Monday, January 30, 2012
One Percent Needn't Dominate An Awakened Populace:
George Lakey: How Swedes and Norwegians Broke the Power of the ‘1 Percent’
"While many of us are working to ensure that the Occupy movement will have a lasting impact, it’s worthwhile to consider other countries where masses of people succeeded in nonviolently bringing about a high degree of democracy and economic justice. Sweden and Norway, for example, both experienced a major power shift in the 1930s after prolonged nonviolent struggle. They 'fired' the top 1 percent of people who set the direction for society and created the basis for something different.
Both countries had a history of horrendous poverty. When the 1 percent was in charge, hundreds of thousands of people emigrated to avoid starvation. Under the leadership of the working class, however, both countries built robust and successful economies that nearly eliminated poverty, expanded free university education, abolished slums, provided excellent health care available to all as a matter of right and created a system of full employment. Unlike the Norwegians, the Swedes didn’t find oil, but that didn’t stop them from building what the latest CIA World Factbook calls 'an enviable standard of living,'..."
Pat Garofalo: Analysis: Buffett Rule Will Raise $50 Billion Per Year, Affect Just 0.08 Percent of Taxpayers
Analysis from Citizens for Tax Justice
"...Obviously, $50 billion by itself won’t balance the budget, but it certainly doesn’t hurt. At the same time, the Buffett rule will aid in correcting some of the problems in the tax code — like one quarter of millionaires paying lower rates than millions of middle class families and some millionaires paying no income tax at all — that have helped drive income inequality up to a level not seen in the U.S. since the 1920s."
Koch'ed Up Hypocrisy:
The Nation: Charles Koch to Friedrich Hayek: Use Social Security!
"There’s right-wing hypocrisy, and then there’s this: Charles Koch, billionaire patron of free-market libertarianism, privately championed the benefits of Social Security to Friedrich Hayek, the leading laissez-faire economist of the twentieth century. Koch even sent Hayek a government pamphlet to help him take advantage of America’s federal retirement insurance and healthcare programs...
...Publicly, in academia and in politics, in the media and in propaganda, these two major figures—one the sponsor, the other the mandarin—have been pushing Americans to do away with Social Security and Medicare for our own good: we will become freer, richer, healthier and better people.
But the exchange between Koch and Hayek exposes the bad-faith nature of their public arguments. In private, Koch expresses confidence in Social Security’s ability to care for a clearly worried Hayek. He and his fellow IHS libertarians repeatedly assure Hayek that his government-funded coverage in the United States would be adequate for his medical needs. None of them—not Koch, Hayek or the other libertarians at the IHS—express anything remotely resembling shame or unease at such a betrayal of their public ideals and writings. Nowhere do they worry that by opting into and taking advantage of Social Security programs they might be hastening a socialist takeover of America. It’s simply a given that Social Security and Medicare work, and therefore should be used..."
"
George Lakey: How Swedes and Norwegians Broke the Power of the ‘1 Percent’
"While many of us are working to ensure that the Occupy movement will have a lasting impact, it’s worthwhile to consider other countries where masses of people succeeded in nonviolently bringing about a high degree of democracy and economic justice. Sweden and Norway, for example, both experienced a major power shift in the 1930s after prolonged nonviolent struggle. They 'fired' the top 1 percent of people who set the direction for society and created the basis for something different.
Both countries had a history of horrendous poverty. When the 1 percent was in charge, hundreds of thousands of people emigrated to avoid starvation. Under the leadership of the working class, however, both countries built robust and successful economies that nearly eliminated poverty, expanded free university education, abolished slums, provided excellent health care available to all as a matter of right and created a system of full employment. Unlike the Norwegians, the Swedes didn’t find oil, but that didn’t stop them from building what the latest CIA World Factbook calls 'an enviable standard of living,'..."
Pat Garofalo: Analysis: Buffett Rule Will Raise $50 Billion Per Year, Affect Just 0.08 Percent of Taxpayers
Analysis from Citizens for Tax Justice
"...Obviously, $50 billion by itself won’t balance the budget, but it certainly doesn’t hurt. At the same time, the Buffett rule will aid in correcting some of the problems in the tax code — like one quarter of millionaires paying lower rates than millions of middle class families and some millionaires paying no income tax at all — that have helped drive income inequality up to a level not seen in the U.S. since the 1920s."
Koch'ed Up Hypocrisy:
The Nation: Charles Koch to Friedrich Hayek: Use Social Security!
"There’s right-wing hypocrisy, and then there’s this: Charles Koch, billionaire patron of free-market libertarianism, privately championed the benefits of Social Security to Friedrich Hayek, the leading laissez-faire economist of the twentieth century. Koch even sent Hayek a government pamphlet to help him take advantage of America’s federal retirement insurance and healthcare programs...
...Publicly, in academia and in politics, in the media and in propaganda, these two major figures—one the sponsor, the other the mandarin—have been pushing Americans to do away with Social Security and Medicare for our own good: we will become freer, richer, healthier and better people.
But the exchange between Koch and Hayek exposes the bad-faith nature of their public arguments. In private, Koch expresses confidence in Social Security’s ability to care for a clearly worried Hayek. He and his fellow IHS libertarians repeatedly assure Hayek that his government-funded coverage in the United States would be adequate for his medical needs. None of them—not Koch, Hayek or the other libertarians at the IHS—express anything remotely resembling shame or unease at such a betrayal of their public ideals and writings. Nowhere do they worry that by opting into and taking advantage of Social Security programs they might be hastening a socialist takeover of America. It’s simply a given that Social Security and Medicare work, and therefore should be used..."
