Showing posts with label Corporations. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Corporations. Show all posts
Friday, January 24, 2014
Wednesday, May 15, 2013
The Only Army You Should Join
... Alan's Army!
Congressman Alan Grayson, that is. Here's the recruiting poster....
The Enemy is Corporations who want to sue National Governments "based on the premise that consumer protection, environmental safeguards and labor laws are barriers to trade".
In plain language, if we citizens of a democracy pass a law to protect ourselves from the madness of Big Business, poisoning our air, water and food, stealing our wages or our pensions, they want to take our elected representatives to court for threatening their profits.
Madness! But it's real!
Tomorrow the House Ways and Means Committee, the committee with jurisdiction over trade, will hold a hearing on the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership, which proposes to allow such insane international lawsuits to go on.
As Grayson says, "Similar trade agreements have allowed the World Trade Organization to strike down country-of-origin meat labels, dolphin-safe tuna labels and limits on candy-flavored cigarettes marketed to kids."
Alan is asking for 10,000 of us to arm him with our signatures to present to the the Committee, to oppose this measure.
You can add your voice - and comments, if you like, here.
I thought you might enjoy some of the comments he's already received from our fellow citizens:
As Thomas Jefferson put it, "I hope we shall crush in its birth the aristocracy of our monied corporations, which dare already to challenge our government to a trial by strength, and bid defiance to the laws of our country." - Paul from Sharon, MA
Corporations are running this world already. They need to be severed at the knees. This is Fascism, plain and simple. - Ralph from Blackduck, Minnesota
SERIOUSLY? YOU MUST BE COMPLETELY CRAZY TO CONSIDER ALLOWING CORPORATIONS TO SUE GOVERNMENTS! CRAZY OR EVIL. - Georgia from Novato, CA
I am opposed to this misnamed trade agreement in its entirety. It should more properly be called a cowardly corporate surrender document. - Jim from Ballston Spa, NY
American citizens can afford no further capitulation to greed-driven economics and legislation. It is time for those who have always bought their solutions to finally learn the word "No" lest we slip further into ownership by corporate powers and cease to be a nation of the people for the people. - Christina from Maplewood, MN
I am dead set against this agreement and the Trans Pacific agreement as well. What the hell are you guys smoking, anyway? - Bryan from West Linn, OR
I smell NAFTA (NO AMERICAN FACTORIES TAKING APPLICATIONS) and GATT (GANGSTERS AGREEMENT ON TRADE AND TARIFFS). - Mike from Seattle, WA
This is unconscionable! Why are we even considering this? Oh, I forgot...corporations are now more important than people. NOT!!! - Dee from Madison, WI
Congressman Alan Grayson, that is. Here's the recruiting poster....
MAKE THEM LISTEN
The Enemy is Corporations who want to sue National Governments "based on the premise that consumer protection, environmental safeguards and labor laws are barriers to trade".
In plain language, if we citizens of a democracy pass a law to protect ourselves from the madness of Big Business, poisoning our air, water and food, stealing our wages or our pensions, they want to take our elected representatives to court for threatening their profits.
Madness! But it's real!
Tomorrow the House Ways and Means Committee, the committee with jurisdiction over trade, will hold a hearing on the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership, which proposes to allow such insane international lawsuits to go on.
As Grayson says, "Similar trade agreements have allowed the World Trade Organization to strike down country-of-origin meat labels, dolphin-safe tuna labels and limits on candy-flavored cigarettes marketed to kids."
Alan is asking for 10,000 of us to arm him with our signatures to present to the the Committee, to oppose this measure.
You can add your voice - and comments, if you like, here.
I thought you might enjoy some of the comments he's already received from our fellow citizens:
As Thomas Jefferson put it, "I hope we shall crush in its birth the aristocracy of our monied corporations, which dare already to challenge our government to a trial by strength, and bid defiance to the laws of our country." - Paul from Sharon, MA
Corporations are running this world already. They need to be severed at the knees. This is Fascism, plain and simple. - Ralph from Blackduck, Minnesota
SERIOUSLY? YOU MUST BE COMPLETELY CRAZY TO CONSIDER ALLOWING CORPORATIONS TO SUE GOVERNMENTS! CRAZY OR EVIL. - Georgia from Novato, CA
I am opposed to this misnamed trade agreement in its entirety. It should more properly be called a cowardly corporate surrender document. - Jim from Ballston Spa, NY
American citizens can afford no further capitulation to greed-driven economics and legislation. It is time for those who have always bought their solutions to finally learn the word "No" lest we slip further into ownership by corporate powers and cease to be a nation of the people for the people. - Christina from Maplewood, MN
I am dead set against this agreement and the Trans Pacific agreement as well. What the hell are you guys smoking, anyway? - Bryan from West Linn, OR
I smell NAFTA (NO AMERICAN FACTORIES TAKING APPLICATIONS) and GATT (GANGSTERS AGREEMENT ON TRADE AND TARIFFS). - Mike from Seattle, WA
This is unconscionable! Why are we even considering this? Oh, I forgot...corporations are now more important than people. NOT!!! - Dee from Madison, WI
Wednesday, May 1, 2013
Monty Python does Corporations
A bunch of Olde Britishe Codgers successfully repel a corporate invasion by American yuppie executives, in the best Errol Flynn style, then sail their creaky office building across the Atlantic to attack Manhattan....
