Crony Capitalism And Its Variety Of Flavors

I can’t help but think that Romney’s newly invigorated crony-capital (e.g., Solyndra) schtick is very much a double-edged sword for him.  I mean, isn’t he the candidate who, notwithstanding his claimed concern about the federal deficit, refuses to support the proposed elimination of the federal government’s subsidies to the oil and gas industry, and who (as per a speech he gave last winter in, I think, Utah) wants the federal government to sell most of the national forest and park land to the logging industry because, well, the public doesn’t need those forests and parks?

Or am I mistaken in thinking that the Koch brothers have vast oil, gas and logging interests—and that the brothers contribute heavily to Romney, his super PACs and other Republican fundraising groups?

Or that Romney’s proposal to tie the level of his proposed increases in Defense spending to the level of annual GDP output, rather than, y’know, this country’s national defense needs—might have something to do with crony capitalism?

Not even to mention a stunningly perverse pinstriped-patronage version of Keynsian economics.  Okay, I’ll mention it:

Romney’s plan calls for linking the Pentagon’s base budget to Gross Domestic Product, and allowing the military to spend at least $4 dollars out of every $100 the American economy produces.”

Been wondering when this interesting little policy proposal, and its obvious purpose, would start to get some national media attention.  There’s no time like the present.  Not that our blog is a national media outlet.  But we can pretend.