"
Saturday, January 28, 2012
Is it Class Warfare or Basic Fairness...
...to call attention this massively excessive compensation? Most Americans would consider even $1 million to be vast of compensation in the service of any business.
ABC News: Golden Parachutes: 21 CEOs Landed $100M Plus
"...So-called golden parachutes are contractual provisions that compensate executives, if they are terminated without cause. And according to a first-of-its-kind report, the payout practice has guaranteed several outgoing chiefs with nine-figure landings to help soften the fall from their corner offices...
...According to the study, 21 CEOs received more than $100 million each in ''walk away' packages. In all, companies like GE, Exxon Mobil Corp., AT&T and Home Depot Inc., have collectively provided nearly $4 billion in golden parachutes. But according to Hodgeson, those figures could be on the low-side.
'These numbers don't include the perks - the use of the corporate jet, the corner offices - a lot of the compensation that doesn't get listed on the public files,'...
General Electric John F. Welch Jr. 1981-2001 $417,361,902
Exxon Mobil Corp. Lee R. Raymond 1993-2005 $320,599,861
UnitedHealth Group William D. McGuire 1991-2006 $285,996,009
AT&T Edward E. Whitacre Jr. 1990-2007 $230,048,463
Home Depot Inc. Robert L. Nardelli 2000-2007 $223,290,123
North Fork Bank John A. Kanas 1977-2006 $214,300,000
Merck & Co., Inc./Schering-Plough Fred Hassan 2003-2009 $189,352,324
IBM Louis V. Gerstner Jr. 1993-2002 $189,005,929
Pfizer Inc. Hank A. McKinnell Jr. 2001-2006 $188,329,553
CVS Caremark Corp. Thomas M. Ryan 1998-2011 $185,415,435
Gillette Co. James M. Kilts 2001-2005 $164,532,192
Target Corp. Robert J. Ulrich 1994-2008 $164,162,612
Merrill Lynch & Co. E. Stanley O'Neal 2002-2007 $161,500,000
U.S. Bancorp Jerry A. Grundhofer 2001-2006 $159,064,090
Omnicare, Inc. Joel F. Gemunder 2001-2010 $146,001,476
Wachovia/South Trust Wallace D. Malone Jr. 1981-2004 $125,292,818
United Technologies Corp. George A. L. David 1994-2008 $122,631,309
eBay Inc. Margaret C. Whitman 1998-2008 $120,427,360
WellPoint Health Leonard Schaeffer 1992-2004 $119,041,000
XTO Energy Inc. Bob R. Simpson 1986-2008 $103,485,972
Viacom Thomas E. Freston 2006 $100,839,772..."
NY Times: How the U.S. Lost Out on iPhone Work
"When Barack Obama joined Silicon Valley’s top luminaries for dinner in California last February, each guest was asked to come with a question for the president.
But as Steven P. Jobs of Apple spoke, President Obama interrupted with an inquiry of his own: what would it take to make iPhones in the United States?
Not long ago, Apple boasted that its products were made in America. Today, few are. Almost all of the 70 million iPhones, 30 million iPads and 59 million other products Apple sold last year were manufactured overseas.
Why can’t that work come home? Mr. Obama asked.
Mr. Jobs’s reply was unambiguous. 'Those jobs aren’t coming back,' he said, according to another dinner guest.
The president’s question touched upon a central conviction at Apple. It isn’t just that workers are cheaper abroad. Rather, Apple’s executives believe the vast scale of overseas factories as well as the flexibility, diligence and industrial skills of foreign workers have so outpaced their American counterparts that 'Made in the U.S.A.' is no longer a viable option for most Apple products...
...various academics and manufacturing analysts estimate that because labor is such a small part of technology manufacturing, paying American wages would add up to $65 to each iPhone’s expense. Since Apple’s profits are often hundreds of dollars per phone, building domestically, in theory, would still give the company a healthy reward.
But such calculations are, in many respects, meaningless because building the iPhone in the United States would demand much more than hiring Americans — it would require transforming the national and global economies. Apple executives believe there simply aren’t enough American workers with the skills the company needs or factories with sufficient speed and flexibility. Other companies that work with Apple, like Corning, also say they must go abroad..."
...to call attention this massively excessive compensation? Most Americans would consider even $1 million to be vast of compensation in the service of any business.
ABC News: Golden Parachutes: 21 CEOs Landed $100M Plus
"...So-called golden parachutes are contractual provisions that compensate executives, if they are terminated without cause. And according to a first-of-its-kind report, the payout practice has guaranteed several outgoing chiefs with nine-figure landings to help soften the fall from their corner offices...
...According to the study, 21 CEOs received more than $100 million each in ''walk away' packages. In all, companies like GE, Exxon Mobil Corp., AT&T and Home Depot Inc., have collectively provided nearly $4 billion in golden parachutes. But according to Hodgeson, those figures could be on the low-side.
'These numbers don't include the perks - the use of the corporate jet, the corner offices - a lot of the compensation that doesn't get listed on the public files,'...