If you haven't seen it, you'll love "The Crimson Permanent Assurance", a 16-minute piece of anarchic genius by Terry Gilliam, "the American Python".
You can watch it HERE.
Sunday, April 7, 2013
New Strand - Corporate Horrors
This new Strand to the Blog is for YOU to contribute to!
If you're like me, You are SICK TO DEATH of the ever-repeated LIE that Corporations are good for us.
The Founding Fathers hated the whole idea of Corporations, and, later, when Corporations were chartered at all, it was only to allow them to perform one project, such as building a bridge, after which their Charter was revoked, and the corporation was wound up.
Watch this space for a Post on The Powell Memorandum....
A major part of the LIE is that Corporations are efficient, and Government is not. The truth is that you will almost always have a better experience (in the USA) dealing with a Government Department, than you will with a Corporation, except when they are trying to lure you into giving them money, when of course, nothing is too much trouble....
What I want to do with this "Corporate Horrors" Strand, is to give YOU a space where you can post your horror stories. My own examples are pretty minor, 'cos my Scottish thrift prevents me from throwing away the little money I have, and I watch these bastards like a hawk; I post them below just to start the discussion.
But we know there are people who are bankrupted, even driven to an early grave, by the antics of these business monsters. Almost every day, the average citizen is forced to spend long periods on the phone, being jerked around by Corporate Bureaucrats.
My Bank horror story: (They may have stopped this now, but...) WAMU (Washington Mutual Bank) would deduct all debits from my account before applying credits, so that I appeared to overdraw. Then they'd penalize me for the fake overdraft!
If you're like me, You are SICK TO DEATH of the ever-repeated LIE that Corporations are good for us.
The Founding Fathers hated the whole idea of Corporations, and, later, when Corporations were chartered at all, it was only to allow them to perform one project, such as building a bridge, after which their Charter was revoked, and the corporation was wound up.
Watch this space for a Post on The Powell Memorandum....
A major part of the LIE is that Corporations are efficient, and Government is not. The truth is that you will almost always have a better experience (in the USA) dealing with a Government Department, than you will with a Corporation, except when they are trying to lure you into giving them money, when of course, nothing is too much trouble....
What I want to do with this "Corporate Horrors" Strand, is to give YOU a space where you can post your horror stories. My own examples are pretty minor, 'cos my Scottish thrift prevents me from throwing away the little money I have, and I watch these bastards like a hawk; I post them below just to start the discussion.
But we know there are people who are bankrupted, even driven to an early grave, by the antics of these business monsters. Almost every day, the average citizen is forced to spend long periods on the phone, being jerked around by Corporate Bureaucrats.
My Bank horror story: (They may have stopped this now, but...) WAMU (Washington Mutual Bank) would deduct all debits from my account before applying credits, so that I appeared to overdraw. Then they'd penalize me for the fake overdraft!
Credit horror: My credit rating was wrongly downgraded: I challenged a false "ding" to my credit report, and was told twice that it had been removed from my record. But it's still there, and I still get "offers" to pay it off - Nearly 20 YEARS later!
I've written to Sen. Elizabeth Warren before, suggesting that she investigate the whole Credit report system, wherein Corporations are Judge, Jury and Executioner in their own cases, and the citizen has NO recourse!Furthermore, I've been told by a banker that one's Credit Rating can be harmed by applying for credit, or for checking too often on one's credit rating!
And don't even get me started on Medical Insurance companies - suffice to say that I no longer bother.
So have at it! Let's hear your stories! If we build up a big enough head of steam, maybe we'll even get some action going, to change things.
Remember, when Fascism was invented in Italy, it mean Rule by Corporations!
I've written to Sen. Elizabeth Warren before, suggesting that she investigate the whole Credit report system, wherein Corporations are Judge, Jury and Executioner in their own cases, and the citizen has NO recourse!Furthermore, I've been told by a banker that one's Credit Rating can be harmed by applying for credit, or for checking too often on one's credit rating!
And don't even get me started on Medical Insurance companies - suffice to say that I no longer bother.
So have at it! Let's hear your stories! If we build up a big enough head of steam, maybe we'll even get some action going, to change things.
Remember, when Fascism was invented in Italy, it mean Rule by Corporations!
Tuesday, February 12, 2013
The Truth about Corporations
Senator Bernie Sanders posted this in Huffington Post:
By Senator Bernie Sanders
February 9, 2013
A Choice For Corporate America: Are You With America Or The Cayman Islands?
