Beyond Tea-Party Somnambulism!

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The IRS Scandal – A Different Perspective!

The following is a letter-to-the-editor of the Daily Times, Salisbury, MD.  It was written by attorney, Mike Pretl and he has given us permission to post it on Delmarva Progressive.  It is an authentic appeal to look at the IRS issue with a fresh face and to realize that when dealing with the IRS, there are no good guys and bad guys, only well-documented applications and questionable ones.         

Perhaps I am the last person who should be coming to the defense of the Internal Revenue Service, and its Exempt Organization office in Cincinnati.  I have had numerous legal battles – detailed requests for information, and a few arduous audits, initiated by overzealous agents at that office.  Nevertheless, I am convinced that the current “scandal” is overblown and purely political in nature.  I find it incredible therefore that Administration officials are grumbling excuses and apologies, rather than defending themselves by explaining clearly what that office does every day, and is supposed to do.

In 40 years as a Maryland attorney, I have been pleased to create more than 75 nonprofit, tax-exempt corporations.  I have represented nearly all pro bono (without fee).  With few exceptions, all of these groups operate at the progressive end of the spectrum – environmental activists, health care reformers (pre-Obamacare), community organizers, juvenile service providers, charter schools, church-affiliated entities, and “friends” of a scout troop and  child advocacy center.  Exempt status has been sought under various sections of the Internal Revenue Code, chiefly Sections 501(c)(3), (c)(4), and (c)(6).  Perhaps half of all the applications were greeted with IRS questions — a “request for further information” – sometimes elementary, and often  detailed and onerous.  In the past I would tell my clients to expect a determination letter in about 120 days. More recently I have had decisions delayed for months, or for a year or two, always without explanation.

And I repeat, these are virtually all liberal advocacy organizations, and the hassles and delays have occurred during the last seven administrations – four Republican and three Democratic.

In my ongoing role as unpaid counsel to these groups, it is my duty not only to collect data and file IRS applications, but to advise what they can and cannot do to retain their exempt status.  Many leaders of (c)(3) charities are surprised to learn that they may lobby the legislature to a limited extent, in support of their goals, but of course cannot engage in elective politics.  The (c)(4) (“social welfare”) entities are told that they may support candidates who support their goals, but under the IRS Code, elective politics cannot be their “primary” activity, or a “substantial part” of their daily efforts.

Which brings us back to the current “scandal.”  Despite some apparent excesses and unfortunate statements, it appears that the IRS agents have been caught doing just what they are paid to do – enforcing the Code.  Following the Supreme Court’s Citizens United decision in 2009, numerous organizations were formed, most of them on the right, and sought (c)(4) status so their contributors need not be disclosed.   Many Tea Party chapters and similar groups did not disguise their role as primarily political efforts, however, so the non-political career employees at IRS marked them presumptively ineligible for exempt status.  The agents perhaps went overboard in a few cases – but that zeal hardly suggests a conspiracy.

A final personal story:  A few years ago, the leading Maryland handgun control advocacy group –which had established separate (c)(3) and (c)(4) entities — was wrongly accused of improper election-year activity. IRS auditors promptly served each entity a series of 82 detailed document requests.  The IRS agents were far from friendly, and we spent nearly a year in proving our client not at fault.  At the end, however, we explained to our volunteer board of directors that occasional scrutiny, often unpleasant, is the price we must pay, to secure the invaluable benefits of tax-exempt status.  Perhaps Congressional investigators will soon  get the same message.

 Mike Pretl is a semi-retired attorney, residing in Riverton, in Wicomico County.

Category:

Corporatism, Delmarva Local News, IRS, Politics - other, Taxes, Tea Party

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Nothing Back for Our Tax Dollars?? Au Contraire!