General Electric John F. Welch Jr. 1981-2001 $417,361,902
Exxon Mobil Corp. Lee R. Raymond 1993-2005 $320,599,861
UnitedHealth Group William D. McGuire 1991-2006 $285,996,009
AT&T Edward E. Whitacre Jr. 1990-2007 $230,048,463
Home Depot Inc. Robert L. Nardelli 2000-2007 $223,290,123
North Fork Bank John A. Kanas 1977-2006 $214,300,000
Merck & Co., Inc./Schering-Plough Fred Hassan 2003-2009 $189,352,324
IBM Louis V. Gerstner Jr. 1993-2002 $189,005,929
Pfizer Inc. Hank A. McKinnell Jr. 2001-2006 $188,329,553
CVS Caremark Corp. Thomas M. Ryan 1998-2011 $185,415,435
Gillette Co. James M. Kilts 2001-2005 $164,532,192
Target Corp. Robert J. Ulrich 1994-2008 $164,162,612
Merrill Lynch & Co. E. Stanley O'Neal 2002-2007 $161,500,000
U.S. Bancorp Jerry A. Grundhofer 2001-2006 $159,064,090
Omnicare, Inc. Joel F. Gemunder 2001-2010 $146,001,476
Wachovia/South Trust Wallace D. Malone Jr. 1981-2004 $125,292,818
United Technologies Corp. George A. L. David 1994-2008 $122,631,309
eBay Inc. Margaret C. Whitman 1998-2008 $120,427,360
WellPoint Health Leonard Schaeffer 1992-2004 $119,041,000
XTO Energy Inc. Bob R. Simpson 1986-2008 $103,485,972
Viacom Thomas E. Freston 2006 $100,839,772..."
NY Times: How the U.S. Lost Out on iPhone Work
"When Barack Obama joined Silicon Valley’s top luminaries for dinner in California last February, each guest was asked to come with a question for the president.
But as Steven P. Jobs of Apple spoke, President Obama interrupted with an inquiry of his own: what would it take to make iPhones in the United States?
Not long ago, Apple boasted that its products were made in America. Today, few are. Almost all of the 70 million iPhones, 30 million iPads and 59 million other products Apple sold last year were manufactured overseas.
Why can’t that work come home? Mr. Obama asked.
Mr. Jobs’s reply was unambiguous. 'Those jobs aren’t coming back,' he said, according to another dinner guest.
The president’s question touched upon a central conviction at Apple. It isn’t just that workers are cheaper abroad. Rather, Apple’s executives believe the vast scale of overseas factories as well as the flexibility, diligence and industrial skills of foreign workers have so outpaced their American counterparts that 'Made in the U.S.A.' is no longer a viable option for most Apple products...
...various academics and manufacturing analysts estimate that because labor is such a small part of technology manufacturing, paying American wages would add up to $65 to each iPhone’s expense. Since Apple’s profits are often hundreds of dollars per phone, building domestically, in theory, would still give the company a healthy reward.
But such calculations are, in many respects, meaningless because building the iPhone in the United States would demand much more than hiring Americans — it would require transforming the national and global economies. Apple executives believe there simply aren’t enough American workers with the skills the company needs or factories with sufficient speed and flexibility. Other companies that work with Apple, like Corning, also say they must go abroad..."
Wednesday, January 25, 2012
On Torture:
Raw Story: Appeals court rejects Padilla torture lawsuit
"The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit on Monday affirmed the dismissal of a lawsuit against current and former government officials for their alleged roles in the detention and torture of Jose Padilla, a U.S. citizen and convicted terrorist...
...'Today is a sad day for the rule of law and for those who believe that the courts should protect American citizens from torture by their own government,' said ACLU National Security Project Litigation Director Ben Wizner, who argued the appeal in court.
'By dismissing this lawsuit, the appeals court handed the government a blank check to commit any abuse in the name of national security, even the brutal torture of a U.S. citizen on U.S. soil. This impunity is not only anathema to a democracy governed by laws, but contrary to history’s lesson that in times of fear our values are a strength, not a hindrance,'..."
Mittens, The Profiteer, Wants To Be President:
Miami Herald: In Miami, story of profits and layoffs highlights debate over Mitt Romney's tenure at Bain
"...Bain borrowed heavily to buy the company and closed a factory in Puerto Rico to improve the bottom line. About 400 lost jobs there. Then in 1997, Bain shuttered Dade Behring’s Miami operations, costing another 850 jobs and a $30 million payroll in the community.
Before growing debt consumed the company, Bain executed its exit strategy and made $242 million.
'What bothers me most is that Romney’s campaign says he was a creator of jobs,' said Cindy Hewitt, a Miami resident who was a human resources manager at Dade Behring. 'I didn’t see that in any way, shape or form. He didn’t create jobs. He slashed and burned jobs.'
Romney’s time at Bain is the backbone of his run for president, the business experience he says is severely lacking in President Barack Obama. He portrays himself as a turnaround specialist, taking poor-performing companies and making them efficient and profitable. He claims to have created 100,000 jobs.
But the Miami experience illustrates the other side of Romney’s line of work, a messier reality that has exposed Romney to attacks from rivals seeking the Republican nomination.
Even comedian Stephen Colbert has gotten in the act, running a South Carolina ad that shows a cartoon Romney feeding Dade Behring into a wood-chipper that spits out money.
Next week, the GOP campaign shifts to Florida and already Romney is on the defensive with a TV ad that touts his Bain successes while condemning attacks on the 'free market,'..."
Our (Fleeting) Constitutional Rights:
CBS News: Ruling could force Americans to decrypt laptops
"American citizens can be ordered to decrypt their PGP-scrambled hard drives for police to peruse for incriminating files, a federal judge in Colorado ruled today in what could become a precedent-setting case.
Judge Robert Blackburn ordered a Peyton, Colo. woman to decrypt the hard drive of a Toshiba laptop computer no later than February 21 -- or face the consequences, presumably including contempt of court.
Blackburn, a George W. Bush appointee, ruled that the Fifth Amendment posed no barrier to his decryption order. The Fifth Amendment says that nobody man be 'compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself,' which has become known as the right to avoid self-incrimination.
