Commissioners Campaign Contributors are Champions of Corporate Welfare

9/4/2014

September 2, 2014

Commissioners Campaign Contributors are Champions of Corporate Welfare

Can campaign donors define a candidate? It should be no revelation that the main contributors to the John Sweet reelection campaign are also the main supporters of government economic development in Coos County.

Private business is the only real engine of economic development and the creator of all jobs that actually produce. Government “economic development” programs take profits from companies and people that are legitimately generating revenue on the open market and redirects that money to nongovernmental organizations using taxing schemes designed to accumulate these discretionary funds. The NGO’s are usually under the authority of career politicians and bureaucrats, who will use these slush funds to buy favors from corporations, unions and cronies---all while promising new jobs.

The proper term for manipulating the market so private business can receive public funding is “corporate welfare,” which is a type of “economic fascism.” The reason it is fascist is that a government subsidized economic system destroys the competitive market with unnatural imbalances. This destruction forms an artificial market of compensation where the politicians control the flow of these hijacked revenue streams. Those who direct the flow of this public money get to decide which businesses do and do not receive the funding, thus giving government officials the ability to pick the winners and losers. Too much of this type of market manipulation will force businesses to compete for government compensation and not for the satisfaction of their customers, so the quality of manufacturing and customer service will suffer.

Using taxing tools to incentivize businesses, like urban renewal, enterprise zones, and the infamous Community Enhancement Plan, has become very controversial. No coincidence many of the same people and groups who promote these forms of “corporate welfare” are also donors to John Sweet’s reelection campaign. As a commissioner, he has voted in favor of all the previously mentioned tools of government economic sustainability and promises to continue to do so, if reelected---no matter how detrimental to the county’s financial stability.

Some of the contributors to John Sweet’s campaign include the usual suspects. Jon Barton, who donated $500, is a board member of the (South Coast Development Council). The co-founder of the (Coos County Alliance for Progress), John Knutson, contributed $2,000. Sweet’s campaign received $5,000 in contributions from the (Coalition for a Healthy Oregon), which is an association of eight Medicaid managed care organizations

Fred Messerle & John Sweet

Sweet is a registered Republican and a self-proclaimed fiscal conservative, yet the very progressive Democratic Senator from Oregon’s ninth district, Caddy McKeown, donated $250 to his reelection bid, which should prove that his attachment to the public purse string is much stronger than party politics or personal beliefs. It would also explain why the local Republican Party is not supporting his candidacy.

Despite the reputation of his contributors, Commissioner Sweet’s decisions and votes while serving on the Board of Commissioners should be enough to illustrate that his loyalties align with the highly subsidized special interest groups, over the concerns of the average citizen, so his actions alone should be enough for the voter to define him properly.

CoosCountyWatchdog.com is a virtual network of government watchdogs founded by Rob Taylor.

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