0 Among Federal Candidates, 2020 Cycle
1 Sanders, Bernie (D-VT) Senate $52,059
2 Warren, Elizabeth (D-MA) Senate $25,861
3 Leahy, Patrick (D-VT) Senate $24,108
4 Trump, Donald (R) Pres $20,337
5 Buttigieg, Pete (D) Pres $18,493
6 Harris, Kamala (D-CA) Senate $14,672
7 Warner, Mark (D-VA) Senate $13,400
8 Gabbard, Tulsi (D-HI) House $10,339
9 Calvert, Ken (R-CA) House $10,000
10 McCarthy, Kevin (R-CA) House $10,000
11 Visclosky, Pete (D-IN) House $10,000
12 Inslee, Jay (D) Pres $9,581
13 Graham, Lindsey (R-SC) Senate $9,500
14 Biden, Joe (D) Pres $9,433
15 Thornberry, Mac (R-TX) House $8,500
16 O'Rourke, Beto (D) Pres $8,170
17 Yang, Andrew (D) Pres $8,012
18 Peters, Gary (D-MI) Senate $7,534
19 Crist, Charlie (D-FL) House $7,500
20 Norcross, Don (D-NJ) House $7,500
21 Rounds, Mike (R-SD) Senate $7,500
22 Smith, Adam (D-WA) House $7,500
23 Shaheen, Jeanne (D-NH) Senate $7,292
24 Jayapal, Pramila (D-WA) House $7,199
25 Conaway, Mike (R-TX) House $7,000
26 Hartzler, Vicky (R-MO) House $7,000
27 DelBene, Suzan (D-WA) House $6,826
28 Cruz, Ted (R-TX) Senate $6,760
29 Wagner, Ann L (R-MO) House $6,500
30 Klobuchar, Amy (D-MN) Senate $6,101
31 Bergman, John (R-MI) House $6,000
32 Biggs, Andy (R-AZ) House $6,000
33 Granger, Kay (R-TX) House $6,000
34 Langevin, Jim (D-RI) House $6,000
35 Crow, Jason (D-CO) House $5,715
36 Graves, Sam (R-MO) House $5,500
37 Lucas, Frank D (R-OK) House $5,500
38 McSally, Martha (R-AZ) Senate $5,450
39 Swalwell, Eric (D-CA) House $5,346
40 Pelosi, Nancy (D-CA) House $5,335
41 Aguilar, Pete (D-CA) House $5,257
42 Waters, Maxine (D-CA) House $5,145
43 Stefanik, Elise (R-NY) House $5,050
44 Hoyer, Steny H (D-MD) House $5,000
45 Kinzinger, Adam (R-IL) House $5,000
46 Sullivan, Dan (R-AK) Senate $5,000
47 Kilmer, Derek (D-WA) House $4,975
48 Posey, Bill (R-FL) House $4,800
49 Gardner, Cory (R-CO) Senate $4,763
50 Jones, Doug (D-AL) Senate $4,720
51 Carter, John (R-TX) House $4,500
52 Moolenaar, John (R-MI) House $4,500
53 Rutherford, John (R-FL) House $4,500
54 Cooper, Jim (D-TN) House $4,000
55 Houlahan, Chrissy (D-PA) House $4,000
56 Kelly, Trent (R-MS) House $4,000
57 Lamborn, Douglas L (R-CO) House $4,000
58 McCollum, Betty (D-MN) House $4,000
59 Palazzo, Steven (R-MS) House $4,000
60 Simpson, Mike (R-ID) House $4,000
61 Schrier, Kim (D-WA) House $3,951
62 Nunes, Devin (R-CA) House $3,800
63 Rodgers, Cathy McMorris (R-WA) House $3,750
64 Scalise, Steve (R-LA) House $3,650
65 Perlmutter, Ed (D-CO) House $3,525
66 Clark, Katherine (D-MA) House $3,500
67 Clay, William L Jr (D-MO) House $3,500
68 Cleaver, Emanuel (D-MO) House $3,500
69 Cole, Tom (R-OK) House $3,500
70 Marshall, Roger (R-KS) House $3,500
71 McCaul, Michael (R-TX) House $3,500
72 Murphy, Stephanie (D-FL) House $3,500
73 Neal, Richard E (D-MA) House $3,500
74 Quigley, Mike (D-IL) House $3,500
75 Wittman, Rob (R-VA) House $3,500
76 Shimkus, John (R-IL) House $3,250
77 Kelly, Mark (D-AZ) Senate $3,100
78 Lewis, John (D-GA) House $3,036
79 Tlaib, Rashida (D-MI) House $3,004
80 Babin, Brian (R-TX) House $3,000
81 Bacon, Donald John (R-NE) House $3,000
82 Brown, Anthony (D-MD) House $3,000
83 Carson, Andre (D-IN) House $3,000
84 Coleman, Bonnie (D-NJ) House $3,000
85 Cook, Paul (R-CA) House $3,000
86 Coons, Chris (D-DE) Senate $3,000
87 Daines, Steven (R-MT) Senate $3,000