'I find and conclude that the Fifth Amendment is not implicated by requiring production of the unencrypted contents of the Toshiba Satellite M305 laptop computer,' Blackburn wrote in a 10-page opinion today. He said the All Writs Act, which dates back to 1789 and has been used to require telephone companies to aid in surveillance, could be invoked in decrypting hard drives as well..."
Raw Story: Appeals court rejects Padilla torture lawsuit
"The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit on Monday affirmed the dismissal of a lawsuit against current and former government officials for their alleged roles in the detention and torture of Jose Padilla, a U.S. citizen and convicted terrorist...
...'Today is a sad day for the rule of law and for those who believe that the courts should protect American citizens from torture by their own government,' said ACLU National Security Project Litigation Director Ben Wizner, who argued the appeal in court.
'By dismissing this lawsuit, the appeals court handed the government a blank check to commit any abuse in the name of national security, even the brutal torture of a U.S. citizen on U.S. soil. This impunity is not only anathema to a democracy governed by laws, but contrary to history’s lesson that in times of fear our values are a strength, not a hindrance,'..."
Mittens, The Profiteer, Wants To Be President:
Miami Herald: In Miami, story of profits and layoffs highlights debate over Mitt Romney's tenure at Bain
"...Bain borrowed heavily to buy the company and closed a factory in Puerto Rico to improve the bottom line. About 400 lost jobs there. Then in 1997, Bain shuttered Dade Behring’s Miami operations, costing another 850 jobs and a $30 million payroll in the community.
Before growing debt consumed the company, Bain executed its exit strategy and made $242 million.
'What bothers me most is that Romney’s campaign says he was a creator of jobs,' said Cindy Hewitt, a Miami resident who was a human resources manager at Dade Behring. 'I didn’t see that in any way, shape or form. He didn’t create jobs. He slashed and burned jobs.'
Romney’s time at Bain is the backbone of his run for president, the business experience he says is severely lacking in President Barack Obama. He portrays himself as a turnaround specialist, taking poor-performing companies and making them efficient and profitable. He claims to have created 100,000 jobs.
But the Miami experience illustrates the other side of Romney’s line of work, a messier reality that has exposed Romney to attacks from rivals seeking the Republican nomination.
Even comedian Stephen Colbert has gotten in the act, running a South Carolina ad that shows a cartoon Romney feeding Dade Behring into a wood-chipper that spits out money.
Next week, the GOP campaign shifts to Florida and already Romney is on the defensive with a TV ad that touts his Bain successes while condemning attacks on the 'free market,'..."
Our (Fleeting) Constitutional Rights:
CBS News: Ruling could force Americans to decrypt laptops
"American citizens can be ordered to decrypt their PGP-scrambled hard drives for police to peruse for incriminating files, a federal judge in Colorado ruled today in what could become a precedent-setting case.
Judge Robert Blackburn ordered a Peyton, Colo. woman to decrypt the hard drive of a Toshiba laptop computer no later than February 21 -- or face the consequences, presumably including contempt of court.
Blackburn, a George W. Bush appointee, ruled that the Fifth Amendment posed no barrier to his decryption order. The Fifth Amendment says that nobody man be 'compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself,' which has become known as the right to avoid self-incrimination.
'I find and conclude that the Fifth Amendment is not implicated by requiring production of the unencrypted contents of the Toshiba Satellite M305 laptop computer,' Blackburn wrote in a 10-page opinion today. He said the All Writs Act, which dates back to 1789 and has been used to require telephone companies to aid in surveillance, could be invoked in decrypting hard drives as well..."
Monday, January 23, 2012
The US$ 662 Billion National Defense Authorization Act:
Alexander Cockburn: 'The Man Who Shot Habeas Corpus' in the Jan. 23, 2012 print edition of The Nation
"...Jonathan Turley, a great champion of constitutional rights and civil liberties, puts the trickery in a nutshell: 'The exemption for American citizens from the mandatory detention requirement...is the screening language for the next section...which offers no exemption for American citizens from the authorization to use the military to indefinitely detain people without charge or trial' (emphasis in the original).
That's the heart of the matter. And in the ambiguity we can see certainty: the writ of habeas corpus can be voided at the whim of a president, whether it be Obama reversing himself on the personal pledges in his signing statement or any successor, as can the Sixth Amendment's right to counsel..."
Corporations, Impersonating Real People:
Sen. Bernie Sanders: We Must Stop This Corporate Takeover of American Democracy
"...What's next … a corporate right to vote?
Don't laugh. Just this month, the Republican National Committee filed an amicus brief in a US appeals court contending that the natural extension of the Citizens United rationale is that the century-old ban on corporate contributions directly to candidates and political parties is similarly unconstitutional. They want corporations to be able to sponsor candidates and parties directly while claiming with a straight face this would not result in any sort of corruption. And while, this month, they take no issue with corporations being subject to the existing contribution limits, anyone paying attention knows that eliminating such caps will be corporate America's next prize in its brazen ambition for absolute control over our elections..."
Alexander Cockburn: 'The Man Who Shot Habeas Corpus' in the Jan. 23, 2012 print edition of The Nation
"...Jonathan Turley, a great champion of constitutional rights and civil liberties, puts the trickery in a nutshell: 'The exemption for American citizens from the mandatory detention requirement...is the screening language for the next section...which offers no exemption for American citizens from the authorization to use the military to indefinitely detain people without charge or trial' (emphasis in the original).
That's the heart of the matter. And in the ambiguity we can see certainty: the writ of habeas corpus can be voided at the whim of a president, whether it be Obama reversing himself on the personal pledges in his signing statement or any successor, as can the Sixth Amendment's right to counsel..."
