Tag: Corporations

Corporations Are Disgusting

Daily Agitator

There are always stories in the news about the shenanigans that corporations pull……some arte disgusting, more so than some of the others, but then there is one that makes me really hate these self-absord dicks…..

Poverty in the US is reaching fantastic percentages, especially with the recession and all the jobs loses……..close to 20 million people live below the poverty line in the US….there is NOT enough money for them to have food or clothing or shelter…….this story is all the more reason to be disgusted, especially because of the severe weather that is gripping the nation…..

This week the New York Times reported a disheartening story about two of the largest retail chains. You see, instead of taking unsold items to sample sales or donating them to people in need, H&M and Wal-Mart have been throwing them out in giant trash bags. And in the case that someone may stumble on these bags and try to keep or re-sell the items, these companies have gone ahead and slashed up garments, cut off the sleeves of coats, and sliced holes in shoes so they are unwearable.

This unsettling discovery was made by graduate student Cynthia Magnus outside the back entrance of H&M on 35th street in New York City. Just a few doors down, she also found hundreds of Wal-Mart tagged items with holes made in them that were dumped by a contractor. On December 7, she spotted 20 bags of clothing outside of H&M including, “gloves with the fingers cut off, warm socks, cute patent leather Mary Jane school shoes, maybe for fourth graders, with the instep cut up with a scissor, men’s jackets, slashed across the body and the arms. The puffy fiber fill was coming out in big white cotton balls.”

I am sorry but this is disgusting…..you mean to tell me that with all the tax advantages these companies get that they could not have donated the clothing?  Every day there is a news story of people dying because of the weather and yet these people, who could have helped, did not assist and yet they still get advantages of their position in society.  Sorry but this is criminal and there should be some apparatus in place to deal with this situation…..heavy fines or loss of a status or something that would penalize them for turning their backs on the American people.

The next time Wal-Mart makes a commercial that talks of their record in helping society…I want this story to follow it….the people need to stop throwing money at these types of businesses….I know that is a lot to ask during a recession when we have to get all we can for our dollar….but keep in mind….YOU may need something and these companies will turn their back on you…….hold these people responsible for their actions….if you do not….then WHO?

The Battle For Tax Loopholes

Major corporations are arming for a brawl over overseas tax breaks that could be the year’s biggest clash between business and the White House.

“We’re going to spend whatever it takes,” said Brigitte Schmidt Gwyn, senior director of congressional relations for the Business Roundtable, which represents CEOs of the nation’s largest companies.

Obama last week announced a “Leveling the Playing Field” plan aimed at overseas tax shelters and other provisions that he calls loopholes for corporations. Combined with other international tax reforms planned by the administration, the crackdown would raise $210 billion over 10 years.

These were the observations written in the Politico.  They also gave us a list of tactics to watch for in the coming battle.

1. Start immediately.

The big companies that would be affected by Obama’s proposed changes have already closed ranks. He revealed his plan in his budget proposal in late March, and a group of about 200 trade associations and U.S.-based multinational firms immediately formed the Promote America’s Competitive Edge coalition. Members range from McDonald’s to computer maker Dell and financial services giant Prudential.

2. Emphasize the economy.

The main thrust of the business argument is that Obama’s proposed changes would be bad for an ailing economy. The companies argue that, contrary to Obama’s contention that multinationals use the targeted provisions to ship jobs overseas, being competitive abroad allows them to create more jobs here at home.

3. Go local.

The coalition’s lobbying strategy aims to localize the fear of job losses by having companies reach out to home-state senators and representatives. After that, the companies branch out to lawmakers from states where they have employees.

4. Go bigger.

Another message PACE members are stressing on the Hill is that any changes to deferral should happen only in the context of a broader rewrite of the tax code. What the lobbyists don’t say is that Congress is highly unlikely to undertake fundamental tax reform anytime soon. Not only are lawmakers strapped with an already ambitious legislative agenda, but the recession means there’s no extra money to smooth out the rough spots that such a major rewrite would inevitably produce.

Now we have the tactics that will be used and it will be interesting to see how they use each one of them.  I will be keeping a scorecard .

Will Obama have his way or will there be a cave to the businesses?  My money is on the cave.

Is There An Alternative?

