Will Warren Buffet and Hillary Clinton save us?

Our saviors?

Richard Mellor

Afscme Local 444, retired

It’s staggering when one thinks about it. Warren Buffet, who according to Forbes, has accumulated almost $70 billion in is lifetime, is joining forces with Hillary Clinton, who wants to be as rich as Warren but is not quite there yet. Warren is supporting Hillary’s run for the US presidency under the slogan,  “Fighting For Us. Oh my! We are in trouble.

Is there any other country in the world where such a statement from two people like this would not be met with anything but scorn and laughter within the ranks of the working class? How can one accumulate $70 billion and not be an utterly selfish and ruthless individual? The answer is easy; they can’t.

Forbes of course describes his wealth, as the propaganda mag for the 1% does for all its patrons, as “self made.”.  That doesn’t mean he worked hard for it because one can‘t accumulate $70 billion by working, only by getting others to work and living off the profit of capital, but that’s what “self made” means to this class of people.

Clinton, a member of perhaps the sharpest, slickest tag team in US politics wants the rich to pay more taxes and Warren agrees with her. She want’s, “to make sure the effective tax rate paid by millionaires reflects a truly fair tax system,” WSJ 12-17-15. If you believe that I have a bridge to sell you. A good book written some years ago about this tax scam is America Who Really Pays the Taxes. I commented on this issue before, Not another Tax Reform Act.

Clinton is probably a little worried by Bernie Sanders’ surprising popularity and his recent endorsement from a major AFL-CIO union, the Communication Workers of America. “I want to be the president of the struggling, the striving and the successful.”.  Clinton told an audience in Omaha yesterday with Buffet by her side.  With that as a backdrop it would make a good movie, a remake of Pollyanna perhaps. It is incredible that they can actually say this with a straight face.

I have argued up to now that Hilary Clinton will be the next president.  The Republican Party is in crisis and an embarrassment to America. I couldn’t watch much of the chatter between them that they call a debate, dominated by propaganda about terrorism and foreign enemies as the US 1% savages American workers and destroys our standard of living. It is a party that could well fracture and split at some point.  American politics is in crisis in general and we see that with the rise of a fool like trump, a neo fascist, and an out of this world character like Carson. It shows one doesn’t have to be smart, or connected to the real world to accumulate a lot of money or dissect people’s brains.

Being forced to concede to the entire working class universal suffrage, the 1% is not always presented with choices it is entirely happy with when it comes to the body politic, even if they are products of their own parties.  When their parties (and their system) is in crisis all bets are off.  Trump is not good for business, too divisive, and it says something about the Republican Party that this man is not expelled from it. Eight years back, Obama was suspect but their best option for ensuring a stable climate for profit taking. He turned out better than they thought. This time, despite the misogynists among them and there are many, the US ruling class has no better option than Hillary Clinton so far. I can’t see one as of yet so they’ll eat crow for a while. She’ll be a hawk in foreign policy, but, like the other member of her tag team, she is an astute representative of her class and with Buffet at her side, a god among the capitalists, it would not be a good career decision to challenge this team. 

Source: read more here

Buffet says wealthy Americans are “decent people” because they create jobs and, “come up with products that you and I like. They are good citizens.” This is the argument for the existence of a class that does no work and accumulates wealth off the labor of others. The feudal aristocracy had their arguments, the slaveowners theirs. All ruling classes justify their existence in this way. Their system is the apex of civilization, the only way society can be organized, any alternative can only lead to chaos.  An I-phone can be a useful product but you can’t eat it. As long as the technology our collective society develops is owned by the 1% it will always be used to advance private gain rather than the social, need.

As usual, the heads of organized labor from AFL-CIO president Richard Trumka on down have little if anything to say. There are careful not to say anything that might inspire their members or lead to a major victory that would inspire all workers and threaten the relationship they have built with the bosses and the Democratic Party based on labor peace.  Hillary will be the choice for them; they are a disgrace and the dues paying members of organized labor are faced with a war on two fronts, one against the bosses, the other against the trade union hierarchy and their pro-market policies.  Any oppositionist or opposition caucus or leadership in a union must openly condemn and campaign against the Team Concept, the dominant ideology of the trade union hierarchy that has been a catastrophe for US workers.

On the Bernie sanders campaign its interesting to figure out the role of the various left groups who are competing for Sanders’ young supporters new to politics who will be looking for an alternative when it becomes clear he will not be the Democratic candidate. Some lefts are openly supporting his campaign but claim they will lead his disgruntled supporters away from the Democratic Party when the hammer falls. But where will they lead them?   To their small insignificant groupings is where they intend to lead them, but they know that is not a viable proposal to these youngsters so they don’t say it directly.

And what if Sanders wins the nomination? You support him until he actually wins then oppose him? It doesn’t make sense, but then it’s not supposed to. I am going to vote for Jill Stein of the Green Party and for regular readers of this blog we have advocated that Sanders supporters join the Green party. You can read more on that here: An Alternative toSanders and the Democratic Party.

Meanwhile, our future and the future of life on earth for the next few years will depend to a great degree on two individuals pledging they are “Fighting For US”, Hillary Clinton and Warren Buffet.  Unfortunately for these two, the working class at home and internationally have a nasty habit of interfering with plans like these. I look forward to it.