TANSTAAFL

(picture found here)
That stands for “There Ain’t No Such Thing As A Free Lunch”, and when I was growing up as a Libertarian in Fairbanks, Alaska, it was a term that I heard from time to time. If you’re not familiar with the phrase, ‘no such thing as a free lunch’, the concept is that you don’t get something for nothing. For everything you get in life, you give something up, and it’s important to make decisions wisely, and make sure that what you are receiving is worth what you are foregoing.

I was reminded of TANSTAAFL the other day in the car, when I was listening to Forum on our local PBS station, and I heard an interview with the author of Free Lunch: How the Wealthiest Americans Enrich Themselves at Government Expense (And Stick You With the Bill), David Cay Johnston. You can listen here. The overall premise was that our government has changed a lot over the last 25 – 30 years, and has become one of Corporate Socialism. When the government bends over backwards to get into bed with big oil, insurance companies, wall street, and all on the taxpayer’s dime, then that’s Corporate Socialism. Mr. Johnston is a Republican, but he faults both parties as being not only complacent, but eager, in working more and more in favor of the rich, at the expense of the poor.

Did you know that the four largest oligarchies in the world right now, that is, countries with the greatest gap between the rich and the poor, are Mexico, Russia, Brazil, and the United States? Guess who supports not only the poor in these countries, but also the wealthy? That’s right, the middle class taxpayers.

I found it to be very interesting…here are a few of the ways Mr. Johnston pointed out that we’re paying for the rich to not only stay rich, but get richer:

Tax Increment Financing, used by big box stores like Target, HomeDepot, and Walmart, to fund the construction of their stores. They build a store, which is supposed to help a community, and they get a kick back in two ways, from the local government. First, the govt. can use Eminant Domain to force the owneers of the land to sell at well below market value, which they then pass on to the store. Second, they use Tax Increment Financing, by which the store collects the local sales tax from the customers, but instead of forwarding it to the local govt. for schools, fire departments, police, etc., they pocket it to pay themselves for bringing their wonderful store to the community. Of course, the local businesses can’t compete with this, so they all go out of business, driving more business to the big box store. More money for them, and at the taxpayer’s expense, because who do you think makes up for those missing funds? That’s right, we do.

Guess who received $89 million dollars from a New Jersey fund, paid for by taxes, that was set aside to help the poor. Donald Trump’s casino company.

Detroit used to be motor city, but now there are many more cars made in Ontario. Why? The labor wouldn’t appear to be that much cheaper in Canada, if any. The answer is health care costs. Because the health care costs are on the government’s books, not the companies, they can run more cheaply there. And because the health care providers in Canada don’t have our labyrinth of forms and approvals to deal with, they are more efficient and work better.

And what about the recent bail out of Baer Sterns, the financial company? How can it be that our economy is so fragile, that one company, one known for playing fast and loose with the rules, for taking chances that perhaps aught not be taken, can threaten to bring it down, should they fail? Mr. Johnston called this economy, “No billionaire left behind”. Depressing.

So, what can we, the little guy, the middle class, do about it? We can participate in our government. We can TALK about these things, make sure that we understand how our government is selling us south in favor of the rich and the big corporations, and talk about how we’re not going to take it anymore. Because if people start talking about these things, letting other people know what the hell is up, then politicians might start to listen.