With the prospects for a landmark pro-union proposal looking increasingly shaky in Congress, senators in both parties are seeking other ways to reform labor laws, potentially reshaping what many expected to be a defining showdown of Barack Obama’s presidency.

The Employee Free Choice Act, also called “card check,” was dealt two blows last week. Whole Foods, Costco and Starbucks proposed a “third way” to reform labor laws that threatened to draw away conservative Democrats from card check.

Alternative ideas run the gamut. The retailers’ plan leaves out card check and mandatory arbitration but strengthens penalties, proposes fixed election dates to give employers less time to exert pressure and improves unions’ access to workers. Unions called it inadequate; business reaction was mixed.

No, there is no alternative.  Anything proposed so far is just nothing more than employers getting all the benefits….and the workers, as usual get the same as always….NOTHING!

Why are so many afraid of the “card check” thing?  The best one I have heard is that it will harm industry…….I think that management has done a better job of that then any union could have.

There is NO alternative!  Workers need to jump on this with both feet and start demanding that their voice be heard….since they coannot compete with the cash thrown at Congress….then talk to the streets.   Peace….Out!

Why Not Lower The Corporate Tax Rate?

That is the question that conservatives have been asking year after year after…….

The massive Obama stimulus is already finding its opponents to include former Republican presidential candidate John McCain, who like his Republican colleagues wants more tax cuts in the plan.  And of course, that will include the standard lower of the US corporate tax rate.  Let’s look at their argument.

Unfortunately, according to the CBO, cutting the corporate rate “is not a particularly cost-effective method of stimulating business spending” and “does not create an incentive for them to spend more on labor or to produce more.” In other words, it doesn’t create jobs.  The Repubs used the CBO to criticize the stim plan but somehow overlooked the report on their tired old mantra of cutting corporate tax.  Cherry picking facts to make a point..,.,a typical political tactic from both sides…personally I want the truth…the whole truth…and nothing but the facts…all the facts.

US business just plain sucks!  Corporations fail, people lose jobs and banks make money.  I have heard some conservs say the way to stop this erosion of American business is to lower the high corporate tax.

Better yet, WHY lower the tax rate?  I wish that they would please stop using this tired piece of garbage as a way for the US to regain its rightful place as a world leading manufacturer.  It will not help, just as the whole “free trade agreements” have not helped.  (This subject to be covered at a later date).

For years I have listen to conservatives bitch and moan about the fact that US corporations are taxed the 2nd highest in the world.  And that it must be lowered to make them more competitive in the world economy.  And now with the onset of the current economic crisis, I hear the argument yet again.  Believe it or not people are buying this whole barrel of BS.

And when these people start the lower corporate tax tango I have heard NO mainstream economist dispute the fecal they spread.  Why is that?  Mainstream economist are the high priests and priestesses of the corporate world.  Just look to the first corporate bailout of Wall Street.

Let us look at one fact that craps on the conservative concerns.  Since corporations in the US get special preferences on taxes and with all their tax incentives that Washington grants, the US collects the fourth lowest corporate taxes in the industrialized world.

A corporate tax structure that closes loopholes and requires all companies to pay their fair share would both enhance America’s global competitiveness and allow government to pay for the public programs that benefit all Americans and, in doing so, foster a healthier business climate.

Now my question is, when the conservatives start their pro-corporate tap dance, why does not someone call them on the crap?  Instead they allow the morons to continue spreading LIES and misinformation.  The American people trust their conservative reps, why I dunno, call it lack of truth or just plain stupidity, but they allow these guys to keep helping the wealthy and ignoring the workers.

Time for that to change!

Copyright:  CHUQ/Info Ink

An Unacceptable Death

A 93-year-old man froze to death inside his home just days after the municipal power company restricted his use of electricity because of unpaid bills, officials said.

Marvin E. Schur died “a slow, painful death,” said Kanu Virani, Oakland County’s deputy chief medical examiner, who performed the autopsy.

Neighbors discovered Schur’s body on Jan. 17. They said the indoor temperature was below 32 degrees at the time, The Bay City Times reported Monday.

Schur owed Bay City Electric Light & Power more than $1,000 in unpaid electric bills, Bay City Manager Robert Belleman told The Associated Press on Monday.

A city utility worker had installed a “limiter” device to restrict the use of electricity at Schur’s home on Jan. 13, Belleman said. The device limits power reaching a home and blows out like a fuse if consumption rises past a set level. Power is not restored until the device is reset.

