Crapitalism: Liberals Who Make Millions Swiping Your Tax Dollars

by Jason Mattera

New York Times bestselling author and ambush journalist Jason Mattera sets his sights on his next big crony liberals, including Al Gore, Carlos Slim, Harry Reid, and Jay Z, whose riches come at taxpayer expense.

From billionaire business tycoons like George Soros and Warren Buffett to movie industry moguls like Jeffrey Katzenberg and Stephen Spielberg, American liberals are using government breaks and shortcuts to pervert the free market. These “rich bastards” leverage crony connections to bag millions for phony “green companies” that go bust, vacuum public coffers to build glitzy stadiums, utilize little-known tax loopholes to loot $1.5 billion for Hollywood movies, and more. They use government to rig the game in their favor and leave taxpayers holding the bill.

And when government gets in the business of picking winners and losers through bailouts and tax breaks, free market competition begins to atrophy. That’s what big government leftists—and corporate Republicans-in-name-only—want to happen.

In this explosive, funny-as-hell investigative exposé, Mattera reveals the infuriating schemes that result when the filthy rich combine cronyism and capitalism. Crapitalism pulls back the curtain on a cast of cronyites who make millions taking advantage of taxpayers—and still brag about how they’re looking out for the little guy.

Genres: Nonfiction

304 pages, Hardcover

First published October 7, 2014

About the author

Jason Mattera is a New York Times bestselling author and the youngest editor of a national periodical, Human Events.

In 2010, Mattera’s debut book, Obama Zombies: How the Liberal Machine Brainwashed My Generation, landed at #14 on the New York Times bestseller list.

Mattera has appeared on virtually every major talk radio and television program, including: The O’Reilly Factor, Hannity, Fox & Friends, Imus, Washington Journal, the “Laura Ingraham Show,” “Mark Levin Show,” “Mancow,” “Neal Boortz,” and scores more.

Reviews

[Dean · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a very frustrating book to read because the topic of discussion was quite infuriating. I would not be as opposed to paying taxes if I felt that our tax dollars were being spent responsibly and judiciously. This book validated what I always believed to be true, and revealed that the problem is much worse than any of us would have ever expected.
I am certain that the first criticism of this book is going to be that it is "anti-Democrat and anti-Obama" and critics will say that there are abuses when Republicans are in power and "what about big business? What about the Koch brothers?" All of which has some truth behind it. But because taxes tend to be higher under Democratic leadership and Democrats generally favor bigger spending and bigger government, and because the White House and Congress have been under Democrat control the last 6 years, and the stimulus bill was passed by Obama, the book really exposes abuses that have happened under his watch.
This book spills the dirt on dozens of cronies who are just as despicable as the Koch brothers, many of them happen to be friends, associates and campaign contributors of Obama and who reap billions on government programs and stimulus programs, all at the expense of unsuspecting taxpayers.
My expectation is that hard-core, devoted liberals will shun this book as right-wing propaganda without reading any of it. I think if they were to read any of it, their political beliefs and views will be shaken up, and they may prefer to speak no evil, hear no evil and see no evil.

[Jennifer Irons · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent book by an excellent conservative journalist/writer. He names names of liberal Democrats, some well-known and others not as well-known, who take our hard earned tax money and use it to fund projects that will benefit THEM and not us regular folks.

[Elliot Chalom · Rating 3 out of 5]

I expected a deconstruction of crony capitalism (which Mattera coins "Crapitalism") including how it developed, how it is used today (and by whom), why it is potentially destroying our economy - and our country - and how we can bring an end to it. I did not expect a portrait of 27 people (mostly old white men) who are our country's most offending examples of Crapitalism. For that reason, I can't give this book more than 3 stars. I liked it, but Mattera is smart enough to do a better job than this in tackling what he and I both agree is one of the worst problems afflicting America today.

In order to make his point about some of these mostly loathsome characters, Mattera may be stretching the truth or playing fast and loose with statistics. I don't think he lies, not even once, but there's something about his delivery which makes me doubt whether everything is really presented in the most honest light. It's not exactly lying, but there feels like an element of reaching to make his point, at least in some cases. That's a shame, because the overall point has a lot of merit - Crapitalism is a major problem. And in the case of the people who have deliberately exploited Crapitalism to their advantage, bilking US taxpayers out of their money as a way of funding their own agendas (or worse, their own high-end lifestyles) - I'm looking at you Nevada Senator Harry Reid - the folks responsible need to be held up as prime examples of what is wrong with America. They need to be called out and be shamed, as Mattera sets out to do. But I'm not convinced that all 27 people profiled in this book are quite on that level. Sure, they all benefit from Crapitalism, but some appear to be legitimately gaming a broken system, as opposed to creating the system in the first place. I have a hard time lumping Warren Buffett or venture capitalist John Doerr - pure capitalists at heart - in with John Podesta I guess. Mattera notes that Podesta, working under President Clinton,m had been called the "Secretary of Crap." I would have liked to read a little more about that.

Ultimately, I enjoyed this book. It shined a (non-LED) light on some real government sponsored shenanigans. And it did so in Mattera's funny, outraged, snarky way. But I doubt it will sway anyone who didn't already see things his way. Which is too bad.

[Steve · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lots of good information. However, I think Mattera focused too much on the Obama administration. I think if you look at things like political donations, you will see increases every 4 years, no matter which party is in power. Also fundraising has been on a dramatic rise since before the Clinton administration. OK, so no news there.

For folks who like to see the both sides of every coin, this book will make you feel like it is a little one-sided. I am slightly conservative and I felt a little uncomfortable at times with all of the liberal bashing. Also, whenever I read quotes that have ellipses (...), I get skeptical. You may not be seeing everything that you need to know. If you have the time after reading this book, you should go research the exact quotes to get all of the information.

[Foxglove · Rating 3 out of 5]

The problem with these books is that they are written by biased authors, who only skew their opponents. If this book had been written by a Democrat, I'd have loved it.

[Jenine Young · Rating 2 out of 5]

I found my eyes glazing over half way through this book. It was shady politician after shady politician and all the names just blurred together after a while.