Corporations, Impersonating Real People:
Sen. Bernie Sanders: We Must Stop This Corporate Takeover of American Democracy
"...What's next … a corporate right to vote?
Don't laugh. Just this month, the Republican National Committee filed an amicus brief in a US appeals court contending that the natural extension of the Citizens United rationale is that the century-old ban on corporate contributions directly to candidates and political parties is similarly unconstitutional. They want corporations to be able to sponsor candidates and parties directly while claiming with a straight face this would not result in any sort of corruption. And while, this month, they take no issue with corporations being subject to the existing contribution limits, anyone paying attention knows that eliminating such caps will be corporate America's next prize in its brazen ambition for absolute control over our elections..."
Thursday, January 19, 2012
The 2012 Race:
ABC News: Romney Parks Millions in Cayman Islands
"Although it is not apparent on his financial disclosure form, Mitt Romney has millions of dollars of his personal wealth in investment funds set up in the Cayman Islands, a notorious Caribbean tax haven.
A spokesperson for the Romney campaign says Romney follows all tax laws and he would pay the same in taxes regardless of where the funds are based.
As the race for the Republican nomination heats up, Mitt Romney is finding it increasingly difficult to maintain a shroud of secrecy around the details about his vast personal wealth, including, as ABC News has discovered, his investment in funds located offshore and his ability to pay a lower tax rate...
...tax experts tell ABC News there are other reasons Romney may not want the public viewing his returns. As one of the wealthiest candidates to run for president in recent times, Romney has used a variety of techniques to help minimize the taxes on his estimated $250 million fortune. In addition to paying the lower tax rate on his investment income, Romney has as much as $8 million invested in at least 12 funds listed on a Cayman Islands registry. Another investment, which Romney reports as being worth between $5 million and $25 million, shows up on securities records as having been domiciled in the Caymans.
Official documents reviewed by ABC News show that Bain Capital, the private equity partnership Romney once ran, has set up some 138 secretive offshore funds in the Caymans..."
Must The Banksters Always Win?
The Independent (UK) - Greek rescue blocked by hedge fund greed
"Financiers who bought 'distressed' Greek debt insist on making vast profits from the crisis..."
Matt Taibbi: Everything You Need to Know About Wall Street, in One Brief Tale
"...Imagine giving someone a hundred bucks to buy a bushel of apples, but making a deal with him that he has to buy back any apples that turn out to have worms in them. That's what happened here: Bear sold the wormy apples back to the farmer, but instead of taking the money from those sales and passing it on to you, they simply kept the money, according to the suit...
...So did Verschleiser himself know the mortgages were bad? Not only did he know it, he went so far as to tell his colleagues in writing that it was a waste of money to even bother performing due diligence on the bad bonds..."
ABC News: Romney Parks Millions in Cayman Islands
"Although it is not apparent on his financial disclosure form, Mitt Romney has millions of dollars of his personal wealth in investment funds set up in the Cayman Islands, a notorious Caribbean tax haven.
A spokesperson for the Romney campaign says Romney follows all tax laws and he would pay the same in taxes regardless of where the funds are based.
As the race for the Republican nomination heats up, Mitt Romney is finding it increasingly difficult to maintain a shroud of secrecy around the details about his vast personal wealth, including, as ABC News has discovered, his investment in funds located offshore and his ability to pay a lower tax rate...
...tax experts tell ABC News there are other reasons Romney may not want the public viewing his returns. As one of the wealthiest candidates to run for president in recent times, Romney has used a variety of techniques to help minimize the taxes on his estimated $250 million fortune. In addition to paying the lower tax rate on his investment income, Romney has as much as $8 million invested in at least 12 funds listed on a Cayman Islands registry. Another investment, which Romney reports as being worth between $5 million and $25 million, shows up on securities records as having been domiciled in the Caymans.
Official documents reviewed by ABC News show that Bain Capital, the private equity partnership Romney once ran, has set up some 138 secretive offshore funds in the Caymans..."
Must The Banksters Always Win?
The Independent (UK) - Greek rescue blocked by hedge fund greed
"Financiers who bought 'distressed' Greek debt insist on making vast profits from the crisis..."
Matt Taibbi: Everything You Need to Know About Wall Street, in One Brief Tale
"...Imagine giving someone a hundred bucks to buy a bushel of apples, but making a deal with him that he has to buy back any apples that turn out to have worms in them. That's what happened here: Bear sold the wormy apples back to the farmer, but instead of taking the money from those sales and passing it on to you, they simply kept the money, according to the suit...
...So did Verschleiser himself know the mortgages were bad? Not only did he know it, he went so far as to tell his colleagues in writing that it was a waste of money to even bother performing due diligence on the bad bonds..."
Wednesday, January 18, 2012
STOP PIPA (Senate 968) & SOPA (HR 3261)
Imagine a world without craigslist, Wikipedia, Google, [your favorite sites here]...
News Corp, RIAA, MPAA, Nike, Sony, Comcast, VISA & others want to make that world your reality.
80 Members of Congress are in their sway, 30 against, the rest undecided or undeclared. Let your Rep. or Senator know how this legislation is bad for citizens.
Targeting Iran:
Shibley Telhami & Steven Kull: Preventing a Nuclear Iran, Peacefully
"...Despite all the talk of an 'existential threat,' less than half of Israelis support a strike on Iran. According to our November poll, carried out in cooperation with the Dahaf Institute in Israel, only 43 percent of Israeli Jews support a military strike on Iran — even though 90 percent of them think that Iran will eventually acquire nuclear weapons.