I know it should be obvious, but so many people STILL don’t understand the benefits we derive from paying our fair share of taxes.  A senior sent a letter to the Daily Times, where he complained about the “tax and spend Democrats” and finally declaring, “we have not gotten much return from our spending.”  I beg to differ; and although we know all the programs that the government runs, we sometimes forget, ourselves.  Here is just a tiny sampling, in my response to this gentleman’s letter:

To the 70-year old Grapevine writer, who says, “we have not gotten much return from our spending”, I must ask: Do you receive Medicare, Social Security, or Medicaid benefits? Has our military kept us safe from foreign attack? How about the men and women at the FBI & CIA: have they stopped terrorists from blowing up another skyscraper? At your advanced age, I guess you don’t think about what it costs to send a child to college, and how important financial aid is these days. Have you thought, lately, about the water you drink and the air you breathe, and how both have gotten better over the past 40 years, thanks to the EPA? Or, how factory workers have fared since OSHA was created? Have you visited any of our national parks and enjoyed the beauty of America?

Hopefully, you are a healthy 70-year-old, but if you happen to take any prescription drugs, you should be grateful to the FDA for keeping an eye on their creation, testing and manufacturing. If you were a farmer, you should be thankful for the federal assistance programs for agriculture. At 70 years, you probably still drive, right? Are you thankful that the roads and bridges you drive on aren’t collapsing (yet) under the weight of your SUV? We are still No. 1 in auto-making, thanks to our government.

Ida May Fuller, the first recipient

Ida May Fuller, the first Social Security recipient (Photo credit: Wikipedia) 

It’s great that you don’t have to worry much about the world around you anymore…you’ve gotten to a place where you are content; however, you’ve also gotten to a place where you refuse to see the connection between government, taxes and the many services provided by both. WE demanded these services; we pay for these services and WE are the beneficiaries of these services. If you were to wake up tomorrow morning without them, I dare say, that you would be one of those in line, demanding to know, “Why haven’t I received my government services today?”

Category:

Environment, Health Care, Taxes

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Yes, GOP, The Truth Hurts…

 

 

Category:

Corporate Greed, Corporatism, Economy & Deficit, Jobs, Money Out Of Politics, Taxes

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The Working Poor…Not Looking For Hand-Outs!

Judy Davis, an activist from Worcester County, MD, is involved with important issues in our state. She recently participated in the Marylanders Against Gun Violence rally, in Annapolis, MD and is a participant in the Emerge program, which trains women around the country to take more active roles in leadership positions in their communities.

It would be hard to ignore the working poor, while living in a seasonal beach town, as I do. Although many unskilled jobs are filled with visiting foreign-exchange students, “locals” hold about half of those positions.  These “locals”, some of who are lifelong residents, live in the area year-round and find that they’re without work when the businesses close for the season. The fortunate ones are able to receive a modest unemployment check, twice a month. Renting in our area is expensive and lodging is only available in the off-season. Those that choose to remain in a year-round room/apartment, pay much higher rent than a comparable living space, elsewhere.

During a recent conversation I had with two local business owners, I heard claims that people are living off “the system”, wanting “hand-outs”, and “those people” are not properly planning for emergencies or their retirement. When I asked how anyone, especially those of advanced years, could pay for living expenses at wages of $7.25 hour, there was no response.

Our society’s perception of the working poor has deteriorated, from one of providing an honest day’s work, to one of expecting entitlements and being shiftless. According to Charlie White (Think Reality: Wealth Inequality in America), 15.1% of the U.S. population (approximately 47 million people) lives below the Poverty Line.  An average worker needs to work one month to equal one hour of income that an average CEO earns. That equates to about 160 hours to 1 hour.  Some figures have shown that to be as high as 400 hours to 1 hour!

The working poor have no discretionary income. If they are lucky enough to own a vehicle and a tire goes flat, the choice is between buying groceries to feed their family or purchasing another used tire.  Trying to save money for deposits on utilities, medical emergencies, gasoline, school supplies, clothes or other basic needs, is impossible, as there isn’t enough money to cover everything. Many parents go without, in order to provide the very minimum subsistence for their children.

