US DEBT – WHO DO WE THANK?

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First we can thank President Reagan and his administration for the initial 186% increase in the US DEBT…now that’s a good start!   Then President Bush, the first, contributed his part with 54%.  President Clinton came along and added 41%.  Not to let Daddy outdo him, President Bush the second, beat his father by 18% leaving office with a total 72% increase, his departing gift to the United States debt, OH!! almost forgot…. plus two unpaid wars…   Now comes Obama, and at 23%  has a long way to go to catch up.

HELL OF A WAY TO RUN A COUNTRY!! ,                                                                        Try some ‘magic’ math, wizardry with facts, divert attention, suggest some God Guns and Gays instead, mix with satisfying fabrication, then stir a healthy dash of down right LIES…..keep the voters divorced from citizenship,… blend in some catching HATE,…..the more polarized the better the result. All while you slip the tax $$$, millions in subsidies, tax cuts and tunnel size loop holes, under the table to those campaign friends who got you there. The 1%,  …you owe it so why not?….. You can get away with it!!!! You’re a politician in the CONGRESS OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA………the best congress that MONEY CAN BUY………  SAD THING ITS THE KIDS OF THE 99% WHO WILL HAVE TO PAY FOR YOUR SHAM.

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CHEVRON-YOU OWE ME CONGRESSMEN

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Did you know?

Chevron profits for 2011 were 26.9 BILLION dollars.

Chevron gave $9 MILLION to Washington’s famous K STREET  Lobbies….. and the $9 MILLION was not for Chevron’s “good health”.

Chevron contributed $500,000 THOUSAND (half million) to Presidential campaigns (2011 not even election year) of which 91% $427,000 went to REPUBLICANS.  it will soon be “payback” time GOP candidates!!!! and of course Congressman, you can expect a “tap on the shoulder” too….”REMEMBER US – WE’RE THE ONES WHO PUT YOU THERE” – NOW ATTEND TO OUR CORPORATE NEEDS”

QUOTE OF THE DAY – Churchill/Concordia!

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“I like Italian ships for three reasons. The food is supreme.  The service charming, and then there’s none of this nonsense about women and children first on board Italian ships”  Churchill……………..so you feast on the food … savor the company…… and always  wear your life jacket!

DEFENSE OF MARRIAGE ACT – FOCUS ON DIVORCE RATE NOT SAME SEX

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DEFENSE OF MARRIAGE ACT…Why and what for?

The 104th Congress passed the DEFENSE OF MARRIAGE ACT 1995/96.  “To defend the institution of marriage” against what and why?  Originally created to focus on stopping the acceptance of the same sex marriage movement slowly developing in many states.

President Obama and the Justice Department have already announced they will not defend this act in court. It was found unconstitutional in Massachusetts  and California courts. John Boehner, Speaker of the House said he and his Republican associates in the House of Representatives will spend public money to defend – BUT WHY?

Defending the institutions of marriage is an impossible task given the hypocrisy. Much more beneficial would be focusing on slowing down the broken marriage percentage, resulting in taunting. often burlesque procedure, of American divorce procedures. . If “Defense” is the principal purpose of the act, then focus should be on the alarming divorce rate in America and the mockery made of this “sacred act” plus the enormous amounts of money involved.

The divorce rate in the United States is 50%…FIFTY PER CENT.  That means for every bride and groom joined in “holy matrimony” half will end separated and divorced. In doing so many records have been performed and witnessed which make ridicule of their “man and wife’s” nuptials.

It is difficult to DEFEND  marriage, focusing on stopping same sex marriage when the DOM Act would be better served avoiding the much publicized  Britney Spears  55 HOUR marriage.  Kim Kardashian marriage lasted 72 DAYS and cost 10 TEN million dollars.  Eddy Murphy tried for 15 DAYS, and Robin Givens – 7 MINUTES!!!  Golf hero Tiger Woods, while married, can have sex with many. Presidential Candidate Newt Ginrich has affairs with his mistresses while married to his first and second wives, demanding divorces while each were sick.  Larry King – has kept the attorneys busy with 8 EIGHT visits to the divorce court!!

