Why Corporations are Happy

They are happy because Santorum, Romney, and Gingrich are driving the conversation.  This Republican primary and election season SHOULD be talking about a few things.  The conversation SHOULD be revolving around...

- The corporate destruction of the economy
- The corporate destruction of the environment
- Corporate theft of our tax dollars and jobs
- How to fix the economy, and get the money and power influence out of our government.

Instead, we seem to be talking almost entirely about...

- Ending a woman's right to a legal abortion
- Ending a woman's right to legal contraception
- Obama's faith

Republican's know they can't win on the economy.  And since they're gigantic tool bags of the super wealthy  and the 1% in America, they definitely know they can't win the conversation on the economy either.  So what do they do?

Change the topic of conversation and hope that people don't notice.

I thought we were done with this shit when Turd Blossom was advising the president.

I only wish Occupy had kept the conversation around their message.

PEACE

This Blog's Purpose

In the last couple of days, and especially after watching last night's presidential State of the Union address, the purpose of this blog has been made clearer to me.  And I think this will also make blogging easier and more enjoyable.

It is two parts:

(1)  Continue the Occupy discussion - While Occupy may not be making much news anymore, and while people may not be hearing about what they are still doing, the movement is still alive and thriving, although winter is setting it back some.  The corporate owned media does not want you to know about the Occupy movement, because it challenges the status quo of the rich getting richer off the backs of everyone else.  And in a time when people are struggling beyond their comprehension, their actions must be challenged and real change must be demanded.  In the same vein, that leads me to the second purpose of my blog.

(2)  Ensure that Barack Obama gets elected - After watching last night's state of the union, its clear where each presidential candidate falls.  It is also clear which candidate's rhetoric and actions side with the people versus siding with the cruelty of the 1% or even the .1%.  As Occupy continues, and the division between the two sides has been made clearer to me, it seems imperative that the candidate becomes president who will support policies that will benefit the most people of this country rather than the fewest at the top.  I will embrace the candidacy of Barack Obama for reelection, even as he has disappointed me in many ways since he took office in 2009.  Voting Republican, not voting, or voting for a third party candidate out of frustration with Obama will be destructive to this country.  I will debate and challenge anybody who disagrees with me on this blog, respectfully of course.

Ultimately, what it really comes down to is this front page article from Arizona.

TAMPA, Fla. — GOP presidential contender Mitt Romney isn’t just in the top 1 percent of Americans with income — he’s in at least the top 0.006 percent, tax returns he released Tuesday show.

The 2010 adjusted gross income of Romney and his wife, Ann, totaled $21.7 million, according to their tax return. That means they ranked high even among the top 8,274 tax returns.

Romney, a former Massachusetts governor and private-equity executive, made more than half of his income from capital gains and dividends. They are taxed at a top rate of 15 percent, rather than the top rate of 35 percent for ordinary income.

Mr. "Corporations-are-people"?  Freddie Mac "historian"?  Or community organizer?

PEACE

More Heroic Youth Activism

This time at the Durban Climate summit.  Another one of those summits where important world leaders get together to make the appearance that they are doing something important only to delay real climate change. 

See what happens when youth are spurred into action by the inaction of the greed generation?  Here she is, 21 years old, on the stage with world leaders at a world wide summit.  And she stands up to interrupt a speech to make her point, one that is honestly more important than anything these imposters had to say.  If you missed it, it was a simple, beautiful message.

"I am speaking on behalf of the United States of America because my negotiators cannot. The obstructionist Congress has shackled justice and delayed ambition for far too long. I am scared for my future. 2020 is too late to wait. We need an urgent path to a fair, ambitious and legally binding treaty. We need leaders who will commit to real change, not empty rhetoric. Keep your promises. Keep our hope alive."

Bravo to her! 

PEACE

8-Year Old Stuns Michelle Bachmann

If you haven't seen it yet, here is your chance.  An eight year old activist stunned Michelle Bachmann on the campaign trail in South Carolina.  Not that its that hard to stun Michelle Bachmann.  I don't want to give away the punchline, but watch the video and you'll understand what makes this such an amazing thing.

In case you missed it, this activist whispered to Bachmann...

