UPDATED: Comcast, Corbett, and the 1 Percent Party
Are you shocked, shocked that Pa.'s most prominent Democratic businessman is raising money for Tom Corbett? Don't be.
UPDATED: Comcast, Corbett, and the 1 Percent Party
It was the big story on Philly.com this morning, and for understandable reasons. In a world where our necks were already sore from the 24/7 never-ending tennis match between MSNBC and Fox, between the Obama-hating right and the Tea Party-loathing left, this one was a head exploder. How could such a prominent Pennsylvania Democrat -- a man who not only sat at the right hand of Ed Rendell in Philadelphia City Hall for a half-dozen years but hosted President Obama in his own home -- turn around and endorse Gov. Tom Corbett, a Republican who has ruled Harrisburg from the extreme right for the past two years?
Didn't David L. Cohen hear about the ultrasound thing, or the voter ID?!!!
Heh.
Others have escaped the bowels of Philadelphia City Hall for bigger and better things, but none more so than Cohen, who now serves as executive vice president and the No. 3 official at Comcast Corp., the largest cable-TV provider in America, now in the process of becoming sole owner of NBCUniversal. His mantra -- then and now -- is getting things done. Like a lot of rich and powerful people, Cohen is a Democrat in the sense that his dream candidate is a guy (or gal) who supports low taxes and lower regulation of business AND gay marriage.
But like Mick Jagger said, you can't always get what want, but you can get what you need. And Mr. Cohen's employer Comcast needs regulatory and government predictabllity. Although cable TV is largely regulated by the feds and with some price-setting on the local level, Comcast certainly wants a friend in Harrisburg -- not just in the governor's mansion but on the state regulatory boards whose members are appointed largely by Corbett. What's more, supporting Corbett gives Cohen a chance to go to Congress, where Republicans hold sway, with more evidence that Comcast is not just a Democratic company. If you don't think a governor can help Comcast, check out (by way of the conservative writer Chris Freind) what Rendell did for the cable giant during his stay in Harrisburg.
From Cohen's penthouse view, all that culture war stuff that blares from his Comcast-powered cable TV set -- even from MSNBC, now about to be a wholly owned property of Comcast -- must sound pretty silly. Because the reality is that Big Business doesn't really care how much we fight about guns or abortion, or how it all turns out. When it come to the stuff that matters in their world -- whether it's taxes (and loopholes), or consumer protection, or punishing white-collar criminals -- there are no Democrats or Republicans. There's nothing resembling a two-party system at all.
There's just the 1 Percent Party. And there's a 99 percent chance that you're not in it.
The 1 Percent Party knows what it wants -- and what it doesn't want. Did you see the clip the other night of new Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren actually doing what she said she would do if elected: Grilling regulators on why they have not done more to put corrupt Wall Street banksters behind bars? I don't know if she's going to continue to act like this or if this was a one-off for the cameras, but I do know that that kind of scene is exactly what the 1 Percent Party has been so fabulously successful at avoiding. And preventing more of that is worth any price: Even working to re-elect a highly unpopular buffoon like Corbett.
But, but, but....partisan warfare is at an all-time high! Perhaps. But take a look at all the things that have been done on a wildly bipartisan basis. Prosecuting whistleblowers while letting billion-dollar Wall Street scam artists go free. Authorizing a never-ending "war on terror" that now includes unaccountable presidential power to order assassinations anywhere. Signing off on the unprovoked invasion of another country without justification. Expanding government secrecy. Keeping taxes on the wealthy well below the rate of most of Ronald Reagan's presidency, while the tax burden on the working poor goes up. Democratic and Republican mayors from coast-to-coast coordinating their efforts to clamp down on the Occupy movement.
Forget the Radical Republicans or the New Deal Democrats! The 1 Percent Party is the most successful political enterprise in American history.
Remember what politics is: Different groups fighting for a larger share of finite resources. And by that standard, the cohesive One Percent Party is slaughtering the 99 percent who are fighting amongst ourselves (and, yes, where is Occupy Wall Street when you still need it?). I'm not a fan of the financial lunatic Jim Cramer, but I was struck by something that he said today that I stumbled across, about the Dow closing at its highest level in five years. He said:
With the high-end retailers reporting positive earnings and stock prices for those in the middle market have flagged, CNBC's Jim Cramer thinks this divergence is creating two unrelated groups of consumers.
"This is a 'Great Gatsby' market," Cramer said, comparing the likes of Michael Kors and VF Corp. to those of Dollar Tree and Dollar General. It's a market where "the rich are not like us," he said.
Cramer said that economic pressures such as increased gas prices will affect the dollar store customers disproportionately, but these pressures are likely "imperceptible" to those shopping at luxury retailers.
Well said. As long as our current "Gatsby" policies are in place, David L. Cohen won't be shopping at the Dollar Tree any time soon, nor will Tom Corbett, regardless of whether he becomes a private citizen in 2015 or 2019. Sure, Cohen and Corbett probably don't see eye-to-eye on assault weapons or voter ID -- but that's entertainment. This is business, and don't ask him about his business.
