Donald Trump spent most of his career criticizing the World Economic Forum in Davos as an annual gathering of clueless global elites. But his criticism always reeked of resentment because he never received one of its coveted invitations.
Bear this in mind.
President Donald Trump put on his salesman’s hat on Friday during his address to a den of the world’s power players, hailing America’s economic success from his first year in office. …
Trump also declared America ‘open for business’ and insist that conditions for business in the United States have never been stronger.
(CNN, January 26, 2018)
Unsurprisingly, the CEOs who composed his audience gave him a rousing ovation. But this had little to do with what he said. Instead, they were showing appreciation for the “historic” tax cuts he championed into law, which will save their corporations billions … annually.
Never mind the cynicism inherent in Trump hailing these CEOs for this trickle-down ruse:
Home Depot is paying out one-time bonuses of up to $1,000 in cash to its hourly workers in the US, citing the recent tax overhaul.
The home improvement retailer follows others doing the same, including Disney, Starbucks and Walmart.
(ABC News, January 25, 2018)
Significantly, the billion-dollar bonuses these corporations are getting in tax cuts are permanent. This is why it smacks of a sleight of hand for CEOs to handout these one-time bonuses in lieu of permanent increases in their workers’ hourly wages – commensurate with their corporate tax cuts.
Frankly, this amounts to little more than the proverbial sin of making the poor feed on crumbs that fall from the table of the rich.
Not to mention Trump’s own sleight of hand. After all, most workers will have to use their one-time bonuses to pay for the healthcare coverage he’s taking away by “sabotaging” Obamacare.
To be fair, a few (too few) corporations, like Starbucks, are increasing wages as well as providing other long-term benefits, including funding for further education.
In any event, I’ve been decrying the hot air that passes for smart talk at this forum for years, noting that the more the rich talk about helping the poor, the richer the rich become.
The following is an excerpt from “Why All the Fuss about the World Economic Forum,” January 30, 2006. I trust it makes clear why Trump is the first president to attend since Bill Clinton’s notoriously regrettable attendance 2000:
_________________
The World Economic Forum … is an annual event at which corporate titans, international bankers, world leaders, and a smattering of celebrity do-gooders gather to bloviate about the impact of worldwide developments on their respective businesses, personal wealth, and collective conscience. Politicians and celebrities change from year to year, but the regulars are invariably the same CEOs, investors, and managers who represent the world’s super rich.
The forum is promoted as ‘impartial and not-for-profit; it is tied to no political, partisan or national interests.’ But movers and shakers know the reason an invitation to this retreat is so coveted is that it’s a rare (and rarified) opportunity to see, and to be seen amongst, the people who really rule the world. And, the PR value of such images alone is priceless. …
The wealthiest one percent would have the rest of us believe that Davos is all about addressing world economic problems that affect our lives. That’s why the most talked-about feature of their gathering is not the (main-event) schmooze-fests for business opportunities; rather, it’s the (undercard) gabfests for charitable causes – at which invited guests sit on panels and blow hot air on issues like climate change and the plight of the poor.
__________________
Given this, you can imagine how heartened I was when no less an authority than the Financial Times vindicated my contempt in a column titled “Boneheaded Aphorisms from Davos’s Windy Summit,” January 31, 2016.
Again, Davos is arguably the most ostentatious gathering of the rich to discuss ways to ensure they get richer. And no hypocrisy is too cold for them to coddle.
Take climate change, for example. It’s a staple of their panel discussions. Yet reports are that as many as 1,700 private jets crisscross the pristine Alps each year, taking attendees to and fro:
To hear these rich folks lamenting about the depletion of the ozone, the increasing gap between haves and have nots, and the almost criminal waste of non-renewable energy, one would think they jet-pooled to Davos on ethanol-fueled airplanes; whereas they all flew in on gas-guzzling, air-polluting private jets.
(“Attendees Emit More CO2 than Solutions at Davos World Economic Forum,” The iPINIONS Journal, January 29, 2007)
They only compounded this hypocrisy by rolling out the red carpet for Trump – complete with liveried Swiss guards tooting his horn as he took the stage for his keynote address. After all, not only is he the world’s most famous climate denier, but chances are that 90 percent of its organizers spent their careers shunning his bull(y)-in-a-China-shop shtick.
But Trump’s policies of cutting corporate taxes and regulations have made them all so much richer, I suppose the least they could do was risk his gauche behavior. Except that they must have been pleasantly surprised. Because the Trump who showed up behaved more like a neutered bull than the blue-balled one they saw rampaging along the campaign trail two years ago.
Indeed, “America First” became kumbaya, y’all: I win, you win, we all win!
The congenitally narcissistic Trump could not have been happier to have finally arrived. What the current edition of US News & World Report quoted him saying speaks volumes:
I just came out and some really wonderful people said, ‘Davos has never been like this.’ This is like walking into the Academy Awards, except we have more photographers.
Exactly what you’d expect a reality-TV star cum leader of the free world to say, no?
Oy vey!
Related commentaries:
Why all the fuss…
More CO2 than solutions…