"My mommy's gay, but she doesn't need any fixing."

This little kid is my hero.  I don't care if mommy put him up to this, he still had the courage to tell this to a complete stranger, in front of a crowd, in a strange location.  This child's bravery is beyond words.

And apparently its beyond Bachmann's words as well, simply responding "Ba-Bye."  I don't think her campaign prepared her with a canned response, a soundbite, or a one-liner to respond to an eight year old activist who couldn't speak more true.

The Republican party ladies and gentlemen.

Pray the Gay Away (tm)

PEACE

p.s.  I was thinking of including music in at the end of each of my posts in the form of a youtube video.  Its really just for fun and cause I like music.  Thoughts?  Should I do it?  Would it take away from the commentary?

The 1% Gone Wild!!!

No, there's no topless drunk chicks in this post.  That would be clean compared to the shit that the 1% has pulled off in these three stories.  Here we go!

Number THREE story...

Mortgage lender GMAC pulls a shit move on the people of Massachusetts (why can I never spell this state correctly on my first try?  sigh):

GMAC Mortgage, the mortgage lender of Ally Financial Inc., is exiting the vast majority of its lending in Massachusetts a day after the state sued it and other lenders over its allegedly improper foreclosure practices, a decision the state's attorney general called an admission. 

The nation's fifth-largest mortgage originator said it "has taken this action because recent developments have led mortgage lending in Massachusetts to no longer be viable."

So it must be something pretty bad to make Massachusetts "no longer viable" as a market to help people get homes.  It's got to be something really, really bad to destroy the mortgage market for GMAC to the point where there's just ZERO business for them anymore.

Actually, what happened was the state Attorney General filed a lawsuit against GMAC for illegal mortgage practices.  You know, the same practices that led to thousands of foreclosures and contributed to the crash of the economy.  So the state tries to hold this company accountable (which the taxpayers have a 74% stake in thanks to the bailout) for their crimes, and instead they retaliate.  Its very mafia of them... "You try and hold us responsible, and we'll blow up your house."

***************************************************************

Number TWO  story...

In case you were wondering whether or not Republicans are just stooges of the 1%, here's what they do when they have power in the house:

The House on Thursday approved a bill ending the Election Assistance Commission (EAC) that was set up to ensure states meet certain standards at the voting booth, and ending the public financing of presidential campaigns. The bill passed in a mostly partisan 235-190 vote...

"There is no doubt that a voter suppression effort is underway in this nation," Rep. Marcia Fudge (D-Ohio) charged on the House floor. "Abolishing the Election Assistance Commission, an agency charged with ensuring that the vote of each American counts, is just another step in the voter suppression effort and would completely remove oversight of the most important process in our democracy."

 
Republicans have said ending the EAC would save $33 million over the next five years. The GOP says the EAC has already served its purpose, and that any work it still does offering guidance to states can be transferred to the Federal Election Commission.

 Really?  REALLY?!?  WTF?  Suddenly you're concerned about $33 million over FIVE YEARS?  *ugh*  Makes me so stabby*.  What's more important to a democracy?  Saving chump change, or oversight of the voting process?  

The only reason the Republicans want to end oversight of the voting process is so they continue with their voting suppression efforts without any obstacle.  And while they do this, they scream about voter fraud, ACORN, etc.  All that is really just code for them to suppress the votes of minorities, the poor, women, and youth.  Don't want power to be taken away from the stooges of the 1% now.

Maybe they want to get rid of this commission because they're afraid their CRIMINAL actions might be found out.  Just saying...

***********************************************

And the Number ONE story...

In a move of dickishness that may rival the levels of Newt Gingrich, NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg said the following:

In a speech at MIT last night to discuss the packed sweepstakes to build a tech campus in New York City, Mayor Bloomberg said he prefers City Hall to the White House. Almost immediately after Mayor Bloomberg dampened recent speculation he’s eyeing a White House bid, he added fuel to the fire by explaining why a mayor would be the best person for the job.

“I have my own army in the NYPD, which is the seventh biggest army in the world. I have my own State Department, much to Foggy Bottom’s annoyance. We have the United Nations in New York, and so we have an entree into the diplomatic world that Washington does not have,” Mayor Bloomberg said.

