Office Max Inc. seeking more Corporate Tax Dodging Laws

Corporations love the fact that Conservatives and Liberals battle over abortion because it allows them to control the Government.

While people focus elsewhere Corporate Boards and CEOs lobby, cajole, pressure and bully local, State and the Federal Government to write into law any number of loop-holes and tax deferments to aid the Corporations in avoiding paying their fair share of taxes.

Corporations don't "succeed" these days by rewarding their workers or by efficiency or superior products but by legerdermain and lobbying.

Office Max Inc. mergered with Office Depot now the new company, with an estimated yearly revenue of $18 Billion is looking towards playing Illinois and Florida against one another to see which State will offer them the best tax avoidance loopholes.

Illinois State Senator Thomas Cullerton has offered up Illinois House Bill 3271 which would allow Office Max to claim at least $30 Million in tax credits over 10 years against withheld employee income taxes.

Thus, Workers Pay Taxes Corporations Don't.

There's been a lot of bullshit rhetoric by economists that U.S. Corporate Tax Rates are too high.

"The lower the tax rate, the less incentive there is for companies to engage in sophisticated gamesmanship to get around the rate," argues Victor Fleischer, a professor at the University of Colorado Law School.

The economists making the argument are Corporatists through and through. Claiming that is that since the Corporations are going to cheat, buy politicians and illegally influence laws well we should give into them and allow them their way.

These Corporatists claim the lower Corporate rate and tax free repatriation holiday may entice Company's to bring the money back to the U.S. Of course, this is just the Race-to-the-Bottom that Corporations love. Because creating lower rates will just create a new round of tax avoidance, of loop hole creation and the adoption of a lower tax rate cycle.

Ultimately what Corporations want is to have a Zero Tax Rate on Corporate Earnings while their Wage Slaves cover the costs of which benefit them.

Thomas Cullerton claims Illinois' strengths as a transportation hub with a well-educated workforce will entice Office Max/Office Depot into moving it's Corporate HQ to Illinois. But, how is that transportation network and educated workforce being maintained?

In Illinois, 15 bridges are in "critical" need of repair across the six collar county Chicago metropolitan area, and nearly 300 more are considered structurally deficient, according to the Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT). This Daily Herald Story has Zero Comments despite the story's claim that, 317 of the 3,759 bridges in the six counties that IDOT lists as "structurally deficient," where one of the three main components of the bridge — the driving surface, horizontal supports and vertical supports — is rated as being in poor or worse condition by inspectors.

Additionally, as we've seen with the Chicago Public School System. The reason the Schools are underfunded is because of Corporate Tax Dodging which Office Max wishes for themselves has received in the past and which other Corporations in Illinois; such as Sears Holdings Corp., Navistar International Corp., Ford Motor Company and Motorola Mobility, have profited off of in the past.

Information like this are glossed over because the blinkered anti-taxers have a truncated view of taxes. You didn't build that was more accurate than most people want to give President Obama credit. 

But, hey actually delving into the matter of responsibility for the crumbling infrastructure and broken education system requires more thought than mindlessly blaming the Evil Government or Greedy Union Thugs.

And thus Corporations continue to sidestep their fair share.

Republicans 2 Legit 2 Quit Rape

Too Legit

Too Legit To Quit

Hey, Hey

- MC Hammer

Pro-Rape Republicans are at it again. 

Republican Congressman Trent Franks of Arizona learned us all about Republican Rape, "the incidence of rape resulting in pregnancy is very low."

Well, no doubt Trent. If it was a Legitimate Rape then the women would be dead. The fact she is alive is prima facie evidence that she enjoyed it and thus it wasn't rape. So why should she be able to get an abortion for something she wanted.

Governor Scott Walker of Wisconsin, eager to follow the footsteps of Governor Bob McDonnell, is Pro Mandatory Rape Wand, "I don’t have any problem with an ultrasound. I think most people think ultrasounds are just fine." 

Sure thing, Scott! I mean it's only going to be jammed up the vaginas of women so it doesn't affect you! And if they don't want it done why you and your fellow Wisconsin Republicans can just ram through a State Law making the ramming of Rape Wands up in their vaginas mandatory for all women seeking a medical procedure.

All this flows from the belief that there is no worse crime than abortion. If one believes that, then it is necessary to reorganize your worldview to diminish other crimes or justify trauma done to women seeking an abortion because it's for the "greater good".

Now, Republican men think of women as little more than brood mares. Women like Sarah Palin, Michele Bachmann, Marsha Blackburn and their ideological mother Phyllis Schlafly are given a thin slice of immense power and held up as paragons through which all other women should see those few women's power as their success in spite of their own personal situations.

But, Male babies! Ah they are what's important because of perpetuating the Patriarchy. 

"Watch a sonogram of a 15-week baby, and they have movements that are purposeful. They stroke their face. If they’re a male baby, they may have their hand between their legs. If they feel pleasure, why is it so hard to think that they could feel pain?” Republican Representative Michael Burgess of Texas cites the need to drastically curtail abortion because Male Fetuses jerk off.

It always comes back to which sex is important. Ergo, Males get to feel pleasure, Females get to feel pain. god Bless America!

Snowden showed Booz Allen Hamilton's role in the Military-Industrial-Congressional-Complex

I'm so mad at President Obama for signing that Evil Patriot Act back in October 26, 2001 after he ignored the August 6th CIA Memo about Osama Bin Laden and allowed 9/11 to happen.

The more I reflect and read about Edward Snowden's revelations the more I want to be clear I have no desire to engage in a character assassination of him. Sure, he's got some short-comings and some sketchiness but, let's look at what his message contains.

The Obama's Department of Justice working inside the "legal" framework established by the FISA Courts, the Patriot Act, going back to Harry Truman and the 80th Congress' 1947 National Security Act felt entirely comfortable in going to multiple Internet/Phone Companies and pressuring them/serving them with Court Orders allowing the NSA to collect data.

