Disclaimer: I’m pro-business but I truly do believe in free enterprise, competition in the marketplace where companies win by innovating, creating new widgets, smart cost cutting while paying their employees a living wage and treating them and their consumers with respect.

In short, anyone like Elon Musk buying a company at an inflated price where bills aren’t paid, employees who’ve yet to be fired are treated with disrespect, and management doesn’t deliver on a quality product, shouldn’t be allowed to stay in business. It’s the height of hubris for CEOs to blame workers who don’t want to live 24/7 in the workplace for their owners’ stupidity. This is the definition of lazy management and the antithesis of businessmen taking personal responsibility for their own lack of due diligence and failures. These greedy short-sighted CEOs have become their own stereotype of the “welfare queen.”

These are the same guys who get million-dollar golden parachute packages even if they lose a company, millions of dollars, while essential workers in the private sector have had their pension plans go the way of the dodo bird.

See: The true story behind the ‘welfare queen’ stereotype /https://www.pbs.org

In my opinion, companies like Twitter headed by Elon Musk who’re focusing mostly on short-term cost cutting measures are doomed to fail.  When cost cutting in the form of huge layoffs with its associated service deficiencies become so severe, and where basic bills aren’t being paid, then there’s little room for future improvements/ innovations, key especially in a digital world. Because Elon Musk purchased Twitter at an overly inflated price ($44bn vs. $25bn) and borrowed $13bn at a time of rising interest rates, his emphases on cost cutting measures will only limit Twitter’s losses.

Why do we as consumers have to pay for the foolishness of these short-sighted, clueless CEOs?

See NYT report: As Elon Musk Cuts Costs at Twitter, Some Bills Are Going Unpaid…

Now, let’s paint the picture of GOP MAGA dark money donor crowd who for over 5 decades, have been spending billions of dollars to buy GOP lawmakers, the SCOTUS justices who’ll favor their business interests, control of media content via right-wing media outlets and social networks, the development of a coalition of reliable voters who’ll turn out on election day.

How these GOP dark money/ ALEC type corporate donors, think is reflected in the policies enacted by their bought and paid for GOP lawmakers. These money bagmen consistently back the reduction of taxes on corporations and their personal fortunes, the dismantling of government oversight agencies over their business practices and the elimination of social safety net programs like social security, Medicare and Obamacare. There’s that sense of entitlement that these GOP ALEC type money men permeate via their Mitt Romney 47% attitudes, where they’re convinced that the essential workers are whining, wanting a hand-out.

Heaven forbid, for example that hardworking employees should be granted an extension in unemployment benefits with enough monies to keep their heads above water during a pandemic shutdown, because then they might be motivated not to return to their jobs. How dare employees demand a living wage at a reasonable number of hours per week, so that they can spend quality time with their families? Why do you think Corporate executives fight back hard to keep employees from joining a union?

In 2012, Mother Jones had published a secretly recorded video of Romney at a May fundraiser, declaring that 47 percent of the population is made up of people who believe they are “victims,” and are “dependent on government.”

Here is what Mr. Romney said:

There are 47 percent of the people who will vote for the president no matter what. All right, there are 47 percent who are with him (Barack Obama), who are dependent upon government, who believe that they are victims, who believe the government has a responsibility to care for them, who believe that they are entitled to health care, to food, to housing, to you-name-it. That that’s an entitlement. And the government should give it to them. And they will vote for this president no matter what…These are people who pay no income tax…[M]y job is is not to worry about those people. I’ll never convince them they should take personal responsibility and care for their lives.”

The below narrative tells us what many CEOs really think about the folks they employ. They’re empathizing with Elon Musk’s current intolerable demands of those who’ve yet to leave Twitter.

As per a 11/22/2022 Fortune article, “…Some more traditional CEOs are warming up to (Elon Musk’s ways.

“The [hotlink]Tesla[/hotlink] CEO has become a figurehead for peers who are tired of workers’ new emphasis on work-life balance and their employees’ desire to disengage from hustle culture, reports Callum Borchers of The Wall Street Journal. “I think every successful CEO, including myself, is tired of all the whining,” Michael Friedman, chief executive of the New York investment firm First Level Capital, told Borchers.”

“Workers have placed a newfangled emphasis on flexibility and work-life balance in the era of remote work that they want to hold onto as bosses push for an office return. When offered the chance to work from home, 87% grabbed at it according to a survey from “[hotlink]McKinsey[/hotlink] this past June.”

