Corporate Progressivism: Arby's Aligns with Left and Fails

Note: This Blog Was Co-Published on Breitbart.com on 4/9/12

Corporate Progressivism—the use of corporate influence to promote the progressive agenda—is a powerful tactic used by the hard left to co-opt America’s corporate sector into submission to the left’s big government version of the common good.

Corporate progressivism takes many forms. There are extreme cases of crony capitalism such as the Obama regime’s transfer of billions of taxpayer dollars to progressive fantasy (i.e. scam) businesses like the bankrupt Solyndra or the bankrupt Solar Trust of America, whose businesses are often entwined with Obama campaign bundlers. Although largely ignored by the MSM, these cases at least make their way into the public consciousness.

Perhaps even more dangerous than these corporate crony boondoggles, is the accumulated impact of the many small acts of corporate progressivism that align big business with big government, a recipe for tyranny. One such example is Arby’s Restaurant, which, late in the game, decided to “drop” advertizing on the Rush Limbaugh show, even though Arby’s is not and has never been a national sponsor of Rush’s program. The attack on Rush was made via Twitter, a favorite tool of the activist left.

But is corporate progressivism really a good strategy, considering that self identified conservatives outnumber liberals by nearly 2 to 1? In terms of wealth and disposable, one has to assume that the advantage to conservatives is greater still.

Yes, we surround them—a fact that is both disguised by the overwhelming predominance of liberals within the media, and under appreciated by corporate America. An attack on Rush’s advertisers is an attack on conservative speech. When advertisers fold to leftist intimidation (or in Arby’s case, just pile on), they join the war on conservatism.

The good news is that it appears that the sleeping giant has awakened. Conservatives are fighting back, and may even begin to turn the tide in their favor. After receiving much criticism via Twitter, Arby’s followed its Rush attack by blocking Twitter users who disagreed with the franchise. This tactic, however, appears to have compounded Arby’s problems. Try searching Twitter for @Arbys and you will see the negative attention Arby’s is getting. By my count, those who are outraged by the company’s progressive stance outnumber the supporters of the Media Matters, manufactured attack on Rush by 20 to 1.

In desperation, Arby’s is trying to undo the damage by unblocking their Twitter followers but they cannot put the genie back in the bottle.  The bottom line is that, under the leadership of its President, Hala Moddelmog (former CEO of Susan G. Komen for the Cure and Democratic donor), Arby’s appears to have made a poor  business decision for its shareholders, employees, and customers by joining the activist left in opposing free speech.

Perhaps this fiasco will cause the next corporation to think twice about aligning itself with the manufactured, anti-conservative bullying of the radical left. You see, not only do conservatives eat fast food, we can also tweet, and will happily find alternative providers to progressive businesses that align themselves with the leftists like these dropped sponsors of Rush.  Note, if you are a business that would like to gain market share from any of these corporate progs, please contact me here at http://johngaltlist.blogspot.com.

Crony Capitalist Level 3 Nets $13.8 Million Payback from Obama

It’s a pretty simple arrangement. Help elect a mega spending progressive to the White House, and reap the regime’s plunder of the private sector. Politico carries an excellent exposition of how Obama's rich friends trade fund raising activity for cash, jobs, and influence. The story is written by iWatch News.org, a website of the Center for Public Integrity, a Washington-based nonprofit focused on investigative journalism.

Known as “bundlers”, Obama’s mega-funders raised at least $50,000 and sometimes more than $500,000 in campaign donations for Obama’s campaign. Many of those in the “Class of 2008” are now being asked to bundle contributions for Obama’s re-election, an effort that could cost $1 billion.

From the Politico Story...

...Few stories illustrate more vividly how friendship, fundraising, business and politics can intertwine at the White House than that of Gips, Obama’s choice for ambassador to South Africa.

In the 1990s, he wrote a report that later formed a blueprint for AmeriCorps. In 1998, Gips left government, where he had supervised wireless spectrum issues for the FCC and served as Vice President Al Gore’s chief domestic policy adviser. He joined Level 3, a budding telecom company that has received more than $100 million in federal contracts in the past decade.
There, at a 2004 fundraiser, he met Obama, who was then running for the Senate in Illinois. The two grew close: Obama asked Gips to help edit his campaign book, “The Audacity of Hope.”

Gips collected more than $500,000 for Obama. James Crowe, chairman of the Level 3 board, was an Obama bundler, too, raising at least $100,000. The firm’s vice chairman, Charles Miller III, bundled more than $50,000.

At the White House, Gips was a powerful force to decide who got coveted jobs. Obama appointed Crowe in October 2010 to chair the presidential advisory committee on telecommunications and wireless issues.

And Level 3 was awarded some $13.8 million in federal stimulus contracts, to extend broadband connections in rural areas of states where it had networks.

[Read the full story here...]

Government Motors -- a Failed Intervention

From BIGGOVERNMENT.COM
The Obama Administration has proclaimed TARP and the subsequent bailout for General Motors a great success. US Treasury Deputy Timothy Massad recently said, “Where we are today shows that the program, by any reasonably objective measure, was a success.” But is GM, now much derided as “Government Motors” the success that Obama says it is? Facts don’t argue in Obama’s favor.

First of all, we must dispense with the whole idea that a benevolent Obama played sugar daddy to “save” GM and did so without too much meddling with the company. Despite the claims that it is “back” and back in private hands, We The People still own 33% of GM. But government ownership is deeper than the a mere calculated percentage. You see, GM’s Board and its CEO were all placed in their positions by Obama, his czars and advisers. Worse, none of them have any experience at all in the auto industry.
[Read the full story here]

GE is Lining up to Get What Government is Handing Out

John Stossel on Corporate Welfare...

In America today, the biggest recipients of handouts are not poor people. They're corporations.

General Electric CEO Jeffrey R. Immelt is super-close to President Obama. The president named Immelt chairman of his Council on Jobs and Competitiveness. Before that, Immelt was on Obama's Economic Recovery Advisory Board. He's a regular companion when Obama travels abroad to hawk American exports. (Why does business need government to do that?)   [Read the full story here…]