Google, Microsoft, Apple, Facebook and others have stated (whether one believes it or not) that no direct access and no backdoor servers were created allowing the NSA et al unfettered access. Facebook Legal released a statement claiming that only 9000-10000 user-data requests were made by all levels (muncipial, county, state, federal) of Government pursiuant to about 20,000 FB accounts.

This is important to note because Glenn Greenwald's initial assertion was the NSA had direct access regardless of warrants or any other constraints. However, it's unimportant to the overall point of this post.

Now, if there is one thing Libertarians get correct it is that the Power of Government is different than other types of power. Facebook, Target Stores, Google Inc. may collect data on me but if I refuse their services I am free of their yoke*. The Government has the "legal" authority to collect information to detain or incarcerate me.

What makes Snowden's claims all the more troubling is that he wasn't a sworn Government employee but was working for Booz Allen Hamilton, a Corporation which made $1.3 Billion in Government contracts for "Intelligence Work. MotherJones has an analysis of the steady infestation of Private Contractors into the Intelligence Analysis side of the MIC.

It appears the data collection/analysis wasn't being done by nefarious Obama Bureaucrats looking for dirt on Teabaggers but, because of the Republican Legacy of Outsourcing and Privatization is being done by Corporate Stooges who work for the MIC.

The biggest Coup pulled off in US History has been the outsourcing of Government functions to Private Contractors. And those Corporate employees seem to have access to the information easier than Government Workers.

What's been going on for the last 33 years has been the steady erosion of the Progressive Advances of the 20th Century Government by the Reactionary Neoliberals and Warmongering Neoconservatives to be replaced by the Neo-Feudalist State controlled by the 1% and interested only in using Government Power in Quelling Domestic Dissent and Opening up Foreign Markets for Exploitation.

Edward Snowden; Hero or Fraud? Whistleblower or Liar?

Seriously, it's as if people never saw the movie Goodfellas. Why do you think Big Paulie Cicero (Paul Vario) didn't talk on the phone in the 1950s?

One important thing to note is thus far almost everything alleged by Edward Snowden and Glenn Greenwald has been revealed or known since the book The Puzzle Palace (1982) by James Bradford and leaked details about Total Information Awareness were revealed.

This isn't going to be a condemnation of Edward Snowden's personal life but the details of his past do need scrutiny and have bearing upon his overall credibility.

It's not important that Snowden *received a GED instead of a regular High School Diploma or was discharged from the Army due to a medical injury.* That he got a position as a CIA analyst, with a posting in Geneva, Switzerland, and with an NSA affiliated contractor Booz Allen Hamilton (BAH) obviously shows he had technical skills and probably displayed a high degree of intelligence.

But, just because Snowden is claiming a massive NSA spying on Americans Conspriacy doesn't mean he's presented actual or truthful facts. There is very much a confirmation bias at work here across the political spectrum.

Achmad Chalabi and "Curveball" reported facts about Saddam Hussein and the Iraqi WMD Program. The Bush Administration wanted these facts to be true, too.

Snowden singed up for the Great Patriotic Iraq War but did not make it out of Boot because of an injury.

If he had he might have learned about Iridium phones (aka Satellite Phones). These satellite systems were launched in the 1990s and during the Afghan Invasion and Iraq War were 100% targeted. Any coms routed through the satellites was intercepted, US Spy Satellites were parked in geo-synch orbit over ground based rely stations.

If World War 1 was the Chemists War and World War 2 was the Mathematicians War, Post 9/11 is the IT SysAdmin War.

Also there is a serious question about Snowden's job at BAH. Glenn Greenwald claimed to have started worked with Snowden back in Feb 2013. Snowden wasn't offically hired by BAH until March 2013. Did he seek that IT systems analyst position soley for the purpose of accessing highly classified files in order to give them to Glenn Greenwald?

And what documents exactly did he come across which he was able to cobble together to present to Greenwald. His duties would not have included him having legitimate access to foundational doctrines of the Spying program. So did he open up a file labeled Shhhh! Top Secret Spying on Americans Program with powerpoint images of cartoonish top-hated villains twirling their moustaches and cackling Bru ha ha ha ha?

According to Snowden he became partially disillusioned in 2007 but wanted to give President Obama some time to rectify the situation. Barack must have failed in Snowden's opinion.

Should President Obama have unilaterally dismantled the Prism Program and ended NSA spying? We all know who would have paraded out the Political Circus of Impeach! Impeach! Impeach! for Obama defending the Rights of Terrorists post Boston Marathon Bombing.

Since October 2011, FISA and section 702 has undergone review with various members of the Senate and House 22 times. Why is SCOTUS debating repealing the Civil Rights Laws and the ACA instead of the NSA Prism Program?

I would love a real debate on Surveillance and Rights to Privacy. Does anyone believe such a debate will be genuine? Because there are too many dishonest liars and power hungry egomaniacs on Left, Right and Center who will only use this as a condemnation of their political enemies while seekingto preserve those power for their use.

Republicans, Faux News and the Right-Wing Fart Bubble are immediately trying to twist this into a condemnation of President Obama and the Democratic Party. They either have to know that this is going to immediately cause Democrats to reflexively set themselves up in defense instead of an open-minded inquiry or they seriously believe IOKIYAR.

Bob Cesca has a breakdown of the Rush Limpballs, Glenn Beck, Bill O'Reilly, Joe Scarbourgh love for the NSA and spying back under Bush who seem, for some unfathomable reason, to now loathe it.

Let's not forget that Right-Wingers find any criticism of the Government when Republicans are in power to be Treason but such criticism when Democrats are in Power to be Liberty.

So, before I label Snowden the next Daniel Ellsberg, let's see if what he provided turns out to be something more than what's been known for decades and something that he embellished based on his own political beliefs. And let's see if he moves from Hong Kong to Bejing before calling him Kim Philby.

