Here Come the 'Boss Hogg' Republicans

I think we can reasonably expect that Boss Hogg himself will receive a committee chairmanship in the new Republican-led House of Representatives.

Think about it. Jefferson Davis (J.D.) "Boss" Hogg merged political, corporate, and judicial power in a way that even today's Republicans would have to admire. He was the perpetual commissioner of Hazzard County and the owner of virtually all property and business in the county. But because no amount of money and power was enough, he continually engaged in criminal schemes to rob and defraud the public.

The GOP's "Boss Hogg" Committee Chairs

Now consider a few likely Republican committee chairs in the new House of Representatives, whose political operations and policy positions are indistinguishable from the PR operations of the industries they will oversee.

Rep. Joe Barton (Texas), "the quintessential oil congressman," will probably chair the House Energy and Commerce Committee. Barton infamously apologized to the CEO of BP during the Gulf oil spill crisis, calling the compensation account BP was setting up for the economic victims of the spill the result of "a shakedown" by the government. According to the Center for Responsive Politics, Barton has been the top House recipient of campaign cash from the oil industry, including $22,800 from poor old BP.

--Please let me know if Barton does a single thing while chairman that does not absolutely delight oil companies.

Rep. Howard "Buck" McKeon (California), will probably chair the House Armed Services Committee. It's no coincidence that the cash flowing his way from military contractors skyrocketed to $400,000 over the last election cycle (compared to $86,000 for the previous cycle). It's not that his re-election campaign was a nail biter. It's just that Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, and others want more funding for weapons programs America doesn't need. They've made a big bet that "Buck" is their man. Although, "bet" would imply that the outcome is in some doubt, so "solid investment" or "bribe" would probably be more accurate.

--Please let me know if McKeon does a single thing while chairman that does not give weapons manufacturers a warm fuzzy.

Rep. Richard "Doc" Hastings (Washington), will probably chair the House Natural Resources Committee. Hastings' committee will oversee mining safety, national forests, endangered species, and fisheries, among other things. It should be no surprise that his top PAC contributor was a timber company. While BP's oil well was pumping into the Gulf, Hastings was busy opposing stricter safety standards for off-shore drilling operations. And--what do you know?--he collected $70,000 from the oil and gas industry for the recent election cycle (compared to $10,000 for the last cycle).

--Please let me know if Hastings does a single thing while chairman that does not make extraction industry CEOs want to dance a little jig.

Boss Hogg For President 2012!

As I was writing this, I came across Jonathan Chait's posts at The New Republic about Mississippi Governor Haley Barbour's potential run for president in 2012. Chait, in what he concedes is "a fairly juvenile shtick," has been referring to Barbour as "Boss Hogg" in his articles for some time now.

Haley Barbour really is like a fictional character come to life. He's the governor of what was once the most anti-civil rights state in the country (which we won't hold against him personally, but he has been involved in conservative politics since the '60s, and I'm just sayin'). He's the chairman of the Republican Governor's Association, where he oversees a large campaign war chest and can make contacts in crucial Republican primary states. He's the former chairman of the Republican National Committee and a former tobacco industry lobbyist, which I'm sure has nothing to do with why he vetoed a broadly supported cigarette tax in Mississippi, where the cigarette taxes are the third lowest in the country and grocery taxes are the highest.

But it's the personal touches that put Haley Barbour over the top. According to a Newsweek profile:

"The Republican governor of Mississippi keeps a large portrait of the University Greys, the Confederate rifle company that suffered 100 percent casualties at Gettysburg, on a wall not far from a Stars and Bars Confederate flag signed by Jefferson Davis. Then there's the man himself. Rather than walking across the street from his office to the state capitol, he rides a hundred or so yards in the back seat of a large SUV, air conditioning on full blast."

Wow. We'll see how far glorifying the slavocracy gets his presidential campaign.

You couldn't make this stuff up. The "Boss Hogg" Republicans everyone: corporate power and government power become one unified force, and we're supposed to feel nostalgic for the Confederacy.

It's always in the fine print.

In conservative health care mythology, an educated health consumer chooses the best policy for his or her personal situation, and if the insurance company does something disagreeable, the consumer simply takes her business to another company--punishing bad the corporate behavior and rewarding the good. This way, so the theory goes, the insurance companies are always improving in a survival-of-the-fittest competition for the American consumer.

But the "free market" fairy tale ignores some major problems. Here are just two.

First, choosing a health insurance policy is not the same thing as shopping for consumer goods. Whether you're shopping around for a new TV or trying on different shirts, you can make informed comparisons and pretty much know what you're going to get when you make your purchase. With a health insurance policy, at best you have a general idea of the way your policy works. But the nuances--which have a way of jumping up and biting you--are coded in lawyer-speak and hidden in an "explanation of benefits" booklet that changes every year. Or they're in the fine print in one of the many documents you signed to buy your policy in the first place.

Also, chances are that when you learn some sordid detail of your policy, it will be at a time when you or a loved one is sick or in a lot of pain and you are under stress. You may be under financial stress too from the premiums, co-pays, and deductibles you've already paid and maybe from being out of work. You can't exactly jump into a new policy at this point. And you're in a pretty weak position to argue with the company you're stuck with. You are anything but a highly-mobile, educated consumer in a free market. You are caught in a scheme to enrich few at the expense of many.

These are just two reasons why it makes no sense for coverage of our medical expenses to be left up to organizations that exist primarily to increase their own quarterly profits and shareholder value.

The Health Insurance Industry: National Parasite

How does America spend more money per capita on health care than any other nation in the world and still not even cover everyone? In part because we rely on an incredibly wasteful health insurance industry to deliver our care. Our enormous national wealth, which could guarantee quality medical care for every American, is instead wasted maintaining an inefficient and immoral system.

Where are our health care dollars going?

• Health insurance company profits. (I'm having a very hard time finding estimates of total profit margins for the industry as a whole. Tell me if you know where to look.)
• Health insurance company executive salaries.
• Duplicative administrative costs throughout the industry... which is enough money to cover all uninsured.
• Health insurance company advertising.
• Political donations and lobbying against a system that puts people before profits.
• Blimps 'n stuff!

Introducing 'Corporations!' Posters

A new adventure in Better Than Machines pro-democracy, anti-corporation satire. Look for future posters in the "Corporations!" series. If you're feeling rowdy, print them off and pin them up at work.