Most important, when asked whether it would be better for both Israel and Iran to have the bomb, or for neither to have it, 65 percent of Israeli Jews said neither. And a remarkable 64 percent favored the idea of a nuclear-free zone, even when it was explained that this would mean Israel giving up its nuclear weapons.
The Israeli public also seems willing to move away from a secretive nuclear policy toward greater openness about Israel’s nuclear facilities. Sixty percent of respondents favored 'a system of full international inspections' of all nuclear facilities, including Israel’s and Iran’s, as a step toward regional disarmament.
If Israel’s nuclear program were to become part of the equation, it would be a game-changer. Iran has until now effectively accused the West of employing a double standard because it does not demand Israeli disarmament, earning it many fans across the Arab world.
And a nuclear-free zone may be hard for Iran to refuse. Iranian diplomats have said they would be open to an intrusive role for the United Nations if it accepted Iran’s right to enrich uranium for energy production — not to the higher levels necessary for weapons. And a 2007 poll by the Program on International Policy Attitudes found that the Iranian people would favor such a deal.
We cannot take what Iranian officials say at face value, but an international push for a nuclear-free Middle East would publicly test them. And most Arab leaders would rather not start down the nuclear path — a real risk if Iran gets the bomb — and have therefore welcomed the proposal of a nuclear-free zone.
Some Israeli officials may also take the idea seriously. As Avner Cohen’s recent book 'The Worst-Kept Secret' shows, Israel’s policy of 'opacity' — not acknowledging having nuclear weapons while letting everyone know it does — has existed since 1969, but is now becoming outdated. Indeed, no one outside Israel today sees any ambiguity about the fact that Israel possesses a large nuclear arsenal..."
...in spite of this, the US is clearly on the side of the hawks:
Raw Story: Leon Panette Admits The US Cannot Prove Iranian Intent To Build A Bomb
"'I think the pressure of the sanctions, the diplomatic pressures from everywhere, Europe, the United States, elsewhere, it’s working to put pressure on them,' Panetta explained on Sunday. 'To make them understand that they cannot continue to do what they’re doing. Are they trying to develop a nuclear weapon? No. But we know that they’re trying to develop a nuclear capability, and that’s what concerns us. And our red line to Iran is, do not develop a nuclear weapon. That’s a red line for us,'..."
Imagine a world without craigslist, Wikipedia, Google, [your favorite sites here]...
News Corp, RIAA, MPAA, Nike, Sony, Comcast, VISA & others want to make that world your reality.
80 Members of Congress are in their sway, 30 against, the rest undecided or undeclared. Let your Rep. or Senator know how this legislation is bad for citizens.
Targeting Iran:
Shibley Telhami & Steven Kull: Preventing a Nuclear Iran, Peacefully
"...Despite all the talk of an 'existential threat,' less than half of Israelis support a strike on Iran. According to our November poll, carried out in cooperation with the Dahaf Institute in Israel, only 43 percent of Israeli Jews support a military strike on Iran — even though 90 percent of them think that Iran will eventually acquire nuclear weapons.
Most important, when asked whether it would be better for both Israel and Iran to have the bomb, or for neither to have it, 65 percent of Israeli Jews said neither. And a remarkable 64 percent favored the idea of a nuclear-free zone, even when it was explained that this would mean Israel giving up its nuclear weapons.
The Israeli public also seems willing to move away from a secretive nuclear policy toward greater openness about Israel’s nuclear facilities. Sixty percent of respondents favored 'a system of full international inspections' of all nuclear facilities, including Israel’s and Iran’s, as a step toward regional disarmament.
If Israel’s nuclear program were to become part of the equation, it would be a game-changer. Iran has until now effectively accused the West of employing a double standard because it does not demand Israeli disarmament, earning it many fans across the Arab world.
And a nuclear-free zone may be hard for Iran to refuse. Iranian diplomats have said they would be open to an intrusive role for the United Nations if it accepted Iran’s right to enrich uranium for energy production — not to the higher levels necessary for weapons. And a 2007 poll by the Program on International Policy Attitudes found that the Iranian people would favor such a deal.
We cannot take what Iranian officials say at face value, but an international push for a nuclear-free Middle East would publicly test them. And most Arab leaders would rather not start down the nuclear path — a real risk if Iran gets the bomb — and have therefore welcomed the proposal of a nuclear-free zone.
Some Israeli officials may also take the idea seriously. As Avner Cohen’s recent book 'The Worst-Kept Secret' shows, Israel’s policy of 'opacity' — not acknowledging having nuclear weapons while letting everyone know it does — has existed since 1969, but is now becoming outdated. Indeed, no one outside Israel today sees any ambiguity about the fact that Israel possesses a large nuclear arsenal..."
...in spite of this, the US is clearly on the side of the hawks:
Raw Story: Leon Panette Admits The US Cannot Prove Iranian Intent To Build A Bomb
"'I think the pressure of the sanctions, the diplomatic pressures from everywhere, Europe, the United States, elsewhere, it’s working to put pressure on them,' Panetta explained on Sunday. 'To make them understand that they cannot continue to do what they’re doing. Are they trying to develop a nuclear weapon? No. But we know that they’re trying to develop a nuclear capability, and that’s what concerns us. And our red line to Iran is, do not develop a nuclear weapon. That’s a red line for us,'..."
Monday, January 16, 2012
2012 Race:
'When Mitt Romney Came to Town,' a film produced by a former top Romney strategist. Gingrich will benefit from this, but what would make a strategist turn on his former employer in this way?
Internet Freedom:
Raw Story: Murdoch blasts Obama, Google over Stop Online Piracy Act
"Conservative media mogul Rupert Murdoch, whose News Corporation includes Fox News, took aim at Google and President Barack Obama on Saturday for their opposition to controversial online piracy legislation.