*- This sentence changed to eliminate prejudical language.

Glorious Guns! Second Amendment Hero shoots up Santa Monica

A Champion of the Second Amendment has murdered at least four people and wounded five more in Santa Monica. The Gun Bearing Freedom Fighter took out his Godly Tool of Liberty, girded on his ammo belt, thousands of rounds of freedom, Bullet Proof Vest and BDUs and exercised his 2nd Amendment Rights upon America.

I'm still waiting to see where in the Constitution the Founding Fathers chiseled the Right to Mass Slaughter. I don't see it in the Second Amendment and being a Strict Constutionalist myself I don't see where anything other than a vague reference to a muzzle-loading blunderbus, a brace of flintlock pistols and perhaps a 3 pound Galloper and the deleted reference to carrying arms in defense of the State is in the Constitution.

But, I am so glad America is awash in Guns because these mass shootings don't take place.

And while the ACA (Obamacare) does not have everything I wanted it does address mental health issues instead of just ignoring those with mental illness as is the American predilection. But, you now what's more important than attempting to deal with Mental Illness in America is voting 37 times to Repeal Obamacare!

Oh, but we need concealed carry because then the shooter will think twice if that fear his targets might be armed. Of course, a mentally deficient person won't think twice (because they don't think once) about embarking on a killing rampage and won't hesitate because you might be carrying a pistol.

And any cold-blooded killer with the wherewithal to plan a Mass Shooting is simply going to up-armor himself to defeat handguns and equip himself with a long gun.

And despite all the Charles Bronson Death Wish movies you've seen I highly doubt you have the target acquisition skills to drop a would be murderer inside a carjacked vehicle.

Everyday brings another mass shooting. Everyday brings another story of a 4 year old finding a loose gun laying around the house, which he uses to shoot his baby sister, his Veteran father or himself. Everyday brings another story of a negligent discharge wounding or killing children and innocent bystanders.

If a Shotgun goes off at a Sportsman's Club because of Negligence but Wayne LaPierre doesn't talk about it; Did it Happen?

The callous disregard Gun Nuts have is astounding. As the frequency of these shootings seemingly increases Wayne LaPierre doesn't even bother to release statements anymore. Because why should he?

As the bodies pile up Gun Hugging Asses immediately and reflexively defend Guns no matter what. The more deaths we have the more entrenched and ravingly incensed about Guns they become. If, We as a Nation, acknowledged the Gun Deaths Epidemic as Terrorism we'd be able to deal with this much more effectively.

It Always Feels Like the NSA is Watching Me! (Update)

And I have No Privacy...

Except of course, Glenn Greenwald is lying again. Glenn is a lying Libertarian who gave George W. Bush a pass on the Patriot Act, Warrantless Wiretaps, the Iraq War and leaving Americans to die in New Orleans because George W. Bush lowered Glenn's taxes. Anything else Bush did is inconsequential in comparison.

And it seems Greenwald is lying about the NSA snooping campaign. From the New York Times,

The companies that negotiated with the government include Google, which owns YouTube; Microsoft, which owns Hotmail and Skype; Yahoo; Facebook; AOL; Apple; and Paltalk, according to one of the people briefed on the discussions. The companies were legally required to share the data under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. 

They opened discussions with national security officials about developing technical methods to more efficiently and securely share the personal data of foreign users in response to lawful government requests.  

While handing over data in response to a legitimate FISA request is a legal requirement, making it easier for the government to get the information is not, which is why Twitter could decline to do so. 

Details on the discussions help explain the disparity between initial descriptions of the government program and the companies’ responses. 

Each of the nine companies said it had no knowledge of a government program providing officials with access to its servers, and drew a bright line between giving the government wholesale access to its servers to collect user data and giving them specific data in response to individual court orders. Each said it did not provide the government with full, indiscriminate access to its servers. 

The companies said they do, however, comply with individual court orders, including under FISA. The negotiations, and the technical systems for sharing data with the government, fit in that category because they involve access to data under individual FISA requests. And in some cases, the data is transmitted to the government electronically, using a company’s servers.

In my capacity as a Police Officer I do know that Apple has declined to provide me information about stolen Apple products I have recovered from thieves. Youtube, Snapchat and Facebook have rules detailing how I can get information about users. I can't just call up and ask for the identity of a user of those sites, nor can I simply fax over a request with the Department letterhead though I have successfully requested they digitally secure and cache as evidence certain pages without a court order. But, obtaining that information has always been done pursuant to a Warrant.

Of course, Glenn Greenwald and others are already convinced that President Obama is guilty and Glenn has repeatedly asserted that Barack is worse than Dick Cheney so why not *break* a giant snooping news story which happens to be falsified if it serves the greater good of smearing Barack and advancing Greenwalds' bona fides.

Update:
A former CIA employee (not an agent) who handed over NSA documents to Glenn Greenwald has revealed himself and fled to the Peoples' Republic of China

On May 20, he boarded a flight to Hong Kong, where he has remained ever since. He chose the city because “they have a spirited commitment to free speech and the right of political dissent”, and because he believed that it was one of the few places in the world that both could and would resist the dictates of the US government. 

In the three weeks since he arrived, he has been ensconced in a hotel room. “I’ve left the room maybe a total of three times during my entire stay,” he said. It is a plush hotel and, what with eating meals in his room too, he has run up big bills. 

He is deeply worried about being spied on. He lines the door of his hotel room with pillows to prevent eavesdropping. He puts a large red hood over his head and laptop when entering his passwords to prevent any hidden cameras from detecting them. 

Though that may sound like paranoia to some, Snowden has good reason for such fears. He worked in the US intelligence world for almost a decade. He knows that the biggest and most secretive surveillance organization in America, the NSA, along with the most powerful government on the planet, is looking for him.

