Research "corporate welfare" on Wikipedia / on Google

What do I care about corporate welfare? Well, it's somewhere or other on my list of top 500 concerns - but in any case a fun opportunity to do a parody and video.

Mainly, I care about the worst example, military-industrial complex and its influence and symbiotic relationship with the Congress and Administration and the American people who have become so used to it, they don't even see it.

See the documentary, "Why We Fight", and see Eisenhower's warning on the subject. This takes corporate welfare to a whole new level of deadliness and dare we say Apocalypse? Ike's warning is well worth three minutes of your time, from someone who knew exactly what he was talking about, in case you haven't heard it lately.

Of course the issues of campaign finance and public campaign financing are central to this problem, but that seems to get lost in all the confusion, somehow (how convenient!)   -JimTerr, prop.

BROTHER CAN YOU SPARE A COUPLE BILLION?
     Jim Terr parody (c) 2008

People used to tell me, once I was on top,
The riches would flow ever more.
Now with little warning, the cash flow has stopped,
I'm feeling reamed out to the core.

In mortgages and weapons, pork bellies and land,
Believe me I made quite a killin'.
Now I need some help from my friend, Uncle Sam,
Brother can you spare a couple billion?

Hey don't you remember, I gave to your campaign,
So throw me a bone to keep me alive.
Those regular suckers can't appreciate the pain
Of having just one Jaguar to drive.

Those big ol' welfare mothers, in their big ol' Cadillacs,
They don't know what poverty is,
My kid needs a boob job, my girlfriend a wax,
Now the tax man's here, looking for his.

Don't call it a handout, a word I hate,
That's for folks who, to work, are unwillin'.
    (Valley girl: "Is that, like, a sentence??")
OK, call it a bailout, but man it's getting late,
Brother can you spare a couple billion?

(Valley girl):
People stare right at us, my daddy and me,
Like we're so rich, but here's what they don't get:
Papa's so much poorer than they'll ever be,
8 or 9 million in debt!
    ("Actual paraphrase - Ivanka Trump") *

Yeah, people used to tell me, once I was on top,
The riches would flow ever more.
Now with little warning, that cash flow has stopped,
I'm feeling reamed out to the core.

In oil wells and weapons, pork bellies and land,
Believe me I made quite a killin',
Now I need some help, and Senator, you're my man,
Brother can you spare a couple billion?


* (Documentary: "BORN RICH") (She's about 5:30 into this clip, but this quote isn't in this clip)
   "There are some exceptions. Ivanka Trump -- the Donald's daughter -- is actually quite impressive. In one vignette, she explains how her father pointed to a beggar at the step of the Trump Tower and said, "That man is 8 million dollars richer than we are." Given the extraordinary debts that the senior Trump was experiencing at the time, the statement had some validity. Ivanka explains that this was a moment that drew her closer to her father and encouraged her to follow in his footsteps." http://www.liberatedminds.org/

Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?
lyrics by Yip Harburg, music by Jay Gorney (1931)

They used to tell me I was building a dream,
and so I followed the mob,
When there was earth to plow, or guns to bear,
I was always there right on the job.

They used to tell me I was building a dream,
with peace and glory ahead,
Why should I be standing in line,
just waiting for bread?

Once I built a railroad, I made it run,
made it race against time.
Once I built a railroad; now it's done.
Brother, can you spare a dime?

Once I built a tower, up to the sun,
brick, and rivet, and lime;
Once I built a tower, now it's done.
Brother, can you spare a dime?

Once in khaki suits, gee we looked swell,
Full of that Yankee Doodly Dum,
Half a million boots went slogging through Hell,
And I was the kid with the drum!

Say, don't you remember, they called me Al;
it was Al all the time.
Why don't you remember, I'm your pal?
Buddy, can you spare a dime?

Once in khaki suits, gee we looked swell,
Full of that Yankee Doodly Dum,
Half a million boots went slogging through Hell,
And I was the kid with the drum!

Say, don't you remember, they called me Al;
it was Al all the time.
Say, don't you remember, I'm your pal?
Buddy, can you spare a dime?**