 "Whatchu talkin 'bout Bloomy?!?"

Uh, so let's get one thing straight Mr. Bloomberg.  The New York Police Department is NOT and will never be your own personal army.  The Police Department won't ever be an army.  I don't know what its like to live in your reality or your world, but I'm pretty sure I know what the police is all about.

The police, for example, are separate from the military.  The police are paid for by our tax dollars.  The police are there to protect our neighborhoods and communities.  The police are there to enforce the law and protect the citizens that pay for them from abuse.  The power of the police is limited, including in matters of arrest, search and seizure, and use of force.

What they are NOT is your own personal army.

For a view into Mr. Bloomberg's world where he has his own army, let's consider an interesting fact.  Bloomberg is the 12-richest person in the United States with a worth of $19.5 billion.  What can you do with that much money?  Own 88% of your own media company.  What else can you do with that much money?  Oh I don't know, maybe buy your own army...  *sigh*

But all this makes me wonder, does $19.5 billion put the mayor of NYC in the 1% that the Occupy movement is protesting against?  Tough question...

PEACE

*((the "stabby" reference was from a wonderful podcast I listen to called the LiberalOasis.  Please check out their blog and weekly podcast, both very good))

Newt Gingrich on Occupy Wall St.

Try to watch this without vomiting in disgust or sheer anger at his words.  And this is the current leader of the Republican primary field for president.

Transcript (with my commentary):

"Jefferson said that the people who want to be both free and ignorant are asking for something that has never been and will never be.  Captain John Smith said in 1607 in the first English speaking permanent colony to the aristocrats who paid their way and didn't want to work, if you don't work you don't eat.  There was a deep sense of responsibility.

This disgusts me.  This so called expert on moral values is saying that if you're not working you don't have a deep sense of responsibility.  Unemployed?  Go get a job you dirty hippie.  Laid off or fired?  You obviously didn't work hard enough to keep your job.

"Let me now take that and for a brief moment describe Occupy Wall St."

 Oh please do, since you apparently understand it so well...

 "All of the Occupy movement starts with the premise that we owe them everything."

 No fuck face.  Have you even paid an iota of attention to the protests?  Have you even dedicated one brain cell of what's left in that skull of yours to what the protesters have been demanding?  And by the way, when you say "we", sounds like you are saying that you are a part of the 1%, you know, that corrupt, crime riddled, corporate interest that the Occupy movement simply wants to pay their fair share.  That same 1% that the Occupy movement wants to pay for their crimes.

"They take over a public park they didn't pay for.  To go nearby to bathrooms they didn't pay for..."

Hey moron, if its PUBLIC it belongs to the PEOPLE.  Those same PEOPLE that are protesting PAID for it with their taxes.  Unless poor and middle class Americans don't count to you Newt...

"...to beg for food from places they they don’t want to pay for.  To obstruct those that are going to work to pay the taxes to sustain the bathrooms and to sustain the park so that they can self-righteously explain that they are the paragons of virtue to which we owe everything."

I've been to the protest and Chicago and fellow protesters are actually bringing food to the protest so people don't have to beg.  Bet you didn't know that Newt, but I guess you also didn't go down to the protest yourself.  And isn't one of the POINTS of the protest to Occupy Wall St; to obstruct those that are criminally destroying our country and stealing its wealth?  Oh I forgot, in your world, only the 1% (there's that "we" again) pay taxes that really count.

“Now, that is a pretty good symptom of how much the left has collapsed as a moral system in this country and why you need to reassert something as simple as saying to them, ‘Go get a job right after you take a bath.”

 Let's talk about YOUR moral values Newt (no, you don't get the respect from me to call you "Mr.").  

- You are the only Speaker of the House to be sanctioned for ethics violations.
- You had 84 ethics violations filed against you while in congress.
- You were paid $30,000 an hour for lobbying "work" with Fannie Mae (you know, that good ol' sense of responsibility Newt?)
- You owed $500,000 dollars to Tiffany's, you know, good ol' fiscal responsibility.
- You and your wife went on a luxury cruise during a crucial point in the primaries, you know, good ol' work responsibility.
- Your "charity" gave money to your for-profit businesses that you run.  Oh that's what charity is for Newt.
- You cheated on your first wife while she was in the hospital recovering from surgery, and then married your mistress.
- You cheated on your second wife with a woman 23 years younger than you DURING the Lewinsky Scandal, eventually marrying her.  You claimed you did this out of "love for your country".