Government by the Plutocracy for the Plutocracy and of the Plutocracy

Socialism never took root in America because the poor see themselves not as an exploited proletariat, but as temporarily embarrassed millionaires – John Steinbeck. 

 "The federal government was never intended to be everything for everyone." - Chicken Hammer commented on my blog and oft repeated by conservatives everywhere.

This is correct, the Federal Government was created to Protect and Serve the Rich and Powerful.

Government was envisioned as a Tool of the Plutocracy in quelling Domestic problems and expanding Foreign Markets for exploitation.

All of Sudden Republicans in Congress are concerned about NSA cyber-snooping? Where was Jim Sensenbrenner's concern when he crafted the Patriot Act in 2001? Where was John Boehner's concern about wiretaps when he voted time after time to reapprove them? This level of out-right surveillance of the American People goes back further than the NSA whistleblower stating in 2006 the NSA has a Massive database of Americans' phone calls or in 2004 when President Bush declared, "a wiretap requires a court order. Nothing has changed, by the way."

But, let's leave aside the Surveillance State for today. The Government is not the Problem; they are but the Hitmen and Trigger Pullers for the True Evil in our Society the Class of Moochers known as the Rich.

The last 30 years has been the Reactionary Attempt by the Mooching Rich to reclaim the Power of Government for their sole use. Everyday brings further evidence that Austerity is but another name for Trickle Down Economics and is little more than the abject destruction of the Middle Class in order to create a Wage Slavery State in America.

Outright lying by Harvard economists Carmen Reinhart and Kenneth Rogoff was for at the behest of the Rich to further destroying a Government which aids the Poor and Middle Class.

But, even amongst the Founding Fathers they knew that the Massive Income Inequality and the Ownership of the Federal Government by Corporations and the Rich would lead to Civil Strife.

The Richest 1% of this Nation doesn't make Anything or Do Anything, all they do is occupy the Rentiers position extracting a little financial gain from the toil of the 99% and the Billions of Economic Transactions that occur daily.

Yet, despite their complete and total destruction of the US Economy in 2007 Wall Street Banksters have regained their footing and are exerting their domination of the Economy again.

Between 2005 to 2007, Banksters issued $1.5 Trillion in Collateralized Debt Obligations. Synthetic CDOs, instead of the bonds themselves, are insurance-like derivative contracts on the bonds. "CDOs give investors a chance to bet on the creditworthiness of a basket of companies." (from Katy Burne of the Wall Street Journal) Those monies aren't anything other than gambling. Synthetic CDOs are back as Wall Street fights to defeat all controls on their recklessness.

Banksters, Hedge Fund Managers and Vulture Capitalists aren't creating anything. They aren't investing in anything. They are placing Bets on-top-of Wagers on-top-of Gambles... They are the computer virus and bad code from the movies Office Space and Superman III, siphoning off money they have no right to.

Only White Male Conservatives have Constitutional Rights

"But you don't need to plead the fifth if you've done nothing wrong," RNC Chairman Reince Priebus. 

"The reason Lois Lerner tried to take the Fifth [Amendment], it’s because this was a problem coordinated in all likelihood right out of Washington headquarters and we’re getting to proving it,” Republican House Oversight Committee Chairman Darrell Issa. The Guilt of the Accused is already assumed.

Unless you are a White Male Conservative the Bill of Rights does not apply.

"It is the First Amendment, then there is the Second and I love ‘em both. The minute we start stifling our speech, we might as well go home, roll up our sleeves and get our guns out," Maine Governor Paul LePage told reporters, as quoted by the Portland Press Herald, LePage of course must resort to Violence because he seized power in Maine despite losing the Vote 62% to 38%. 

Get used to it Leftists. The Right is this country won't be satisfied until: The Only Ones with Rights are the Right Americans. (TM)

Having a (D) after your name will be prima facie evidence of High Crimes and Misdemeanors. Being a Liberal will mean you are Guilty before your futile attempt to Prove your Innocence.

Brit Hume, who as a paid Faux News Stooge, fully supported the Bush Regime in stifling Reporters was aghast that Faux News Criminal James Rosen was investigated for leaking classified information. 

Hume is outraged a white male conservative is being held responsible for his crimes!!! How dare the Justice Department go after Faux News Stooge Rosen for leaking classified information! The Right has all the Rights whereas daring to espouse Progressive Views or self-identifying as a Progressive Media Member is an invitation to a Right & Proper beating, as when Amy Goodman of DemocracyNow! was beaten and arrested for daring to not genuflect before the White Male Conservatives at the St. Paul Minnesota 2008 RNC. 

Of course, Conservatives soiled their pants with glee when the Occupy Movement was violently rousted out in multiple cities denying them their 1st and 4th Amendment Rights because they were espousing anti-Corporate rhetoric and white male conservatives bow before their Neo-Feudal Corporate Lords.

Faux News Stooge Steven Chrowder was paid by Roger Ailes to start fights with Union Members in Michigan in an attempt to smear working men and women trying to save their pensions and retirement benefits.

James O'Keefe manufactured a fake scandal based on lies and false video recordings to shut down ACORN for the crime of aiding Poor People and Minorities.

The recently deceased Senator Frank Lautenberg was smeared by Andrew Deadbart who shamelessly distorted the audio portion of a news conference given by Lautenberg.

When the IRS dared to investigate the TEA Party Crooks illegally using 501(c)(3) and 501(c)(4) tax exempt status to hide the names of donors contributed Hundreds of Millions, the Right exploded in Fury; They know the IRS is only supposed to be used to shut down Liberal Organizations, like the ACLU, the NAACP, Greenpeace, and the All Saints Episcopal Church of Pasadena California.

