You probably won’t believe this, boys and girls, but there was a time when government regulatory officials believed it was their public duty to — get this — serve the public!
How? By enforcing laws intended to protect consumers, workers, the environment, and other targets of raw corporate greed. Today, though, the far-right plutocrats behind Trump’s Project 2025 have turned our national protection agencies into private escort services for corporate predators.
Consider the monopolistic airline giants that have made price gouging and passenger abuse their normal business practice.
It got so bad that the Transportation Department finally mandated a handful of minimal reforms a few years ago, under President Biden.
How minimal? The rules included such basic stuff as requiring airlines to tell customers the actual price of their ticket up front — no hidden fees. And requiring airlines to compensate customers if corporate mismanagement causes their flight to be disrupted — or damages the wheelchair of a disabled passenger.
Any honest business would already be doing such things as a matter of simple integrity. But Trump’s Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy has been working to roll back all of those rules.
Who is Duffy? A run-of-the-mill laissez-faire extremist, former Republican Congressman, MTV reality show personality — and former Washington lobbyist for a firm representing the Big Three Airlines!
He’s now ensconced in Trump’s cabinet, where he’s pushing a sweeping agenda to repeal consumer protections. His agenda reads like a wish list put forth by the airline executives he had lobbied for.
If this seems like profiteering corporate elites are making public rules to serve their own selfishness… Bingo! To keep tabs on their corporate thievery, go to TheRevolvingDoorProject.org.
