Trump’s regime follows the murderous dictator, Vladimir Putin. Putin’s oligarchs control Russia’s industries and Putin controls them. Each owe fealty to Putin and a big piece of their staggering wealth. The result, Putin has the greatest wealth in Russia.
The vast majority of America’s voters have no understanding of Trump’s billionaires and have nothing in common with these arrogant rich guys. They don’t cook, clean house or drive themselves in their many cars, unless for fun in their Maseratis. These billionaires have never ridden on a municipal bus, never went to a grocery store or flown on a crowded commercial airplane. They don’t worry about mortgage payments on a modest home. They have multiple mansions without mortgages in the U,S. and other exotic places. like Paris and the Caribbean. They don’t pull a modest boat with their truck to their favorite lake.. Their multi-million dollar yachts are waiting for them at their docks. Their captains and crews are in place. Gatherings of these billionaires debate what is important to them, the merits of their private jets. Each private jet has a crew of pilots and stewardesses They are proudly out of touch with America’s populous, which they regard as inferior to them. (You wouldn’t like them either.).
These billionaires have historically exploited tax loopholes that their powerful lobbyists have created for them..
They uniformly seek getting richer, despite their staggering wealth. (“How many yachts can you water ski behind?) Billionaire Segey Brin, co-founder of Google, who once backed liberal causes, has now moved to the MAGA right, donating $57 million to Republicans and trying to block a California billionaire tax.
Labor rights are often suppressed. .For too many, labor is just a cost to be reduced. AI is currently being deployed to substantially reduce costs and enhance their cash flow by firing many long-term employees. No compassion there. Underpaying employees and stressful working conditions are too often not addressed.
Gaining inside information is coveted and practiced whenever possible, despite the fact that it is unlawful. Hedge Fund owners can make very large short-term investments with little to no risk when they have inside information days or hours before such information is known to other investors. Incredible stock gains are achieved with millions of dollars briefly invested. Hedge Fund managers tout their superior algorithms as the reason for their success. Highly questionable..
Creating monopolies is coveted, and billionaires have the capital to execute. Mergers catapult sales and profits while minimizing competition, if any.
Environmental violations are viewed as cost effective and regulations anger these business owners as an obstacle.
Sweetheart deals are vigorously pursued, where there is no auction or other competitive bidding. Without competition, these acquisitions are one-off purchases potentially below market price, which create instant capital gains.
Billionaires lie. Even when caught in blatant lies, they will file a multi-million dollar defamation lawsuit to scare off offended parties, Trump style.. They are effectively immune from scrutiny.
Jeff Bezos, for example, bought the prestigious Washington Post with its established investigative journalists and credibility. He was viewed by many (including me) as a compassionate liberal. with the power of his billion dollar wealth. He lied. He sold off the Post, to its detriment, and became a Trump loyalist. The only compassionate person in his family is his ex-wife who has supported charitable causes that Jeff wouldn’t. Talk to Amazon employees about their being under-paid and over worked.
Proven liar, Howard Luttnick denied any relationship with Epstein in great detail, later to be proven to be involved with Epstein at his real estate locations on multiple occasions..
Trump’s oligarchs follow dictator Putin’s model . Billionaire Trumpers owe fealty (and a generous piece of their ill-gotten gains) to this sick narcissist who has gutted many government regulatory agencies and controls the DOJ and the FBI in the billionaires’ favor. A number of them are members of Trump’s cabinet and advisors..
Government regulations are hated by many of this wealthy group, blaming regulatory constraints on tree-hugging liberals.
Trump’s fabulously rich cabinet members and friends now have their dream come true. No regulations, no law they cannot break and no Constitutional interference.
Many of these billionaires are Democracy terrorists. They view themselves as aristocrats with no constraints. They are the privileged class. The rest of us are the untouchables.
