Tag Archives: The Economy

March 28, 2011 · 9:11 pm

The Real Reason Gas Prices Are Soaring – DailyFinance

Like I keep saying, our Financial system is totally screwed up…

It has become like an Atlantic City Casino with Las Vegas morals…

Dan Dicker, who has spent nearly three decades in the oil market, has a profoundly disturbing explanation of why the price of oil, and the gasoline that comes from the crude product, has risen so dramatically in recent months. It turns out, Dicker says, that the price has nothing to do with supply and demand for oil. It’s the financial market for oil, filled with both professional speculators and amateur investors betting on poorly understood oil exchange-traded funds, who have ratcheted up the price of gas to such sky high levels.

“There is no supply issue going on here – what you have is the perception of the possibility of a supply issue,” Dicker says. “A whole bunch of people are pouring money into an oil market trying to take advantage of what they perceive to be a real risk in supply. It’s a marketplace that I argue should not be allowed to be wagered on like a stock or bond.”

Dicker notes that Libya produces only 1.3 million barrels of oil a day, just a tiny fraction of the world oil market. Even if Libyan crude were lost to the world market in the current turmoil, and there is no sign that it is, Saudi Arabia has 5 million barrels a day to use in case of an emergency.

Dicker, who has just published a book called Oil’s Endless Bid: Taming The Price of Oil To Secure Our Economy, makes a strong case that if the government stepped in and regulated oil trading so that only investors with a genuine interest in the physical product, such as airlines and heating oil companies, could buy and sell oil futures, then the price of oil would fall by 50% overnight and our economy would be much better off.

via The Real Reason Gas Prices Are Soaring – DailyFinance.

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March 28, 2011 · 8:14 pm

Two Thirds of US Corporations Pay No Federal Income Taxes

US Uncut held a National Day of Protest over the push to cut vital government programs while major, profitable Corporation pay No Taxes…

Sorry, but this just isn’t right….

From The Nation:

“I’m tired of people calling for shared sacrifice and it’s all coming from the workers and nothing’s coming from the top,” says protester Dave Sonenberg. “I’m sick of companies like Bank of America not paying their taxes.”

Bank of America hasn’t paid a nickel in federal income taxes for the past two years, and in fact raked in an additional $1 billion in tax “benefits.” The bank is enjoying these profits after accepting $45 billion from taxpayers, which the company then got to count as a deduction when they paid back the money.

Big corporations get to play by a whole different set of rules, says tax expert Bob Willens of New York-based Robert Willens LLC:

It’s also not unusual for a company to pay no federal taxes, while still paying state and local taxes, Willens said. Items that can be deducted for federal purposes aren’t always deductible for state and local returns, he said. State taxes can also be based on the amount of capital deployed in a state, not pre-tax income.

This is why two-thirds of corporations in America pay no federal income taxes. If they were forced to, we’re told, the whole country would suffer. Jobs would be lost, salaries slashed. Thank heavens we’ve avoided such calamity by allowing corporations to shape legislation in their favor.

In 2010, Bank of America handed out $2.2 million in campaign contributions to Congressional representatives and PACs (36 percent went to Democrats, 64 percent to Republicans). By throwing around that much cash, huge companies like BoA have a big say when it comes to crafting legislation that permits them to escape paying taxes, according to US Uncut organizer J.A. Myerson.

“The reason it’s not illegal is because they have bought and paid for the people who make the laws. The laws are made to accommodate this sort of nefariousness,” he says, adding that the process is wrong, and ordinarily that would mean approaching Congress to ask them to fix it, but there’s no point in attempting that when the system is so heavily rigged in favor of the rich and well connected. “So what US Uncut is doing right now is not Capitol Hill lobbying because that doesn’t seem like it’s a fruitful avenue. It’s trying to directly undermine the ability of Bank of America to earn record windfall profits by depleting the public trust that they are an upstanding member of society.”

via When Illegal Doesn’t Matter: US Uncut’s National Day Of Protest | The Nation.

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March 26, 2011 · 9:49 am

GE, World’s Largest Corporation, Paid Zero Dollars in U.S. Taxes Last Year | AlterNet

This is really nothing short of disgusting….