And on, and on, and on.  Not to mention that you belong to the party of death, of torture, of war, of corporate crime, of greed, of environmental poisoning, of the death penalty, of secret prisons, of racism, of sexism, and on, and on, and on.

Take a look in the mirror Newt before you tell me the "left has collapsed as a moral system."

***

I'm not going try argue with his point about what he says Occupy Wall St. is about.  To truly know what the protest is about, go down to the protest yourself.  There are numerous protests occurring in hundreds of cities across all fifty states.  Turn off the fucking propaganda which is the corporate owned media and open your eyes for yourself.  Get to the ground, get your brain a little dirty, get your feet a little worn, and make a fucking decision for yourself.

If you can't agree to try turning off Fox News, then you're lost to me.

PEACE

p.s. Newt Gingrich, go Fuck yourself.

Police Brutality at UC Davis

If you haven't seen this yet or heard about this story, watch the video below.  It is beyond words.

One would imagine this was filmed in Egypt, or Tunisia, Syria, or even Libya.  No folks, this is right here in the good ol' United States of America.  What did these students do to deserve this brutality?  Exercise their right to free speech and right to free assembly, that's all.

The best part?  You think that anything is going to happen to these police who broke the law?

(g) Any person who uses tear gas or tear gas weapons except in self-defense is guilty of a public offense and is punishable byimprisonment in a state prison for 16 months, or two or three years or in a county jail not to exceed one year or by a fine not to exceed one thousand dollars ($1,000), or by both the fine and imprisonment, except that, if the use is against a peace officer, as defined in Chapter 4.5 (commencing with Section 830) of Title 3 of Part 2, engaged in the performance of his or her official duties and the person committing the offense knows or reasonably should know that the victim is a peace officer, the offense is punishable by imprisonment in a state prison for 16 months or two or three years or by a fine of one thousand dollars ($1,000), or by both the fine and imprisonment.

 I wonder when the Federal Government will step in and say enough is enough, that these protesters have the right to do what they want and that no police force has the right to treat them that way.  In my last post I mentioned what happens when the corporate interests are protected over the rights of the people.  Think fascism can't happen here?  Watch that video again and then try answering that question.

PEACE

Corporations and the F word

Oh my, what could I be talking about?  Do I dare mention it?  Could it be happening in this country?  No, it only happened in Germany, Italy, Spain, and elsewhere.  It could never happen here.  Corporations could never exert so much power in this country.  But...

Fascism?

Ah yes, the dreaded F word.  Up until now, most of the talk has been in this country of an oligarchy or a plutocracy.  Here is a perfect example of what I'm talking about from Bill Moyers.

It would seem that wealthy corporate interests and democracy don't mix too well.  Democracy is a system of government that looks out for the needs of the majority of its people and the benefits of all.  It is also a system of government that is run by the people.  A plutocracy is where the corporate interests run the show, where the wealthy make the decisions that help only the wealthy, not the people.  So it would seem pretty easy to see where these two don't mix.

But Fascism?  The slow erosion of our rights have made me think of this.  It's the slow erosion of our rights all to protect the corporate interests.

As the Occupy protests continue around the United States, it has been the police who have been cracking down on the people's right to freedom of speech under the first amendment.  With arrests at the protests surpassing 4000, what have these people done other than exercise their freedom of speech?  As far as I'm concerned, the Constitution doesn't say that freedom of speech ends when the sun goes down.

What other right has been suppressed?  The right to the freedom of the press.  Mayor Bloomberg blocked reporters from covering the crackdown on Zucotti park and when reporters tried to cover it, they were arrested.  Reporters all across America have been arrested for covering these protests.

“Sometimes they are arrested and then set free almost immediately. Sometimes they are arrested and, before being released, are charged with unlawful assembly, disorderly conduct or lack of press credentials.

