ERIC ZUESSE -- President Biden’s Corruption Already Pervades His Administration

 President Biden’s Corruption Already Pervades His Administration

Eric Zuesse, originally posted at Strategic Culture

That didn’t take long. He’s not even in office, and he has already surrounded himself, as the incoming President, with individuals who derive their wealth from (and will be serving) America’s top defense contractors and Wall Street. The likelihood that these Government officials will be biting the hands that feed them is approximately zero. Great investigative journalists have already exposed how corrupt they are. For that to be the case so early (even before taking office) is remarkable, and only a summary of those reports will be provided here, with links to them, all of which reports are themselves linking to the incriminating evidence, so that everything can easily be tracked back to the documentation by the reader here, even before there are any ‘Special Prosecutors’ (as if those were serving anyone other than the opposite Party’s political campaigns, and, ultimately, the opposite Party’s billionaires).

First up, is the independent investigative team of David Sirota and Andrew Perez. On December 4th, they bannered “The Beltway Left Is Normalizing Corruption And Corporatism”, and reported that “A month after the election, Biden’s nominations make clear that the president-elect is most focused on trying to fulfill his promise to donors that nothing fundamentally changes. And yet, that tacit admission may have stunned those who keep hearing from liberal and progressive groups in Washington that, in fact, the left has been notching monumental victories in Biden’s cabinet appointments.” 

Liberal (that’s to say Democratic Party) U.S. media hide the corruptness of Democratic politicians, and conservative (that’s to say Republican Party) U.S. media hide the corruptness of Republican politicians; and, so, the public today are getting corrupt leaders whichever side they vote for. No mainstream ‘news’ media report what independent investigative journalists such as Sirota and Perez report. Authentically good journalists use as sources — and link to in their articles — neither Democratic nor Republican allegations, but instead are on the margins, outside of the major media, and so rely on whistleblowers and other trustworthy outsiders, not on people who are somebody’s paid PR flacks, individuals who are being paid to deceive. As Sirota and Perez state: “What little organized left political infrastructure exists in Washington is largely valorizing or publicly defending swamp creatures who at minimum deserve a loyal opposition. The good work being done by a small handful of under-resourced groups to mount a real opposition is getting trampled by a culture of obsequiousness.  This culture of acquiescence gives swamp creatures a free pass.” It’s all some sort of mega-corporate propaganda — 100% billionaire-supported on the conservative side, 100% billionaire-supported also on the liberal side, and 0% billionaire-supported for anything that is authentically progressive (not dependent, at all, upon the aristocracy).

That independent reporting team focused on Biden’s having chosen an economic team which will start his Administration already offering to congressional Republicans an initial Democratic Party negotiating position that accepts Republicans’ basic proposals to cut middle class Social Security and health care benefits in order for the Government to be able to continue expanding the military budgets and purchases from the billionaire-controlled firms, such as Northrop Grumman — firms whose entire sales (or close to it) are to the U.S. Government and to the governments (U.S. ‘allies’) that constitute these firms’ secondary markets. (In other words: those budget-cuts aren’t going to be an issue between the two Parties and used by Biden’s team as a bargaining chip to moderate the Republicans’ position that favors more for ‘defense’ and less for the poor, but are actually accepted by both Parties, even before the new Administration will take office.) Obviously, anything that both sides to a negotiation accept at the very start of a negotiation will be included in the final product from that negotiation; and this means that during a Biden Presidency there will be reductions in middle-class Social security and health care benefits in order to continue, at the present level — if not to increase yet further — Government spending on the products and services of such firms as Lockheed Martin and the Rand Corporation (firms that control their market by controlling their Government, which is their main or entire market).

Sirota and Perez focus especially upon one example: Neera Tanden, whom Biden chose on November 30th to be the White House Budget Director, and who therefore will set the priorities which determine how much federal money the President will be trying to get the Congress to allocate to what recipients:

Despite Tanden’s push for Social Security cuts, Beltway liberal groups whose mission is to defend Social Security lauded her think tank. Despite Tanden having her organization rake in cash from Wall Street, Amazon, billionaires and (previously) foreign governments, a Ralph Nader-founded, all-purpose consumer advocacy group praised CAP as “one of our key partners in the fight to tax corporations and the rich, rein in monopoly power, tackle government corruption, and much more.” Despite Tanden busting a union at CAP, two national union leaders in Washington lauded her. 

