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Corporate Democrats Would Rather Lose to Trump Than Violate Pact With Rich
Glen Ford, BAR executive editor
29 Apr 2019

The Lords of Capital are determined that the Democratic Party will not nominate a capitalist-slayer for president.

“Never in U.S. history has a presidential nominee of one of the two corporate parties run on a promise to virtually wipe out a major sector of the ruling class.”

In my current commentary in Black Agenda Report, I maintain that a Bernie Sanders’ Democratic presidential nomination is totally unacceptable to the corporate moneybags that pull the strings in both political parties, and that the Lords of Capital have decreed that Sanders must be stopped -- by any means necessary. I pointed out that never in U.S. history has a presidential nominee of one of the two corporate parties run on a promise to virtually wipe out a major sector of the ruling class. But that is what is in store for the totally unproductive and parasitical health insurance industry under Sanders’ wildly popular Medicare for All legislation. Health insurance is a trillion dollar racket in this country precisely because the U.S. does not have a single payer health care system. Medicare for All would make private insurers almost totally superfluous. 

Bernie Sanders says the industry’s workforce should be retrained to fill jobs that actually produce useful goods and services for society. But, without a captive population of conumers who are forced to buy overpriced and even worthless coverage, healthcare insurance corporations are doomed. And ,although corporate spokespersons are always telling the rest of us to roll with the punches in a merciless job market -- that the “creative destruction” wrought by capitalism is a good thing – the One Percent can’t take their own medicine. The Lords of Capital are determined that the Democratic Party, which they own lock, stock and barrel, will not nominate a capitalist-slayer for president. 

After three years of Russiagate, the Democrats have become the preferred presidential party for most of the ruling class. But the One Percent are quite willing to crush the aspirations of the 85 percent of Democrats that support Medicare for All. By hook or crook, they are determined to crush Sanders’ candidacy.

“Bernie Sanders seemed to revel in the over-priced drug purveyors’ pain.”

No sooner had I posted my article than Bernie Sanders fired off a tweet that must have had Wall Street screaming for his blood. Drug corporation stocks have been plummeting, as if it has finally dawned on the pharmaceutical industry that their super-profits from over-priced drugs might one day soon be wiped out with passage of Medicare for All. What’s more, instead of pretending concern for the corporate losses, Bernie Sanders seemed to revel in the over-priced drug purveyors’ pain: He tweeted: “The stock prices of massive pharmaceutical companies tumbled because we are pushing to make health care a human right for every American. Corporate greed,” said Sanders, “has no place in health care.” Bernie was absolutely unapologetic. Not only should we not mourn for the health insurance industry, but nobody should shed tears for the drug companies, either. In America, high profits for health corporations equals worsening health care for the people. 

This campaign season will be a revelation and an education, that the Democratic Party may not survive. But, if the party is torn apart, it will be the work of its corporate masters, who would rather lose to Trump than win with Sanders, the annihilator of whole corporate sectors.

BAR executive editor Glen Ford can be contacted at [email protected].

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