Journalists covering the Occupy Wall Street movement’s protests and marches are not only exposed to police brutality but also to a sort of judicial lottery when detained. The situation varies from state to state, according to local laws, but the freedom to report news and information is being violated almost everywhere, not only for professional journalists but also for bloggers and for activists who want to cover the protests themselves."

What is the role of the police?  To protect the rights of the people?  Or to protect the rights of the corporation? 

That's why I bring up the dreaded F word.  Fascism.  In a 2003 study of fascist regimes around the world and in history, fourteen defining characteristics of fascism were found.  The following is one of them.

"Corporate Power is Protected - The industrial and business aristocracy of a fascist nation often are the ones who put the government leaders into power, creating a mutually beneficial business/government relationship and power elite."

Sound like something that might be happening here?  Even in NYC, Mayor Bloomberg is the 12 richest man in America with a net worth of 19.5 BILLION dollars.  It would seem that he has interests that need to be protected.

Or how about the fact that one of the largest multinational banking and investment firms in the world, also located on Wall St., gave a private donation of $4.6 million to the NYPD, the largest donation to a public police force ever?  Whose interests do you think they were looking out for?  The people?  Think they made this donation so that our first amendment rights to freedom of speech and freedom of the press could be protected?

I will close with the following words from a fellow blogger of mine TeacherKen:

"The use of sonic weapons, the use of massive police, the changing of the rules of access to the park after the fact in violation of the agreement by which the park was created, the refusal of the authorities to allow access to the press, the arresting of journalists, the continued incarceration of people including a city councilman without bringing them to the courts  -  all of these are indicators that basic rights apparently no longer matter to those in control of power.

How the people as a whole respond to what has happened, including the coordination across multiple cities and the inappropriate intervention of the Department of Homeland Security into this situation, may represent the last chance to prevent this nation from slipping into fascism -  corporate domination of the system without regard to the rights of persons ostensibly guaranteed by the Constitutions of the United States and the several states."

Don't think this can't happen here.  Don't think that fascism and corporate interests can't dominate the interests of the people.  We can either keep ignoring what's happening here, or speak out against it and act out against the corporate interests.

PEACE

Young Americans Suffering Disproportionately

This morning I found an article which discusses the record "wealth gap" between the young and the old in this country.  I have no problem with older Americans having wealth.  I have a problem with the youth of this country suffering like this.  

The following article from this morning's Associated Press:

"WASHINGTON (AP) — The wealth gap between younger and older Americans has stretched to the widest on record, worsened by a prolonged economic downturn that has wiped out job opportunities for young adults and saddled them with housing and college debt.

The typical U.S. household headed by a person age 65 or older has a net worth 47 times greater than a household headed by someone under 35, according to an analysis of census data released Monday.

While people typically accumulate assets as they age, this gap is now more than double what it was in 2005 and nearly five times the 10-to-1 disparity a quarter-century ago, after adjusting for inflation."

 First of all, lets not call it a "wealth gap".  Young people in this country are poor.  I have no shame saying it. 

It's the kind of poor where you can barely get a minimum wage job that forces you to live paycheck to paycheck. 

It's the kind of poor where you have to get two, maybe three jobs just so that you can pay rent, bills, and buy food because you don't want the internal shame of being on public assistance.

It's the kind of poor where you can't save for your future, because every cent is going to student loans that got you that college education that you were told would make your future.

It's the kind of poor that doesn't allow you to have any health insurance.  Hospital visits are out of the question.

It's the kind of poor that forces a young couple with a new kid to sell their home, thinking they were secure in their jobs until Wall St. destroyed the economy and any sense of your future with it.

Meanwhile, the old are being forced to stay in their jobs longer just so that they can keep their health insurance while politicians talk of raising the social security and medicare ages.  They are forced to delay a well deserved retirement just so they can remain in their homes for fear of foreclosure. 

***

The current state of affairs is no good.  High unemployment is crippling young people.  Student loans are making them slaves to the system.  Poverty is creeping in to their lives across the board at an alarming rate.  Meanwhile the government cuts education programs, public assistance programs, food stamps, child health insurance, and more.  They are coming for social security and medicare as well.  People are suffering and their suffering is increasing.  If you are young and experiencing this, it is frustrating, angering, but often just damn depressing.  If you are old, you are watching your life's work whittled away at while your children and grandchildren suffer needlessly. 

