They do, they really do. The top executives, lobbyists and CEOs hate us, loathe us, despise us. Now, they love the America where they can get handouts in the billions of dollars for themselves but that isn't the, as Sarah Palin would not say, the real America. When it comes to helping out their workers, the people who actually produce and generate the wealth for the top, corporations will do whatever it takes to punch us in the gut while begging for financial mercy.
From The Huffington Post:
Three days after receiving $25 billion in federal bailout funds, Bank of America Corp. hosted a conference call with conservative activists and business officials to organize opposition to the U.S. labor community's top legislative priority.
Participants on the October 17 call -- including at least one representative from another bailout recipient, AIG -- were urged to persuade their clients to send "large contributions" to groups working against the Employee Free Trade Act (EFCA), as well as to vulnerable Senate Republicans, who could help block passage of the bill.
Bernie Marcus, the charismatic co-founder of Home Depot, led the call along with Rick Berman, an aggressive EFCA opponent and founder of the Center for Union Facts. Over the course of an hour, the two framed the legislation as an existential threat to American capitalism, or worse.
"This is the demise of a civilization," said Marcus. "This is how a civilization disappears. I am sitting here as an elder statesman and I'm watching this happen and I don't believe it."
Donations of hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of dollars to Republican senatorial campaigns were needed, they argued, to prevent America from turning "into France."
"If a retailer has not gotten involved in this, if he has not spent money on this election, if he has not sent money to [former Sen.] Norm Coleman and all these other guys, they should be shot. They should be thrown out their goddamn jobs," Marcus declared.
Bernie Marcus is the type of goon that is up against the American worker. To him, the pinnacle of civilization is the feudal system, where thousands of peons toil day and night to increase his bottom line and his bank account. If this guy is charismatic, he must have gotten those skills from the devil himself. His ego looks to be beyond all help, swollen to the point that the slightest touch of his forward would cause an earthquake felt from New York to Los Angeles.
He may fear America turning into France for good reason though. If this were France, and he made statements like that (especially if it were in the early 19th century) he'd be guillotined in an instant. Right after Louis and Marie Antoinette, Marcus would next on the chopping block. His callous disregard for the workers that put him where he's at is astounding. It should be a clear sign to our political leaders that our corporate-government dynamic is out of control, the question is, will they listen?
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