The cost of all these “man and wife” breakdowns;  if you are Paul McCarthy – $49 MILLION.   Kevin Cosner $80 MILLION,  Harrison Ford – $85 MILLION,  Tiger Woods – $100 MILLION,  Michael Jordan – $168 MILLION – and staring thee Rupert Murdoch of FOX news fame – $1 BILLION PLUS!!! Sadly, a sham has been made of marriage, well before same sex marriage came to the table.

Speaker Boehner, your “Defense” of this “Defense ACT” is focused on the wrong target.  Perhaps you and your fellow congressmen and women should be addressing the 50% American divorce rate………………..now that could be a challenge but perhaps achievable and you and your colleagues would appear less hypocritical -  like you are addressing a real family problem,…other than your political careers.

 

QUOTE OF THE DAY – Obama

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“Now you can call this class warefare all you want. But asking a billionaire to pay at least as much as his secretary in taxes? Most Americans would call that COMMON SENSE”.

President Obama – Common Sense is not so COMMON these days….

QUOTE OF THE DAY – Ted Koppel

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“HISTORY IS A TOOL USED BY POLITICIANS TO JUSTIFY THEIR INTENTIONS” Ted Koppel            and take great license on fact in doing so!!

 

DID YOU KNOW? TAX MYTH..

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MYTH:  The American people and American corporations pay HIGH taxes.

TRUTH:  The United States has the THIRD LOWEST taxes of any developed country in the world!!!  So why the need for Cayman Islands, Switzerland, ???? unless hiding $$$$

CORPORATIONS PAY TAXES? – WHY BOTHER? ONLY THE 99% PAY TAXES!!

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If you kept two sets of books showing how much money you were making and a second set tinted for the IRS…you could behind bars.  “Enjoying” jail compliments of the government.

However that is the standard procedure for corporate America. Strange however the US law requires corporations maintain one set of books for the stock holders and another for the IRS!!  As a result many companies inform the investors they incur millions in income taxes, while the financial records supplied to the IRS show they owe nothing and in many cases due a “refund”.

Corporations “cook” the books. by using tax shelters, offsetting income with losses from years past, etc etc. that makes them resemble they are broke, indebted, at the same time they are money machines to investors.  The New York Times revealed that GIANT GE not only avoided income taxes but is taking a refund “benefit” of 3 billion…THAT IS BILLION.  “This amazing procedure  is due to the extraordinary success on an aggressive strategy that mixes fierce lobbying for tax breaks and innovative accounting that enables GE to concentrate its profits offshore.”

GE has lots of “relatives” doing the same thanks to their lobbying Congress and lots of legal “fancy” bookkeeping.

GOOGLE   Pre tax profit (2010)  $10.8 BILLION

To avoid paying US tax…Google reports income in overseas tax havens and then reports its costs in the USA. (according to MSNBC) They then patent all their products in other countries, licenses its technology from its overseas subsidiaries back to itself and then writes off the costs of the license.  Google CEO Eric Schmidt, a member of  the ONE PER CENT CLUB has a net worth of 6.3 BILLION (Forbes)

NEWS CORP   FOX NEWS  -   Pre tax profit 3.3 BILLION

The US Government Accounting Office reported that News Corp. had the most subsidiaries in OFFSHORE tax-havens….in 2008 was 150 around the world. FOX NEWS  CEO Rupert Murdoch ranked 53rd ( Forbes)  of highest paid CEOs..he is 117th richest person in world….ONE PERCENT CLUB!!!

BOEING   Pre Tax profit 4.5 BILLION

Boing has avoided paying US taxes for the past three years thanks to a host of their foreign subsidiaries, tax havens. This is that same BOEING that is awared numerous costly government and  Pentagon favored contracts like the F-15 fighter and fuel tanker, helping to keep the US Military Funding Machine larger than all other countries in the world combined.   CEO W James McNerney (Forbes) is the 101 highest paid CEO – making $58 MILLION in the last 5 years….certainly a member of the ONE PERCENT CLUB

PFIZER    Pre tax profit 9.4 BILLION

To avoid paying US taxes Pfizer uses a process called “transfer pricing” to record “phantom” “fake” profits in low-tax countries based on sales in other countries!!!  The CEO is new and no news of Ian Read’s membership ranking  in the ONE PERCENT CLUB.

