmen? For this we are burying ourselves in a mountain of debt?

This crony capitalism has to end. We don’t want it. We can’t afford it. And we must not tolerate it anymore. Wake up, America, before it’s too late.

- Sarah Palin

Gov. Palin: Crony capitalism & gov't waste will destroy us if we don’t root it out

As posted on Facebook:
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Crony Capitalism on Steroids from GE to Solyndra (UPDATED)

UPDATE: Yet another shoe drops in the ongoing crony capitalism problems now engulfing the Obama administration. Yesterday, we learned that the the Obama White House allegedly pressured a four-star Air Force general to change his testimony about a company linked to a major Democrat donor.

In my recent speech in Iowa, some eyebrows were raised when I took on our government’s enormous economic problems caused by crony capitalism. As if on cue, just days later President Obama selected someone who exemplifies a major crony capitalism problem to sit next to the First Lady when he delivered his “jobs plan” speech before Congress. He selected General Electric CEO Jeffrey Immelt as his honored guest.

Having grown up with great respect for GE thanks to stories my grandfather shared with us about his days working for the company and even meeting GE spokesman-at-the-time Ronald Reagan during a company event, I am saddened at GE’s leadership evolution. This corporation is now the poster child of corporate welfare and crony capitalism.

This icon of American industry is a company full of good employees that make some good products (and is the parent company of a huge media outlet), but GE is also a large American corporation that pays virtually no corporate income taxes despite earning worldwide profits of $14.2 billion last year, $5.1 billion of it in the United States. In fact, they claimed a tax benefit of $3.2 billion, meaning they received more of our hard earned tax dollars than they contributed. How is that possible? It’s because not only do they shelter their money from taxes, but they also get many tax credits, loans, government grants, and other benefits from the federal government that our smaller businesses couldn’t even imagine being able to profit from.

Joining GE in the pantheon on crony capitalism is another Obama favorite that has been in the news of late: Solyndra. The President hailed this “green energy” company in a speech last May as “the true engine of economic growth.” When he announced the $535 million guarantee to Solyndra, Vice President Biden said that investments like this are “exactly what the Recovery Act is all about.” (Dear God…If the failed Solyndra venture has been what it’s “all about,” then that explains a lot.) As I pointed out in my speech at the Reagan Ranch Center last February: “History has proven again and again, when government picks the winners and losers, we’re stuck with the losers, and we the taxpayers subsidize failure!” And that’s what we’re seeing now, as the FBI raids the solar energy company’s headquarters to glean more information after the company was handed half a billion dollars in “green energy” Stimulus funds from the American taxpayer only to later declare bankruptcy. More than one thousand Solyndra workers lost their jobs. Now as the truth comes out, we discover that the White House was heavily involved in the Department of Energy’s rushed decision to give the Stimulus funds to Solyndra, and they tried to move the money through so quickly they seem to have ignored concerns that the company was not viable. Why would they do this? Perhaps it’s because a large investor in the company (about 35%) is Obama campaign bundler George Kaiser. And with the way the deal is structured, Kaiser will get his debts paid before we the taxpayers see any relief. That is sickening. And that’s how it works: workers lose their jobs, wealthy political cronies stand a good chance of getting their money back, and the U.S. taxpayer gets the shaft. Again.

President Obama has his sights set on raising $1 billion for his reelection campaign. Raising that money won’t be easy. But if you can hand out other people’s money to friends, it must get a whole lot easier. This crony capitalism and government waste is at the heart of our economic problems. It will destroy us if we don’t root it out. It’s not just a Democrat problem or a Republican problem. It’s a problem of our permanent political class. This won’t stop until “we the people” say enough is enough, and we retire the permanent political class that votes for this.

- Sarah Palin

More Quote of the Day Honorable Mention Part 369

“Crony Capitalism” Edition
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Christopher Horner, at Big Government:

“Sarah Palin weighed in with a very important point in the policy debate about the role of government. Her Saturday speech, among other things, took a swipe at the country’s dilemma of booming crony capitalism... Immediately, the media and other Democrats, as well as some Republicans, pointed out that this label sticks to Texas Governor Rick Perry just as it does to President Obama and that, assuming Perry is the Republican nominee, it will have limited resonance in the 2012 debate... There is an element of truth to this, though that seems to be as much an effort to dodge discussion (or Obama’s record) as it is to accurately represent matters... That Perry, like it seems most politicians, has some things to answer for on this front seems hardly enough to neuter Obama’s awful exposure to the charge... It is axiomatic that crony capitalism and similar corruption is rampant, in many forms, among businesses that would not exist but-for largesse transferred to them, by politicians, from taxpayers. Such industries, and the practice of propping them up in the name of one or another fads or theories, invite this.”