The frustration of “just scraping by” impacts a person’s self-worth, causing a cyclical, downward spiral, which is difficult, if not impossible, to recover from.  Don’t forget who also suffers, aside from the parents: Approximately 19% of children in my county live below the Poverty Line (One Maryland: The Plight of Maryland Distressed Jurisdictions).

Rather than blaming the working poor for their situation, how about giving a “hand-up” to help people have their basic needs met, especially where they are desperately trying? In my county, over 25% of female-headed households make just $14,900 per year. Most of our lives would look very different if we suddenly became unemployed, developed significant health issues, needed elderly care or had another traumatic event crossing our paths. Instead of criticizing and demeaning people who are dependent on some form of assistance, in order to survive, their critics should be saying, “There, but for the grace of God, go I!”

The following is a video that clearly explains wealth distribution in America, including how Americans think it is, how they think it should be, and finally, the reality of the way it really is.  It will open your eyes and may, in fact, surprise even the most conservative among you!

V

Category:

Corporate Greed, Corporatism, Delmarva Local News, Economy & Deficit, Jobs, Taxes, Tea Party

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ALEC Is At It Again!

The following is submitted by Guest-Blogger, Burkely Hermann, from Baltimore. He is an online blogger, in his own right, and a student who writes about National, State and International issues, in order to educate the public and motivate us to act.

I just realized something horrifying. Remember the campaign I was trying to start against the bill to raise the corporate tax rate? Guess what? ALEC is involved. First I wrote about how Senator Brinkley and Delegate Schultz were funded by big business, telling people to email their state representatives in response. Then, I launched the #STOPBS campaign, creating a new petition. Finally, I wrote an article in the DelMarva Progressive about this topic, detailing specifics, including the hearing in the Ways and Means Committee, scheduled for February 26th.

Republican Sen. David Brinkley

Republican Sen. David Brinkley

Then, today, I was trying to do some research for a Twitter battle, and I stumbled across ALEC again. ALEC, or the American Legislative Exchange Council, according the Center of Media & Democracy: is not a lobby; it is not a front group. In reality, it is much more powerful than that. Through ALEC, behind closed doors, corporations hand state legislators changes to laws they desire, that directly benefit their bottom line or cause. Along with legislators (State and Federal), corporations have membership in ALEC. Corporations sit on all nine ALEC task forces, and vote with legislators, to approve “model” bills. They have their own corporate Governing Board, which meets jointly with the legislative board. (ALEC says that corporations do not vote on their Board.)

Corporations fund almost all of ALEC’s operations. Participating legislators, overwhelmingly, Conservative Republicans, then bring those proposals home and introduce them in Statehouses, across the land, as their own “brilliant” public policy innovations—without disclosing that corporations crafted and voted on the bills. ALEC boasts that it has over 1,000 of these bills introduced by legislative members every year, with one in every five enacted into law. ALEC describes itself as a “unique,” “unparalleled” and “unmatched” organization. We agree. It is as if a State legislature had been reconstituted, yet corporations had pushed the people out the door.

How does such an organization factor into this bill, you might ask? Consider that, of the 28 Republican sponsors in the Maryland Senate and House of Delegates (27 in the House and one in the Senate) 10 are ALEC members.  That’s more than 35.7% of all sponsors!

Conservative Del. Kelly Schulz

Conservative Del. Kelly Schulz

This is a good chunk of all the ALEC legislators in the State. I have an article on the way about the other co-sponsors. As for this bill, in particular, it is in line with other ALEC ”model” bills, as the Center for Budget and Policy Priorities notes:

“The specific policies include deep cuts in income taxes, particularly for affluent households and corporations…While pushing policies that would weaken or dismantle state revenue systems that finance key public investments, ALEC promotes [things like]…Mechanisms that would reduce funds for services.”

While this bill, its current form, does not conform to any of the “models” described directly, the bill, itself, still benefits corporate power and financial goals. So, lets come together and #StopAlec from giving these corporations a tax break they don’t deserve! As a start, sign my petition. Then, contact your State Senator and Delegate, stating your position against this legislation.  Afterwards, stay tuned for further information, updates and suggestions for other actions to take.