UPDATE: Several people in the comments made the same point, along the lines that I wasn't critical when Cohen raised money for President Obama a couple of years ago. Except that I did write a post criticizing it -- albeit not as expansive as this post today. Do your homework, people! :-)
Truth. Every step of the way the interests of the haves are met at the expense of the have nots. That's the real history of our nation. From the federalist elites of 200 years ago to the comcast executives of today. The irony is that the majority of have nots either fail to see it or choose to ignore it.— slanted and enchanted
I'm sure this will turn into a Dem vs. Repub argument soon. Wake up people, both sides are fleecing you! Each side says something a little bit different to divide us, the voters, on small matters so you don't see how they're high-fiving in the backrooms as they rake in the money.— verve- right on. It is bi-partisan. BUT
Corebutt gets money from drillers
Corebutt gets money from 2nd mile (more drillers)
Corebutt pursues money from Camelot
Corebutt gets money from comcast
Corebutt gets most of his money from the 1%. Logical for the 1%. But it means that corebutt does not represent you or me or all the other 99% who voted for him. If he represented us then he would have made sure we were informed about his efforts and the perceived benefits of privatizing the lottery. He would have made sure we were informed of the pluses and minuses of privatizing the LCB (there are citizens and business interests on both sides of this issue). Maybe like public hearings?
What bothers me is that every single commentor trashed the PSD superintendent arlene hackerwoman when she tried a secretive end run to give a contract to a friend. Corebutt gets support and kudos for trying the same thing. (see @speakthetruth below).
I can only hope there is an open ethical repubelican who runs against him. Sadly, the thought of voting for schwartz is a little less nauseating than voting for corebutt.— nebulus - I wonder what the Will Bunch-haters will say about this one? Because there is nothing to say. Will is 100% correct.— Phil Perspective
- No one will ever accussed David Cohen of being a stupid man. David Cohen knows that no one is more honest, hard working, and would be better than Governor Corbett. David Cohen has no reason to jump off cliff supporting a left wing loon like the Nancy Pelosi of Pennyslvania (aka Allyson Schwartz). Notwithstanding David Cohen is a democrat, he is the last of a dying breed previously known as conservative democrat, today that is an oxymoron because the far left wing radicals like Obummer, Nancy Pelosi, Chaka Fattah own the democrat party. The inmates have the keys to the asylum and majority of the people who call themselves democrats don't seem to have the ability that the recognize just because the inmates have knock nurse Ratchett over the head, taken her keys, and put on her nurse's uniform that they are still inmates and really are not capable of running the institution. These democrats seem to lack decernment in distinguishing an inmate in nurse Rachett's uniform and nurse Rachett. Just because they have a "D" behind their name does not mean best for you and your family. I would argue if they have "D" behind their name and are thought of highly by the democrat party establishment they probably don't have the State's best interest at heart.— Speak-truth-2-power
- Just because they have an "R" behind their name does not mean best for you and your family. I would argue if they have "R" behind their name and are thought of highly by the Republican party establishment they probably don't have the State's best interest at heart.
See, that works for all politicians. Take off the blinders. You are being fleeced by both sides. It's just a matter whose monkey stuff you are falling for. Name calling will get you nowhere.— AreaMan - Oh the irony! Someone who calls himself "speak truth-2-power" acting as a mouthpiece for two powerful entities that couldn't care less about the average citizen.
— wokmaster - Nurse Ratched? She's the one who orders lobotomies for the inmates so they'll settle down and believe anything. They will probably even believe that Gov. Corbett hasn't been bought.
— raregood - "Democratic and Republican mayors from coast-to-coast coordinating their efforts to clamp down on the Occupy movement."...how do you clamp down on a political movement that disappeared voluntarily during an election year?— 2ndNlong
- It wasn't a "political movement" it was a well funded democrat campaign tool. — hawk
- The 1% have ruined this country because they have made their money on the backs of the 99% . I hope they go to Hell!— HurtinSenior
- Run, Allyson, Run! You can take down Corbett in a heartbeat. You are the most qualified Democrat in Pennsylvania to do that. Comcast has all that money to buy NBC, and it came out of the pockets of the people who have been seriously overcharged for cable for decades. It has been theft on a grand scale.— OldSouthPhilly
- HA! Do you know how much DEMOCRATS in western PA hate Allyson Schwartz? She has next to zero appeal outside of Montgomery County. The reason that she's unappealing outside of her Montco power base is her support for abortion access, which really is the only good position that she has.
Allyson Schwartz is an empty suit who voted for and still supports the Bush bankruptcy law and helped gut the public option out of the healthcare law. She's also, according to her political director after a few glasses of Chardonnay, incredibly stupid and lets her chief of staff make all of her decisions for her.
If she gets the Dem nomination, I'm voting Green. - Just one more reason to drop Comcast.— lbwestphila
- Comcast is playing it both ways for their gain and to harm consumers. They were second in corporate donations for Obama last election. Now in bed with Corbett. It's all about buying off the politicos of both parties to line their pockets at the expense of the little guy.— kingnutter
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