What’s amazing to me is how millions of Americans who are GOP MAGAs blame the other (fill in the blank) for their lack of financial progress over decades while their fears and grievances are being stoked by Republican Party leaders backed by GOP dark (secret) money donors. Why aren’t they looking at the corporate CEOs to explain their plight. After all, they’re the ones who’ve been investing in technology (robotics) while sending jobs overseas to save on labor costs which have cost laborers, good paying jobs.

As per the EPI Economic Policy Institute, “From WWII Until about 1973, when US corporations’ productivity numbers increased to about 95.65%, the average workers’ pay wages increased to about 91%. There was this consensus that as corporations increased its productivity, revenues, profits, the workers also participated in the division of the spoils.

But after 1973, corporate productivity increased by 77% but workers’ pay increased by only 12.4%.

See: The Emerging Tech-Lash – by John Ganz… – Exploding Comma

As per the 5/23/2016 Vox report, “This cartoon explains how the rich got rich and the poor got poor” by Alvin Chang:

“By the time Reagan left office in 1989, this is how that $100 was split up”

“Notice how everyone but the richest has a smaller portion of the money.”

“And that trend continued”

“Here’s what it looked like in 2014, six years into President Barack Obama’s term:”

“In short, we’ve seen quite an increase in income inequality since the late-1970s.”

So, what happened in 1973, where corporate titans started to limit the sharing of profits due to increased worker productivity? What happened was the formation of the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) in Chicago as a nonprofit 501(c) political organization, by conservative activists from corporate America, religious hard liners to right- wing lawmakers.

Pay special note to the major funders of ALEC like the (NRA) National Rifle Association, fossil fuel corporations like Exxon and Koch Industries, and big PhRMA. Look no further to figure out why GOP politicians keep fighting tooth and nail to prevent the implementation of sensible gun control laws, legislation allowing for the lowering of prescription costs, the acceptance of climate change science, etc.

As per Right Wing Watch:

“The American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) was founded in 1973 by Henry Hyde (R-Ill.), Lou Barnett, and Paul Weyrich, who helped build a nationwide right-wing political infrastructure following the reelection of Richard Nixon. In the same year, Weyrich helped establish the Heritage Foundation, now one of the most prominent right-wing policy institutes in the country. One year later, he founded the Committee for the Survival of a Free Congress, the predecessor of the Free Congress Foundation. In 1979, he co-founded and coined the Moral Majority with Jerry Falwell, and in 1981 he helped establish the ultraconservative Council on National Policy.”

“ALEC’s activities reflect its founding, funding, and control by corporate interests. After paying to get a seat at the table, corporations are able to introduce bills at ALEC conferences that are written by corporate law firms, and that are specifically designed to benefit their industries. Many of these ALEC bills are written by corporate lawyers at defense firms like Shook Hardy & Bacon. The American Bar Association Journal describes Shook Hardy & Bacon as the “darling of corporate America.”

“ALEC’s major funders include Exxon Mobil, the Scaife family (Allegheny Foundation and the Scaife Family Foundation), the Coors family (Castle Rock Foundation), Charles Koch (Charles G. Koch Charitable Foundation and the Claude R. Lambe Charitable Foundation), the Bradley family (The Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation) and the Olin family (John M. Olin Foundation). These organizations consistently finance right-wing think tanks and political groups.”

According to the Center for Media and Democracy, over 98% of ALEC’s funding comes from corporations, special interests, and sources other than legislative dues (about $50 per year for legislators).

See the list of ALEC members which includes the National Rifle Association (NRA): List of former members of the American Legislative Exchange Council/ Wikipedia.

As per Media Bias/ Factcheck, “ALEC offers social networking for conservative Republican elected officials under their annual meeting events. They’re also known for writing “model bills” that are criticized for how these ready template bills are “advancing the agenda of the people who write them.” These model bills typically reflect a conservative agenda. For example, a publication called “The State Legislators Guide to Repealing ObamaCare.”

“ALEC has also been criticized for promoting “stand your ground” gun laws, such as the Florida law involved in the death of teenager Trayvon Martin. Finally, ALEC promotes and is involved in voter suppression legislation.”

Bias

“In review, ALEC publishes articles such as “The Paris Climate Agreement is a Bad Deal for America,” utilizing the BBC and The Guardian as sources. ALEC also republishes Daily Signal articles such as “How States Can Shape Obamacare’s Replacement.” When reporting on politicians, they generally have a favorable opinion of Republicans. However, they frequently report negatively on Democrats, such as this President Biden’s Infrastructure Plan Brings Suspect Benefits at High Costs.”

“In general, the primary agenda of ALEC is writing/supporting bills that undermine environmental regulations and deny climate change. They promote the interests of businesses/corporations and promote the politicians who support them.”

Global Climate Coalition documents reveal the electric utility industry’s role in notorious climate denial campaign