The limiter was tripped sometime between the time of installation and the discovery of Schur’s body, Belleman said. He didn’t know if anyone had made personal contact with Schur to explain how the device works.

Belleman said city workers keep the limiter on houses for 10 days, then shut off power entirely if the homeowner hasn’t paid utility bills or arranged to do so.

Okay sports fans I have a serious problem with this situation.  I find it unacceptable on so many levels.  IMO, the utility murdered this man in the name of money.  If I killed a person that owed me a thousand dollars I would be lethal injected; corporations should be held to to same standard and laws as I am.  Whoever made the decision to kill this man should be prosecuted to the fullest extend of the law.  Because of the circumstance of his death, the torture, the “slow and painful death” there should be NO appeals and the sentence should be carried no less than 30 days after conviction with no chance of pardon from a governor or president that has received money from the corporation.  If an attempt is made to help the person then the politician can be prosecuted as an accessory.

In case there is any doubt….I feel very strongly about this situation.

Enough said, Irene?

Who Else Is Going Down The Toilet?

While industry executives and shoppers will remember 2008 as the year the party ended, figure 2009 to be the year of the hangover. Already, Circuit City, Linens ‘N Things and Mervyn’s stores are going away. Sharper Image is too, though the company will continue to sell some of its high-end gadgets through license agreements with other retailers.

Expect closings and bankruptcies to rattle the likes of Lane Bryant, Gap, and Starbucks. It’s the inevitable counterpunch to the days of retailers fighting hand over fist for market share during an era of loose credit and minuscule interest rates.

Retailers at risk in 2009 include outerwear specialist Eddie Bauer and teen-apparel-seller Pacific Sunwear, along with Zales, the big jewelry chain. All three shuttered at least 8% of their U.S. stores last year, with many more closings expected. The same is largely true of Charming Shoppes, the owner of Lane Bryant, which closed 150 stores last year. With a mountain of debt and losses totaling over $260 million over the most recent 12-month reporting period, the company will close another 100 locations this year.

Another possible casualty: Sears Holdings, operator of Sears and Kmart stores. A key to hedge fund manager Eddie Lampert’s 2005 merger of the two chains was in the underlying real estate. But with those values down 30% or so since then, slumping sales hit even worse.

The coming year looks like a sucking year for retailers and many will not survive.  Maybe now Americans will go back to saving and stop the addiction to credit.

Obama Tax Cuts

Damn this all sounds so darn familiar.  I just cannot put my finger on where I have heard all this before. (sarcasm)

The Wall Street Journal noted that the “Obama tax-cut proposals, if enacted, could pack more punch in two years than either of George W. Bush’s tax cuts did in their first two years.” Many of Obama’s proposals, the newspaper wrote, were, in fact, extensions of measures carried out by the Republican administration over the last eight years.

One such provision under the Obama plan would allow businesses to reduce taxes by claiming immediate depreciation of half of their spending on new equipment, rather than spreading out that depreciation over years.

Another would allow businesses to write off the huge losses they incurred last year and any suffered in 2009, enabling corporations to apply retroactively for refunds on taxes paid over the last five years.

Corporations will also get thousands of dollars in tax credits for each job supposedly created or retained.

Under the plan, ordinary working people will receive a tax credit worth up to $500 for individual workers and $1,000 for families—adding up to about $150 billion of the total package. This under conditions in which the decline in the value of US homes alone will lead to the wiping out of some $6 trillion in US household wealth.

This means families crushed by high levels of debt and other living expenses will either pay a little less in taxes or receive a rebate of a few hundred dollars. The new administration will also adjust payroll taxes for the current year, meaning an average worker is likely to see his or her paycheck increase by about $10 a week!

$10 a week and that will be eaten up by new taxes imposed by the state and local governments to cover their budget shortfalls.  So where is the benefit, please tell me again.

Lessons From Chicago

NO!  I am not talking about that MORON Blago!  Or who knew what when and where.  All that is insane babbling by the media and conserv pundits…it is NO value as news,,,only to mental midgets that relish scandal.

The lessons learned here are those tyaught by the workers of Republic Wnidow and Doors.

The action taken by the Republic workers was an immense step forward, the first independent action of a section of the working class in the US in response to the unfolding economic crisis. The workers acted with courage and determination, insisting that they would not leave the factory until they received the benefits to which they were legally entitled.