The undemocratic Trump billionaire elite includes, among others, Elon Musk, of course (NW $768 B) , Jeff Bezos (NW of $24 B), despicable Howard Luttnick (Secretary of Commerce, with NW of $7.4 B), Doug Bargum (Secretary of Interior, with NW of $1.1 B), Scott Bessent (Secretary of Treasury, former Hedge Fund manager, NW of $600 M), and Steve Witkoff (envoy to the Mid-East, real estate developer, NW $2.3 B).
All Trump cabinet members and advisors have a collective net worth of $13.8 B, the largest in U.S. history. This elite rules the American economy.
What damage lies in the rubble of our democracy and rule of law that these billionaires have impaired?
(1) Minimal taxes, if any. The wealthy have historically exploited loopholes for the benefit of the billionaire elite. Trump has made dramatically lower taxes for millionaires and billionaires official. Their taxes, if any, are lower than the middle and working class. Like Putin’s crooked oligarchs, these billionaires have multi-million dollar yachts, with write-offs as business ships..
(2) Labor abuse: Violations of labor rights–no meaningful Department of Labor scrutiny or enforcement.
(3) Violations of Environmental regulations: no meaningful scrutiny or enforcement.
(4) A Monopoly Free For All: We are witnessing violations of anti-trust law that were designed to assure fair competition in the public interest. Instead, Trump’s billionaires crush competition and increase their profits. CBS, Paramount (pending) and other mergers that would be denied are free to eliminate competition. The result is consumer costs go up but so do billionaire profits. Pro-Trump media acquisitions limit Americans’ access to facts and investigative journalists. The wealthy greedy just get richer.
(5) The gutted SEC, responsible for market abuses, especially insider trading, gives Trump billionaires a blank check. How much inside information is privately disclosed at Mar-a-Lago Trump regime gatherings? Is there any federal investigation? No. Trump has manipulated the stock market by public announcements on the Iran war. By falsely making public statements of progress in negotiations with Iran, for example, the market has responded positively–.yet large investments have surged just before the President’s announcements. Is there a federal investigation? No. Insider trading is not enforced. Billionaires and specific Republican Congress people and Senators are certainly in position for an easy low risk insider profit. .
(6) Sweetheart Deals. The billionaires are feeding off government contracts that are only provided to them. Easy acquisitions, with no auction or bidding, and likely below market price.
As we all know, Republican Congress people, Senators, Cabinet members and other “friends” of Trump are afraid of him and mindlessly do what they are told to do.
No one, like Howard Luttnick and others, should be believed. Cutting ethical boundaries or violating law and regulations is how many of them got so rich. No one who got his wealth over many years in questionable ways is now going to become an alleged civil rights advocate, unless there is a motive— a power grab opportunity available to him. I do not believe that rich scoundrels’ have had a righteous epiphany. Such a ploy is designed to persuade us Christians, in particular, to agree with them–especially, if there is a coveted powerful elected office he is attempting to acquire. True redemption comes from the heart–NOT motivated by gaining anything. Stick with people who, like you, worked hard and ALWAYS did the right thing. We need people with verifiable moral character, people we can truly trust in these difficult times. Don’t assume that a multi-millionaire or billionaire has your morality..
It is so good to see you calling a spade a spade, William! I too am a Christian, but I feel utterly lost in a society where the mere WORD “Christian” means so many different things to different people. I go to a small Lutheran church where our pastor (a woman) preaches the Gospel as close to how Jesus would preach it as possible. She tackles topics like the ICE raids in our sister cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul and surrounding communities. I am very proud of our citizens who braved subzero temperatures and even colder wind chills to be neighbors, to serve their neighbors the way I believe Jesus would want us to. Other faiths were there to serve their neighbors too. It was a beautiful thing, and I believe we could replicate it nation wide. The No Kings rallies have been great. But we have got to get to every thinking person in our nation and get them to help us fight back. Please write more articles where you expose tRump’s down and dirty activities. He is becoming more dangerous everyday, which is pretty bad considering he has the same diagnosis—malignant narcissist—as serial killers. It’s all a big video game to him and his Washington Mafia!
“Behind every great fortune there is a crime”
Widely attributed to French novelist Honoré de Balzac (1799–1850),
Great quote. Thank you.