Drip, drip, drip….

When will his political and investment fate

catch up with Sen. Bob Corker (R-Tenn.)?

Some people may enjoy the revealing, unadorned, unforgettable, and raw political picture bared as President Trump and his GOP sycophantic congressional acolytes displayed their priorities and values in their tax package “for the haves.”   This egotistical President wants the bill on his desk in a week so he can claim he’s giving a “Christmas present” to the American public, yet with buckets of red ink thrown on the backs of future generations..

Our nation would be better off if the POTUS stuck to small gifts of  gold, frankincense, and myrrh and not slashed the corporate tax rate from 35% to 21%, while hiding lots of other permanent goodies for the wealthy and his beloved “1%.” Oh, a few regular folks got some short term tax relief, which isn’t more than crumbs.

United States economic history, already, has shattered the GOP lies and distortions that undergird their tax legislation, no matter if it’s a 2018 Donald Trump event and not those of President Reagan in the 80’s, which helped create more US millionaires but never cut the deficit.

The 1996 Clinton tax cuts and later the Bush tax cuts in  2001, produced negative tax credits which grew the deficit, along with the social security, Medicare, and other spending programs which faced few cutbacks.

In fact, some cynics believe that part of the GOP’s rationale for the Trump tax cuts is to lay the justification—later in his term in the name of deficit reduction--to slash the remaining federal social safety net because of the growing deficits caused by these, mainly, unneeded 2018 corporate tax reductions.

In the past, our markets almost never grew at 3% or 4%, replaced lost revenue, and paid down existing deficits.

Yet this is the predictive policy swill the R’s have huckstered and a majority in Congress asks you to believe.

Markets don’t operate that way and all of the R spinning and insistence this time things will be different, ignores the tremendous giveaway most of these changes represent not for capital investment, new jobs, and repatriated dollars earned overseas, but for additional,  gushing red ink which will be add to our growing federal deficits.

Already companies are lining up to do corporate stock buybacks not build new plants or educate their work forces.

But who cares? In this bill, the GOP Senate and House—and their major campaign contributors—will get theirs. (Here’s hoping they will reap the corrective political consequences for their tawdry/transparent actions.)

Corker the phony statesman

A few blogs ago I said nice things about Sen Bob Corker (R-Tenn.), when he went after President Trump using language I might use in describing the President’s fecklessness, lack of character, and leadership. Corker deserved that praise for figuratively declaring “Emperor Trump is not wearing any clothes.”

Ironically, my regular gadfly “Anonymous”—who gives me grief over things progressive—suggested I was being hypocritical for lauding Corker after chewing him up for years over his GSE antics.

OK Anon, I’ve seen the light and I am back to “chewing up Corker.”

If possible, Corker’s performance during the tax debate and votes was even more mocking and derisive. And that was before this weekend’s revelation about a major tax provision—which was not in either the Senate or the House passed bills—added by the conferees which could heavily benefit Sen. Corker’s personal tax situation and his major development investments. (See story link below.)

http://www.ibtimes.com/political-capital/last-minute-real-estate-tax-break-gop-bill-will-benefit-trump-2629381

For those who missed Corker’s early bravura performance, shortly after he verbally speared President Trump, Corker held himself out as an opponent of deficit spending, vowing he would resist the generous Senate tax bill which reportedly had a TRILLION AND A HALF Dollars of ADDITIONAL FEDERAL RED INK, spread over 10 years.

Well ‘hold tight” Bob—our Horatio at the Budget Deficit Bridge-- disappeared pretty soon.

As Bob hid behind his faux persona as a deficit hawk, “Corker the Conman”  added his crucial and deciding vote when the tax bill--at its procedurally most vulnerable--was in the Senate Budget Committee and Corker cast the tie-breaking vote, 11 to 10, to report the legislation to the Senate floor.

So Corker, mooting his "tailored for the public Consumption"  anti-red ink position and his symbolic but useless floor vote, sought to have it both ways and claim he “opposed the tax legislation” but strategically rolled over for the GOP and cast the pivotal and winning vote to bring the tax bill to the floor.

Bullshit, Senator Both Ways Bob, Bullshit!

Corker and the GSEs

Nobody should be conned, fooled, swayed by the added Corker-Warner bull pucky with their new GSE bill, which reportedly will be introduced next year in the Senate.

Yes, it purports to keep the GSEs alive (remember, this %^$#@*& devil is in the details), but as bloodless husks until their new mortgage Guarantors can be inflated with enough life-generating big bank capital and new Uncle Sam mortgage securities guarantees  until Fannie and Freddie can easily be discarded.

Neither Corker nor Warner are looking to do anything positive for Fannie and Freddie and nobody should be fooled by any sweet words or conjecture of same. If the Senate Ethics Committee had any stones or the federal courts looked carefully, Bob Corker could face charges for his financial dealings.

The two-GSE Senate uglies are shilling for the same bank-centric model which was featured in a handful of  similar ploys over the years, all of which rejected.

Systemically, Fannie and Freddie currently block those commercial bank apostles of greed from treating borrowers unfairly, overcharging them, or otherwise abusing the mortgage process.

The anti-GSE schemers want the GSEs dead or neutralized, ergo Corker-Warner 2.0.

They would have killed Fannie and Freddie three years ago if the Senate Banking Committee Democrats and low income advocates hadn’t blown the whistle on C-W 1.0 and its TBTF fans.

Anyone suggesting that Corker retiring next year or Jed Hensarling (R-Tex.) doing the same will be a boon for the GSEs, fuggadeaboutit.

My best advice to Fannie and Freddie fans, people who would like to see them as shareholder owned entities go forward, is vote against as many House and Senate incumbents as you can in hopes that a new crew coming in after next year’s elections will be less biased and more open to the real GSE history and success.

Ask anyone running for federal office their position of on this matter and vote accordingly, especially against any incumbent who will blunder and tell you they support the nation’s largest banks over the safety, soundness, efficiency, fairness, and innovation of the GSEs.

The Senate and House has a lot of slow wits. The people of Alabama did heroic work last week in squashing one of them. Many of those votes against Roy Moore and for Doug Jones were cast by women with children, who also are part of households which own homes or aspire to do so.

Just as they did in supporting Jones over Moore—to support their own best interests--we all need to inquire more, educate more, do more and make sure everyone who seeks a congressional seat knows about Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, since chances are the next Congress will have to vote on their futures.

Merry Christmas and have a healthy and happy holiday and new year.

Maloni, 12-18-2017