The struggle of these workers quickly became a symbol across the country—and indeed around the world—of deepening anger and resistance to mass layoffs and a government policy that has handed out trillions of dollars to banks and financial institutions while ordinary workers continue to lose their jobs by the hundreds of thousands. Their action evoked broad support from all across the country.

The workers marched out of the factory Wednesday night declaring victory in their struggle. Each worker will receive about $6,000—including eight week’s severance pay, accrued vacation time and two months health care coverage.

While from the standpoint of the workers’ immediate demands it was a victory, it was a bittersweet one. The workers at Republic will still lose their jobs under conditions where no decent jobs are to be found. In two months they will have no health care. The American and world economy is entering the worst economic slump since the Great Depression, and the workers at Republic will join millions across the country who will face this crisis with no job security and no safety net.

The occupation at Republic surprised and frightened the American corporate and political elite, which is well aware of rising popular anger over the naked class character of their multi-trillion-dollar bailout of Wall Street. In occupying their factory, moreover, the workers were making an implicit challenge to the basis of capitalist rule—the private ownership of the means of production. The ruling class has become accustomed to forcing through its demands without serious challenge. The very fact that workers have to occupy a factory in order to win benefits to which they are legally entitled is an indication of the state of class relations in the United States.

The initiative of a few hundred workers at a relatively small factory in Chicago threatened to spark something much larger. The quick settlement—coming after the workers received the verbal support of several Democratic Party politicians, including President-elect Barack Obama—reflected an attempt to get ahead of any broader struggle, to contain it before it got out of hand.

The resolve of the workers at Republic stands in stark contrast to the bankruptcy of the United Auto Workers union, which has agreed to a new round of massive concessions at the Big Three auto companies without even the pretense of resistance.

In their action, the Republic workers have demonstrated that the absence of more open forms of working class resistance is not due to a lack of determination among the workers. For nearly three decades the unions have ruthlessly suppressed any independent struggle of the working class. When such struggles have broken out, the union leadership has systematically isolated and betrayed them.

The struggle at Republic is an initial sign of an upsurge in the class struggle around the world, a struggle that arises inexorably from the contradictions and crisis of the capitalist system itself. It has tapped into militant traditions of the American working class that go back decades, including the great sit-down strikes of the 1930s.

In short, other workers could take a page from this sit-in, the workers do have the power, but will they use it?

Racism, Immigration and Profit

The nation’s economic crisis could make it tough for President-elect Barack Obama to deliver on his pledge to overhaul the nation’s immigration laws, some analysts predict.

With unemployment rising, foreign workers are less welcome, say immigration restrictionists, who have vowed to oppose offering legal status to the nation’s estimated 12 million undocumented immigrants.

But as the presidential transition goes into high gear, Democratic political insiders still believe that immigration reform has a good chance. Until a comprehensive bill is introduced in Congress, Obama’s pick to head the Department of Homeland Security, Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano, will play a key role in refocusing the way the government handles immigration.

Let’s take a good look at the immigration issue.

From an article written by Shamus Cooke.

The immigration debate is often tinged or even marred by racism – usually subtly, sometimes openly. This feeling finds a receptive audience not because of prejudice, but out of fear. Indeed, racism cannot exist without fear. We believe that, at bottom, recent immigration-related topics — from ballot measures to border fences — directly or indirectly contain elements of racism and fear. Unraveling the basis for this fear, as well as those in charge of creating it, is essential if one is to make an informed decision on the immigration question. While doing this, we will attempt to uncover the deeper reasons that have created the atmosphere that has projected this issue on to center stage.

There are two main slogans that rally people against immigrants. Both contain elements of truth. The first is simple: “immigrants are illegal.” Crossing the border without proper documentation is in fact illegal in the United States, and becoming a citizen is becoming increasingly difficult for political reasons. Therefore, immigrants are given the loaded label of “criminal,” even though their crime is largely an administrative one — akin to a parking ticket. Because of their generally darker skin, Latino immigrants are easier to target and isolate than others. Negative feelings towards these people are encouraged and eventually accumulate; action is demanded to punish the “felons.” (The 2005 Sensenbrenner bill attempted to make undocumented entry into the US a felony.) Since it is impossible to know who is a citizen, documented, or undocumented, Latinos as a whole are often times labeled “criminals” — the subtle seed of racism has fully sprouted.