ORACLE    Pre tax profit 8.2 BILLION

Oracle avoids paying US taxes through “transfer pricing”.  This is the same company the then Bush Attorney General Ashcroft sued to block an acquisition on anti-trust grounds. And now, Ashcroft’s lobbying shop in Washington enjoys ORACLE as his biggest client!!!! AMAZING –   CEO Lawrence Ellison (Forbes) ranked 6th richest person in the world with a 28  TWENTY EIGHT BILLION DOLLAR  fortune…….ONE PERCENT CLUB MEMBER …for sure!

ALTRIA  or  PHILIP MORRIS   Pre tax profit 5.7 BILLION

Altria avoids paying taxes (MSNBC analysis) …between 2001 and 2003, the cigarette maker took advantage of 3.3 BILLION in tax breaks…which managed to cut its taxes by one third…..BUSH TAX CUTS!!  Not to be forgotten, Philip Morris,  came in second for dollars lavished in congress on lobbying from 1996 to 2004, showing the politicians with over 100 ONE HUNDRED MILLION DOLLARS!   CEO Michael Szymanczyk, is ranked 176 (Forbes) earing 6.35 million in 2010 and member of the ONE PERCENT CLUB.

IBM  Pre tax profit 19.7 BILLION

IBM avoids paying US taxes by a host of tax breaks from the Bush administration.  Over three years from 2001, IBM was allowed to slash its taxes by 95%…THAT’S NINETY FIVE PERCENT!!!   How do the 99% get same “break”?        CEO Sam Palmisano who also is on Exxon Mobile board,  ranked 21st (Forbes) list at over $25 MILLION, ONE PERCENT CLUB MEMBER.

TIME WARNER   Pre Tax Profits  3.9 BILLION

Avoids paying US taxes (according to MSNBC) through some “swift” accounting, using its merger with AOL in 2000 to leave it with almost no tax to pay – between 2001 and 2004 TIME WARNER claimed tax breaks that lowered its taxes by 121% ONE HUNDRED TWENTY ONE PERCENT.    CEO Jeffrey Bewkes was paid $48 MILLION over the past 5 years making him 56th on Forbes list and a sure MEMBER OF THE ONE PERCENT CLUB.

MORGAN STANLEY   Pre Tax profit  6.2 BILLION

Morgan Stanley avoids paying US taxes by taking full advantage of offshore tax havens…in 2004 (Bush) under a law repatriated much of their money for a super super low tax rate of just over 5%. REMEMBER THE GOVERNMENT TAX PAYER’S HAND OUT?   This is the same MORGAN STANLEY who was a STAR PLAYER in the CRASHING of the global economy… a further note they are the largest servicer for FOOD STAMPS in the US..MS is paid per customer which means when the number of food stamps users go up, so do JP Morgan profits!!!!   CEO James Borman took home 5.7 MILLION – making him a MEMBER OF THE ONE PERCENT CLUB – and not a user of his company’s rewarding FOOD STAMP service.

MICROSOFT    Pre tax profits  25 BILLION

Microsoft is a king at shifting income through numerous foreign countries…which allows it to limit domestic income which is subject to taxes.  To add to Microsoft luck, Representative Ross Hunter (17 year manager at Microsoft before congress) pushed through two gifts for his “former” employer….a $100 million annual tax cut and an estimated 1.25 BILLION  amnesty in a previous Microsoft “tax dodge”.    CEO  Steve Ballmer  enjoys a fortune of $14.5 BILLION making him the 33rd richest person in the world (Forbes), and a SENIOR MEMBER OF THE ONE PERCENT CLUB

REMEMBER  EVERY DOLLAR THESE MONSTER HERCULEAN CORPORATIONS AVOID PAYING IN TAXES IS JUST ONE MORE BUCK THAT WILL COME OUT OF THE POCKETS AND PAYCHECKS OF THE WORKING…….THAT’S THE 99%!!!!!!                    WE THE PEOPLE.(99%)………OR IS IT NOW…….. WE THE CORPORATIONS  (1%)?

 

 

 

 

 

 

TRICKLE DOWN ECONOMICS AMERICA’S TURNING POINT – SOCIAL SECURITY RAIDED

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Mr. Fish's Cartoon

Remember Regan’s “trickle down” economics?  That’s the same  economic theory still being pushed -”sold” to the American voters from the political candidates.