By Senator Bernie Sanders
February 9, 2013
When the greed, recklessness, and illegal behavior on Wall Street drove this country into the deepest recession since the 1930s, the largest financial institutions in the United States took every advantage of being American. They just loved their country - and the willingness of the American people to provide them with the largest bailout in world history. In 2008, Congress approved a $700 billion gift to Wall Street. Another $16 trillion in virtually zero interest loans and other financial assistance came from the Federal Reserve. America. What a great country.
But just two years later, as soon as these giant financial institutions started making record-breaking profits again, they suddenly lost their love for their native country. At a time when the nation was suffering from a huge deficit, largely created by the recession that Wall Street caused, the major financial institutions did everything they could to avoid paying American taxes by establishing shell corporations in the Cayman Islands and other tax havens.
In 2010, Bank of America set up more than 200 subsidiaries in the Cayman Islands (which has a corporate tax rate of 0.0 percent) to avoid paying U.S. taxes. It worked. Not only did Bank of America pay nothing in federal income taxes, but it received a rebate from the IRS worth $1.9 billion that year. They are not alone. In 2010, JP Morgan Chase operated 83 subsidiaries incorporated in offshore tax havens to avoid paying some $4.9 billion in U.S. taxes. That same year Goldman Sachs operated 39 subsidiaries in offshore tax havens to avoid an estimated $3.3 billion in U.S. taxes. Citigroup has paid no federal income taxes for the last four years after receiving a total of $2.5 trillion in financial assistance from the Federal Reserve during the financial crisis.
On and on it goes. Wall Street banks and large companies love America when they need corporate welfare. But when it comes to paying American taxes or American wages, they want nothing to do with this country. That has got to change.
Offshore tax abuse is not just limited to Wall Street. Each and every year corporations and the wealthy are avoiding more than $100 billion in U.S. taxes by sheltering their income offshore.
Pharmaceutical companies like Eli Lilly and Pfizer have fought to make it illegal for the American people to buy cheaper prescription drugs from Canada and Europe. But, during tax season, Eli Lilly and Pfizer shift drug patents and profits to the Netherlands and other offshore tax havens to avoid paying U.S. taxes.
Apple wants all of the advantages of being an American company, but it doesn't want to pay American taxes or American wages. It creates the iPad, the iPhone, the iPod, and iTunes in the United States, but manufactures most of its products in China so it doesn't have to pay American wages. Then it shifts most of its profits to Ireland, Luxembourg, the British Virgin Islands and other tax havens to avoid paying U.S. taxes. Without such maneuvers, Apple's federal tax bill in the United States would have been $2.4 billion higher in 2011.
But just two years later, as soon as these giant financial institutions started making record-breaking profits again, they suddenly lost their love for their native country. At a time when the nation was suffering from a huge deficit, largely created by the recession that Wall Street caused, the major financial institutions did everything they could to avoid paying American taxes by establishing shell corporations in the Cayman Islands and other tax havens.
In 2010, Bank of America set up more than 200 subsidiaries in the Cayman Islands (which has a corporate tax rate of 0.0 percent) to avoid paying U.S. taxes. It worked. Not only did Bank of America pay nothing in federal income taxes, but it received a rebate from the IRS worth $1.9 billion that year. They are not alone. In 2010, JP Morgan Chase operated 83 subsidiaries incorporated in offshore tax havens to avoid paying some $4.9 billion in U.S. taxes. That same year Goldman Sachs operated 39 subsidiaries in offshore tax havens to avoid an estimated $3.3 billion in U.S. taxes. Citigroup has paid no federal income taxes for the last four years after receiving a total of $2.5 trillion in financial assistance from the Federal Reserve during the financial crisis.
On and on it goes. Wall Street banks and large companies love America when they need corporate welfare. But when it comes to paying American taxes or American wages, they want nothing to do with this country. That has got to change.
Offshore tax abuse is not just limited to Wall Street. Each and every year corporations and the wealthy are avoiding more than $100 billion in U.S. taxes by sheltering their income offshore.
Pharmaceutical companies like Eli Lilly and Pfizer have fought to make it illegal for the American people to buy cheaper prescription drugs from Canada and Europe. But, during tax season, Eli Lilly and Pfizer shift drug patents and profits to the Netherlands and other offshore tax havens to avoid paying U.S. taxes.
Apple wants all of the advantages of being an American company, but it doesn't want to pay American taxes or American wages. It creates the iPad, the iPhone, the iPod, and iTunes in the United States, but manufactures most of its products in China so it doesn't have to pay American wages. Then it shifts most of its profits to Ireland, Luxembourg, the British Virgin Islands and other tax havens to avoid paying U.S. taxes. Without such maneuvers, Apple's federal tax bill in the United States would have been $2.4 billion higher in 2011.
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