Category:

Corporate Greed, Corporatism, Taxes

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The Fight To Keep Corporations Paying A Fair Share!

The following is submitted by Guest-Blogger, Burkely Hermann, from Baltimore. He is an online blogger, in his own right, and a student who writes about National, State and International issues, in order to educate the public.

Recently, on my blog, I launched a campaign to combat, what I believe, is a bad proposal that will harm Maryland. Its called the #STOPBS campaign, which comes from the first letters of the sponsors of companion bills in the Maryland House and the Senate. It aims to make the bill that seeks to lower corporate income tax rates in the State, die, effectively telling legislators “it’s not okay.”Most already know that on the Federal level, politicians are trying to lower the Federal corporate income tax rate. But right now, it is happening in people’s backyards, in State legislatures across the country.  Senator David Brinkley (R-Dist. 4), who proposed SB 34, seeks to lower Maryland’s corporate income tax rate from its current 8.25% to 6%, a 2.25% drop! Brinkley, who has gotten campaign contributions, since 2005, from corporate giants, like Bank of America, Comcast, BGE and Constellation PACs (among many others), as I detailed on my blog, believes that such a tax break will make Maryland competitive with the State of Virginia. The sponsor of the same bill in the House, concurs.  HB 261 is sponsored by Del. Kelly Schulz (R-Dist. 4A). Hearings in the House Ways & Means Committee are scheduled for February 26th.

Republican Sen. David Brinkley

Republican Sen. David Brinkley

Conservative Del. Kelly Schulz

Conservative Del. Kelly Schulz

In order to denounce such arguments for this tax break, one must look at what this bill actually does. The net loss in tax revenue for Fiscal Year 2014 would be over $381 million dollars. These cuts in Fiscal Year 2014 would include a decrease in funds for transportation by $63.1 million, most of which goes to the State transportation budget, a decrease in funds for Higher Education by $22.9 million, and a decrease in revenues from local highway users, by  $6.1 million. As a result, the current State budget deficit, which is already insurmountable, would increase, and $37,000 dollars would be needed just to notify the 62,000 corporate filers in the State about the new rate reduction. All of these numbers are thanks to a report by the Department of Legislative Services on the matter. To summarize, these cuts would hurt students, as well as reduce the amount of money going to maintain an already failing infrastructure, which will make matters worse, and local governments, which are already feeling budget cuts.

Michael Hudson explained this in a CounterPunch article he wrote last August: “Unlike the U.S. federal government, most states and cities have constitutions that prevent them from running budget deficits. This means that when they cut property taxes, they either must borrow from the wealthy, or cut back employment and public services…Cities are defaulting from California to Alabama…This has become the main cause of America’s rising unemployment, helping drive down consumer demand… Most urban revenue is a free lunch created by taxpayer-financed roads, schools, sewers and water systems….State and local pension funds are $3 trillion behind because they are only making 1% returns these days…Debt-ridden austerity and downsizing government is being urged as if it is inevitable, not a policy choice to put bondholders and the 1% over the 99% – a reward for the lobbying money it has spent on buying politicians and misleading voters, to believe that cutting property taxes and cutting taxes on the rich will help the economy.” Hudson proposes that we default, but I believe there is something more imperative that we must deal with.

Times are tough for Americans. Nearly half of America is at or near the poverty level.  Cases of individuals suffering from depression have increased in areas affected by SuperStorm Sandy. Youths, from 5th to 12th grades, are optimistic about their future, but adults are not so sure, according to recent Gallup polls. This is not the time for corporations to get a tax break. People are suffering and justice is not furthered by corporations not paying a fair share in taxes. Simply put, it is matter of fairness, equity and justice. They can cough up the money. They can stay afloat. There is no danger there. Over the past few years, corporations have been hoarding cash, and now hold more cash than ever before.

