Michele Bachmann again raised the specter of Rick Perry’s “crony capitalism” after last night’s Republican presidential debate. So too did Sarah Palin.
Michele Bachmann and Sarah Palin Stress Rick Perry’s ‘Crony Capitalism’
By Andrew Belonsky Tuesday, September 13, 2011
Michele Bachmann again raised the specter of Rick Perry’s “crony capitalism” after last night’s Republican presidential debate. So too did Sarah Palin.
Michele Bachmann is getting a lot of attention for her presidential debate claim that Rick Perry supported an HPV vaccine law because the drug’s maker, Merck, donated to his gubernatorial campaign.
Clearly the congresswoman has faith in this line of attack, because she reiterated it during a post-debate interview.
“I think it’s important to point out that this donor — like so many other of the governor’s donors — received appointments, received political favors, and I think that we’re going to hear a lot more about that in the course of the campaign, because this is what the American people don’t want,” said Bachmann to Fox News. “They don’t want crony capitalism.”
She went on, “[Voters] don’t want crony capitalism. It infuriates them. We saw that with President Obama, when we saw over $500 million dollars go to Solyndra, who was a political donor of President Obama. It’s no better when Republicans engage in that, as well. People don’t want crony capitalism.”
Bachmann said basically the same thing about Perry again on NBC’s ‘Today Show’ this morning, “It’s very clear that crony capitalism could have likely been the cause [of the HPV order.]”
Sarah Palin, a fan of the term, also charged Perry with “crony capitalism,” saying, “Fighting the crony capitalism is a tough thing to do within in your own party.”
“You have to go up against the big guns and they will try to destroy you when you call them out on the mistakes they have made,” Palin told Fox News last night.
And GOP 12 points out that Newt Gingrich employed the phrase by praising Palin’s original usage: “I do want to say, by the way, that Governor Palin’s speech in Iowa last weekend [two weekends ago] on crony capitalism and on the problems of both parties is a very, very important speech.”
Gingrich is simply trying to ride the governor’s linguistic coattails, but his adoption of “crony capitalism” and, more notably, Bachmann’s related remarks about on Perry suggest that the term will soon become a common accusation, one that thrusts the unsavory intersection of corporate money and politics straight into the 2012 campaign.
With the new, extraordinarily wealthy Super PACs spending lavishly, and the Koch Brothers still looming large, big money is more than ever a shadow candidate as politicians and executives all trying to get the most bang for their buck. Whether it be tax cuts or electoral support, everyone involved in the big business ballot race has something to gain.
Obama too faces charges of “crony capitalism.” Sarah Palin was directing her original comment at him, and as Bachmann said, the Solyndra scandal casts the most recent shadow, however dim, on his administration’s business relations.
But the most immediate question in all of this is will these charges of crony capitalism stick to Rick Perry and his shady dealings, like his work with Texas businessman Harold Simmons, or will they simply spark greater scrutiny of all the candidates’ backroom concerns, highlighting truths the White House hopefuls would rather stay hidden? Or will “crony capitalism” simply get swept away by another linguistic craze?
No comments:
Post a Comment