Michael Moriarty, at Big Hollywood:

“I don’t think Sarah Palin has any alternative but to run in the 2012 Republican primary. Her clearly stated analysis of ‘Crony Capitalism’ in Iowa yesterday places her in her own, wonderfully unique territory for a Republican candidate”

Shane Vander Hart, at the Des Moines Register:

“Former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin attacked the political establishment and ‘corporate crony capitalism’ in her speech at the Restoring America Tea Party of America rally on Saturday. She also, In light of Barack Obama’s jobs speech to take place this week, presented a contrasting jobs plan. She said that her plan about empowerment, ‘empowerment of our states, empowerment of our entrepreneurs, most importantly empowerment of you – our hardworking individuals – because I have faith, I have trust, I have respect for you.’ Her plan...”

Abie Rubin, at Conservatives 4 Palin:

“Palin has never allowed herself to be beholden to donations of large corporations who expect payback for their support.”

Jennifer Rubin, at The Washington Post:

“Perry’s campaign should take note. Perry’s name is quickly becoming linked to ‘crony capitalism,’ so that voters and media assume an attack on the latter is actually an attack on Perry. His camp will want to quickly end that word association. Palin’s theme — both directly anti-Obama and subtly anti-Perry — makes sense substantively as well as politically. Palin is right that trading Obama’s green-jobs racket for the sort of tech funds Perry championed in Texas wouldn’t be much of an improvement. And her call for an end to corporate loopholes and corporate welfare... is a cogent free-market argument that identifies targets for debt reduction. Politically, this line of attack is effective because it smudges Perry’s Tea Party image. If Palin does want to get into the race or even if she just wants to preserve her own primacy as the true Tea Party champion, she’ll need to keep throwing darts at the man who would be king, or at least leader, of both the Tea Party and the GOP.”

Stacy McCain, at The Other McCain:

“Palin has specified September as her deadline for making a decision, and there are three debates in September — Wednesday at the Reagan Library in California, Sept. 12 in Tampa and Sept. 22 in Orlando. If Perry underperforms in those debates, Palin may see the front-runner’s weakness as an invitation to enter the race.”

Roderic Deane:

“I didn’t expect it to take long for the media to begin asking the Republican presidential candidates about Sarah Palin’s proposal to eliminate all corporate taxes. In fact, I talked about it on The Roderic Deane Show today, stating that I thought it would be a topic of conservation on the Sunday news shows. It didn’t take long to be proven right. What I find interesting about Michelle Bachmann’s comments is that she just can’t quite jump onto the ‘no corporate taxes’ bandwagon and I know why. She’s a tax attorney!”

Jim Geraghty, at NRO's The Campaign Spot:

“Sarah Palin’s speech yesterday... reads like a pretty darn fine speech, at least as a diagnosis... of what is holding America back... it was a better mix of plainspoken arguments and one-liners than we’ve seen from anyone else on the trail so far this year.”

Kempite, at White House 2012:

“Sarah Palin remains the biggest influence on and in the G.O.P. field to date. Despite Romney’s money and frontrunner status, regardless of Michele Bachmann’s win in the Iowa Straw Poll and Rick Perry’s last minute entry into the race, Sarah Palin still remains the elephant in the room. Her Labor Day weekend speech in Iowa was probably more watched than the campaign announcements to run of all the other declared presidential candidates combined... But one of the most immediate effects of Palin’s speech will be seen during this Wednesday’s presidential debate... A most natural question to ask the candidates that comes from Palin’s speech is whether or not they agree with her proposal to eliminate all corporate taxes... Apparently, Sarah Palin is ready to lead on the issue.”

Sheila Marikar, at ABC News:

“Sarah Palin’s Iowa speech sounded a lot like a stump speech.”

Kingsjester:

“Yesterday, in rain-drenched Iowa, former Alaskan Governor Sarah Palin gave a stemwinder of a speech, which left several ‘conservative’ Pundits grasping at straws for something…anything…that they could attack her with. Of course , a lack of anything substantial did not stop them. By perusing the internet yesterday afternoon, one could find criticisms of the crowd size, her yellow outfit, and even her voice... Gov. Palin spent at least 30 minutes out among the crowd, talking to people, just like her, as if she had no other place where she would rather be. She spoke to families with special needs childen, military families, and teachers: just plain ol’ average folk. She posed for pictures and helped shoot videos for loved ones... Y’know, somehow, I just can’t see Romney doing that.”

