The solution to Big Tech and the oligarchs

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Anyone who thinks Big Tech will be reined in by regulations has not been paying close attention. The following cases exposed years of documented corporate, regulatory and accounting failures. They spotlight massive corruption and mainstream media misses.

· Enron
· Theranos
· WorldCom
· VW "Diesel-Gate"
· Solyndra
· Bernard "Bernie" Madoff
· WeWork
· Lehman Brothers
· Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac (Government Sponsored Enterprises/GSEs).

Collectively, that list involved hundreds of billions of dollars in losses by investors. Various types of fraud, corruption and deception occurred. Because taxpayers and the broader economy were impacted by Lehman Brothers and GSEs housing-finance scandals, those cost Americans trillions of dollars.

John Kenneth Galbraith said: "Regulatory bodies, like the people who comprise them … become, with some exceptions, either an arm of the industry they are regulating or senile." Bingo.

Modern robber barons are dominating information and capital. Cold Fusion's documentary about the Theranos' scandal observed: "It's the illusionary effect where if you repeat a lie enough times people start to believe it, especially if you have credible names surrounding the product."

Problematic products are from corrupt companies.

Theranos' Elizabeth Holmes is shown with then Vice President Joe Biden and President Barack Obama. In the massive Enron scandal, Ken Lay and Jeff Skilling are shown with then President George W. Bush (R). Those establishment politicians are sufficient to make the point of the "illusionary effect" of "repeating a big lie enough times" when "credible names" are involved.

Harry Markopolos and his colleagues spent years trying to get public officials and mainstream media to expose the massive Bernie Madoff fraud they knew existed. Forbes says Madoff losses may have exceeded $50 billion.

Other regulatory failures are hiding in plain sight. The New York Times quoted Warren Buffett: "There's class warfare, all right, but it's my class, the rich class, that's making war, and we're winning."

Buffett's "class" profited wildly in the 2008 and 2020 economic upheavals. How? CNBC quoted billionaire Bill Gates: "I didn't even want to meet Warren because I thought, 'Hey this guy buys and sells things, and so he found imperfections in terms of markets, that's not value added to society, that's a zero-sum game that is almost parasitic.'"

The CDC defines parasitic: "A parasite is an organism that lives on or in a host organism and gets its food from or at the expense of its host."

Buffett said, "The most important thing for me is figuring out how big a moat there is around a business. What I would love, of course, is a big castle and a big moat with piranhas and crocodiles."

When carefully examined, these oligarchs and their businesses employ "parasitic" "moat" and "sabotage monopoly" methods. They create a slow-motion monopoly of various markets. Experts like James Schmitz say monopolies "inflict great harm on low- and middle-income Americans."

The solution? Enforce existing laws. Break these pernicious giants up. They cause social, economic and moral harm. Once broken up, watch the economy and America soar.

L. A. "Tony" Kovach

Trump reclamation project

I'm in a quandary. Could President Trump, after gathering enough proof of election fraud, then sue to reclaim the presidency? With many states relooking at the vote totals, will the Republicans force a voter ID law? Can the Electoral College vote be reversed in selected States?

Jack Young

Reject fear and be bold

When liars, thieves and fear mongers control the national narratives and punish all dissent, what awaits on the other side of this "Zeitgeist" – revolution?

Will the changes be soft like attitudes, habits and expectations, or be violent like depression, deprivation and war?

It is no longer hyperbole to say that as a nation, we are on a precipice. Our economic, social, moral, cultural and governmental foundations are being "ground to dust."

Fear is the weapon of bullies, terrorists and demagogues. Fear is the opposite of love. Fear is the enemy of faith. Fear shackles freedom. Be bold.

Tom Kyser