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, 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. 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. It also required airlines to compensate customers if corporate mismanagement disrupts their flight. Also, making airlines liable for damages they do to wheelchairs of disabled passengers.

Any honest business would already be doing such things as a matter of personal integrity, but Sean Duffy has now screeched that corporate integrity is none of the public's business. 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 as transportation secretary in President Donald Trump's cabinet, where he is 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.

BEWARE: BILLIONAIRE TECHNOCRATS SAY THEY WANT TO "SAVE" HUMANITY

We're being told that an earth-shaking, transformative age of "generative artificial intelligence" is already upon us.

We're told not to worry, though; just accept it, because an elite clique of uber-smart, uber-rich tech barons have our backs. We're told these Big Thinking Visionaries are already devising plans to shape humanity's new future.

But wait — who's telling us all this? Why the barons themselves! Yes, the same self-enriching Silicon Valley hucksters who have unleashed this invasive digital force on our world now say they are planning to "save humanity." How? By remaking our economy, laws, social systems, etc., to fit their new AI structure World Order.

Excuse me, but have any of those barons asked if you want to go there? I've not been consulted by them. Have you? When did We The People elect such egomaniacal, anti-social, profiteering billionaires as Musk, Bezos, Zuckerberg, Altman and Huang to decide humanity's future? If you want to see their idea of a technocratic social order, visit one of Bezos' hellish Amazon warehouses that has made him so royally rich. Or ask locals how Elon rampages autocratically over their communities, resources, homes and rights.

No need to imagine what autocracy they might impose over us — just note that the trillion-dollar tech empires they already run routinely assert corporate property rights over all human rights and how their lobbyists routinely rush to outlaw any public interference with the rapid spread of AI's economic, environmental and social greed.

These billionaire geniuses don't want to save us from AI dominance; they're trying to stampede us into their "kakistocracy." What's that? Government by the very worst people in society.

To find out more about Jim Hightower and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators webpage at www.creators.com.

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Photo credit: John McArthur at Unsplash