John Stevens, at the Daily Mail (UK):

“Some supporters had traveled thousands of miles to see Mrs Palin speak [Saturday] afternoon.”

Mark Whittington, at Yahoo! News:

“I finally had the opportunity to see ‘The Undefeated,’ the documentary on the life and career of Sarah Palin, on pay for view. It is as moving and as awesome as other reviewers have suggested it is. A lot of people with PDS (Palin Derangement Syndrome) have sniffed that the title of the movie is a misnomer, that in fact that Palin was defeated in the 2008 election. Leaving aside that 2008 was McCain's defeat, the question does deserve a little examination. The key to understanding the title and the idea that Palin has not, after all, been defeated is the inclusion of a haunting Celtic ballad called ‘The Minstrel Boy’ in the soundtrack of ‘The Undefeated.’ ... As the song suggests, the Minstrel boy is not only defeated in battle, but is killed in the process. But there are defeats and there are defeats... ‘The Minstrel Boy’ in this case is not Sarah Palin, but the cause of American liberty and exceptionalism that she is fighting for. 2008 was a defeat for that cause, however Palin, among millions of Americans, refused to accept the verdict of that defeat. One can only be defeated, in a sense, if one chooses to acknowledge it.”

The Right Scoop:

“For anyone who has watched Palin: Undefeated, it’s clear that she made the right decision in stepping down. Personally, I’ve always believed it, but seeing it explained more deeply in the movie just solidified it even more for me.”

Patrick S. Adams, at Patrick's World USA:

“Only Sarah Palin can be the point guard for plan. Only she can deliver on what she said yesterday. In order to do so, she will need all of us; but one of us going to have to have a title to implement it. Ronald Reagan stepped up for us and delivered on the message with the help of his army. He and his supporters together led our country into prosperity and ended the Cold War. Without Ronald Reagan, the conservative movement couldn't have done it. Without the conservative movement, Reagan couldn't have done it. But we needed him to take the pen and make it happen. He could have never done what he did without a title. Call it political blasphemy if you want, but there were times that I swore it was Ronald Reagan speaking yesterday. Her mannerisms, delivery style and substance were every bit as equal to that of Ronald Reagan... Governor Palin, we need you. Run, Sarah, run.”

Exit Quote - Don Boudreaux, at Cafe Hayek (h/t: Bruce McQuain):

“Crony capitalism” has as much to do with real capitalism as praying mantises have to do with real prayer.”

- JP

John Nolte: Root Causes

Sarah Palin Lays Out Governing Philosophy that Should Worry Both Sides of the Aisle
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In her TEA Party keynote speech Saturday in Iowa, Gov. Palin did something no other presidential candidate or potential candidate has done, observed John Nolte at Big Government. The former Alaska Governor made history three years ago as the first woman to be nominated as the Republican Party's vice presidential candidate, and now she's blazing another new trail as a potential presidential contender by making “crony capitalism” an issue in the 2012 campaign. Nolte says the practice of “the moneyed and powerful” getting “preferential treatment from our political class in exchange for the financial support that puts and keeps the political class in charge of the rest of us” is one of his pet peeves, and he had long been waiting to hear a “serious GOP contender” speak out on the subject:

This is the vicious circle currently tanking our economy and Palin’s own words sum it up best:

“Corporate welfare is just socialism for the very wealthy.”

Indeed.

And while Governor Palin rightfully trained most of her rhetorical fire on President Obama (the most corporatist president of my lifetime), she also took on Republican members of that “permanent political class” who selfishly dole out our hard-earned money to those who keep them in power.

This is nothing more than a racket and it’s a disgusting one at that that explains why deficits and wasteful spending occurs regardless of which party is in charge — it is, as the Governor made clear, the disease that’s killing our free market economy. But she has a cure that will both cut these insidious ties and create jobs: end loopholes, end corporate welfare, end bailouts (amen) AND end the corporate income tax. In other words: Corporate America — we’ll get out of your way but you are now on your own.

When you see Obama cozying up to General Electric and in turn see GE embracing Obama and his stupid “green solutions,” what you’re witnessing is a scheme designed to snuff competition. GE isn’t stupid, they know “green energy” is nonsense, but they also know they’re “too big to fail” and that they can afford to pay for burdensome taxes (if they pay taxes at all) and environmental regulations. But do you want to know who can’t? Up and coming companies, upstarts who might someday put GE out of business. If you know the government’s going to bail you out and snuff your competition, where’s the downside in “going green”?

(As a movie guy who speaks that language best, if you want to know of what I speak, rent “Tucker: The Man and His Dream.”)

