The
word on the street—and the street I’m referring to is Pennsylvania Avenue—is
that the next big undertaking in the city that never wakes up to reality but
always knows how to put a good spin on a bad message will be rewriting the tax
code.
This
isn’t the only talk in the city where talk couldn’t be cheaper. Russian
involvement in last year’s election is another hot topic making the rounds.
Topping off the discussions is Putin but more and more, interactions between
Russian oligarchs and Trump subordinates are making their way into the
conversation.
Oligarchs,
and the word itself seems to suggest the sort of evil ogres found hiding in the
swamps and dark forests of children’s fairy tales, are those billionaire
bullies siphoning off the Russian wealth and depositing it in their personal
bank accounts around the world. They are allowed to do this because they
support Putin, who has stashed his own wealth in crooked banks around the
world.
The banks
often serve as nothing more than money laundering facilities. On the surface,
it would seem that every Trump associate has at least one, and usually several,
Russian billionaire bully friends (BBF’s). On the surface it is an
embarrassment of riches because everyone involved are rich and they all should
be embarrassed.
Most of this
is not new information. It simply wasn’t well-known information until Trump ran
for president. What I do find surprising about Russian oligarchs is how well
known they are in Russia. Everyone seems to know these corrupt, bullying,
billionaires situated at the seat of power in a corrupt, bullying government
that thrives on stealing its nation’s wealth. There is no effort on their part
to disguise their identities or hide what they do.
I guess
that’s the beauty of Communism. It’s bad, everyone knows it’s bad and no one
cares that it’s bad.