The IRS scandal is really that Karl Rove and other Conservative Political Action Committees filed for Tax Exempt status knowing full well they were involved in Partisan politics which explicitly excludes them from gaining Tax Exempt status. So, please conservatives keep bringing up the IRS "targeting" of Tea Party Groups, hopefully the IRS will reopen their cases and fine them appropriately.

But, we know that won't happen because Darrell Issa and the Republicans know the IRS agents at the heart of this matter were Republican appointees and the IRS and all Government Power is rightfully only used to destroy and intimidate Liberals.

So, just get used to it Liberal America. The only Rights you have are those the Right allows you to have and those are none.

Remember the Economic Reform we need is Tax Reform and the Sadism of Capitalists

"How much more money do we want to steal from the American people to fund more government? I'm for no more." Speaker of the House John Boehner, tells America that the "People's House" will impose taxes on Real People which they'll give to Corporate "Persons".

 Capitalism is more correctly understood as Neo-Feudalism. Great Houses and Barons have morphed into Corporations and CEOs. And for Neo-Feudalism to flourish there needs to be a vast majority of workers for whom there is no future other than toil and labor and who'll give birth to the next generation of labor.

The Economic Reform we need is Tax Reform. 1 in 4 Corporations pays no Income Taxes. Companies involved in the Military-Industrial-Complex fraudulently overcharge the military Hundreds of Billions of dollars, Oil Companies receive government subsidies and transfer the clean-up costs on their disasterous oil spills onto the American taxpayers.

Procter & Gamble, the Cincinnati-based company behind Pampers diapers and Tide detergent, reported a federal tax burden in 1969 that was 40 percent of its total profits, a typical rate in those days. More than four decades later, P&G is a very different company, with operations that span the globe. It also reports paying a very different portion of its profits in federal taxes: 15 percent.

Apple is the current in the spotlight for their Tax Dodging schemes. Apple in 1980 created a shell company in Ireland, "Waldwill Limited". Now, Apple doesn't make anything in Ireland these days, it's Cork Office is in charge of European distrubtion and product support. But, it is a handy dandy country to funnel the $30,000,000,000 USC in profits in order to pay $0 US Income Taxes.

Proctor and Gamble and Apple aren't the only ones. Most of the 30 companies listed on the country’s most famous stock index, the Dow Jones industrial average, have seen a dramatically smaller percentage of their profits go to U.S. coffers over time, even as their share prices have driven the Dow to an all-time high.

That is what is going on here. Corporations and Rich Thieves have made the US Tax Laws a Byzantine Mess of contradictions and loopholes which they know how to navigate in order to steal Trillions and hide their filthy lucre in off-shore accounts, just waiting to be repatriated tax free when the properly bought politican makes it possible.

But, while these Rich Thieves engage in artful dodging of tax laws and self-congratulatory back slaps for their "Capitalist Ingenuity" there is a strain of Sadism in methods. Because Taxes are what the Poor pay because if the Poor where blessed and virtuous they'd pay No Taxes.

An article by the noted Austerity Sadist Michael Kinsley illuminates how Austerity isn't about Deficit Reduction but an ardent and fervent desire to punish the Wicked Poor as a happy by-product of enforcing a noble Neo-Feudalist State.

Austerity is designed to Cut Government Spending not the Deficit. Because that Government spending goes to The Wicked (i.e. the Poor) it is not right that the Rich Man who is synonymous with Righteousness suffer.

And there can be no Greater Good than Lower Taxes as a reward to the Noble and Virtuous.

But, if the problem where merely one of Effective Tax Rates, simply highlighting the Massive Income Inequality that exists in America would show how the Goal of the Piss Down Your Back and Tell You It's Raining Reaganomics and Bush Tax Cuts were designed and implemented for no other reason than to create a society in which the Richest One Percent live better than the Pharoahs of Ancient Egypt.

The Plutocracy gets a Sadistic thrill when Americans vote away their birthrights. The Koch Brothers Propaganda Machine Americans For Prosperity released an email when the Sequester went into effect lauding Speaker Boehner and the House Republicans, 

[T]oday Americans for Prosperity thanks Speaker John Boehner and House Republicans for standing up to President Obama and making sure the $85 billion in much-needed sequester spending cuts took effect. 

As an example, I was out at a leadership event in Portland, Oregon this week where Beth, one of our dedicated Americans For Prosperity activists, told me how she had sent personal messages to each of her 243 Facebook friends asking them to contact their member of Congress to tell him to"keep the cuts" so we can "get our economy moving again." 

The Koch Brothers, Banksters, Tax Dodging CEO's and Sadistic Economists aren't interested in the US EConomy but in transferring as much money upwards as possible and creating a GovernmentApparatus  which will enforce and perpetuate their Noble Neo-Feudalist Utopia.

Are you gonna pay Derrick Rose's Rent?

Everyone's your brother until the rent comes due. - Ronin 1998

The Chicago Bulls season ended last week with a trouncing by the LeFlop James led Miami Heat. Derrick Rose the erstwhile Bulls Superstar did not play a single minute during the Regular Season or Playoffs while rehabbing his knee. Rose suffered a torn ACL during the 2012 playoffs .

Now, the injury rehabilation became a sticking point for Rose, his family, the Bulls Organization and Fans. According to the post-operation schedule, the Doctor who performed the ACL reconstruction suggested Rose would be ready to play by early April and that a month of games in the regular season would be the final step in the healing process.

Starting in late March, Derrick Rose through his brother Reggie and his own Twitter account let it be known that he was listening to his family and while he might come back it was only when he could "dunk of his left foot" and his knee 'felt comfortable'.

This caused much confusion and consternation in Chicago Sports scene. As the regular season dragged on and various other players gutted through injuries or missed games themselves. Luol Deng missed the entire playoff series with the Heat because of a vicious flu strain which Doctors were worried was Viral Meningitis.

