Hillary Clinton's "Corrupt Establishment" Now Advising Donald Trump

[drunkenshoe]

https://theintercept.com/2016/12/02/hillary-clintons-corrupt-establishment-is-now-advising-donald-trump/

“THE ESTABLISHMENT,” Donald Trump famously said during his closing argument for the presidency, “has trillions of dollars at stake in this election.”

He described “a global power structure that is responsible for the economic decisions that have robbed our working class, stripped our country of its wealth and put that money into the pockets of a handful of large corporations and political entities.”

He asked the country to be “brave enough to vote out this corrupt establishment.”

Now, less than four weeks after riding that line to victory, he formally invited the establishment into his administration.

On Friday, Trump announced the creation of a “Strategic and Policy Forum” that will serve to advise him on domestic economic matters. The list of advisers is a who’s-who of corporate elites.

He’s not the only one making a major turnaround; many of them had previously and enthusiastically supported his Democratic opponent.

The chairman of the forum is Stephen Schwarzman, the CEO of the Blackstone Group, a private equity and investment banking giant. Blackstone blasted out the release highlighting the creation of the forum this morning on its own website, saying that it is “composed of some of America’s most highly respected and successful business leaders,” who “will be called upon to meet with the President frequently to share their specific experience and knowledge as the President implements his plan to bring back jobs and Make America Great Again.”

Although Schwarzman is a Republican, his company â€" like so much of Wall Street â€" spent much of the campaign getting close to Hillary Clinton. Blackstone’s Chief Operating Officer Hamilton “Tony” James hosted a fundraiser for Clinton in December 2015 that featured, among others, Democratic-aligned billionaire Warren Buffet. More than a dozen executives at the firm gave tens of thousands of dollars to Clinton’s campaign. The firm held an invitation-only, swanky reception at the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia.

Another member of the new advisory group is Larry Fink. Fink is the chairman and CEO of BlackRock, the world’s largest asset management firm. Fink spent years ingratiating himself with top Democrats and was once short-listed as a replacement for the Obama administration’s Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner. He even hired former Hillary Clinton aide Cheryl Mills to serve on the firm’s board of directors of his firm â€" and was poised to take over and staff Clinton’s Treasury Department.

Evidently, Fink has now jumped ship and joined the Making America Great Again team, and Trump, in turn, has no problem tapping him for advice.

Here is the full list:

Stephen A. Schwarzman (forum chairman), chairman, CEO, and co-founder of Blackstone;
Paul Atkins, CEO, Patomak Global Partners, LLC, former commissioner of the Securities and Exchange Commission;
Mary Barra, chairwoman and CEO, General Motors;
Toby Cosgrove, CEO, Cleveland Clinic;
Jamie Dimon, chairman and CEO, JPMorgan Chase & Co;
Larry Fink, chairman and CEO, BlackRock;
Bob Iger, chairman and CEO, The Walt Disney Company;
Rich Lesser, president and CEO, Boston Consulting Group;
Doug McMillon, president and CEO, Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.;
Jim McNerney, former chairman, president, and CEO, Boeing;
Adebayo “Bayo” Ogunlesi, chairman and managing partner, Global Infrastructure Partners;
Ginni Rometty, chairwoman, president, and CEO, IBM;
Kevin Warsh, Shepard Family distinguished visiting fellow in economics, Hoover Institute, former member of the board of governors of the Federal Reserve System;
Mark Weinberger, global chairman and CEO, EY;
Jack Welch, former chairman and CEO, General Electric;
Daniel Yergin, Pulitzer Prize winner, vice chairman of IHS Markit;
Disney CEO Bob Iger co-hosted a Hollywood area fundraiser for Hillary Clinton in the summer of 2016.

General Motors CEO Mary Barra was thought of so dearly by the Clinton campaign that she was considered as a possible vice presidential pick â€" according to hacked emails released by Wikileaks.

Boeing CEO Jim McNerny has given thousands of dollars to top Democrats and lauded Clinton’s leadership at the State Department â€" which helped Boeing win contracts â€" while simultaneously funding the Clinton Foundation and helping sponsor paid speeches by former President Bill Clinton.

These are precisely the people Trump warned about when he darkly declared that “those who control the levers of power in Washington, … they partner with these people that don’t have your good in mind.” Now they’re all working together.

