It’s one of the major problems in U.S. politics (and European politics) today: crony capitalism. In the crony capitalist system, business people and government officials have such a close working relationship that they’re difficult to distinguish from each other. Politicians bail out businesses, make sure they get government contracts, give them special tax breaks, and use the law to protect them from competition, while the businesses reward the politicians with large donations and high-paying jobs if they ever leave office.
The result: both the consumer and the tax payer are being sucked dry. The only ones who profit are multinational corporations and politicians.
Libertarian candidates running for U.S. Senate and U.S. House in November have pledged to end crony capitalism. Each of 43 candidates made the following pledge:
If elected, I will sponsor and work diligently to pass legislation to:
1. End government bailouts, grants, loans, loan guarantees, and other handouts to private businesses;
2. Eliminate unnecessary government spending, which fuels crony capitalism;
3. Open up bidding of government contracts; and
4. Require all government contractors and their employees to agree to abstain from lobbying or from promoting or opposing political campaigns.
Nicholas Sarwark, chair of the Libertarian National Committee, explains:
You almost never find Democratic or Republican politicians willing to make bold, positive proposals like this, that would actually bring about change. That’s because they have no intention to end crony capitalism. They thrive on it. In contrast, Libertarians are committed to ending this outrage, and giving Americans back their money and their jobs.
You can find the list of Libertarian Party candidates for the U.S. House and Senate here, along with a list of the benefits of ending crony capitalism.