As the Bulls struggled the confusion morphed into mild displeasure and then grumbling anger towards Rose. Chicago "Fans" questioned his toughness, mental and physical. They accused him of malingering.

I don't know what the collective bargaining agreement betweeen Players and Owners in the NBA stipulates. I do know that the Bulls through insurance recovered 40% of Rose's salary for the Season, roughly $6.5 million of $16.4 million, with whomever, his contract is indemnified.

The story of Hunter Hillenmeyer of the Chicago Bears is illustrative:

On August 28 2010, Hillenmeyer suffered a concussion during a pre-season game. He was placed on injured reserve before the season and has never played again. The Bears terminated his contract Feb. 28, 2011, one month after the team's concussion consultant, Dr. Elizabeth Pieroth, a board certified clinical neuropsychologist, examined him and recommended he no longer play. The Bears cut him with one year and $1.8 million remaining on his contract. According to the union, Article 45 of the collective bargaining agreement stipulates Hillenmeyer is eligible for an injury protection benefit of 50 percent of his base salary up to $1 million.

The Chicago Bears have not paid the 50% of Hillenmeyer's final contract. In the modern world of Sports you're earning a million dollars one day and out of work the next. Careers, most often, end in men's early 30's. Derrick Rose doesn't owe Bulls Fans anything. When his career is over no one in Chicago is going to help him out.

But, this is where the narrative gets most muddled. Through his actions it appears Bulls owner Jerry Reinsdorf is one of the few sports franchise owners who goes out of his way to help up and look out for his former employees.

Several Bulls players hit upon hard times after their playing careers have ended.

Randy Brown, a fringe player, who averaged 5ppg over his career of 655 games was part of the Bulls Second 3-Peat. Brown had to file for Bankruptcy and auction off his 3 rings. Reinsdorf simply created a "special assistant" job for Brown and hired him in 2009.

Scottie Pippen who made several bad contracts and was outspokenly truculent with the Bulls about his perceived contractual slights also reportedly fell into bankruptcy after his career ended. In 2010, Pippen rejoined the Bulls as an "ambassador".  

“Jerry has been very warm towards me over the years and has never turned me down for anything,” said Pippen.

In 2003, another Bulls Point Guard, Jay Williams injured himself. This time it wasn't on the court but a motorcycle accident during the off-season, which almost resulted in Williams losing his leg and requiring Williams to undoe multiple surgeries, extended hospital time and an arduous long recovery. 

Even though the accident could have been prima facie evidence of a contract violation because the Bulls had written into Williams contract that he was not to ride motorcycles, the Bulls organization helped pay his medical bills and a portion of the second season salary. Williams never played an NBA game again.

Jerry Reinsdorf has a clear track record of being loyal and compassionate towards his former athlete  employees which goes beyond what is normally seen in the cut-throat world of Sports Capitalism.

So, I think Rose has reached an incorrect conclusion about his post playing career but I don't fault him for reaching it.

Surprise! Republicans crafted fake Benghazi emails to mislead the American people.

"An Act of Terror is different than a Terrorist Attack," Darrell Issa a Car Thief is not different than a Congressman.

So, the Republicans lied. Republicans released altered and false "quotes" from the White House/CIA/State Department emails concerning Benghazi to the Media.

What did the Republicans gain in purposefully misleading the American people? They gained exactly what they wanted. By releasing their lie-laden chum to the gullible Media the Republicans succeeded in getting their duped and battered followers into an Impeachment Fury and the DC Media into faux scandal frenzy.

Lying Republicans have been smearing President Obama for years now. One of core Right-Wing beliefs is that President Obama isn't really an American and he sides with terrorists.

After the initial murders in Libya, the Republicans sought to use the bodies of the dead to advance their party. Republicans place Party over the American People every time.

With Benghazi, Republicans believed they had just enough to tease out that belief in the country. Because Benghazi is the Biggest Scandal in American History:

 "I believe that it's a lot bigger than Watergate, and if you link Watergate and Iran-Contra together and multiply it times maybe ten or so, you're going to get in the zone where Benghazi is," Conrgessman Steve King 

Benghazi "is going to go down as the most serious, most egregious coverup in American History. We may be starting to use the I-word before too long," Senator James Inhofe 

"I watched the Benghazi thing with great interest, Sean. I think it’s one of the worst incidences, frankly, that I can recall in my career," Former Vice President Dick Cheney.

The Republicans thought they had it. Benghazi would be the October Surprise. But, it didn't work. To their frustration their hatred of President Obama didn't blossom and Barack easily won re-election.

First off, the consulate was a CIA Base conducting dangerous field activity. Republican Congressman Lincoln Chafetz began the Republican crimes by outing the CIA and exposing covert assets, field agents and Intelligent techniques.

Next, came all the keyboard commando chicken hawk conservative Military Ops; 'We should have flown some F-16's overhead to scare them. Or sent an AC-130 to light'em up. Or sent in the SEALS or Marines (to the shores of Tripoli) to take out the extremists, errr I mean terrorists.'

Well, Robert M. Gates former Defense Secretary to both George W. Bush and President Obama called out the right-wing morons and these scenarios as a "Cartoonish impression of military capabilities and military forces." And Gates laid out why:

“Well, given the number of surface to air missiles that have disappeared from Gaddafi’s arsenals, I would not have approved sending an aircraft, a single aircraft – over Benghazi under those circumstances. [T]o send some small number of Special Forces or other troops in without knowing what the environment is, without knowing what the threat is, without having any intelligence in terms of what is actually going on on the ground, I think, would have been very dangerous."

But, why was the Media talking about Benghazi again after Faux News had spent countless hours of programming and after multiple Congressional Hearings?

The phony scandal had floundered Republicans decided the next step was too take matters into their own hands by lying. If the evidence doesn't fit just make it up; Republican Mantra.