You know how we’ve been covering the efforts of U.S. Uncut, the growing campaign to stop corporate tax dodgers from exploiting overseas tax havens? Well here’s an excellent example of why such efforts are desperately needed, from the front page of the New York Times:

General Electric, the nation’s largest corporation, had a very good year in 2010.

The company reported worldwide profits of $14.2 billion, and said $5.1 billion of the total came from its operations in the United States.

Its American tax bill? None. In fact, G.E. claimed a tax benefit of $3.2 billion.

How can that be, you ask?

The company has been cutting the percentage of its American profits paid to the Internal Revenue Service for years, resulting in a far lower rate than at most multinational companies.

Its extraordinary success is based on an aggressive strategy that mixes fierce lobbying for tax breaks and innovative accounting that enables it to concentrate its profits offshore. G.E.’s giant tax department, led by a bow-tied former Treasury official named John Samuels, is often referred to as the world’s best tax law firm….The team includes former officials not just from the Treasury, but also from the I.R.S. and virtually all the tax-writing committees in Congress.

If that doesn’t make your blood boil, I don’t know what would.

Corporations argue that the U.S.’s top corporate tax rate of 35% is prohibitively high and puts them at a disadvantage against foreign companies. But even if you buy that argument (and I do not, because I think corporations should be responsible for paying taxes in countries in which they reap huge profits), it’s hard to swallow when the corporation in question — and not just any corporation, but the biggest in the world — is claiming a tax benefit. Not only did GE not pay any taxes in the U.S. last year, it effectively got money back from the U.S. government.

via GE, World’s Largest Corporation, Paid Zero Dollars in U.S. Taxes Last Year | AlterNet.

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March 24, 2011 · 8:02 am

Warren Buffet: There is Class Warfare and the Rich Are Winning – MarketWatch

Per my previous column about the Rich being different…

Buffet is Wealthy, one of the good guys, not one of the Evil Rich…

Yes, “there’s class warfare, all right,” warns Warren Buffett. “But it’s my class, the rich class, that’s making war, and we’re winning.” Yes, the rich are making war against us. And yes, they are winning. Why? Because so many are fighting this new American Civil War between the rich and the rest.

Not just the 16 new GOP governors in Wisconsin, Michigan, Ohio, Florida, and across America fighting for new powers. Others include: Chamber of Commerce billionaires, Koch brothers, Forbes 400, Karl Rove’s American Crossroads, Grover Norquist’s Americans for Tax Reform — which now has 97% of House Republicans and 85% of the GOP Senators signed on his “no new taxes” pledge — the Tea Party and Reaganomics ideologues.

Buffett: Deals wanted

Warren Buffett said he is ready to make more acquisitions in Korea, the U.S. or the UK, and he said “the bigger the better”. Shira Ovide talks with Kelsey Hubbard about Berkshire Hathaway’s next move, plus Buffet’s positive outlook on Japan.

Wake up America. You are under attack. Stop kidding yourself. We are at war. In fact, we have been fighting this Civil War for a generation, since Ronald Reagan was elected in 1981. Recently Buffett renewed the battle cry: The “rich class” is winning this war. Except most Americans still don’t realize they’re losing, don’t see the prize at stake.

via New Civil War erupts, led by super rich, GOP Paul B. Farrell – MarketWatch.

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March 23, 2011 · 9:42 pm

Democracy Corps » Congressional Battleground 2012

More and more Buyer’s Remorse as the GOP reminds people how incompetent they are….

These are the guys who caused the economic collapse and were supposedly elected to create jobs…

So far, the Republican Congress has voted to defund NPR and Planned Parenthood, declared war on women’s health in general, had a vote on putting “In God We Trust” on buildings, tried to repeal Health Care reform, and fawned at the feet of the Rich.

No signs of job creation whatsoever….

This poll shows there is hope emerging we can through the rascals out and retake the House in 2012…

A new survey by Democracy Corps in 50 of the most competitive battleground Congressional districts – nearly all of which gave a majority to Obama in the last presidential election – shows the new Republican majority very much in play in 2012. *

The Republican incumbents in these districts, 35 of them freshmen, remain largely unknown and appear very vulnerable in 2012 (depending on redistricting).  In fact, these incumbents are in a weaker position than Democratic incumbents were even in late 2009, or Republican incumbents were in 2007 in comparable surveys conducted by Democracy Corps.