Obama administration officials responded on Saturday to two petitions calling for President Obama to veto the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) and any similar bills, saying they would 'not support legislation that reduces freedom of expression, increases cybersecurity risk, or undermines the dynamic, innovative global Internet.'
'So Obama has thrown in his lot with Silicon Valley paymasters who threaten all software creators with piracy, plain thievery,' Murdoch said in a tweet.
Activists and Internet professionals argue that the bills give outside agencies too much control over Internet content and could result in censorship and the erosion of free speech.
Internet-base companies like Google and Yahoo oppose the measure, saying it would put U.S. tech policy on par with 'China, Malaysia and Iran,'..."
'When Mitt Romney Came to Town,' a film produced by a former top Romney strategist. Gingrich will benefit from this, but what would make a strategist turn on his former employer in this way?
Internet Freedom:
Raw Story: Murdoch blasts Obama, Google over Stop Online Piracy Act
"Conservative media mogul Rupert Murdoch, whose News Corporation includes Fox News, took aim at Google and President Barack Obama on Saturday for their opposition to controversial online piracy legislation.
Obama administration officials responded on Saturday to two petitions calling for President Obama to veto the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) and any similar bills, saying they would 'not support legislation that reduces freedom of expression, increases cybersecurity risk, or undermines the dynamic, innovative global Internet.'
'So Obama has thrown in his lot with Silicon Valley paymasters who threaten all software creators with piracy, plain thievery,' Murdoch said in a tweet.
Activists and Internet professionals argue that the bills give outside agencies too much control over Internet content and could result in censorship and the erosion of free speech.
Internet-base companies like Google and Yahoo oppose the measure, saying it would put U.S. tech policy on par with 'China, Malaysia and Iran,'..."
Friday, January 13, 2012
Technology:
Raw Story: SOPA sponsors drop ‘break the Internet’ provision from bill
"The most controversial provision of the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) has now been pulled from both the House and Senate versions of the bill.
The provision in question would have required internet service providers to block the domain names of overseas websites accused of hosting content that was in violation of copyright, even in the absence of any proof...
...The entertainment industry has been lobbying heavily for both bills, but large segments of the technology industry have been just as strenuously opposed. Many critics of the bills have charged that meddling with the domain name system could 'break the Internet,' and pressure has been mounting on Wikipedia and other online giants to join a voluntary January 18 blackout already endorsed by Reddit and I Can Has Cheezburger as a form of protest..."
Civil Disobedience:
Raw Story: Activists deface Bank of America ATMs in San Francisco
"Activists with the Rainforest Action Network recently devised a clever way of promoting their message: defacing Bank of America ATMs with non-adhesive stickers that look like the bank’s software interface, bearing some startling truths about the nation’s largest financial institution.
As part of a campaign they’re calling 'Bankrupting America,' the activists claim to have visited 85 ATM locations, turning the 'automated teller machines' into 'automated truth machines.'
Their sticker asks users to 'select your transaction,' with options like: 'invest in coal-fired power plants,' 'foreclose on America’s homes,' 'bankroll climate change' and 'fund executive bonuses,'..."
Targeting Iran:
Agence France-Presse: Report: Mossad agents posed as CIA to recruit anti-Iranian terrorists
"Agents with Israel’s Mossad agency posed as American CIA agents in operations to recruit members of the Pakistani militant group Jundallah, a report in Foreign Policy magazine said Friday.
Using American dollars and US passports, the agents passed themselves off as members of the Central Intelligence Agency in the operations, notably in London, according to memos from 2007 and 2008, said the report..."
Raw Story: SOPA sponsors drop ‘break the Internet’ provision from bill
"The most controversial provision of the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) has now been pulled from both the House and Senate versions of the bill.
The provision in question would have required internet service providers to block the domain names of overseas websites accused of hosting content that was in violation of copyright, even in the absence of any proof...
...The entertainment industry has been lobbying heavily for both bills, but large segments of the technology industry have been just as strenuously opposed. Many critics of the bills have charged that meddling with the domain name system could 'break the Internet,' and pressure has been mounting on Wikipedia and other online giants to join a voluntary January 18 blackout already endorsed by Reddit and I Can Has Cheezburger as a form of protest..."
Civil Disobedience:
Raw Story: Activists deface Bank of America ATMs in San Francisco
"Activists with the Rainforest Action Network recently devised a clever way of promoting their message: defacing Bank of America ATMs with non-adhesive stickers that look like the bank’s software interface, bearing some startling truths about the nation’s largest financial institution.
As part of a campaign they’re calling 'Bankrupting America,' the activists claim to have visited 85 ATM locations, turning the 'automated teller machines' into 'automated truth machines.'
Their sticker asks users to 'select your transaction,' with options like: 'invest in coal-fired power plants,' 'foreclose on America’s homes,' 'bankroll climate change' and 'fund executive bonuses,'..."
Targeting Iran:
Agence France-Presse: Report: Mossad agents posed as CIA to recruit anti-Iranian terrorists
"Agents with Israel’s Mossad agency posed as American CIA agents in operations to recruit members of the Pakistani militant group Jundallah, a report in Foreign Policy magazine said Friday.
Using American dollars and US passports, the agents passed themselves off as members of the Central Intelligence Agency in the operations, notably in London, according to memos from 2007 and 2008, said the report..."
