Friday, May 15, 2015

Marco Rubio, Rex Nutting & Reality

It has recently come to light that the golden boy of the Conservative wing of the Republican party has a benefactor.

The New York Times, on May 10th, 2015, made us all aware that a billionaire auto dealer named Norman Braman is the money man behind Senator Marco Rubio's rapid political rise.

"As Mr. Rubio has ascended in the ranks of Republican politics, Mr. Braman has emerged as a remarkable and unique patron. He has bankrolled Mr. Rubio's campaigns. He has financed Mr. Rubio's legislative agenda. And, at the same time, he has subsidized Mr. Rubio's personal finances, as the rising politician and his wife grappled with heavy debt and big swings in their income."

Inherently, there is nothing wrong with having a patron. Many artists, musicians, and intellectuals have them. One can only speculate where Rubio would be without this benefactor. But what is especially troubling, is the hard Social Darwinism that Rubio espouses when, in fact, his situation is prima facie evidence that it is false.

Rex Nutting is a real person and has written a very relevant article in MarketWatch documenting how the stock market destroyed the middle class.

Put very briefly, for the last three decades a pervasive business model has encouraged top managers of American corporations to raid their companies of the funds they need to build and expand, and invest in their workers for the long haul.

They, according to Nutting,

"Loot their company, by using large stock buybacks to... manipulate share price, which allows them to use inside information to time their own stock sales. By using buybacks to funnel most of the company's profits back to shareholders (including themselves)." Wow.

I can only wonder how Senator Rubio feels about all of this. One thing is clear. His benefactor, who benefits from the propagation of misinformation, is happy to continue subsidizing Senator Rubio as long as he continues to espouse Horatio Alger myths which help facilitate the destruction of the American middle class.