Cronyism entails that relationship with acquaintances and friends; this is characterized by the conferment of political appointments to individuals within that circle. This is irrespective of the fact that the person is qualified for the position. Cronyism is considered negatively because it compromises transparency in government. Cronyism yields political appointments and lucrative government tenders. Cronyism is considered as the result of a network or a group of people who work together to develop and maintain and an informal corruption or political system that only serves to benefit them. Cronyism is perpetuated and maintained by circumventing or supplanting formal procedures and rules.
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Cronyism is negative collective politics that, in its extreme, it might produce a corrupted organizational system. It has been used negatively to exclude certain individuals or groups from the mainstream government system to enable them create an unproductive and unfair allocation of resources while disadvantaging other groups. Cronyism and negative politics are used to feed each other off and it can even corrupt the institutional system of government. When cronyism gains roots in the political system; power can be used to set up reward, socialization and selection system that is aimed at validating and reinforcing cronyism. In the United States of America, retired politicians are rewarded with seats in large corporations. Most of these people are Washington veterans with good rapport with members of the executive and the legislature. They will provide the corporations with many needed political connections to hammer deals and to provide them with the needed introduction and access. It is, therefore, not by coincidence that political cronies are populated by billionaire financiers and owners of large corporations. The government enacts policies favoring those people who have invested heavily in green energy ambitions who reciprocate by lobbying for the government agenda. This big business strategy succeeded when Big Pharma heavily lobbied for the passage of Obamacare. To make money for the campaigns, big business men and political cronies must up their efforts in lobbying and campaigning against natural resources like coal.
After the Cold War, political parties; both in power and those in the opposition became increasingly guided by political and economic dependencies. Political decisions have hence, been reproduced by interests that are outside the formal political sphere. This was demonstrated in legislation like green energy and waste management that bureaucratic circles do not possess regulatory knowledge and experience but dictated by relevant ministries and private corporations. When it comes to legislating on green energy matters, there are several parliamentary committees that are established to guide policy makers on such serious matters. During this exercises, the ruling elite in the major political elites are chosen from the rank and file of political cronies who, in most occasions are members of their business class and not necessary from their political parties (Root, 2013).
The presidents of the United States of America are well known for practicing political cronyism towards unions; this is done in the guise promoting issues of international concern. With regards to Green Energy, Obama has handed out millions to his biggest campaign contributors in the name of green energy. There are several green energy companies, and some are about to close out of business while others are companies that no one has heard of but because they belong to political cronies, they are heavily funded using tax payer’s money. The controversial of these companies was Solyndra; this was considered a government investment. A lot of money was handed to this green energy companies. Several of Obama supporters become multimillionaires due to this stimulus programs. The green energy was considered to be a milking cow for Obama’s political cronies, and it allowed them to take control over the several American industries. Critiques argued that Obama wasted a lot of Tax Payers money in enriching his political cronies and campaign contributors. Solyndra, despite having received millions of dollars from the green energy stimulus program, the company could not sustain itself, and it went bankrupt two years later. Billionaire George Kaiser’s family was the largest shareholder in Solyndra, and hence this fits the perfect description of crony capitalism. It is only Obama’s friends like Kaiser who are benefiting from the green energy stimulus infusion. Kaiser was one of the political donors and campaign bundlers of president Obama, who visited the White House three times before the company was given the stimulus money. There is a several list of Obama cronies who have benefitted from its initiatives which sounded good just on paper, but are only based on greed, waste, and self-interest that wasted millions of American dollars.
President Obama has considered his green energy plan as a grandiose vision. He considered it good for national security and a way of saving the planet and to date he has demonstrated obsession with the development of green energy. The president promoted it using by advocating for clean technology. The various trips that the president made were considered stench of political cronyism and, therefore, had some elements of crony capitalism. This is because the companies and the industries that the president visited had very many connections with his 2008 presidential campaigns. This, therefore, only served the interests of his political cronies. The money used on green energy is just considered wasted and could be best spent on very many things like education and health. The government could have spent the money on welfare of the general population because no one knows where the money pumped on green energy ends (Root, 2013).
Another example of political cronyism is the loans and the grants that are given out to politically connect geothermal power generation’s entities in Nevada. These entities have strong connections with democrats in Washington, DC. This is purely a perpetuation of political cronyism. It is assumed that the dollars of American citizens that are hard earned are being used to fund lavish lifestyles of political cronies of the establishment. People are being hoodwinked to believe that green is good and that total coal is bad; this is not, however, not true because it is a coercive and worst form of corruption perpetuated by the regime. The push for green energy is considered the worst form crony capitalism perpetuated by the government to reward election campaign players. The political cronyism is not inherent to only one administration; traders, investors and speculators finance friends in many political parties. Politicians, bureaucrats and political appointees see that there is value in helping wealthy friends hoping that they will be returned the favor when they need it. Green energy was one great investment that was used to reward political cronies. Political cronyism only favors those who are political correct and those who have strong political connections (Root, 2013).
References
Root, W. A. (2013). The Ultimate Obama Survival Guide: Secrets to Protecting Your Family, Your Finances, and Your Freedom. Washington DC: Regnery Publishing.
