I am in no way, shape or form defending Trump? The man should be rotting away in a Federal prison not serving a second Presidential term, but that’s really outside the scope of what we are trying to discuss here at this very moment.
As the Republican Party began to hyper-radicalise during the Obama era, there was a marked shift in corporate spend from the GOP towards the Dems. That’s not to say that no such money is going towards the GOP at all, but they have more-and-more begun to rely on dark money via SuperPACs. That means that their stances will continue to skew towards the extreme, further alienating corporate donors towards the Dems.
So clearly, while they aren’t doing it for noble reasons (as it’s likely a billionaire donor’s pet cause - my bet would be either Thiel or Murdoch), they are proceeding with anti-trust cases against Big Tech. It is almost like the horseshoe theory of politics, in this case.
It beggars the question, if you truly believe that republicans are irredeemable - and absolutely nothing they could ever do would be worthy of support - what is going to be the ultimate outcome? Thinking more broadly, we Progressives are generally known for in-fighting over ideological purity - there ends up being “No True Scotsman”.
The reason why the far-right has been able to succeed over the past three decades in particular has been their willingness to make ‘allies of convenience’ with those that they don’t necessarily agree with on every topic.
Wall Street didn’t care about repealing Roe v. Wade, but they were more than happy to go along with is as long as the Religious Right delivered tax cuts. Quid Pro Quo.
…
It’s getting very late here in Aus (1AM) and I have work tomorrow; but I want to pick this up again tomorrow as I still need to circle back around.
But you are, you’re defending the line “Republicans are for the working class and Democrats are for Big corporations.” That’s your stance. I’m saying Trump got put in office by not one billionaire but by dozens. He was funded by big corporations and his actions show him supporting them. In his first term he gave a massive tax cut to corporations and the rich and he raised taxes on the working class (disguised as a temporary decrease in taxes while he was in office). You’re literally saying wall street was okay with RvW being repealed, an anti-humanist action done by Republicans, as long as they got tax cuts, an anti-worker action done by Republicans. Republicans did two bad things you can recognize that go against your central argument you’re defending “Republicans are for the working class and Democrats are for Big corporations.”
When the trump administration successfully does something Anti-Trust related and the American people benefit THEN I will say “wow look at that, one good thing they did.” Until then I’m gonna focus on the fact that they’re generally and overwhelmingly NOT doing good things. Including but not limited to pro-corporation anti-humanist anti-worker actions like deregulation, disrupting oversight, allowing massive monopolistic mergers, going against unions (except for police unions it seems) and taxing the working class more while giving slush fund money to their corporate donors. All the while they’re locking up judges and US citizens and immigrants without due process.
I’m not saying you’re a bad person or a bad progressive and I’ll happily join hands with you in making good policy changes but I will call out what I think to be bullshit that hurts the cause because we need to have a united front against the billionaire class and they win by creating wedges and one liners that are plausible and divisive. Like “Republicans are pro-worker and Democrats are for Big business” which is at best reductive and misleading and at worst fucking obviously stupid, wrong, and dangerous.
I am in no way, shape or form defending Trump? The man should be rotting away in a Federal prison not serving a second Presidential term, but that’s really outside the scope of what we are trying to discuss here at this very moment.
As the Republican Party began to hyper-radicalise during the Obama era, there was a marked shift in corporate spend from the GOP towards the Dems. That’s not to say that no such money is going towards the GOP at all, but they have more-and-more begun to rely on dark money via SuperPACs. That means that their stances will continue to skew towards the extreme, further alienating corporate donors towards the Dems.
So clearly, while they aren’t doing it for noble reasons (as it’s likely a billionaire donor’s pet cause - my bet would be either Thiel or Murdoch), they are proceeding with anti-trust cases against Big Tech. It is almost like the horseshoe theory of politics, in this case.
It beggars the question, if you truly believe that republicans are irredeemable - and absolutely nothing they could ever do would be worthy of support - what is going to be the ultimate outcome? Thinking more broadly, we Progressives are generally known for in-fighting over ideological purity - there ends up being “No True Scotsman”.
The reason why the far-right has been able to succeed over the past three decades in particular has been their willingness to make ‘allies of convenience’ with those that they don’t necessarily agree with on every topic.
Wall Street didn’t care about repealing Roe v. Wade, but they were more than happy to go along with is as long as the Religious Right delivered tax cuts. Quid Pro Quo. …
It’s getting very late here in Aus (1AM) and I have work tomorrow; but I want to pick this up again tomorrow as I still need to circle back around.
But you are, you’re defending the line “Republicans are for the working class and Democrats are for Big corporations.” That’s your stance. I’m saying Trump got put in office by not one billionaire but by dozens. He was funded by big corporations and his actions show him supporting them. In his first term he gave a massive tax cut to corporations and the rich and he raised taxes on the working class (disguised as a temporary decrease in taxes while he was in office). You’re literally saying wall street was okay with RvW being repealed, an anti-humanist action done by Republicans, as long as they got tax cuts, an anti-worker action done by Republicans. Republicans did two bad things you can recognize that go against your central argument you’re defending “Republicans are for the working class and Democrats are for Big corporations.”
When the trump administration successfully does something Anti-Trust related and the American people benefit THEN I will say “wow look at that, one good thing they did.” Until then I’m gonna focus on the fact that they’re generally and overwhelmingly NOT doing good things. Including but not limited to pro-corporation anti-humanist anti-worker actions like deregulation, disrupting oversight, allowing massive monopolistic mergers, going against unions (except for police unions it seems) and taxing the working class more while giving slush fund money to their corporate donors. All the while they’re locking up judges and US citizens and immigrants without due process.
I’m not saying you’re a bad person or a bad progressive and I’ll happily join hands with you in making good policy changes but I will call out what I think to be bullshit that hurts the cause because we need to have a united front against the billionaire class and they win by creating wedges and one liners that are plausible and divisive. Like “Republicans are pro-worker and Democrats are for Big business” which is at best reductive and misleading and at worst fucking obviously stupid, wrong, and dangerous.
Just one of the sources detailing some of the billionaires that funded his return: https://www.forbes.com/sites/leokamin/2024/08/14/here-are-trumps-top-billionaire-donors/