This is why I urge you to help spread this message, far and wide, across Maryland, by signing this petition, telling your legislators you want corporations in Maryland to pay their fair share of taxes and not to reduce the current tax rates. Share this with your friends; tell everyone you know about it. If enough people are mobilized, we can stop this in its tracks and let legislators know that now is the time to create jobs, invest in schools and improve infrastructure, not lower taxes for corporate entities!

Category:

Corporate Greed, Corporatism, Delmarva Local News, Jobs, Taxes

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A New Year…The Same Old Lying Harris!

Andy Harris begins the New Year by continuing his lies and misrepresentation of the facts! Instead of voting for the “fiscal cliff” legislation, he prefers that taxes on his cronies (i.e., rich doctors, along with the likes of the Koch brothers, Romney and the other wealthiest Americans) stay at one of the lowest rates they’ve been in 80 years! Remember the ’50s & ’60s, when the US was growing into the economic superpower that it became? Top tax rates were at some of the highest…90%…and so-called “job creators” didn’t blink an eye at the chance to start a business!  When I was starting my businesses, the tax rate was not as important as whether I felt the business was a good one and  I could make a profit.

"What's that, Mr. Koch? Vote AGAINST the 'Fiscal Cliff' legislation? You can count on me!"

“What’s that, Mr. Koch? Vote AGAINST the ‘Fiscal Cliff’ legislation? Sure…you can count on me!”

The truth be told, it was Harris and his cronies that created the “fiscal cliff” during the debt-ceiling debacle last summer; he and his Tea Party cronies refused to raise the debt-ceiling for monies that were ALREADY allocated by Congress, NOT for new spending, which was another lie that he liked to bandy about! So, they forced the plan to raise taxes on the Middle Class and the “sequester”, thinking that the GOP would take the White House and the Senate in the 2012 election. What he failed to realize is that the majority of Americans could see through his and the other GOP candidates’ lies and 19th-century ideas…and they were SOUNDLY rejected!

Instead of standing up and representing the people of the 1st District, Harris continues into 2013, catering to the rich, those who contribute to his campaigns, who are mostly from out-of-state, and ignoring the needs of the people who deserve his attention, including the farmers on the Eastern Shore! Oh, yeah, did I mention that he refused to support the 2012 Farm Bill? If saner minds hadn’t prevailed, we could be paying $6 or $7 for a gallon of milk!! Way to go, Dr. No!!

Category:

Delmarva Local News, Economy & Deficit, Rep. Andy Harris, Taxes, Tea Party

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Ayn Rand = Paul Ryan = “I Got Mine, Screw You!”

The TRUTH about Paul “Ayn Rand” Ryan. Don’t keep this secret…share it with everyone you know.  Unfortunately, there is something here for everyone to hate!

Ryan: “I can’t believe there are people who are really buying my crap!”

1. His economic plan would cost America 1 million jobs in the first year. Ryan’s proposed budget would cripple the economy. He’d slash spending deeply, which would not only slow job growth, but shock the economy and cost 1 million of us our jobs in 2013 alone and kill more than 4 million jobs by the end of 2014.

2. He’d kill Medicare. He’d replace Medicare with vouchers for retirees to purchase insurance, eliminating the guarantee of health care for seniors and putting them at the mercy of the private insurance industry. That could amount to a cost increase of more than $5,900 by 2050, leaving many seniors broke or without the health care they need. He’d also raise the age of eligibility to 67.

3. He’d pickpocket the middle class to line the pockets of the rich. His tax plan is Robin Hood in reverse. He wants to cut taxes by $4.6 trillion over the next decade, but only for corporations and the rich, like giving families earning more than $1 million a year a $300,000 tax cut. And to pay for them, he’d raise taxes on middle- and lower-income households and butcher social service programs that help middle- and working-class Americans.

4. He’s an anti-choice extremist. Ryan co-sponsored an extremist anti-choice bill, nicknamed the ‘Let Women Die Act,’ that would have allowed hospitals to deny women emergency abortion care even if their lives were at risk. And he co-sponsored another bill that would criminalize some forms of birth control, all abortions, and in vitro fertilization.