88 Garamendi, John (D-CA) House $3,000
89 Graves, Garret (R-LA) House $3,000
90 Graves, Tom (R-GA) House $3,000
91 Heck, Dennis (D-WA) House $3,000
92 Inhofe, James M (R-OK) Senate $3,000
93 Kirkpatrick, Ann (D-AZ) House $3,000
94 Krishnamoorthi, Raja (D-IL) House $3,000
95 Kuster, Ann (D-NH) House $3,000
96 Lowey, Nita M (D-NY) House $3,000
97 Luetkemeyer, Blaine (R-MO) House $3,000
98 O'Halleran, Tom (D-AZ) House $3,000
99 Sasse, Ben (R-NE) Senate $3,000
100 Sherrill, Mikie (D-NJ) House $3,000
101 Smith, Jason (R-MO) House $3,000
102 Stewart, Chris (R-UT) House $3,000
103 Waltz, Michael (R-FL) House $3,000
104 Wilson, Joe (R-SC) House $3,000
105 Womack, Steve (R-AR) House $3,000
106 Aderholt, Robert B (R-AL) House $2,500
107 Beyer, Don (D-VA) House $2,500
108 Bishop, Sanford (D-GA) House $2,500
109 Brady, Kevin (R-TX) House $2,500
110 Brooks, Mo (R-AL) House $2,500
111 Horsford, Steven (D-NV) House $2,500
112 Johnson, Eddie Bernice (D-TX) House $2,500
113 McConnell, Mitch (R-KY) Senate $2,500
114 Panetta, Jimmy (D-CA) House $2,500
115 Schultz, Debbie Wasserman (D-FL) House $2,500
116 Takano, Mark (D-CA) House $2,500
117 Tonko, Paul (D-NY) House $2,500
118 Weld, William F (R) Pres $2,500
119 Schiff, Adam (D-CA) House $2,331
120 Davis, Rodney (R-IL) House $2,100
121 Booker, Cory (D-NJ) Senate $2,027
122 Rochester, Lisa Blunt (D-DE) House $2,025
123 Blumenauer, Earl (D-OR) House $2,015
124 Bustos, Cheri (D-IL) House $2,015
125 Banks, Jim (R-IN) House $2,000
126 Bass, Karen (D-CA) House $2,000
127 Bonamici, Suzanne (D-OR) House $2,000
128 Carbajal, Salud (D-CA) House $2,000
129 Cartwright, Matt (D-PA) House $2,000
130 Courtney, Joe (D-CT) House $2,000
131 DeLauro, Rosa L (D-CT) House $2,000
132 Duncan, Jeff (R-SC) House $2,000
133 Estes, Ron (R-KS) House $2,000
134 Ferguson, Drew (R-GA) House $2,000
135 Fleischmann, Chuck (R-TN) House $2,000
136 Fortenberry, Jeff (R-NE) House $2,000
137 Gaetz, Matt (R-FL) House $2,000
138 Gallego, Ruben (D-AZ) House $2,000
139 Gianforte, Greg (R-MT) House $2,000
140 Guest, Michael Patrick (R-MS) House $2,000
141 Hyde-Smith, Cindy (R-MS) Senate $2,000
142 Joyce, David P (R-OH) House $2,000
143 Kaptur, Marcy (D-OH) House $2,000
144 Keating, Bill (D-MA) House $2,000
145 Kind, Ron (D-WI) House $2,000
146 Lieu, Ted (D-CA) House $2,000
147 McHenry, Patrick (R-NC) House $2,000
148 Mitchell, Paul (R-MI) House $2,000
149 Newhouse, Dan (R-WA) House $2,000
150 Reed, Jack (D-RI) Senate $2,000
151 Richmond, Cedric (D-LA) House $2,000
152 Rogers, Hal (R-KY) House $2,000
153 Ruppersberger, Dutch (D-MD) House $2,000
154 Sewell, Terri A (D-AL) House $2,000
155 Tillis, Thom (R-NC) Senate $2,000
156 Walberg, Tim (R-MI) House $2,000
157 Connolly, Gerry (D-VA) House $1,703
158 Castro, Julian (D) Pres $1,699
159 Williamson, Marianne (D) Pres $1,662
160 Ocasio-Cortez, Alexandria (D-NY) House $1,525
161 Buchanan, Vernon (R-FL) House $1,500
162 Ernst, Joni (R-IA) Senate $1,500
163 Hollingsworth, Trey (R-IN) House $1,500
164 Latta, Robert E (R-OH) House $1,500
165 Lipinski, Daniel (D-IL) House $1,500
166 Moore, Gwen (D-WI) House $1,500
167 Sanchez, Linda (D-CA) House $1,500
168 Bennet, Michael (D-CO) Senate $1,400
169 Cotton, Tom (R-AR) Senate $1,280
170 Beutler, Jaime Herrera (R-WA) House $1,250
171 Slotkin, Elissa (D-MI) House $1,100