The second anti-immigration slogan is the more profound of the two, and is the real reason behind the intense interest in the subject: “They’re taking our jobs.” This motto is effective for many reasons. Some of them are true. If the surface is scratched, the real fear behind the slogan reveals itself: the average American worker is very nervous about the economy and the ability to make a living wage. The negative energy that emerges from this feeling must be channeled somewhere; something must be done, someone must be blamed. Immigrants are being made the scapegoats — the interest groups responsible for blaming them are infinitely guiltier for the problems the country is facing.

The immigration debate also serves as a convenient distraction device for a government — Republican and Democrat alike — that continues to wage an unpopular war, destroys civil liberties, and allows corporations to accumulate billions while the average worker is steadily impoverished. The specific groups that are the most consistent advocates of corporate greed are also the ones most eager to obsess about the immigration debate. These groups are typically conservative, corporate oriented foundations or business groups that channel millions of dollars into television ads, politicians’ hands, and think-tanks in an effort to artificially focus the countries attention on the immigration debate. They are able to publish books, finance radio stations, and promote speaking tours to advance their ideas.

While pushing their anti-immigrant agenda, these elite-driven groups are profiting handsomely from immigrant workers — directly or indirectly. The fact is that immigrant workers are good for corporate profits: they have no legal protection from being paid below minimum wage; or being paid at all! They have no way to defend themselves from unsafe working conditions, or being worked inhuman hours (it is safe to assume that an employer will call the INS if he suspects an immigrant of organizing a union).

To recognize the immigration issue for what it is — a classic example of the divide and conquer tactic — is the first step toward approaching the topic with an informed perspective. Employers benefit from a divided workforce, with the categories of “legal” and “illegal” being especially useful. In the same vein, the mega-corporations who control the government benefit from a divided society. They would rather we fight each other than question their rule or privileges. For the US worker, there can only be one effective response: to fight for equal rights for all working people in the country. The old saying, “an injury to one is an injury to all” has never been more relevant a slogan, nor as necessary to put into action, since the political polarization in the country will continue to match the rapid widening of economic inequality.

GOP Challenges The Laws

The national Republican Party sued the Federal Election Commission Thursday, seeking to overturn prohibitions on unregulated corporate and labor contributions and to make it easier to coordinate spending with federal candidates.

In two lawsuits, the Republican National Committee directly challenged post-Watergate restrictions on the ability of parties and candidates to work hand-in-hand on political campaigns and the law Congress passed in 2002 banning unlimited contributions know as “soft money.”

Republican National Committee Chairman Robert M. “Mike” Duncan said in an interview that the suits were designed to “strengthen the Republican Party and bring a more level playing field to campaign finance.”

At issue are two distinct laws — one passed in the aftermath of the Watergate abuses of the early 1970s and the other a six-year-old ban on soft money. Both laws have been upheld by the Supreme Court, but since then the court has a new Chief Justice in John G. Roberts and a new justice in Samuel Alito.

The lawsuits come after the defeat of Republican presidential candidate John McCain, a fierce opponent of soft money and one of the authors of the 2002 legislation that banned the parties from raising unlimited money from corporations, unions and wealthy individuals.

The RNC lawsuit said the total ban on soft money amounts to a violation of the First Amendment’s guarantees of free speech and association.

The RNC wants to be able to raise unlimited contributions for “non-federal” activities — that is, for expenditures unrelated to presidential, U.S. Senate or House of Representative elections. The money, the complaint says, would be used to help elect Republicans to state offices, to finance congressional redistricting efforts by state Republican parties following the 2010 census, and to finance lobbying efforts on federal legislative issues.

The RNC’s effort to permit fundraising for state parties and state candidates would reverse a key component of the 2002 law that McCain helped write with Democratic Sen. Russell Feingold of Wisconsin and House members Christopher Shays, R-Conn., and Martin Meehan, D-Mass.

Under that law, the national parties can only raise money under federal fundraising restrictions. The law banned the national parties from raising so-called soft-money — that is, unlimited amounts of money from corporations, unions or individuals. If the national parties can raise money for state parties or for state candidates, they would adjust that fundraising to state limits, some of which are far more lenient than federal law.

Sounds like sour grapes?