“Fascism should more appropriately be called Corporatism because it is a merger of state and corporate power.”
- Benito Mussolini, fascist dictator of Italy and ally of Nazi Germany during World War 2.

I am finding out more and more that people use terms without having any idea of what they mean.

On the local level, capitalism and the free market appear to exist. I am free to start a business, pursue an idea, or invest my money wherever I see fit (aside from the regulations that are in place.) But as you move up the ladder, that freedom starts to become blurry. At the national level, all of the sudden you are faced with regulations, restrictions, mandates, or “favors” that are selectively administered.

Take for example the housing market crash of 2008 and the “bailouts.” Huge amounts of our taxpayer money were given to large companies to prevent them from failing. Some on the list of recipients include Wells Fargo, Citigroup, Bank of America, JP Morgan, Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, Capital One, General Motors, Chrysler, AIG, and American Express. Now this list is not exhaustive, but the total amount of taxpayer money given to companies totaled 635 billion dollars. (propublica.org)

If I start a restaurant here in Mineral County and I do a poor job of running it, and it fails… Am I going to get a check from the government (from tax dollars) to help keep my business open? No. And that is the point. Maybe it is because you are not “too big to fail.”

What a ridiculous con job carried out on the American public. But it happened again during the COVID-19 pandemic. According to Accountable.US- Covid Bailout Tracker, our government handed out 783 billion dollars of our tax money. This time, that money went all over the place and according to the Washington Post, the Treasury Department will not release the records of who received the subsidized loans.

So… The world was subjected to a pandemic that was caused by taxpayer funded grant research involving scientists manipulating corona viruses to make them more deadly. From this, governments of the world (including ours) shut everything down and placed draconian mandates on us. They, of course, only allowed the big companies to stay open, while smaller businesses were forced to close. Then that same government tells the Federal Reserve to print trillions of dollars and give it out to those “in need.” In turn, inflation skyrockets, our nation goes deeper in debt, and big companies got special privileges from our government that made them more money. Hmmm… Sounds like the merging of government and corporate powers.

Furthermore, it is going on as we speak. PBS News Hour states that nearly two-thirds of the American taxpayer money being sent to Ukraine will actually go to American defense contractors. Essentially, the federal government passes bills to take our tax dollars and give it to private defense companies. Whether you agree or disagree with supporting Ukraine, this situation still repeats the same formula: Government takes our money and then gives it to big companies for their benefit. This is not the free market. This is crony capitalism.

Running for Montana House District 90,

Jeff Stanek