172 Murray, Patty (D-WA) Senate $1,065
173 Kennedy, Joe III (D-MA) House $1,050
174 Ryan, Tim (D-OH) House $1,040
175 Clyburn, James E (D-SC) House $1,005
176 Armstrong, Kelly (R-ND) House $1,000
177 Arrington, Jodey (R-TX) House $1,000
178 Barr, Andy (R-KY) House $1,000
179 Bost, Mike (R-IL) House $1,000
180 Boyle, Brendan (D-PA) House $1,000
181 Cardenas, Tony (D-CA) House $1,000
182 Carter, Buddy (R-GA) House $1,000
183 Case, Ed (D-HI) House $1,000
184 Cassidy, Bill (R-LA) Senate $1,000
185 Cheney, Liz (R-WY) House $1,000
186 Collins, Susan M (R-ME) Senate $1,000
187 Crenshaw, Dan (R-TX) House $1,000
188 Cuellar, Henry (D-TX) House $1,000
189 Cummings, Elijah E (D-MD) House $1,000
190 Curtis, John (R-UT) House $1,000
191 Davis, Danny K (D-IL) House $1,000
192 Davis, Susan (D-CA) House $1,000
193 Demings, Val (D-FL) House $1,000
194 Engel, Eliot L (D-NY) House $1,000
195 Enzi, Mike (R-WY) Senate $1,000
196 Evans, Dwight (D-PA) House $1,000
197 Fitzpatrick, Brian (R-PA) House $1,000
198 Foxx, Virginia (R-NC) House $1,000
199 Frankel, Lois J (D-FL) House $1,000
200 Gallagher, Mike (R-WI) House $1,000
201 Gonzalez, Vicente (D-TX) House $1,000
202 Gottheimer, Josh (D-NJ) House $1,000
203 Higgins, Brian M (D-NY) House $1,000
204 Holding, George (R-NC) House $1,000
205 Hudson, Richard (R-NC) House $1,000
206 Hurd, Will (R-TX) House $1,000
207 Jeffries, Hakeem (D-NY) House $1,000
208 Katko, John (R-NY) House $1,000
209 Kelly, Mike (R-PA) House $1,000
210 Kelly, Robin (D-IL) House $1,000
211 Kildee, Dan (D-MI) House $1,000
212 LaHood, Darin (R-IL) House $1,000
213 Lesko, Debbie (R-AZ) House $1,000
214 Long, Billy (R-MO) House $1,000
215 Mast, Brian (R-FL) House $1,000
216 Meeks, Gregory W (D-NY) House $1,000
217 Murkowski, Lisa (R-AK) Senate $1,000
218 Pallone, Frank Jr (D-NJ) House $1,000
219 Peters, Scott (D-CA) House $1,000
220 Rogers, Mike D (R-AL) House $1,000
221 Roybal-Allard, Lucille (D-CA) House $1,000
222 Scott, Austin (R-GA) House $1,000
223 Serrano, Jose E (D-NY) House $1,000
224 Smith, Adrian (R-NE) House $1,000
225 Speier, Jackie (D-CA) House $1,000
226 Stivers, Steve (R-OH) House $1,000
227 Taylor, Van (R-TX) House $1,000
228 Torres, Norma (D-CA) House $1,000
229 Turner, Michael R (R-OH) House $1,000
230 Vela, Filemon (D-TX) House $1,000
231 Walden, Greg (R-OR) House $1,000
232 Wenstrup, Brad (R-OH) House $1,000
233 Zeldin, Lee (R-NY) House $1,000
234 Baldwin, Tammy (D-WI) Senate $968
235 Gillibrand, Kirsten (D-NY) Senate $958
236 Bullock, Steve (D) Pres $900
237 Cantwell, Maria (D-WA) Senate $866
238 Moulton, Seth (D-MA) House $832
239 Harrison, Jaime (D-SC) Senate $807
240 Lujan, Ben Ray (D-NM) House $756
241 Long, Carolyn (D-WA) House $750
242 Plame, Valerie (D-NM) House $750
243 Scholten, JD (D-IA) House $750
244 Omar, Ilhan (D-MN) House $651
245 Dingell, Debbie (D-MI) House $600
246 Huang, Peggy (R-CA) House $500
247 Demaio, Carl (R-CA) House $365
248 Khanna, Ro (D-CA) House $347
249 Newman, Marie (D-IL) House $327
250 Hickenlooper, John (D-CO) Senate $315
251 Lee, Gary (D-MT) Senate $280
252 Geppert, Katy (D-MO) House $277
253 James, John (R-MI) Senate $260
254 Mucarsel-Powell, Debbie (D-FL) House $253
255 Casten, Sean (D-IL) House $250
256 Edwards, Amanda (D-TX) Senate $250
257 Hegar, MJ (D-TX) Senate $250
258 Kim, Young (R-CA) House $250