Next up: One of the rare honest non-profits in the field of journalism is the Project on Government Oversight, POGO, which refuses to accept donations from “anyone who stands to benefit financially from our work,” and which states in its unique “Donation Acceptance Policy” that, “POGO reviews all contributions exceeding $100 in order to maintain this standard.” In other words: they refuse to be corrupt. Virtually all public-policy or think-tank nonprofits are profoundly corrupt, but POGO is the most determined exception to that general rule.

On 20 November 2020, POGO headlined “Should Michèle Flournoy Be Secretary of Defense?” and their terrific investigative team of Winslow Wheeler and Pierre Sprey delivered a scorching portrayal of Flournoy as irredeemably corrupt — it ought to be read by everybody. It’s essential reading throughout, and its links to the evidence are to the very best sources. So, I won’t summarize it, because all Americans need to know what it reports, and to be able to verify, on their own (by clicking onto any link in it that interests them), any allegation that the given reader has any question about. However, I shall point out here the sheer hypocrisy of the following which that article quotes Flournoy as asserting: “It will be imperative for the next secretary to appoint a team of senior officials who meet the following criteria: deep expertise and competence in their areas of responsibility; proven leadership in empowering teams, listening to diverse views, making tough decisions, and delivering results.” (Of course, that assertion presumes the given ‘expert’ to be not only authentically expert but also honest and trustworthy, authentically representing the public’s interest and no special interests whatsoever — not at all corrupt — which is certainly a false allegation in her own case.) She had urged the 2003 invasion of Iraq, and had participated in planning and overseeing both the war against Syria, and the coup that destroyed Ukraine (and none of those countries had ever invaded, or even threatened to invade, the United States); and, so, for her to brag about her “delivering results” is not merely hypocritical, it is downright evil, because she is obviously proud, there, of her vicious, outright voracious, record. 

Her business-partner, Tony Blinken, has already received Biden’s approval to become his Secretary of State, and the first really good investigative journalist that American Prospect magazine has had, Jonathan Guyer, headlined on November 23rd, “What You Need to Know About Tony Blinken”, and what Guyer reports is just what any well informed reader would expect to see for a business partner of Flournoy’s. 

Guyer’s report closes by making passing reference to a CBS ‘news’ puff-piece for Blinken. In that CBS puff-piece, Blinken says, “a President Biden would be in the business of confronting Mr. Putin for his aggressions, not embracing him. Not trashing NATO, but strengthening its deterrence, investing in new capabilities to deal with challenges in cyberspace, in outer space, under the sea, A.I., electronic warfare, and give robust security assistance to countries like Ukraine, Georgia, the Western Balkans.” What would Americans think if Russia were to have retained its Warsaw Pact, and “a President Putin would be in the business of confronting Mr. Biden for his aggressions (in Syria, or elsewhere), not embracing them. Not trashing the Warsaw Pact, but strengthening its deterrence, investing in new capabilities to deal with challenges in cyberspace, in outer space, under the sea, A.I., electronic warfare, and give robust security assistance to countries like Canada, Mexico, and other nations that are near the U.S.”? Guyer pointedly noted that “The [CBS News] podcast was sponsored by a major weapons maker. ‘At Lockheed Martin, your mission is ours,’ read an announcer.” Tony Blinken’s mission is theirs. These people get the money both coming and going — on both sides of the “revolving door.” Today’s American Government is for sale to the highest bidders, on any policy, domestic or foreign. ‘Government service’ is just a sabbatical to boost their value to the firms that will be paying them the vast majority of their lifetime ‘earnings’. This is the reality that mainstream U.S.-and-allied ‘news’ media refuse to publish (or, especially, to make clear). Only an electorate which is ignorant of this reality can accept such a government.