We're not leeches.  We don't expect much.  We just want a fair chance at achieving our dreams (you know, that "American Dream").  We want to have that chance without being saddled by crippling debt, whether student or medical.  We want to have that chance without having the corporate owned government putting obstacles in our way.  We want to have that chance without the corporate owned media belittling us at every turn.

We want a FAIR chance.  We deserve the same opportunity as the 1% is given.  The same opportunity to try, to succeed, and to fail without fear of death.  The same fair playing ground for everybody, not just the 1% or even just the 99%, but for ALL.

Isn't that what we used to say everyday to start the school day?  "Liberty and Justice for All"!

 

PEACE

 

Can't Pay the Bills? Tear Out the Lights

After my last post, I received a comment on another blog.

"The problem with numbers is that everybody's got some, and almost nobody knows what they add up to.  The system is intentionally obscure.  If you use numbers, you are just going to get buried with other people's numbers.  Better to stick with visceral evidence.  Who is suffering?  Who is dying?  How?  Why?"

That is fair.  My last point addressed the unfairness of the current political system in numbers.  But what does this do to people?  How does it affect them?  And BLAM!  This morning I find this article about what happens when a Michigan City can't pay the electric bill.

"HIGHLAND PARK, Mich. (AP) -- As the sun dips below the rooftops each evening, parts of this Detroit enclave turn to pitch black, the only illumination coming from a few streetlights at the end of the block or from glowing yellow yard globes.

It wasn't always this way. But when the debt-ridden community could no longer afford its monthly electric bill, elected officials not only turned off 1,000 streetlights. They had them ripped out -- bulbs, poles and all. Now nightfall cloaks most neighborhoods in inky darkness.

"How can you darken any city?" asked Victoria Dowdell, standing in the halo of a light in her front yard. "I think that was a disgrace. She said the decision endangers everyone, especially people who have to walk around at night or catch the bus."

THIS is how the greed of the 1% affects the people of this country.  This is a neighborhood deep in poverty and has had a debt crisis.  It has more people than jobs, burnt out lots, vacant houses, and unused buildings.  Population levels have steadily decreased and the community is in decay.  Most of these local debt problems arise from the banking, housing, and other criminal corporate behaviors.

And yet, the same corporation that is holding Highland Park, MI to its debt, is DTE energy.  DTE energy had a negative tax rate this year, meaning they made billions in profit AND received money from the government.  They hold this community hostage to what is essentially chump change for them!

They have torn out two-thirds of this city's lights.
Torn out.  Nice short term solution.  Lets not think of the long term needs.

Would you like to walk home through the city in the dark?
Would you like to worry about your kids coming home safely?
Would you like to fear every dark space where your home is?

All for what?  Because DTE demands that this city immediately pay off their debt?

The only numbers that are ultimately important here are 99%... and 1%.  The 1% steals our money, and takes money from the government that they control through their lobbying.  The 99% have to suffer as a result of their greed, criminality, and inhumanity.  Are you going to stand for that?  Are you going to watch as the communities of the masses are destroyed?

I look again at the comment the other person left me.  Who is suffering because of the 1%?  How are they suffering?  Why?

Don't let the corporations destroy the social contract that the government has with its people.  It's "We the People" not "We the 1%."

U.S. Corporations Paying No Taxes

I know this is probably old news for a lot of us, but if I get one person to realize this for the first time, I've achieved what I want.  If you are not aware, between 2008 and 2010, thirty large and wealthy American Corporations paid zero income tax.  As you read this post, think about how much income tax you paid this year.

"(Reuters) - Thirty large and profitable U.S. corporations paid no income taxes in 2008 through 2010, said a study on Thursday that arrives as Congress faces rising demands for tax reform, but seems unable or unwilling to act.

Pepco Holdings, a Washington, D.C.-area power company, had the lowest effective tax rate, at negative 57.6 percent, among the 280 Fortune 500 companies studied.