Wednesday, January 11, 2012
The 2012 Race:
Jim Hightower: The GOP's menu of mediocrity
"...The media's breathless coverage of Iowa's Republican caucuses offered a blizzard of statistics, but missed two crucial ones. First: 5.4%. That's the percentage of Iowa's eligible voters who ventured out to pick from the GOP's rather unappetizing menu of Mitt, Rick, Ron, Newt, the Other Rick, and Michele. Second: zero. That's the number of delegates that the Hawkeye Hullabaloo allocated to the candidates. You see, the 25 actual voting delegates that Iowa will send to the Republican presidential nominating convention this summer will be chosen in a separate, arcane series of meetings. The caucuses are just for show – a glorified straw poll..."
A Woman's Right To Choose:
Raw Story: Court allows Texas to force women into medically unnecessary sonograms
"The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled on Tuesday that Texas may enforce a law passed last year which requires women seeking abortion services to undergo an invasive, medically unnecessary trans-vaginal sonogram procedure before ending their pregnancy...."
Jim Hightower: The GOP's menu of mediocrity
"...The media's breathless coverage of Iowa's Republican caucuses offered a blizzard of statistics, but missed two crucial ones. First: 5.4%. That's the percentage of Iowa's eligible voters who ventured out to pick from the GOP's rather unappetizing menu of Mitt, Rick, Ron, Newt, the Other Rick, and Michele. Second: zero. That's the number of delegates that the Hawkeye Hullabaloo allocated to the candidates. You see, the 25 actual voting delegates that Iowa will send to the Republican presidential nominating convention this summer will be chosen in a separate, arcane series of meetings. The caucuses are just for show – a glorified straw poll..."
A Woman's Right To Choose:
Raw Story: Court allows Texas to force women into medically unnecessary sonograms
"The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled on Tuesday that Texas may enforce a law passed last year which requires women seeking abortion services to undergo an invasive, medically unnecessary trans-vaginal sonogram procedure before ending their pregnancy...."
Friday, January 06, 2012
The Environment:
Mike Klink: Keystone XL pipeline not safe
"There has been a lot of talk about the safety of the proposed Keystone XL pipeline.
I am not an environmentalist, but as a civil engineer and an inspector for TransCanada during the construction of the first Keystone pipeline, I've had an uncomfortable front-row seat to the disaster that Keystone XL could bring about all along its pathway.
Despite its boosters' advertising, this project is not about jobs or energy security. It is about money. And whenever my former employer Bechtel, working on behalf of TransCanada, had to choose between safety and saving money, they chose to save money.
As an inspector, my job was to monitor the construction of the first Keystone pipeline. I oversaw construction at the pump stations that have been such a problem on that line, which has already spilled more than a dozen times. I am coming forward because my kids encouraged me to tell the truth about what was done and covered up.
When I last raised concerns about corners being cut, I lost my job — but people along the Keystone XL pathway have a lot more to lose if this project moves forward with the same shoddy work.
What did I see? Cheap foreign steel that cracked when workers tried to weld it, foundations for pump stations that you would never consider using in your own home, fudged safety tests, Bechtel staffers explaining away leaks during pressure tests as "not too bad," shortcuts on the steel and rebar that are essential for safe pipeline operation and siting of facilities on completely inappropriate spots like wetlands.
I shared these concerns with my bosses, who communicated them to the bigwigs at TransCanada, but nothing changed. TransCanada didn't appear to care. That is why I was not surprised to hear about the big spill in Ludden, N.D., where a 60-foot plume of crude spewed tens of thousands of gallons of toxic tar sands oil and fouled neighboring fields.
TransCanada says that the performance has been OK. Fourteen spills is not so bad. And that the pump stations don't really count. That is all bunk. This thing shouldn't be leaking like a sieve in its first year — what do you think happens decades from now after moving billions of barrels of the most corrosive oil on the planet?
Let's be clear — I am an engineer; I am not telling you we shouldn't build pipelines. We just should not build this one..."
Mike Klink: Keystone XL pipeline not safe
"There has been a lot of talk about the safety of the proposed Keystone XL pipeline.
I am not an environmentalist, but as a civil engineer and an inspector for TransCanada during the construction of the first Keystone pipeline, I've had an uncomfortable front-row seat to the disaster that Keystone XL could bring about all along its pathway.
Despite its boosters' advertising, this project is not about jobs or energy security. It is about money. And whenever my former employer Bechtel, working on behalf of TransCanada, had to choose between safety and saving money, they chose to save money.
As an inspector, my job was to monitor the construction of the first Keystone pipeline. I oversaw construction at the pump stations that have been such a problem on that line, which has already spilled more than a dozen times. I am coming forward because my kids encouraged me to tell the truth about what was done and covered up.
When I last raised concerns about corners being cut, I lost my job — but people along the Keystone XL pathway have a lot more to lose if this project moves forward with the same shoddy work.
What did I see? Cheap foreign steel that cracked when workers tried to weld it, foundations for pump stations that you would never consider using in your own home, fudged safety tests, Bechtel staffers explaining away leaks during pressure tests as "not too bad," shortcuts on the steel and rebar that are essential for safe pipeline operation and siting of facilities on completely inappropriate spots like wetlands.
I shared these concerns with my bosses, who communicated them to the bigwigs at TransCanada, but nothing changed. TransCanada didn't appear to care. That is why I was not surprised to hear about the big spill in Ludden, N.D., where a 60-foot plume of crude spewed tens of thousands of gallons of toxic tar sands oil and fouled neighboring fields.
TransCanada says that the performance has been OK. Fourteen spills is not so bad. And that the pump stations don't really count. That is all bunk. This thing shouldn't be leaking like a sieve in its first year — what do you think happens decades from now after moving billions of barrels of the most corrosive oil on the planet?
Let's be clear — I am an engineer; I am not telling you we shouldn't build pipelines. We just should not build this one..."