Back on 26 January 2020, I had headlined “Joe Biden Is as Corrupt as They Come” and documented the reality of this, but America’s mainstream media were hiding that fact so as to decrease the likelihood that the only Democratic Party Presidential candidate whom no billionaire supported, Bernie Sanders, might win the nomination. Perhaps now that it’s too late, even those ‘news’ organizations (such as CNN, Fox, CBS, NBC, ABC, New York Times, Washington Post, PBS, and NPR) will start reporting the fact of Biden’s corruptness. Where billionaires control all of the mainstream media, there is no democracy — it’s not even possible, in such a country.

As far back as 25 October 2019, I had headlined “Biden Backer — Former Lockheed Leader — Convinces Joe Biden to Sell-Out”, and reported that 

Bernard Schwartz, a former Vice Chairman and top investor in Lockheed Martin (which is by far the largest seller to the U.S. Government, and also the largest seller to most of America’s allied Governments), is one of Joe Biden’s top donors. CNN headlined, on October 24th, “Biden allies intensify push for super PAC after lackluster fundraising quarter”, and reported that, “Bernard Schwartz, a private investor and donor to the former vice president’s campaign, said he spoke with Biden within the last two weeks and encouraged him to do just that.” It’s not for nothing that throughout Biden’s long Senate career, he has voted in favor of every U.S. invasion that has been placed before the U.S. Senate.

Near the end of the Democratic Party’s primaries, on 16 March 2020, CNBC headlined “Megadonors pull plug on plan for anti-Sanders super PAC as Biden racks up wins”, and reported that Bernard Schwartz had become persuaded by other billionaires that, by this time, “Biden could handle Sanders on his own.” They had done their job; they would therefore control the U.S. Government regardless of which Party’s nominee would head it.

Biden — like Trump, and like Obama and Bush and Clinton before him — doesn’t represent the American people. He represents his mega-donors. And he is staffing his Administration accordingly. He repays favors: he delivers the services that they buy from him. This is today’s America. And that is the way it functions.

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UPDATE: On December 8th, Biden announced his selection of the recently (2016) retired U.S. General Lloyd Austin, to be Secretary of Defense. Immediately upon retirement from the U.S. Government, General Austin in 2016 joined the Board of Directors of Raytheon corporation, which company ranks #4 on the list of the 100 top U.S. contractors — selling the 4th-biggest percentage of the U.S. Government’s purchases. In 2017, he additionally joined the Board at America’s largest steel-producer, Nucor Corporation; and, in 2018, he joined the Board of Tenet Healthcare. He had previously “served as the Commander of U.S. Central Command responsible for military strategy and joint operations throughout the 20-country Central Region that includes Iraq, Syria, Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Yemen, Egypt and Saudi Arabia. Prior to that, he served as the 33rd Vice Chief of Staff of the U.S. Army from January 2012 to March 2013 and as the Combined Forces Commander in Iraq from September 2010 through 2011.” So, perhaps he will do for the people of America what he did to the people of Iraq, Syria, Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Yemen, Egypt and Saudi Arabia. Or, maybe not. There is unfortunately nothing published about his decisions while he was in the military. The General’s own website quotes an unidentified “Joseph R. Kerrey” as saying, of him, that “General Austin offers new and valuable insights as we continue to improve performance and drive value for our shareholders.” That “Kerrey” is probably the former U.S. Senator from Nebraska and Democratic Party Presidential candidate, who was known publicly as “Bob Kerrey”. According to Politico, a likely reason why Biden chose Austin, instead of his widely expected choice of a white woman, Michèle Flournoy, to be Secretary of Defense, is that “Biden had been under growing pressure to nominate a Black person to be his defense secretary.” Politico reports that “women in national security” are “increasingly frustrated that Flournoy could be passed over, seeing it as another example of the most qualified woman not getting the job.”

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Investigative historian Eric Zuesse is the author, most recently, of  They’re Not Even Close: The Democratic vs. Republican Economic Records, 1910-2010, and of  CHRIST’S VENTRILOQUISTS: The Event that Created Christianity.