In case you forgot, or prefer not to remember, to inject this economic policy, Reagan slashed top  income taxes on millionaires and billionaires from then 70% to 50%.  This he did  in 1981.  In 1988 they were slashed once more,  down to 28%  To this we add Bush 2′s tax cuts…..extended under Obama’s administration  – now  the billionaires and corporations don’t have to pay at all, just have a great accounting office and a few off shore companies.

The result was not what Reagan and his pal, Alan Greenspan, anticipated and preached.  America quickly fell into the greatest debt in the countries history.  Yet still the government policy continued with “trickle down”. Help the rich get richer, corporations become giant conglomerates,  and the crumbs will fall from the table.  It was and is fantasy.  IT HAS NOT AND WILL NOT WORK.  It was Alan Greenspan who suggest Reagan could hide some of that debt by “borrowing” a few HUNDRED BILLION DOLLARS each year from SOCIAL SECURITY and the SOCIAL SECURITY TRUST FUND. Since 1982, the government hands have been raking that fund to help cover their VOODOO ECONOMICS.  Nothing ever fell from the rich man’s table, the contrary, the minority horded and got monstrously wealthy and the others, waiting for the “trickle”, got NOTHING.

Today the United States national debt is partially owned by the SOCIAL SECURITY TRUST FUND …… 2.7 TRILLION.DOLLARS WORTH…that’s 2.7 TRILLION DOLLARS. (This is more than the combined ownership of other countries  – including the largest China, then Japan and the UK)  – their total is 2.3 trillion)

From its inception, “Trickle down” economics has resulted in the wealthiest getting fabulously richer starting under Reagan and Greenspan.  Alone the income of the  richest Americans grew 25% while everyone else stayed flat….and to correct this MESS, America  continued the “trickle down” fiction. It just GOT WORSE!   The US then pursued  “free trade” policies under Presidents Reagan, Bush 1, Clinton and Bush 2…….The result, America has become the most indebted nation in the history of the world. If Congress has it’s way……the solution is not BACK TO BEFORE WE BROKE IT……instead….pass it on to the “other” guys, the workers who pay taxes, the 99%. That’s the 99%  still waiting under the table for “trickle down” to drop the left overs,,,,

 

 

AMERICAN MEDIA CONTROLLED BY THE 1%?

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www.statehousereport.com

In the 1980s United States media was owned and operated by over 50 competitive corporations.  Each company could be accused of perhaps “slanting” the news to their liking and political persuasion.  Not so sure you believed, had confidence in, what you read or viewed on TV? Well, it was easy, effortless.  Purchase a few competitive Sunday newspapers, read a different slant on an issue and make your own conclusion. Change the TV channel to see, hear the various reporters,  listen to the  pulled off the shelf – dusted off -”experts” and the “authorities” theories.  Stew them together in your head cook for YOUR OWN judgment.  Freedom of the press plus freedom of Ideas and opinion equals Freedom for YOUR Conclusions and Resolution………that’s good citizenship!!!…..

NOW??? Gone are the neighbor owned “local” TV and radio stations.  What we now watch on TV, read in a diminished newspaper market,  peruse in magazines, and listen to on our car radio are owned and operated by 6 SIX diverse product conglomerate giants. These six monoliths consolidate their empires and control 90% NINETY PERCENT of the American media.

These giant commercial empires with their snake like arms into varying divisions and products are driven by their bottom line. They are controlled by the very CEOs and officers who’s bloated immoral run away salaries and bonus packages have brought hostility, resentment, and anger to the public discourse.  These Goliath corporations  have  visible political agendas reflected in the nature of their programs and employees as news commentators/personalities.  Lavish political donations made by the holding companies and/or divisions to political candidates is made if not revealed.  They often fail to disclose an ownership or financial entanglement when reporting on a project involving a “cousin” in their umbrella of ownership.

Most recently viewers were  shown violent anti government riots sparked by the election results in Russia (Fox) except they were NOT in Russia, the video shown was taken in Greece.  More political riots in Russia (CNN) but the film was false – fake, nothing to do with Putin and in fact taken at a soccer match fight with NO connection to politics. Sloppy clumsy reporting or?  The USA has its own internal problems, demonstrations sparked by financial inequality, the unemployed, two unpaid wars, national debt, the vanishing American Dream.  The OWS movement has spread, BUT with disappearing coverage from the American TV screens, the radio, the newsprint,…Coincident?