259 King, Pete (R-NY) House $250
260 Kulkarni, Sri (D-TX) House $250
261 Raths, Greg (R-CA) House $250
262 Sestak, Joe (D) Pres $250
263 Stevens, Haley (D-MI) House $250
264 Reschenthaler, Guy (R-PA) House $225
265 Porter, Katie (D-CA) House $205
266 Cornyn, John (R-TX) Senate $200
267 Fletcher, Lizzie (D-TX) House $200
268 McGrath, Amy (D-KY) Senate $200
269 Williams, Kathleen (D-MT) House $200
270 Rouda, Harley (D-CA) House $188
271 Cisneros, Jessica (D-TX) House $177
272 Baer, Dan (D-CO) Senate $170
273 Merkley, Jeff (D-OR) Senate $170
274 Kim, Andy (D-NJ) House $164
275 Bell, Adrienne (D-TX) House $160
276 Cunningham, Joe (D-SC) House $150
277 Brown, Sherrod (D-OH) Senate $148
278 Gravel, Mike (D) Pres $128
279 Horn, Kendra (D-OK) House $115
280 Davids, Sharice (D-KS) House $100
281 McClintock, Tom (R-CA) House $100
282 Misso, Roger (D-NY) House $100
283 Tester, Jon (D-MT) Senate $100
284 Winter, Tom (D-MT) House $100
285 Toomey, Pat (R-PA) Senate $86
286 Bush, Cori (D-MO) House $85
287 Olson, Kim (D-TX) House $85
288 Durbin, Dick (D-IL) Senate $80
289 Kahele, Kai (D-HI) House $80
290 Eastman, Kara (D-NE) House $79
291 Levin, Mike (D-CA) House $79
292 Masto, Catherine Cortez (D-NV) Senate $73
293 Hirono, Mazie K (D-HI) Senate $70
294 Campa-Najjar, Ammar (D-CA) House $66
295 Delaney, John K (D) Pres $64
296 Ojeda, Richard (D-WV) House $60
297 Larsen, Rick (D-WA) House $55
298 Greenfield, Theresa (D-IA) Senate $53
299 Smith, Tina (D-MN) Senate $52
300 Arballo, Phil (D-CA) House $50
301 Bourdeaux, Carolyn (D-GA) House $50
302 Scanlon, Mary Gay (D-PA) House $50
303 Schneider, Brad (D-IL) House $50
304 Stabenow, Debbie (D-MI) Senate $50
305 Wu, Brianna (D-MA) House $50
306 McBath, Lucy (D-GA) House $36
307 Buttar, Shahid (D-CA) House $35
308 Tipirneni, Hiral (D-AZ) House $35
309 Rosen, Jacky (D-NV) Senate $30
310 Wyden, Ron (D-OR) Senate $30
311 Collins, Joshua (D-WA) House $27
312 Cisneros, Gil (D-CA) House $25
313 Hernandez, Sema (D-TX) Senate $25
314 Jones, Gina (D-TX) House $25
315 Heinrich, Martin (D-NM) Senate $23
316 Cox, TJ (D-CA) House $20
317 Woodsmall, Steve (D-NC) House $20
318 Malinowski, Tom (D-NJ) House $18
319 Tomlinson, Teresa (D-GA) Senate $18
320 Trahan, Lori (D-MA) House $18
321 Hayes, Jahana (D-CT) House $16
322 Hill, Katie (D-CA) House $16
323 Underwood, Lauren A (D-IL) House $15
324 Clark, Anthony (D-IL) House $14
325 Rose, Max (D-NY) House $13
326 Balter, Dana (D-NY) House $10
327 Caballero, Jose Ramon III (D-CA) House $10
328 Garcia, Lorena (D-CO) Senate $10
329 Grayson, Alan (D-FL) House $10
330 Mauro, Eddie J (D-IA) Senate $10
331 Pappas, Chris (D-NH) House $10
332 Rimmer, Stephanie (D-AZ) House $10
333 Toulouse Oliver, Maggie (D-NM) Senate $10
334 Wilkes, Mckayla (D-MD) House $10
335 Lamb, Conor (D-PA) House $8
336 Pocan, Mark (D-WI) House $7
337 Harder, Josh (D-CA) House $6
338 Duckworth, Tammy (D-IL) Senate $5
339 Gleiberman, Ben (D) Pres $5
340 Maher, Pat (D-NY) House $5
341 Owens, Michael (D-GA) House $5
342 Pressley, Ayanna (D-MA) House $5
343 Putzova, Eva (D-AZ) House $5
344 De Blasio, Bill (D) Pres $4
345 Messam, Wayne (D) Pres $4
346 Murphy, Christopher S (D-CT) Senate $3
347 Maloney, Sean Patrick (D-NY) House ($975)
348 Chabot, Steve (R-OH) House ($1,000)
349 Slaughter, Louise M (D-NY) House ($1,000)
350 Wexton, Jennifer (D-VA) House ($3,015)