5. He’d dismantle Social Security. Ironically, Ryan used the Social Security Survivors benefit to help pay for college, but he wants to take that possibility away from future generations. He agrees with Rick Perry’s view that Social Security is a “Ponzi scheme” and he supported George W. Bush’s disastrous proposal to privatize Social Security.

6. He’d eliminate Pell grants for more than 1 million low-income students. His budget plan cuts the Pell Grant program by $200 billion, which could mean a loss of educational funding for 1 million low-income students.

7. He’d give $40 billion in subsidies to Big Oil. His budget includes oil tax breaks worth $40 billion, while cutting “billions of dollars from investments to develop alternative fuels and clean energy technologies that would serve as substitutes for oil.”

8. He’s another Koch-head politician. Not surprisingly, the billionaire oil-baron Koch brothers are some of Ryan’s biggest political contributors. And their company, Koch industries, is Ryan’s biggest energy-related donor. The company’s PAC and affiliated individuals have given him $65,500 in donations.

9. He opposes gay rights. Ryan has an abysmal voting record on gay rights. He’s voted to ban adoption by gay couples, against same-sex marriage, and against repealing “don’t ask, don’t tell.” He also voted against the Hate Crimes Prevention Act, which President Obama signed into law in 2009.

10. He thinks an “I got mine, who cares if you’re okay” philosophy is admirable. For many years, Paul Ryan devoted himself to Ayn Rand’s philosophy of selfishness as a virtue. It has shaped his entire ethic about whom he serves in public office. He even went as far as making his interns read her work.

If there was ever any doubt that Mitt Romney’s got a disastrous plan for America—he made himself 100% clear when he picked right-wing extremist Paul Ryan as his running mate. Paul Ryan is bad for America, but we can’t beat him if Americans don’t know everything he stands for. 

Category:

Corporate Greed, Economy & Deficit, Environment, Health Care, Jobs, Paul Ryan, Politics - other, Pro-Choice, Right-wing, Taxes, Tea Party, U.S. Constitution, War on Women

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Dirty Harry Is Trumped By Dirtier Mitts!

The following is my reply to a post on another blog about Harry Reid’s allegations, received from a former Bain Capital investor, that Mitt Romney hadn’t paid any US income taxes in 10 years:

In what may be a moment of monumental reflection, I agree (mostly) with what this post is saying, “That Reid’s statement, without more, is not playing fair or by what we wish the rules were.” Ok, with that said, let me also say that “playing fair” is a concept that is not exercised by Romney’s pitbulls or campaign “strategists, either.

First, in regard to “fairness”…the President has released 12 years worth of tax returns. Excellent! The American people expect their leaders to be able to divulge that kind of information without having to beg for it. Romney has released 1 year of incomplete returns, with a promise to release another year…but, not necessarily before the election. A natural question, which has been asked by left AND right, is, “What can he be hiding?” Assuming guilt or impropriety, just from someone’s action or inaction, is something we Americans are proficient at.

Second, the question everyone is asking, “Why not show him (Reid) to be the “dirty liar” (per Reince Priebus) he is accused of being?” GOP pundits, politicians and political allies of Romney are questioning his strategy of refusing to follow in his father’s footsteps. George Romney started the practice of candidates for US President releasing their tax returns…and it has been followed ever since, to one degree or another. McCain released only 2 years in ’08. However, it was enough to quell the concerns of the left and right, since there were no questions of McCain’s loyalty or financial dealings.

Romney (Mitt, that is), has announced that he has a lower tax rate (13.9% on $21 million in income in 2010) than most Americans have on $75,000). He also has offshore accounts, (including investments, Swiss bank accounts and $100 million IRA), that pay no taxes to the US. Illegal? Maybe not. But I and many others question why, as a loyal American, he refuses to invest in American institutions rather than foreign, and how, with a $6000 per year limit on IRA contributions, he has amassed a $100 million…tax free! Even if it found to be a legal exploitation of a tax loophole, such exploitation is not an attractive quality in a President.