What I’m saying is that Big Business can be every bit as corrupt and harmful to our economy as Big Government and Sarah Palin not only understands this, but while she was Alaska’s governor, she fought and beat Big Oil and the political cronies who gave them the upper hand over what was best for her State and its people. This isn’t a folk tale and it’s not political legend. It’s a fact and it’s what sets her apart from way too many on our side.

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The issue of “crony capitalism” should serve as a measure of how much influence Sarah Palin has on the national dialog. Let's see if the media will do its job for a change, and ask the announced candidates in the GOP debates and on the Sunday morning talk shows where they stand on this issue. It seems much more relevant to the national debate than the frivolous “Coke or Pepsi?” questions we have seen thus far which have reduced the election cycle down to a political silly season.

- JP

Sarah Palin: Be on guard against crony capitalism

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It's been nearly a week since Sarah Palin posted on her Facebook Notes page, but she broke the drought tonight:

Institutionalizing Crony Capitalism

In the wake of the recent financial meltdown, Americans know that we need reform. Not only have many individuals learned lessons about personal responsibility through this, but we’ve been able to engage in a discussion about government’s appropriate role.

The current debate over financial reform demonstrates what happens when political leaders react to a crisis with a raft of new regulations. First off, the people involved in writing government regulations are often lobbyists from the very industry that the new laws are supposed to regulate, and that’s been the case here. It should surprise no one that financial lobbyists are flocking to DC this week. Of course, the big players who can afford lobbyists work the regulations in their favor, while their smaller competitors are left out in the cold. The result here are regulations that institutionalize the “too big to fail” mentality.

Moreover, the financial reform bill gives regulators the power to pick winners and losers, institutionalizing their ability to decide “which firms to rescue or close, and which creditors to reward and how.” Does anyone doubt that firms with the most lobbyists and the biggest campaign donations will be the ones who get seats in the lifeboat? The president is trying to convince us that he’s taking on the Wall Street “fat cats,” but firms like Goldman Sachs are happy with federal regulation because, as one of their lobbyists recently stated, “We partner with regulators.”

They seem to have a nice relationship with the White House too. Goldman showered nearly a million dollars in campaign contributions on candidate Obama. In fact, J.P. Freire notes that President Obama received about seven times more money from Goldman than President Bush received from Enron. Of course, it’s not just the donations; it’s the revolving door. You’ll find the name Goldman Sachs on many an Obama administration résumé, including Rahm Emanuel’s and Tim Geithner’s chief of staff’s.

We need to be on our guard against such crony capitalism. We fought against distortion of the market in Alaska when we confronted “Big Oil,” or more specifically some of the players in the industry and in political office, who were taking the 49th state for a ride. My administration challenged lax rules that seemed to allow corruption, and we even challenged the largest corporation in the world at the time for not abiding by provisions in contracts it held with the state. When it came time to craft a plan for a natural gas pipeline, we insisted on transparency and a level playing field to insure fair competition. Our reforms helped reduce politicians’ ability to play favorites and helped clean up corruption. We set up stricter oversight offices and ushered through a bi-partisan ethics reform bill. Far from being against necessary reform, I embrace it.

Commonsense conservatives acknowledge the need for financial reform and believe that government can play an appropriate role in leveling the playing field and protecting “the dynamism of American capitalism without neglecting the government’s responsibility to protect the American public.” We’re listening closely to the reform discussion in Washington, and we know that government should not burden the market with unnecessary bureaucracy and distorted incentives, nor make a dangerous “too-big-to-fail” mentality the law of the land.

- Sarah Palin

Blogger reaction...

Ed Morrissey at Hot Air comments on Gov. Palin's op-ed:

"The large players usually get deeply involved in supporting the politicians in both parties that write the regulations, and that usually means the regulations wind up working for them than against them. That’s the kind of crony capitalism about which Palin warns in her essay, and she saw it first hand in Alaska."

Stacy McCain observes:

"Notice that she links and name-checks my buddy J.P. Freire... If this politics thing doesn’t work out for the Gov, she certainly shows promise as a blogger."

Don Surber:

"She showed her economic knowledge today. Unlike Obama, she is willing to takke on Goldman Sachs instead of taking on $1 million from Goldman Sachs."

Be John Galt:

"She lays it all out: the effect lobbyists will have in drafting any regulations, the advantage huge institutions – particularly those that are well-connected – will have over smaller ones, how campaign contributions buy influence and the questionable relationship between members of the Obama Administration and major financial institutions, particularly Goldman Sachs."

- JP