These incumbents, identified by name, have an average approval rating of 35 percent across the 50 districts, with 25 percent disapproving.  Another 38 percent were not able to give the candidates a rating, suggesting lack of visibility.  This is about 10 points lower than the approval rating Democratic incumbents held in July of 2009 (with comparable disapproval rating).

More importantly at this early point, just 40 percent of voters in these districts say that they will vote to reelect their incumbent (asked by name in each district), while 45 percent say that they “can’t vote to reelect” the incumbent.

This leads to a congressional race that is dead-even in the battleground.  After winning these seats by a collective 14 points in 2010, these Republicans now lead generic Democratic challengers by just 2 points, 44 to 46 percent, and stand well below the critical 50 percent mark.  The race is dead even in the top tier of the 25 most competitive seats—46 percent for the Democrats versus 45 percent for the Republicans.  In the next 25 seats, the Republicans have a slight 42 to 47 percent advantage.

For comparison, in July 2009, after the luster of President Obama’s inauguration had already begun to fade, the Democratic incumbents in our battleground of 40 districts had a 6-point advantage over a generic Republican challenger.  36 of these 40 Democrats went on to lose their seats.  And in June of 2007, in the top 35 most competitive Republican-held districts, the incumbents also held a 6-point lead.  19 of those 35 Republicans went on to lose their seats.

And of course, we know that in 2010, two-thirds of Democrats in McCain seats could not hold on.  The Republicans in Obama seats are already at risk.

via Democracy Corps » Congressional Battleground 2012.

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March 22, 2011 · 9:35 pm

“Tax, Tax, Tax the Rich!” Calls to Tax Wealthy Making Right Wingers Sweat? | | AlterNet

It’s about time….

The main driver of the Federal Deficit is the Bush Tax Cuts for the Wealthy.

End those tax cuts for the wealthy and get out of Afghanistan and Iraq and we won’t have any budget problems…

A simple but powerful chant is now starting to reverberate, all across the country, in protests against budgets cuts gone wild.

“How to fix the deficit?” marchers are shouting. “Tax, tax, tax the rich!”

That sentiment, unfortunately, hasn’t yet reached deep into many law-making chambers. Last week, in the nation’s capital, Rep. Jan Schakowsky from Illinois did introduce legislation that would up taxes on income over $1 million, from the current 35 percent to a range of new rates that run from 45 to 49 percent.

But the budget debate in Congress still revolves almost exclusively around questions about how much to cut, with no attention at all to the vast untaxed fortunes of America’s super rich. In state legislatures, largely the same story.

So why are cheerleaders for America’s rich starting to sweat? They’re hearing the rising drumbeat — from labor and community groups the nation over — for new “millionaire” taxes. And they’re watching the polls, too. Over 80 percent of Americans, the latest surveys show, want higher taxes on our richest.

via “Tax, Tax, Tax the Rich!” Calls to Tax Wealthy Making Right Wingers Sweat? | | AlterNet.

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March 22, 2011 · 9:27 pm

How You End Up Bankrolling Fox News: News Corp. and Rupert Murdoch Weasel Out of Paying Taxes | | AlterNet

The GOP is all over NPR…

But what about Fox “News”?

Sounds like they are costing us a lot more than NPR…

But, oh wait, they support the GOP, so they’re safe…

The article goes on to describe how News Corp used a complex network of accounting dodges including as many as 60 shell companies that were incorporated in such tax havens as the Cayman Islands, Bermuda, the Netherlands Antilles and the British Virgin Islands. More recently, an investigation by the New York Times revealed that…

“By taking advantage of a provision in the law that allows expanding companies like Mr. Murdoch’s to defer taxes to future years, the News Corporation paid no federal taxes in two of the last four years, and in the other two it paid only a fraction of what it otherwise would have owed. Du

Fox News has been the beneficiary of government largess for years and it is time stop it and make Fox pay its own way. As far back as 1999, there have been reports documenting how News Corp, Fox’s parent company, exploited loopholes in tax laws that permitted them to avoid levies that all other citizens have to pay. From The Economist:

“…News Corporation and its subsidiaries paid only A$325m ($238m) in corporate taxes worldwide. In the same period, its consolidated pre-tax profits were A$5.4 billion. So News Corporation has paid an effective tax rate of only around 6%. By comparison, Disney, one of the world’s other media empires, paid 31%. Basic corporate-tax rates in Australia, America and Britain, the three main countries in which News Corporation operates, are 36%, 35% and 30% respectively.”

ring that time, Securities and Exchange Commission records show, the News Corporation’s domestic pretax profits topped $9.4 billion.”

via How You End Up Bankrolling Fox News: News Corp. and Rupert Murdoch Weasel Out of Paying Taxes | | AlterNet.

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March 22, 2011 · 9:09 pm

Detroit’s Population Plunges To 713,777 – Down 25% Since 2000 Census

Sad story about the decline of a once great city…

Statistics from the 2010 census reports Detroit’s population suffered another big decline over the past decade.

The U.S. Census Bureau sent new data on Michigan’s population to state officials, who released it just before 2 p.m.

The latest data puts the once-mighty Motor City’s population at 713,777. That’s a 25 percent drop from 951,270 in 2000.

Detroit’s population peaked at 1.8 million in 1950, when it ranked fifth nationally. But an exodus of many residents to the suburbs and the auto industry’s steady decline has taken their toll.

via Detroit’s Population Plunges To 713,777 – Detroit Local News Story –WDIV Detroit.

Here’s a view from a more optimistic time- The 1960’s and Disney’s “The Happiest Millionaire” :

Sad how it all turned it…mainly due to bad management!

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March 20, 2011 · 8:10 pm

Bill Maher: Republicans Are Like Meth Addicts, Always Focused on Imaginary Problems | AlterNet

From Bill Maher via AlterNet:

When you go down the list of useless distractions that make up the Republican party agenda — public unions, Sharia law, anchor babies, the mosque at Ground Zero, ACORN, National Public Radio, the war on Christmas, the new Black Panthers, Planned Parenthood, Michelle Obama’s war on dessert…you realize that the reason nothing gets done in America is that one of the political parties puts so much [energy] into fantasy problems than real ones.

Governing this country with Republicans is like rooming with a Meth addict; you want to address real-life problems, like when the rent is due, and they’re saying, “How can you even think of that stuff when there’s police scanner voices coming out of the air conditioner unit??”

via Bill Maher: Republicans Are Like Meth Addicts, Always Focused on Imaginary Problems | AlterNet.

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March 19, 2011 · 11:01 am

Avoiding the President | Mother Jones

I’ve noticed this dynamic and assumed it was because the GOP still does not consider President Obama a legitimate President since they think he was born on Mars or something….

I forgot how well he can play them when they go one to one….

May be some truth here….

It is disgusting how the Republicans and special interest groups like the NRA  disowner not only President Obama, but the Office of the President.  Can you imagine how they would have screamed if Dems had treated Bush this way?

Still, in the past there’s always been a bipartisan assumption that the president is the president, and if he invites you to a meeting, you go. That’s broken down recently, and I attribute it to two things: Obama’s appearance at the Republican retreat last January, followed by his healthcare summit a month later. When Obama offered to speak at the retreat, Republicans let him do it. He’s the president, after all. And when Obama initially proposed the healthcare summit, even uber-obstructionist Bill Kristol echoed the old school sentiment: “Obviously when the president invites you to the White House, you go.”

But no longer. Now conservatives do their best to delay meetings at the White House, or they just outright refuse, as LaPierre did. Why? I think it’s partly because Obama scored such obvious public opinion wins at both the retreat and the summit. He’s mastered the art of controlling the conversation and sounding like a voice of reason in settings like this, and conservatives — especially tea party conservatives — don’t trust themselves any longer to come out ahead when they’re negotiating with him. They now consider even closed-door meetings at the White House to be traps, and they are, to put it bluntly, afraid of Obama. I’m not quite sure whether that’s good news or bad.

via Avoiding the President | Mother Jones.

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