I would be remiss in responding to your correct allegations of “unfair play”, if I didn’t raise (again) an example where Mitt played dirty…in fact, on the border of criminal fraud. Of course, I’m talking about his hypocritical and intentionally fraudulent TV ad, regarding the President’s speech, now simply referred to by the extreme right as, “You didn’t build that!” We all know, by now, that Romney’s ad took the President’s speech, cut and pasted sections and tried to make it sound like the words, in order, of the President. Not only was it an attempt at fraud (defined as “an intentional deception made for personal gain or to damage another individual”)…but it was proof positive of what the President was truly saying…yes, we entrepreneurs work hard and long, but, we also have others to thank for the successes we enjoy.

It seems that the “poster boy” in the ad, a New Hampshire businessman, had several million dollars in government loans, guaranties and contracts! So, yes, his success, at least part of it, can be attributed to HELP FROM THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT!! Gee, what a concept!

So, to summarize…Harry Reid is playing by some of the same rules as Mitt, only, whereas we have proof of Mitt’s fraud, we still don’t have evidence that what Reid has charged is false! Dirty Harry, true…but, there are dirtier Mitts than his in this game of politics!

Category:

Corporate Greed, Mitt Romney, Politics - other, Taxes

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Andy Harris: Supporting Wealthy Corporatists

I never bought into Oliver Stone’s version of the Kennedy assassination; I disagreed with those who thought Bush was involved in ordering the 9/11 disaster, and I never gave a second thought to those who believed the US moon landing was staged in New Mexico. However, I have come to a startling realization: wealthy corporatists want to destroy the Middle Class in America!

I used to think it was unlikely that corporations wanted to hurt their consumers…after all, who would buy their products?  Sadly, my ‘aha’ moment came after researching jobs outsourcing and its impact on corporate profits.  I was shocked at the rate of increased profits from China, India and Latin American countries, fueling the next generation of growth, all supported by Andy Harris and other Tea Party faithful. Profits, coming from overseas sales, made by overseas factories, employing overseas workers!

Harris (R-MD-1st) says “Yes” to the wealthy corporations, but “No” to his constituents on jobs, the environment and workers’ rights!

From the June 2011, US News & World Report, “…about 40 percent of profit for firms listed in the S&P 500 stock index (are) now coming from overseas. These same corporations “keep certain profits overseas to avoid paying U.S. taxes on them.”

According to the US News article, here’s a breakdown of foreign profits from just 5 of America’s largest corporations: Exxon-Mobil, 45%; GE, 54%; IBM, 64%; Dow, 67%; Intel, 85%.  Any wonder why the US corporate community cares little about the American worker…the majority of the American Middle Class?

When the American Middle Class is finally diminished to the point that they are willing to accept jobs for any wage offered, the corporations will have accomplished their goal. Who will fight for the American worker, when Unions are no more, destroyed by elected officials who are supported by wealthy corporations?

When there is a “rich class” and a “poor class”, guess who will wield the power in our country?  As they have done for the past 30 years, the wealthy corporations will continue to whittle away at Middle Class wealth and power, until there will be little or nothing left. The power shift is close to completion, and it is being accomplished on all levels, including legislative (State & Federal levels), regulations (State & Federal levels) and Court decisions (State & Federal levels).  The Court cases have been one of the best avenues for significant change, where the Citizens United and related decisions have given corporations the same “rights” as persons, something that would have been unheard of before the Robert’s Court. Nothing in the Constitution gives personhood to corporations!

I recall a quote I used to laugh about: “Just because you’re paranoid doesn’t mean people aren’t out to get you!”  It’s not funny any more! It is elected officials, like Andy Harris, who is helping to convince the Middle Class voter that outsourcing jobs and giving corporations tax breaks and more power, is in their best interests!

Category:

Corporate Greed, Jobs, Rep. Andy Harris, Taxes, U.S. Constitution

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