Robber Barons

Column #424 October 13, 2023

Merriam Webster defines Robber Baron as “an American capitalist of the latter part of the 19th century who became wealthy through exploitation (as of natural resources, governmental influence, or low wage scales).” Also, it describes him as “a business owner or executive who acquires wealth through ethically questionable tactics.”¹

During the Gilded Age the railroads, shipping, steel, oil, and other industries were famous for their monopolistic practices created by con men who used ruthless business tactics. For instance, by 1904 Standard Oil was a highly criticized monopoly that was typical of the Big Businesses run by Robber Barons. This column’s image is a political cartoon from 1904 showing a Standard Oil storage tank as an octopus with many tentacles wrapped around the steel, copper, and shipping industries, as well as a state house, the U.S. Capitol, and one tentacle reaching for the White House.^{2 3}

The date of the J. Ottmann Lith, Co., image by Udo J. Keppler (1872-1956, artist) is September 7, 1904 Sept. 7.

Since our government’s earliest days, Washington, D.C. has been a seat of corruption. Public money that’s dolled out for “projects” has always attracted those who see those projects as ways to get rich quick. For instance, in 1862 Congress passed the Pacific Railway Act, authorizing the construction of a transcontinental railroad. The first one was completed on May 10, 1869. By 1900, four more were built. Four of the five transcontinental railroads were “financed” with government assistance through land grants and construction costs.

The railroads were especially famous for using land grants, public assistance, and double billing of construction projects to enrich their promoters. They typified the American way of doing business. By 1890, the country’s 4,000 millionaires (possibly the top one percent in wealth) held 20% of the country’s wealth. With that enormous affluence came colossal political corruption. Today, the share of total net worth held by the nation’s wealthiest one percent is 32% and modern robber barons have no interest in risking their wealth in order to solve petty problems. Why would they want to end policies that have worked so well over the years in creating their wealth? As a result, corruption runs deep in politics.⁴

Getting lucrative contracts, subsidies, grants, rulings, or special privileges from governments is a common goal—especially for big businesses. Naturally, just like in the gilded age modern-day politicians and bureaucrats utilize government sponsored “opportunities” to the hilt to get rich. Today, lobbyists representing virtually every interest and industry that exists spend billions of dollars influencing politicians and bureaucrats:⁵
1.   Retired.......................$302,310,249
2.   Securities/Invest.......$101,739,914
3.   Lawyers/Law Firms.....$78,381,837
4.   Real Estate...................$75,632,999
5.   Health Professionals...$58,338,656
6.   Leadership PACs.........$50,822,807
7.   Repub/Conservative...$43,387,726
8.   Education.....................$37,626,157
9.   Insurance.....................$35,178,582
10   Lobbyists......................$30,810,794
11. Pro-Israel......................$23,717,965
12. Oil & Gas.......................$23,025,268
13. Business Services........$22,943,480
14. Pharm/Health Prod.....$22,359,804
15. Electronics Mfg/Eqp....$20,300,308

These industries and interest groups are only the top 15—and there are thousands more. The top 15 spent $926,576,546 in 2022. Total lobbyist spending for 2023 is projected to be $4 billion and involve 12,000 lobbyists. Obviously they must be getting their monies worth or they wouldn’t spend that kind of money.

Now some groups primarily hire lobbyists because they are concerned about pending regulations that aren’t appropriate for their industries. On their opposite side are some corporations seeking regulations that give them competitive advantages. Many are seeking government contracts. Some are handing out favors for favors done. It’s a big business.

There’s no question that big corporations are doing well with their lobbying efforts because they do so much lobbying. There are numerous industries that seem to owe their existence to the government. The social media companies were mouth pieces for government propaganda for years. Maybe it was payback for loose regulations. Even so, some platforms, such as X, no longer do the government’s bidding. Yet Mark Zuckerberg’s Meta was a huge influencer in several national elections. The Big Pharma companies are easily amongst the biggest of the Robber Barons these days. What they were paid and what they were allowed to do during the pandemic was criminal and they’re still at it.

Another lobbying group that has tremendous influence on Congress represents the folks more than 65 years old of which I am one. I imagine they have convinced elected officials and bureaucrats to keep Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security fully funded for maximum welfare. Interestingly they spend so much on lobbying they’re outliers in terms of money spent at $302 million.

Even though they are not amongst the top 15 spenders, the industry everyone points to for having the closest ties to the government is the military/industrial complex. Maybe that’s because there are so many neocons in Congress on the republican side of the isle and just really mad-at-everything folks on the other side. With so many Congressmen hell-bent to start never-ending wars, weapon makers don’t have to worry about future business.

With all the lobbying from retirees for health and retirement benefits and the tendency of politicians to use war as a tool, we can understand why Medicaid/Medicare costs $1.62T, Social Security costs $1.32T, and Defense/War costs $0.79T. Add in the interest cost on the debt at $0.71T (which increases daily) and we find that those four expenditures consume more than 100% of the government’s total revenue. Consequently, all of the other lobbying efforts are influencing either legislation or more spending in addition to the basic costs of labor and maintenance for running the government.