Which Republicans knowingly doctored these emails? What Republican released these doctored emails to the Media? What did the Republicans receive in compensation? Which Republicans knew the emails released were phony and full of lies?

What's clear is Republicans long ago convicted President Obama for certain unforgivable sins and when one is convinced of guilt it's very easy to manufacture "evidence" to bolster your conclusions.

So Speaker John Boehner "Who's going to jail for this?" Which of the Republicans who deliberately mislead the American People and released falsified evidence is going to jail?

Conservative Chickenhawks Scream about Marines and Umbrellas (Update: Photo Evidence)

Conservatives are sack less wonders. Despite not having the moral or physical courage to serve the country in Uniform, Right-Wing nutjobs believe they understand the Uniform Code of Military Justice and the Military Dress Codes.

Conservative racists are in a frenzy because Marines held umbrellas above the heads of President Obama and the Turkish Prime Minister during a rainy press conference.

M. Joseph Sheppard wrote an article for the Daily Caller about Umbrella-Gate which Free Republic and the Right-Wing Fart Bubble duly sucked in and regurgitated amongst themselves. 'Obama is demeaning and Demoralizing the Marine Corps!'

Of course, they don't understand JJ Did Tie Buckle because their cousin JJ can't even tie his shoes.

They pulled the same unhinged 'President Obama is demeaning the Office of the President' garbage when official White House photos showed Barack with his suit jacket off or with his feet propped up on the desk. Because Ronald Reagan never was in the Oval Office with his jacket off! And could you imagine the furor from Liberals if George W. Bush desecrated the Office by propping his feet up?!?

This is a consistent theme from the Right during Obama's Presidency. Republicans and conservatives have taken it upon themselves to destroy Barack Obama. And they see a successful way of doing this by causing as much turmoil and anger so that in years to come they can state 'Remember all the problems when Obama was President?' Hoping, most likely correctly, that people won't recall that conservative liars were the cause of all the fuss in the first place.

Conservatives have the mind set of Domestic Abusers, in that they blame the person they are attacking as being to blame for their attacks.

Despite all their proclamations, much of the vitriol directed at Obama is for the unforgivable sin of Presidenting While Black.

What is obvious, however, is that conservatives loathe President Obama but lack the moral fiber to proclaim it themselves, which is why they hide behind their thin sheens of 'Obama is demeaning the Office of the President' or 'Obama is demeaning the Marines'.

Conservative Cowards lack the stones to come out and say it themselves and, in this case, have to pretend they speak for the USMC.

Surprise. The IRS "Scandal" is George W. Bush's and the Republicans Fault

First off, if your Organization Name incorporates Taxed Enough Already, you are one step behind the Sovereign Citizen Movements which declare themselves immune to local, state and federal laws. It shouldn't come as a surprise when the IRS investigates you.

It's possible and, most likely, probable that the Tea Party Organized Groups who applied for all these 501(c)(4) statuses are nothing more than thinly veiled Tax Shelters and Political Action Committees designed to improperly funnel and shelter monies. A 501(c)(4) has to be set up as Social Welfare Organization and can not engage in Partisan Politics.

But, here's the kick to the teeth of the Right-Wing cry babies, the Commissioner of the IRS while these investigations were conducted, Douglas Shulman, was appointed by George W. Bush and served until November 9, 2012. Prior to that Shulman worked with Grover Norquist as the Chief of Staff for the National Commission on Restructuring the Internal Revenue Service. President Obama does not have a nominee at the IRS because the Senate Republicans policy of filibustering all nominees put forth by Obama for  any position.

Now, of course, there is a huge component of IOKIYAR for the IRS under George W. Bush to investigate Liberal Churches, the NAACP and the ALCU. Because... Duh! They're "Liberal". However, that's when Republicans were declaring if you have nothing to hide you shouldn't mind and if you do complain it's because you've obviously broken the law.

But, more importantly what this IRS snafu shows is Tax Reform is a key part of the Economic Reform we need today.

Now, I'm not supporting Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan's version of Tax Reform, i.e. eliminating Taxes on the 1% and Corporate Behemoths and raising taxes on the Middle Class and "The Lucky Duckies", or as Mitt Romney stated during the 2012 Presidential Election, "I'm not concerned about the very poor."

No, I mean real Tax Reform which gets the Ultra-Rich and Corporations to pay their fair share of the Country's Tax Burden. It's been very clear that beginning in 1981 with Reagan's shifting of the tax burden onto the backs of the Middle Class the Rich have been inventing more ways and crafting more loop holes with which to steal Trillions of Dollars which belongs to the American People.

Once Piss Down Your Back Reaganomics became the Governing principle in Washington we suddenly grew a 15 Trillion Dollar Debt. And it simply is because the Rich Plutocrats and Corporations are not shouldering their share of the burden. 

The entire Debt is the result of the greedy rich scheming to transfer the burden of Government onto the backs of the Middle Class in the hopes it would grind them into penury whilst at the same time making their Government puppets eliminate the meager assistance provided to actual Americans.

In April, a hacked cache of millions of documents revealed the amount of Theft committed by Tax Frauds. 

The anonymity of the offshore world makes it difficult to track the flow of money. A study by James S. Henry, former chief economist at McKinsey & Company, estimates that wealthy individuals have $21 trillion to $32 trillion in private financial wealth tucked away in offshore havens — roughly equivalent to the size of the U.S. and Japanese economies combined. 

The report said the money being sheltered included proceeds of Ponzi schemes as well as money drained from national coffers, adding that studies estimate that cross-border flows of global proceeds of financial crimes total between $1 trillion and $1.6 trillion a year.

So, remember when right-wingers and Republicans talk of shared sacrifices they mean for you to sacrifice your pension and your health care insurance,

"They can tell their unions that they have to accept cuts now or face a much more dire fate in bankruptcy court.” - Grover Norquist

"Now, pain will be inflicted when we change that. People are going to do with less. People who are used to having entitlement at a certain level will not have them at that level anymore. That's the story." NJ Governor Chris Christie. 

