As you can see, the total cash (in green) for the top 50 companies is $3.71 trillion, which sure sounds like a hell of a lot of cash, and it would be were it not for the debt (in red) totaling $4.45 trillion.
The point Shedlock makes is true, but it is also true that most of that debt is held by companies that hold most of the cash. One company in particular, Goldman Sachs, is not burdened by this problem. They have almost $400 Billion in excess cash. That is after you figure in their debt. These are the guys we gave hundreds of billions of dollars to as Bush and Co. were heading out the door. These are the guys who are now holding our government hostage because they want EXTRA tax cuts on all that lucre.
These are the criminals George Carlin railed against.
These are the criminals Alan Grayson wanted to make accountable.
These are the criminals Inside Job investigated.
These are the guys who are screwing us. Big Time.
The Bottom Line:
$400 Billion buys a lot of influence. Now that Citizens United is the law of the land, Goldman Sachs -- by itself -- could spend less than one tenth of one percent of its cash every year, and still spend over $1 million a day buying political influence. That is on top of the money they are already spending to buy influence. Even with their debt loads, the other investment banks could easily pony up an additional one tenth of one percent of their respective cash to do the same thing. Which means those four investment banks -- by themselves -- can buy an extra $4 million dollars in political influence every day and still have money to burn.
As of this moment, there is only one conclusion that can be drawn from this data. The oligarchs have won. All the gnashing of teeth, rending of garments, and general dismay over Obama's failure to fight for working people isn't going to change that picture. Now that you know that, and now that you know the political system is no longer responsive to people like you and me, we are confronted with a very pointed existential question.
What are you going to do?
(Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher).
4
2
2