The statutory U.S. corporate income tax rate is 35 percent, one of the highest in the world, but over the 2008-2010 period, very few of the companies studied paid it, said the report.  The average effective tax rate for the companies over the period was 18.5 percent, said Citizens for Tax Justice and the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, both think tanks."

 From the actual report itself (.pdf file), the following thirty companies paid ZERO income tax, as well as receiving millions...oh wait, I meant billions in tax rebates from the government.

(1) Pepco Holdings (2) General Electric (3) Paccar (4) PG&E Corporation (5) Computer Sciences (6) NiSource (7) CenterPoint Energy (8) Tenet Healthcare (9) Atmos Energy (10) Integrys Energy Group (11) American Electric Power (12) Con-way (13) Ryder System (14) Baxter International (15) Wisconsin Energy (16) Duke Energy (17) DuPont (18) Consolidated Edison (19) Verizon Communications (20) Interpublic Group (21) CMS Energy (22) NextEra Energy (23) Navistar International (24) Boeing (25) Wells Fargo (26) El Paso (27) Mattel (28) Honeywell International (29) DTE Energy (30) Corning

But what does it all mean?  Taking a closer look at these companies shows us the following industries.

- 14 Energy / Utility Companies
- 3 Transportation Companies
- 2 Healthcare Companies
- 2 Conglomerates
- Remaining in Chemicals, Communications, Advertising, Aerospace, Defense, Banking, Finance, and Toys

Do you think its any coincidence that there are so many energy companies on this list?  How about healthcare?  How about these giant conglomerates, like G.E. that are on this list?  And it's more than just these companies paying zero income tax, they are actually receiving money from the government to the tune of billions of dollars.

Take G.E. for example.  In 2010, G.E. had a profit of 4.2 BILLION dollars.  The government gave them tax breaks to the tune of 3.3 BILLION dollars.  This gave them an effective tax rate of -76.6%.  Seem fair to you?  What was your tax rate?

How about an oil company?  In 2009, Exxon-Mobil had a profit of 2.5 BILLION dollars.  The government gave them tax breaks to the tune of 950 million dollars.  This gave them an effective tax rate of -38.3%.  Seem fair to you?  What was your tax rate?  How much were you paying per gallon of gasoline in 2009?  How much did that affect your life?

Oh I know!  How about the company that held our country at gunpoint?  In 2008, Goldman Sachs had a profit 4.9 BILLION dollars.  The government gave them tax breaks to the tune of 786 million dollars.  This gave them an effective tax rate of -16%.  Seem fair to you?  This doesn't even include the bailout funds.  Or all the foreclosed homes.

How could I forget about healthcare!  In 2009, the for profit healthcare group Tenet Healthcare had a profit of 193 million dollars.  The government gave them tax breaks to the tune of 53 million dollars.  Tax rate of -27.3% anyone?  Tenet operates 139 for profit health centers in the United States.  They've been involved in psychiatric fraud, medicare fraud, unnecessary heart surgery scandal, and Hurricane Katrina scandal.  So it seems only fair that they receive money from the government.

***

See where I'm going with this?  How is it that the rest of us, the 99%, have to see our jobs destroyed (sorry, I meant, "Management wanted to curtail redundancies in the human resources area, so many people are no longer viable members of the workforce" - thanks George Carlin), our pensions destroyed, our retirement destroyed, and then our social safety nets destroyed?  And then watch as that money, OUR tax money, given away to the 1%?  This is purely and simply reverse Robin Hood!

This is why people are fed up.  This is why people are protesting.  The 99% are slowly losing everything they've worked so hard for, while the 1% are bleeding this country dry all in the name of their corporate profits and CEO pay.  You want healthcare?  Sorry, government tax break for the corporate 1%.  You want affordable gasoline?  Sorry, government tax break for the corporate 1%.  You want to heat your home in the winter?  Sorry, you have to go broke so the government can give its tax breaks for the corporate 1%.  You want your labor to be valued by forming a union?  You know, the same labor that created this wealth?  Sorry, aint happening.

And so it goes.  On, and on, and on, and on...


It's infuriating.  If you have time, read the report, however I warn you its 71 pages of infuriating material.  I will blog about parts of this report more.

Finally, to end this post...

Corporations will say rightly that the loopholes that let them slash their taxes were perfectly legal, the report said.

