How does fascism work in 2014 America?

How does fascism work in 2014 America?

I am certainly no political science expert, nonetheless, what follows is three-point example of Microsoft legislating profits that is so simple to understand even most Americans should be able to get it.

Let's start with the following as a premise, a partial definition of 21st Century Fascism:

Corporate Power is Protected [12] - The industrial and business aristocracy of a fascist nation often are the ones who put the government leaders into power, creating a mutually beneficial business/government relationship and power elite.

Point A

From the most excellent website, OpenSecrets.org...

Microsoft Corporation's top candidate recipient for "political contributions" in 2011-2012 was: Barack Obama (D) $815,395.

Click here to see the very, very, long list of politicians that received "donations" from Microsoft and its affiliates. [13]

In addition to "political contributions" Microsoft is engaged in "lobbying" which for some strange reason is always tracked in dollars, instead of the number of letters written to elected officials, or the hours and minutes Microsoft's employees spent in politicians' lobbies and offices.

LOBBYING: $8,086,000 (2012)

REVOLVING DOOR: 75 out of 97 Microsoft Corp lobbyists in 2012 have previously held government jobs

I am not even going to discuss all of the media content such as MSN.com and Bing Search that Microsoft controls.  It should already be evident that, "The industrial and business aristocracy [in this case Microsoft and its affiliates] of a fascist nation often are the ones who put the government leaders into power..."

Point B

Moving on to, "...creating a mutually beneficial business/government relationship and power elite."  In addition to, "political donations," how do government officials benefit from legislating profit for Microsoft?  That is simple enough to see:

Members of Congress who own Microsoft Corp shares: 51

• Baucus, Max (D-MT) [14]
• Beatty, Joyce (D-OH) [15]
• Black, Diane (R-TN) [16]
• Boehner, John (R-OH) [17]
• Buchanan, Vernon (R-FL) [18]
• Burgess, Michael (R-TX) [19]
• Camp, Dave (R-MI) [20]
• Capito, Shelley Moore (R-WV) [21]
• Carper, Tom (D-DE) [22]
• Clay, William L Jr (D-MO) [23]
• Cohen, Steve (D-TN) [24]
• Cole, Tom (R-OK) [25]
• Collins, Susan M (R-ME) [26]
• Conaway, Mike (R-TX) [27]
• Cooper, Jim (D-TN) [28]
• Crowley, Joseph (D-NY) [29]
• Delaney, John K (D-MD) [30]
• DelBene, Suzan (D-WA) [31]
• Dingell, John D (D-MI) [32]
• Frankel, Lois J (D-FL) [33]
• Frelinghuysen, Rodney (R-NJ) [34]
• Gabbard, Tulsi (D-HI) [35]
• Hagan, Kay R (D-NC) [36]
• Hanna, Richard (R-NY) [37]
• Harkin, Tom (D-IA) [38]
• Himes, Jim (D-CT) [39]
• Hinojosa, Ruben (D-TX) [40]
• Hoeven, John (R-ND) [41]
• Holding, George (R-NC) [42]
• Inhofe, James M (R-OK) [43]
• Isakson, Johnny (R-GA) [44]
• Kelly, Mike (R-PA) [45]
• Kennedy, Joe III (D-MA) [46]
• Lummis, Cynthia Marie (R-WY) [47]
• Marchant, Kenny (R-TX) [48]
• McCaul, Michael (R-TX) [49]
• O'Rourke, Beto (D-TX) [50]
• Peters, Gary (D-MI) [51]
• Radel, Trey (R-FL) [52]
• Renacci, Jim (R-OH) [53]
• Roberts, Pat (R-KS) [54]
• Rogers, Hal (R-KY) [55]
• Rooney, Tom (R-FL) [56]
• Rothfus, Keith J (R-PA) [57]
• Ruiz, Raul (D-CA) [58]
• Sanchez, Linda (D-CA) [59]
• Schrader, Kurt (D-OR) [60]
• Sensenbrenner, F James Jr (R-WI) [61]
• Sessions, Pete (R-TX) [62]
• Smith, Lamar (R-TX) [63]
• Speier, Jackie (D-CA) [64]
• Titus, Dina (D-NV) [65]
• Upton, Fred (R-MI) [66]
• Welch, Peter (D-VT) [67]
• Whitehouse, Sheldon (D-RI) [68]
• Wyden, Ron (D-OR) [69]
• Yarmuth, John A (D-KY) [70]

Therefore, if Microsoft does well, then so do the elected officials/shareholders, such as these 51 congressional representatives that we have put in charge of the public duty of lawmaking.

Cognitive Dissonance Alert!  Do not read the following definition of bribery [71] if extreme cognitive dissonance causes you to experience negative side effects.

Bribery is an act of giving money or gift giving that alters the behavior of the recipient. Bribery constitutes a crime and is defined by Black's Law Dictionary as the offering, giving, receiving, or soliciting of any item of value to influence the actions of an official or other person in charge of a public or legal duty.

Point C

Finally, we take a quick look at the business side of, "...creating a mutually beneficial business/government relationship and power elite."  How does Microsoft benefit from this relationship?  I assure you that there are more ways to benefit than there are ease-of-use commonalities between Windows 7 and Windows 8, but let's go with just one example from this morning...a Federally Mandated Operating System Upgrade.