351 Romney, Mitt (R-UT) Senate ($5,000)
Why aren’t Boeing executives being prosecuted for the 737 Max 8 crashes?
4 April 2019
It is nearly a month since the crash of Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302, which slammed into the ground only six minutes after
takeoff from Addis Ababa airport, killing all 157 people on board. That disaster came less than five months after the fatal
crash of Lion Air Flight 610 only 13 minutes after takeoff from Jakarta airport, killing all 189 passengers and crew members.
Both crashes involved the same airplane, the Boeing 737 Max 8, and both followed wild up-and-down oscillations which the pilots
were unable to control.
In the weeks since these disasters, there have been no calls within the media or political establishment for Boeing executives
to be criminally prosecuted for what were evidently entirely avoidable tragedies that killed a total of 346 people. This speaks
to the corrupt relationship between the US government and the aerospace giant—the biggest US exporter and second-largest
defense contractor—as well as the company’s critical role in the stock market surge and the ever-expanding fortunes
of major Wall Street investors.
Black box recordings and simulations show that in the 60 seconds the pilots had to respond to the emergency, faulty software
forced the Lion Air flight into a nose dive 24 separate times, as the pilots fought to regain control of the aircraft before
plunging into the ocean at more than 500 miles per hour.
Evidence has mounted implicating in both crashes an automated anti-stall system, the Maneuvering Characteristics Augmentation
System (MCAS), which was installed by Boeing in response to the new plane’s tendency to pitch upward and go into a potentially
fatal stall. On a whole number of fronts—design, marketing, certification and pilot training—information from
the black boxes of the two planes points to a lack of concern for the safety of passengers and crew on the part of both Boeing
and the Federal Aviation Administration, reaching the level of criminality.
The most recent revelations concerning the March 10 Ethiopian Airlines crash, based on preliminary findings from the official
investigation, show that the pilots correctly followed the emergency procedures outlined by Boeing and disengaged the automated
flight control system. Nevertheless, the nose of the plane continued to point downward. This strongly suggests a fundamental
and perhaps fatal flaw in the design of the aircraft. Numerous questions have been raised about the design and certification
process of the 737 Max 8 and MCAS, including:
Despite the presence on the plane of two angle-of-attack sensors, which signal a potential stall and trigger the automated
downward pitch of the plane’s nose, MCAS relied on data from only one of the sensors. This means the standard redundancy
feature built into commercial jets to avert disasters resulting from a faulty sensor was lacking. Boeing’s main rival
to the 737 Max, the European-built Airbus A320neo, for example, uses data from three sensors to manage a system similar to
MCAS.
Boeing Vice President Mike Sinnett admitted last November that cockpit warning lights alerting pilots of a faulty angle-of-attack
sensor were only optional features on the Max 8.
