Ask Not

So the president went to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and asked the nation’s CEOs to give a shit about someone other than themselves. He promised them he will work on that pesky tax code (the one with the loopholes they exploit? That one.) He said he’d go after “unnecessary and outdated regulations” — whatever that means. In return, all he wants them to do is just, ya know, hire a few people before election day 2012. He even pulled a Kennedy:

“As we work with you to make America a better place to do business, ask yourselves what you can do for America. Ask yourselves what you can do to hire American workers, to support the American economy, and to invest in this nation.”

So. How did that go over? Are America’s business leaders suddenly awakened to the civic virtues of an employed and stable working class? Let’s see what this capitalist bastard says:

“Bottom line, the most patriotic thing a company can do is ensure it is in business and take steps to stay in business; otherwise everyone loses and more people lose their jobs,” [Bruce Josten, the Chamber’s chief lobbyist] said.

Read: We’ll look after our profits. Screw you.

Shocking. I am shocked. I can’t believe rich people don’t give a fuck about the working class. I mean, who knew? They’ve been so generous in the past. Why, if it weren’t for capitalism, we’d have no middle class at all to worry about as it’s bled slowly to death by globalization, the demonization of unions, the raiding of pension funds, the predations of credit card companies, the gutting of social services, the abandonment of education, the extortionist costs of secondary education, the hundreds of billions spent on resource wars, deficit hawkism, privatization of every public good….

I could go on, but what a downer. There is a silver lining, after all — Arianna Huffington might be hiring. I hear she pays nothing.

Anyway, here’s a cartoon I once did on Obama’s relationships with capitalists and workers. Enjoy.