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Jesse Ventura on Corporations
Former Independent MN Governor; possible Presidential Challenger
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Unlimited secret cash from corporations influences elections
Ever since the Supreme Court decided last year (Citizens United v. FEC) to override Congress and allow unlimited secret cash from corporations--and even foreign governments--to influence American elections, following the money has gotten difficult.
One mega-player, though, that we've found out a lot about is Koch Industries.The Koch Brothers, Charles & David from Wichita, Kansas, are each worth more than $21.5 billion. Charles has come right out and admitted that their major goal is to eliminate
90% of all laws and government regulations, so as to further the "culture of prosperity." The Kochs are the biggest funder of right-wing front groups in the country.
Twice a year they bring together all the wealthy donors to talk about their game plan.
A website called ThinkProgress somehow got hold of a memo that outlines what happened the last time Koch and company got together for a secret election-planning meeting, in June 2010.
Source: 63 Documents, by Gov. Jesse Ventura, p.161
, Apr 4, 2011
Keeping fat cats in business deepened 2008 collapse
The Incident: America's worst economic crisis since the Great Depression occurred in the fall of 2008, brought on originally by the collapse of a housing bubble that damaged financial institutions and caused the stock market to plummet.
The Official Word:
Huge corporations like AIG and Goldman Sachs were considered "too big to fail," and received multibillion-dollar bailouts from the federal government in order to prevent economic collapse.
My Take:
The government conspired to keep the "fat cats" in business, while the American taxpayers are left holding the bag. CEOs that should be going to jail for scams beyond belief and instead reaping the biggest bonuses ever.
Corporations basically run the government, and the same players that made the mess still have a stranglehold on our future.
Source: American Conspiracies, by Jesse Ventura, p.164
, Mar 8, 2010
2008 bailouts were conspiracy to keep fat cats in business
The Incident: America's worst economic crisis since the Great Depression occurred in the fall of 2008, brought on originally by the collapse of a housing bubble that damaged financial institutions and caused the stock market to plummet.
The Official Word:
Huge corporations like AIG and Goldman Sachs were considered "too big to fail," and received multibillion-dollar bailouts from the federal government in order to prevent economic collapse.
My Take:
The government conspired to keep the "fat cats" in business, while the American taxpayers are left holding the bag. CEOs that should be going to jail for scams beyond belief and instead reaping the biggest bonuses ever.
Corporations basically run the government, and the same players that made the mess still have a stranglehold on our future.
Source: American Conspiracies, by Jesse Ventura, p.164
, Mar 8, 2010
Media today: controlled by corporations & all about ratings
The media today are controlled by the big corporations. It's all about ratings and money. Believe it or not, I think the downfall of our press today was the show 60 Minutes. Up until it came along, news was expected to lose money, in order to bring the
people fair reporting and the truth. But when 60 Minutes became the top-rated program on television, the light went on. The corporate honchos said, "Wait a minute, you mean if we entertain with the news, we can make money?" It was the realization that,
if packaged the correct way, the news could make you big bucks. No longer was it a matter of scooping somebody else on a story, but whether 20/20's ratings this week were better than Dateline's. I'm not knocking 60 Minutes. It was tremendously well done
and hugely successful, but in the long run it could end up being a detriment to society.My major criticism of today's media is, they're no longer reporting the news, they're creating it. When that happens, you're in deep trouble.
Source: Don`t Start the Revolution, by Jesse Ventura, p. 48
, Apr 1, 2008
We embraced China but not Cuba because Castro nationalized
I always felt, in looking at the Cuban situation, that it was wrong. And I now know why. It came to me one night. China is communist, the same as Cuba, and yet we have no problem trading with China. In fact, today we can't get over there quick enough.
The difference is simple: China welcomes our corporations. Cuba threw them out. It's a basic decision of corporate America: We will punish Cuba because Castro stuck it to us by nationalizing everything after he came to power.
What other reason could there be? China is far more powerful but we now welcome them into global trade with open arms--as we should--while we continue this bitter, hostile policy towards Cuba.
It must be because there are still people alive in the corporate world who got hammered by Fidel's revolution.
Source: Don`t Start the Revolution, by Jesse Ventura, p.111
, Apr 1, 2008
Treat Indian gambling monopoly same as MLB baseball monopoly
In 2004, I appeared on TV ads in California opposing that Native American gambling casinos pay 25% of their revenues in taxes. That's at a time when corporate taxes in California were, I believe, at 6% or 7%. To me, the politicians had granted Native
American tribes the rights to exclusive gambling and then, when they realized how much money it generated, they wanted to change the game.Gov. Schwarzenegger's argument was that the Indian tribes can be taxed as much as we desire because we give them
a monopoly. Then why isn't it being done to baseball? The ballplayers and the owners are making millions every year, and they're granted an antitrust exemption.
So, I sided with the Native Americans.
Here you had the Caucasians ticked off at the Indians, because the Indians are making all this money--through an agreement that the Caucasians made with them! There we go again, breaking our deals, just like we've done to Indians for the last 200 years.
Source: Don`t Start the Revolution, by Jesse Ventura, p.137-138
, Apr 1, 2008
Page last updated: Mar 20, 2021