The MCAS system was absent from pilot manuals and flight simulators, including for the well-known flight training program
X-Plane 11, which came out in 2018, one year after the first commercial flight of the 737 Max 8.
Pilot training for the 737 Max 8, which has different hardware and software than earlier 737s, was a single one-hour computer
course. Pilot certification for a commercial plane typically requires hundreds of hours of training, both in simulators and
in actual flights. Boeing itself is now mandating at least 21 days of training on new Max planes.
There is no innocent explanation for these obvious safety issues. They point to reckless and arguably criminally negligent
behavior on the part of Boeing executives, who rushed the new plane into service and marketed it against the Airbus A320neo
on the basis of its cost-saving features. Threatened with a loss of market share and profits to its chief competitor, Boeing
reduced costs by claiming that no significant training on the new Max 8 model, with the money and time that entails, was necessary
for pilots with previous 737 experience.
Such imperatives of the capitalist market inevitably downgrade safety considerations. This is highlighted by a press release
the day of the Ethiopian Airlines crash in which Boeing stated that "for the past several months and in aftermath of Lion
Air Flight 610,” the company “has been developing a flight control software enhancement for the 737 MAX.”
In other words, both Boeing and the FAA were aware, possibly even before the October 2018 Lion Air crash and certainly afterward,
that a system critical to the safe operation of the aircraft needed to be fixed, and still allowed the plane to continue flying.
The wording also suggests that the plane shouldn’t have been certified for flight in the first place.
This was aided and abetted by the Trump administration, which shielded Boeing as long as it could by not ordering the FAA
to ground the plane immediately after the Ethiopian Airlines crash. There were no doubt immense concerns that such a move
would cut into Boeing’s multibillion-dollar profits and affect its stock price, which has nearly tripled since the election
of Trump in November 2016, accounting for more than 30 percent of the increase in the Dow Jones index since then.
Trump himself received a call from Boeing CEO Dennis Muilenburg two days after the Ethiopian Airlines crash, during which
Muilenburg reportedly continued to uphold the Max 8’s safety. The FAA finally grounded the plane on March 13, after
every other country in the world had done so.
The relationship between Trump and Muilenburg is only a symptom of the much broader collusion between the airline industry
and the US government. Starting in 2005 and expanded during the Obama administration, the FAA introduced the Organization
Designation Authorization (ODA) program, which allows the agency to appoint as “designees” airplane manufacturers’
employees to certify their own company’s aircraft on behalf of the government.
As a result, there was virtually no federal oversight on the development of the 737 Max 8. FAA Acting Administrator Dan Elwell
told Congress, “As a result of regular meetings between the FAA and Boeing teams, the FAA determined in February 2012
that the [Max 8] project qualified… [a] project eligible for management by the Boeing ODA.” This extended to the
MCAS system as well.
This is the logical end of the deregulation of the airline industry as a whole that was spearheaded by the Democratic Carter
administration, which passed the Airline Deregulation Act in 1978. With the help of liberal icon Edward Kennedy, the legislation
disbanded the Civil Aeronautics Board, which up to that point treated interstate airlines as a regulated public utility, setting
routes, schedules and fares.
In a rational world, the ongoing Senate hearings and Department of Justice investigations would have already brought criminal
charges against Muilenburg, Sinnett, Elwell and all those involved in overseeing the production, certification and sale of
the 737 Max 8. This would include the executives at Boeing and all those who have helped to deregulate the industry at the
expense of human lives.
Under capitalism, however, Boeing will get little more than a slap on the wrist. Experts estimate the company will likely
be fined at most $800 million, less than one percent of the $90 billion Boeing expects in sales from the Max 8 in the coming
years. As in Hurricane Katrina, the Wall Street crash in 2008, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in 2010 and Hurricanes Harvey
and Maria in 2017, the brunt of this disaster will be borne by the working class.
The Boeing 737 Max 8 disasters point to the inherent incompatibility between safe, comfortable and affordable air transport
and private ownership of the airline industry, as well as the division of the world economy between rival nation-states. These
catastrophes were driven by both the greed of Boeing executives and big investors and the intensifying trade conflict between
the United States and Europe.
The technological advances that make it possible for travelers to move between any two points in the world in a single day
must be freed from the constraints of giant corporations and the capitalist system as a whole. Major airlines and aerospace
companies must be expropriated on an international scale and transformed into publicly owned and democratically controlled
utilities, as part of the establishment of a planned economy based on social need, not private profit.
Bryan Dyne
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