"But that does not mean that low-tax corporations bear no responsibility ... The laws were not enacted in a vacuum; they were adopted in response to relentless corporate lobbying, threats and campaign support," the report said.

 Don't let these people lie anymore.  Don't believe anything they say anymore.

Delegitimizing Occupy Wall St.

As the Occupy Wall St. protests continue not just in New York but also around the world, the main stream media... I'm sorry, I meant the lame-stream liberal media... seems to be doing everything it can to delegitimize both the movement and the protesters themselves.  I wake up this morning on my day off (you know, from running away, being "brave") and see this on the front page of Yahoo! news. 

NYC arrest records: Many Occupy Wall St Protestors Live in Luxury

"For each of the 984 Occupy Wall Street protesters arrested in New York City between September 18 and October 15, police collected and filed an information sheet recording the arrestee’s name, age, sex, criminal charge, home address and — in most cases — race. The Daily Caller has obtained all of this information from a source in the New York City government.

Among addresses for which information is available, single-family homes listed on those police intake forms have a median value of $305,000 — a far higher number than the $185,400 median value of owner-occupied housing units in the United States.

Some of the homes where “Occupy” arrestees reside, viewed through Google Maps and the Multiple Listing Service real estate database, are the definition of opulence."

A couple things to address here.  

Why is this important?  Why is the media publishing financial information about those arrested?  It's bad enough that these people got arrested for expressing themselves under the first amendment of the Bill of Rights.  Now they have to have their personal lives and finances under scrutiny not just by the police, but by the general public?  It's one thing if you're a politician and you put yourself out there to be scrutinized by the general public.  But people who are protesting should not be afraid of losing all their privacy.

Even if the people protesting are "wealthy", they are still part of the 99% as defined by the protest movement.  Can anyone in the media really defend the 1%, those 400 top earners who make the top wealth in the entire country?  It's easy to generalize and entire group of people, but just because some of these protesters have higher home values does not make them any less legitimate or make their grievances any less legitimate.  If that were the case, then not a single one of our elected officials would have anything worth listening to.

Lastly, the whole point of this article is to frame the protesters in a way that makes the movement seem absurd, violent, illegitimate, and privileged.  Some examples of the article that does this.

"While it would not be fair to conclude that the arrested protesters are fully representative of a movement that is not completely understood, this information forms the most complete snapshot yet of the demonstrations’ more militant participants....

 "It also reinforces the persistent critique of protesters as entitled, upper-class agitators with few legitimate grievances....

 "Sleeping beside the hardcore activists are increasing numbers of wealthy students turning up to make the most of the party atmosphere, drugs and free food..."

"While they dress down to blend in, the youngsters’ privileged backgrounds are revealed by glimpses of expensive gadgetry or the absent minded mention of their private schools during heated political debates...."

Apart from being deceptive and dishonest, some parts of this article are straight up lies.  This movement has been non-violent and non-militant from the start.  If there has been any violence, it is being initiated by the police.  And this lie of drugs at these protests is completely unfounded and has had no proof at all.  But hey, if you keep saying a lie or group of lies over and over and over again, people are bound to start believing you, right?

On a final note, this was linked from Yahoo!'s front page to a "news" organization called The Daily Caller.  Who is the Daily Caller?  With a little research, I find that the Daily Caller is a "news" website founded by disgraced TV host Tucker Carlson with the help of his bowtie.  He founded it with Neil Patel who was a former advisor to Dick Cheney.  Who knows, maybe a certain former Alaskan governor can join this "news" site to make it even more important?  *cough* conservative circle jerk *cough*
 
When you go to their website (which I will refuse to link to here), you will see the following articles after the above discussed articles:
-  "Study: Public School Teachers Aren't Underpaid"
-  "Roger Stone Warns GOP of Great Danger of Third Party Candidate"
-  "The Quick and Dirty Guide to Sexual Harassment"
-  "Cain Sexual Harassment Allegations May be Fundraising Boon"
-  "Regulation is This Halloween's Goblin"

And on that note....*pitter patter*...Brave Sir Robin Ran away!  Bravely ran away....

p.s.  Free food at protests?  Those communists!  E-V-I-L