Who are these six TITANS?

GENERAL ELECTRIC  owner of NBC, Concast, Bravo plus plus plus 26 television stations in the US . GE who reported 2010 profits of 14.5 BILLION (5.1 BILLION from the US) and paid NO NO US Federal tax….as a result of fierce Washington lobbying for tax breaks and fancy accounting for their offshore companies.     CEO, Jeffrey Immett, salary for 2010 15.1 million plus plus.

FellP20091022_low

NEWS CORP  owner of Fox, Wall Street Journal, The New York Post, Dow Jones Media, 20 Century Fox, plus plus plus, some 150 newspapers worldwide,  The Murdoch family empire is struggling to distance itself from the sleazy scandals and corrupt illegal wire tapping activity both sides of the Atlantic.  Recently Murdoch lobbied in favor of a new Panama free trade pact through extensive positive encouraging articles in their Wall Street Journal and FOX TV news. The trade pact  passed last week in congress, after which  News Corp disclosed it operates numerous subsidiaries in this notorious tax haven including Twentieth Century Fox Films.  The new pact will make it more difficult for the US government to crack down on Panama tax related abuses. (Panama has attracted more than 400,000 off shore corporations thanks to its 0 – that’s zero – tax rate and strictest bank secrecy laws in the world.)      And Panama Trade Pact was not the first adventure for Fox and the WSJ, they did the same for South Korea (News Corp has three subs) and Colombia (News Corp has two subs) without disclosing the parent company’s lobbying.       News Corp pretax profits 3.3 billion for 2010.  Rupert Murdoch was ranked 117th RICHEST person in the world last year. His salary 2010 $18.8 million plus plus.

DISNEY  owner of ABC,  ESPN, Disney Channel,  plus plus plus 277 radio stations, Walt Disney Pictures, and theme parks.  This is the same corporation which gave $640,000  to the political campaign of GW Bush….political bias??? Business jumped from  36 billion in 2009 to 40 BILLION 2010.    CEO, A Iger, salary for 2010,  $28 Million plus plus.

TIME WARNER  owner of CNN, HBO,  Warner Brothers, Time, plus plus plus AOL, Fortune Magazine, People. In 2000 gave 1.6 million dollars to the political campaign of GW Bush….(quiet don’t want the viewers to know were not “independent”!!!) 2010 Revenue 26.9 Billion operating profit 5.4 billion.  CEO, Jeff Bewkes, salary for 2010  $26.1 million plus plus.

CBS CORP  owner of CBS Television Network, showtime, Smithsonian, NFL.Com, 60 minutes plus plus plus 30 television stations and 130 radio stations in US. The CBS Corp with board connections to the Saudi and Bush family through the Carlyle Group. Revenues jump, earnings up 180% over 2009 to 14.5 billion.  CEO, Leslie Mooves, salary for 2010 $56.9 million…He got a raise of 32%………….!!!

VIACOM owner of MTV, CMT, Paramount Pictures, BET, plus plus plus Showtime (with CBS) , many joint ventures and major market stations. This is the same company that bought Harmonix in 2006 – lost money and sold it for $50 in 2010.  THAT’S FIFTY DOLLARS NOT MILLIONS OR BILLIONS but  saved $50 MILLION on its’ 2010 taxes.  However, CEO, Phillippe Dauman, still wins the 2010 salary prize at a staggering $84,500,000. MILLION plus!!! or $7million plus per month or $23,000 plus each morning for seven days a week….in the office or on the golf course.

The ownership of the TV & radio stations, the control of news and its presentation, the persuasion of that news, the  political agendas of the corporate owners of the American media;………….is it in the hands of too few giants..??  Real untainted news or what helps the corporate line?

Corporation giants whose CEOs are all ranking members, “the nobility”, of that 1% club…… are they trustworthy enough to present Americans “unbiased” “fair and equal” impartial  news.  Not so sure???  Next time you watch CNN NBC CBS ABC news remember these  companies are family members of the DADDY corporations, whose CEOs are the club members the alumni of the 1%…………… antithetical to the 99% ………….the 99% are THEIR VIEWERS!