[GSOgymrat]

https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/our-humanity-naturally/201612/why-are-we-so-powerless

... While most Americans are somewhat aware that corporations have resources far beyond those of individuals, it’s remarkable that the issue of corporate powerâ€"the actual extent to which corporations control the system and dictate public policyâ€"is not itself an important item on the public agenda to be discussed and debated. If America is a country divided, there is one profound truth that can unite us all, whether black or white, male or female, straight or gay, believer or nonbeliever: If corporations are peopleâ€"and under the law they areâ€"real humans have become second-class citizens.

It’s helpful to bear in mind that Washington, D.C., is a city filled with lawyers and lobbyists, and the sad reality is that almost all of them are working for the interests of major corporations and industries. No other power centerâ€"not organized labor, not the nonprofit sector, and certainly not average votersâ€"comes remotely close to having the resources to challenge the ability of corporate institutions to dictate what happens in the nation’s legislatures, bureaucracies, and courts.

Because of this, government has become a tool of corporate power, with massive military budgets that funnel billions of dollars to corporate coffers; regulatory agencies that are run by corporate insiders who eventually leave their agencies to work for the corporations they once regulated; and lawmakers who are beholden to immensely powerful groups, such as ALEC and the Chamber of Commerce, that advance corporate interests. Even outside of government, corporate power controls the major media, acting as gatekeeper for the flow of information and largely defining society’s values and the range of acceptable opinion. ...

[Atheon]

Trump is part of the business establishment. He IS the elite; he IS the establishment.

[Baruch]

Trump is part of the business establishment. He IS the elite; he IS the establishment.

So lets find some homeless illiterate to be your representative ... but you have to participate in a party, if you want to make waves.

[AllPurposeAtheist]

The good news is the house we live in is mortgage free, just those pesky property taxes that need paid every year.. Both Sylvia and myself dropped out of corporate sponsorship years ago and I'm quite capable of surviving off of the corporate tit..government tit as well if necessary as well because I did just that for the majority of my adult life. It's one of the reasons I've gone about acquiring tools and equipment to build and repair things with. Sylvia has worked for herself for the past 40+ years as well. As long as people will need court transcripts written she'll have work.

[Nonsensei]

The good news is the house we live in is mortgage free, just those pesky property taxes that need paid every year.. Both Sylvia and myself dropped out of corporate sponsorship years ago and I'm quite capable of surviving off of the corporate tit..government tit as well if necessary as well because I did just that for the majority of my adult life. It's one of the reasons I've gone about acquiring tools and equipment to build and repair things with. Sylvia has worked for herself for the past 40+ years as well. As long as people will need court transcripts written she'll have work.

Sadly you can expect your taxes to skyrocket when Trump tries to build and staff and 1800 mile long, 50 foot tall concrete border wall while simultaneously eliminating taxes on the wealthy.

[Baruch]

Sadly you can expect your taxes to skyrocket when Trump tries to build and staff and 1800 mile long, 50 foot tall concrete border wall while simultaneously eliminating taxes on the wealthy.

Actually, in the US ... all property belongs to the government, because of eminent domain, not just because there is always property tax.  But a long enough lease is almost as good.  Paying off your mortgage is good (1/3 have), but it only lowers your monthly costs, it doesn't make you into Jeremiah Johnson.

[Cavebear]

Actually, in the US ... all property belongs to the government, because of eminent domain, not just because there is always property tax.  But a long enough lease is almost as good.  Paying off your mortgage is good (1/3 have), but it only lowers your monthly costs, it doesn't make you into Jeremiah Johnson.

Property belongs to owners.  It can be CLAIMED as eminent domain for cause after legal action.  That is not the same thing.  As usual, you go past logic to Trumpian claims.

[Baruch]

Property belongs to owners.  It can be CLAIMED as eminent domain for cause after legal action.  That is not the same thing.  As usual, you go past logic to Trumpian claims.

That was changed by the SCOTUS a few years ago ... the government no longer needs any cause other than "we want it to do a property development for a guy who gave us campaign contributions".  Or are you talking about the practice of corrupt cops now, with Capital Seizure?  Of course with the IRS, no cause is required, because you are guilty until you prove yourself innocent.

[Unbeliever]

Oops - I think we've entered a multiphasic temporal convergence of the space/time continuum...

[Baruch]

Yes ... there is a vast Right-wing conspiracy ... and the Democrats and Hillary are part of it ... they want Kissinger to do a Pinochet on the EC.  I am going to love the dropped jaw look on you people's faces, when the decision goes to the House of Representatives, and they pick JEB Bush.