Below is a broadcast email from the Federal government's Medicare monopoly contractor, Novitas Solutions.  Novitas currently administers the Medicare Administrative Contract which spans 11 states and Washington D.C., Indian Health Service (IHS), Veterans Affairs (VA); and the payment processing for the Federal Reimbursement of Emergency Health Services Furnished to Undocumented Aliens contract, as authorized under Section 1011 of the 2003 Medicare Modernization Act.

From: Novitas Solutions, Inc.
Sent: Tuesday, January 21, 2014 8:XX AM
To: XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Subject: Important Information for Windows XP Users

 
Important Information for Windows XP Users

 
Microsoft has announced that as of April 8, 2014, they will not release any security patches for the Windows XP operating system.  Without this support, Windows XP will be non-compliant with HIPAA.   If you are using Windows XP, we encourage you to speak to your IT department to discuss possible options to remain HIPAA compliant.  Please note, while software products such as PC-ACE may still run on Windows XP, the operating system will be non-compliant with HIPAA as of April 8, 2014.

 
EDI Services
1-877-235-8073 (JL)
1-855-252-8782 (JH)
www.novitas-solutions.com [72]

Holy shit, Doctor Buttscope!  You must upgrade all of your Microsoft XP computers you purchased for the last HIPAA mandate [73] with new Microsoft operating systems (and upgrade or purchase new Electronic Health Record systems, Practice Management systems, and Accounting systems), or else you are going to be in violation of HIPAA (MSFT will miss earnings estimates) and the Feds will be up YOUR ass with an endoscope, and they can no longer afford the lube thanks to the sequester!  No, Dr. Buttscope, your Federal government doesn't give a stool sample that all those computers running XP you purchased still work just fine for you, Doc.  This is about HIPAA compliance!  You don't want to be out of compliance with HIPAA!!!

Honestly, it is probably more important that Doctor Buttscope remain in compliance with The President's Huge Stimulus Package...

The recently passed stimulus legislation -- the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 -- includes language that requires any physician office that has discovered a breach involving unsecured data to notify by letter every affected patient. The requirement is the same whether records are on a computer or in paper form. You have until 60 days after discovering the data breach to let patients know it happened.

 

If more than 500 patients are affected, you also have to immediately notify local media and the Dept. of Health and Human Services. HHS will post notice of the breach on its Web site. If fewer than 500 patients are involved, you must file an annual report with HHS.

http://www.amednews.com/article/20090316/business/303169998/5/ [74]

Remember, dear ZeroHedge reader, what HIPAA compliance is really all about?  You probably mistakenly believed that it protects patient privacy.  Wrong!  Every day is opposite day when it comes to naming federal legislation.

In phase 1, the health insurers and government were guaranteed all of your medical records under HIPAA.  When you visit a physician, you don't sign a release for this information, you sign a statement recognizing the physician is required to divulge it under HIPAA.  There is no privacy in HIPAA.

 

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2013-10-17/ten-things-expect-obamacare-201... [75]

The P in HIPAA stands for portability, not privacy.  HIPAA mandates that physicians divulge your records to the government and health insurers.  Don't believe me?  Next time you are at a physicians office, just read the Notice of Privacy Practices and the Acknowledgement that you are required to sign before you receive any healthcare.

The Notice will read very close to something like this:

This Notice describes how medical information about you may be used and disclosed and how you can get access to this information.  Please review it carefully. 

 

Et cetera and so forth...

 

The Acknowledgement you sign will read something like this:

I acknowledge that Dr. Benjamin Shalom Buttscope provided me with a written copy of his Notice of Privacy Practices. 

Patient's signature: _____________________________

Agreed to on (today's date): ______________________

 

Even if the purpose of HIPAA was to protect privacy, it isn't as if the new technology is more secure than Windows XP.  Tax-payer funded NSA hacking research has assured us all that nothing digital (including our money) will ever be truly secure again.

To sum it all up, in 2014 America, corporate profits are protected - The technology and business aristocracy of our fascist nation, such as Microsoft, are the ones who put our government into office with money and media control, creating a mutually beneficial business/government relationship that includes companies like Microsoft paying lawmakers who are also shareholders to legislate profits for these very same corporations.  Remember...

Bribery constitutes a crime and is defined by Black's Law Dictionary as the offering, giving, receiving, or soliciting of any item of value to influence the actions of an official or other person in charge of a public or legal duty.

Finally, if you haven't had enough, then please do (re)read these two recent ZeroHedge articles, keeping in mind what you just learned.

Cronyism Strikes Again: Ex-Microsoftee Married To Democrat Congresswoman Set To Take Over Obamacare Exchange [76]

Security Expert Hacks Obamacare Website In 4 Minutes; Accesses 70,000 Records [77]

Regarding this last article, as a reminder, Mr. President, under your Huge Stimulus Package [74], you have until 60 days after discovering the data breach to let patients know it happened.   If more than 500 patients are affected, you also have to immediately notify local media.  What am I saying?  Never mind.  I bet you gave yourself a waiver. 

Fascism...we are soaking in it.