View other columns by Ron Hart
Buried in all micro-drama distractions of the Trump administration are many of the good things it has done. One of the many under-reported accomplishments occurred in June, when Attorney General Jefferson Beauregard Sessions said the Department of Justice would reverse one of the sleazy practices of the Obama administration: allowing prosecutors to cut deals with corporate targets to direct payment of settlements to their pet political causes.
These “slush funds,” created from DOJ prosecutions of American corporations, allowed the hyper-political Obama administration to direct settlement money to politically favored causes. Settlements were sent to the likes of the National Council of La Raza, a Democrat activist group, and other “community redevelopment” and nonprofit “legal aid” organizations. You know, the folks who showed up at all those work-week, midday Obama rallies who happened to be in matching T-shirts.
When a company like Volkswagen runs afoul of myriad regulations and laws (never mind that no one noticed for years), the DOJ swoops in and shakes the company down for money – some of it sent to pet Democrat causes.
As expected, the CEO of Volkswagen capitulates. He says this is the most humiliating moment in his company’s history. Keep in mind, Volkswagen was founded by Hitler. Hitler was too early with VW. Had he waited and teamed up with Samsung, he’d have been able to blow up Americans. Then VW reaches a $15 billion settlement. Democrat friends in the plaintiff lawyers’ bar rake in billions, and the DOJ sends stacks of money to liberal allies and various like-minded activist groups. And VW owners, the supposed “victims” of increased horsepower and performance all those years? Well, they get a $25 gift card they can use on their next purchase of a VW.
Companies see this and, instead of opening another plant in Shakedownville, USA, they build a plant in Mexico. There they only have to bribe local cops. Jobs and revenues go overseas. Trump points this out and becomes president.