It’s the basic operating costs and the extra pork barrel costs that go to Robber Barons that creates the $1.78T annual deficit. With so many bought-and-paid-for politicians and professional bureaucrats, like Anthony Fauci who knows how to work the system, should we expect any change in spending in the months to come? Should we expect any reductions in defense when war is a political tool? We know corrupt leaders use wars to rally the masses and increase spending during recessionary times.

The Ukraine/Russia conflict was instigated by United States influenced NATO expansion after the breakup of the Soviet Union. And as tensions mounted the United States refused to negotiate a settlement. After fighting broke out there’s still no plan for a cease fire. It’s literally a proxy war of convenience for America’s controlling political party.

Recently Biden gave Iran $6 billion in payment for a prisoner swap. Soon after there’s a surprise attack on Israel by Hamas, a Palestinian Sunni-Islamist terrorist organization. Isn’t it strange that the world’s best spying operation was caught 100% by surprise. That’s a wonderment given what we know about security in that region of the world. That doesn’t add up. Is it another detraction?

Of course, all the normal hawks are beating war drums. Included in that group are Kevin McCarthy who wants to continue funding Ukraine as does Steve Scalise (La.), Majority Whip Tom Emmer (Minn.), Rep. Elise Stefanik (N.Y.), chairman of the Republican Conference, and Rep. Gary Palmer. Those that don’t want to give another penny to Ukraine include Reps. Lauren Boebert (Colo.), Paul A. Gosar (Ariz.), Jim Jordan (Ohio), Matt Gaetz (Flor.), and Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (Ga.).Super hawks include Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.). He has never seen a war he didn’t like. John Bolton is another of the same ilk. Both want to start bombing Iran’s oil fields today—and risk starting WWIII. How about Biden? Over the years he certainly has voted in favor of wars. So another war starts because of a “surprise attack.” Then when Biden talks about supporting Israel he doesn’t mention Iran even once. Strange. Governments do like false flag operations. Was this another one? For sure Israel has a right to protect its citizens and wiping out Hamas to the last man is their goal. Obviously it’s time Americans really understand the lay of the land in the Mideast.^{6 7 8 9 10}

If Americans are looking for solutions to the national debt, border, Ukraine, crime, debauchery, wokeism, schools, military, legal system, censorship, deep state, foreign policy, energy policy, taxes, inflation, economy, weaponized legal system, police state, lying, medical deception, and more—I’m convinced it won’t be from sound judgement emanating from the House of Representatives, the Senate, or the current president.^{11 12 13}

American citizens concerned for their country are battling the lobbying interests of Robber Barons. Certainly there are many citizens who want the mess cleaned up and are willing to make sacrifices to do it. But it’s impossible to balance the budget without reducing Medicaid and Medicare, Social Security, and Defense/War. And then on the operating side the government’s pork barrel programs and superfluous agencies must be eliminated along with reducing operating costs.

When it comes to representatives and senators there’s just too many of them who put their own interests first before that of the country. Therefore, reversing the trend will require a strong leader or a collapse of the unsustainable debt-backed credit system. Many people expect government spending to continue indefinitely with hyperinflation being the result. Yet it’s also quite possible that concerns defaulting debts will push interest rates significantly higher. At some point that would cause the credit system to implode and the Fed would be helpless.

Whatever happens, there’s no question that we’re in for some dynamic times. Change will occur one way or the other just because the current status quo is unsustainable. Either change will be managed or it will be forced upon us by market dynamics. Most likely it will be market forces rather than good management that wakes up America.

Stand by for news.

To your health.

Ted Slanker

Ted Slanker has been reporting on the fundamentals of nutritional research in publications, television and radio appearances, and at conferences since 1999. He condenses complex studies into the basics required for health and well-being. His eBook, The Real Diet of Man, is available online.

For additional reading:

1. Robber Baron by Merriam Webster Dictionary

2. Ruthless Businessmen Acquired Great Wealth in the late 1800s by Robert McNamara (historian, not the businessman and Secretary of Defense) from ThoughtCo

3. How the Gilded Age’s Top 1 Percent Thrived on Corruption by Christopher Klein from History.com

4. Share of Total Net Worth Held by the Top 1% (99th to 100th Wealth Percentiles) from FRED

5. Top Interest Groups to Congress from Open Secrets

6. Thinking It Through: Are Democrats truly the ‘war party’? by Richard Reeb from the Victorville Daily Press

7. Deadly Siege Marks Hamas’ Effective Use of Combat Drone Swarm by Jack Daleo from Flying Magazine

8. What Is the Gaza Strip? Here's How Big it Is and Who Lives There. by Caitlin O'Kane from CBS News

9. West Bank Region, Palestine by The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica from Encyclopaedia Britannica

10. Evidence Mounts That Israeli Intelligence Allowed Hamas Attack to Occur by Ben Bardee from Armageddon Prose

11. Tucker Interviews Presidential Candidate Vivek Ramaswamy Regarding the Hamas Attacks and What’s the Wise Path Going Forward? by Tucker Carlson from Tucker Episode 29