Shared Sacrifice means the realization of the Republican Goal of Neo-Feudalism, Wage Slavery and cutthroat Capitalism for the Poor and Socialism for the Rich and their undying Corporate monsters. 

The Rich Never Had It So Good

Yet they still complain. And about whom do they complain? The Poor who have nothing.

"[W]e're not going to give up on destroying the health care system for the American people." Paul Ryan.  

"It just keeps getting worse. I am scheduling a vote for next week on the full repeal of #Obamacare." Eric Cantor 

The Republican Party, lapdogs of the Rich are eager to oppress the Poor at every opportunity. The Republicans and their Rich Masters absolutely loathe healthcare for the poor, sick and old. Republican Healthcare is predicated on the Rich sucking every single dollar from you and letting you die quickly after they've drained you of all your money.

But, the Plutocracy won't stop at merely stealing your life savings at the end of your life; they want you to be a pauper before that.

David Simon was on Real Time with Bill Maher last year and stated,

"What we need is a political culture where somebody plants a fuckin’ olive tree, which doesn’t even give you an olive for seven years. That’s how you fix an economy…When that olive tree becomes an orchard."

What Simon doesn't understand is the Republicans in 1980 did plant Olive Trees, except it was a privatized, deregulated, deferred income, out-scoured grove designed to provide Billions of Olives to the very, very rich while they told Us a few olives would trickle down. But, in fact, all we got were the pits.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average topped 15,000 this month an all time high, while at the same time half the jobs in the country pay less than $35,000.

Everything the Republicans do is predicated on expanding Income Inequality. Since, the Republican Recession, the economy's recovery has meant a recovery for the Very Rich.

From 1966 to 2011, the bottom 90 percent of Americans’ average income, as reported on tax returns, went up by $59 showing complete stagnation. If that $59 increase for the majority of Americans equals one inch, then on the same scale, the incomes of those in the top 10 percent went up by 168 feet. The top one percent, 888 feet. The Plutocrats income, the top one percent of the top one percent, rose by almost five miles relative to that one inch.

The Bush Presidency and Tax Cuts were nothing more than the destruction of the Middle Class and an acceleration of the Wealth Transfer Upwards.

According to research published by Emmanuel Saez, Professor of Economics at the University of California, Berkeley:

From 2009 to 2011, average real income per family grew modestly by 1.7% but the gains were very uneven. Top 1% incomes grew by 11.2% while bottom 99% incomes shrunk by 0.4%. Hence, the top 1% captured 121% of the income gains in the first two years of the recovery. From 2009 to 2010, top 1% grew fast and then stagnated from 2010 to 2011. Bottom 99% stagnated both from 2009 to 2010 and from 2010 to 2011. In 2012, top 1% income will likely surge, due to booming stock-prices, as well as re-timing of income to avoid the higher 2013 top tax rates. Bottom 99% will likely grow much more modestly than top 1% incomes from 2011 to 2012.

This is precisely the desired effect of the Republican Crafted and Conservative Inspired Recession. The Rich are prepared to lose money in the short-term knowing that their wholly owned and operated Republican Party will attempt to jam through Austerity Legislation to dismantle the Social Safety Net and designed to permanently solidify the Rigidly enforced Class System we have in this Country.

Every fiscal crisis is an opportunity for the Republican Party and their Right-Wing Stooges to advance the Plutocracy's schemes of deregulation of financial markets, selling off public lands for private exploitation, diminishing the power of Unions and Collective Bargaining and providing Hundreds of Billions in tax payer dollars extorted from the middle and working class as welfare to the Very Rich.

Gun Homicides are Down Because...

The latest Pew Research shows that Gun Homicides have been on a downward trajectory and are down nearly 50% since 1993.

The Question is: Why?

Gun Nuts and Shills for Weapon Manufactures claim it is because of the massive upsurge in weapons in the Country.

Of course, this is fallacious.

The number of laptops, PCs, Macs, Android devices, IPods, gaming systems has dramatically spiked since the 1970's, as well. The number of Micro-Breweries making craft beers has exploded in the last 20 years. The rate of church attendance and religious self-identification has dropped dramatically in the last 20 years.

I could argue the number of Internet diversions has allowed people to vent on-line and the ability to get their murderous rages out in first person shooter games has led to the decrease.

Or that because Americans now have a choice of finely crafted, tasty and quirky beers their soporific effect has stopped shootings.

Or that the abandonment of Christianity and adoption of Atheism is responsible for the drop in violence.

Because A, Therefore B.

Gun Maniacs also choose to base all comparisons against 1993 because 1993 had the highest number of recorded Gun Murders at 18,253. The figure in 2011 was 11,101.

Now, as a corollary let's simply not call the killing of a 2 year old by her 5 year old brother using a weapon specifically made for children and called "My First Rifle" a homicide.

Let's call the shooting of a 6 year old by her 13 year old brother a game of hide and seek and simply quote a neighbor, "I don't know how it went down but he shot his sister." See? Not Gun Violence.

Or let's call the Halloween Party shooting of a 9 year old dressed as a skunk by her adult cousin "an accident" and classify it simple assault and another gun violence data point vanishes and the downward trend continues.

Thus, by reclassifying these as Accidents or Negligent Discharges we can skew the numbers even more. Each shooting or killing is transferred allowing the "homicide rate" to drop 49%!!!!

When the total number of firearm fatalities is compared for 1993 and 2011 we see: 39,595 and 32,163. Recall that 1993 was the Peak Year with the highest recorded year for Gun Murders and suddenly that 49% drop trumpeted by Unrestricted Gun Violence Supporters is placed in the proper context.

The Pew Research paper also states that while the number of guns has increased to 310 Million the percentage of households owing weapons is the same (43%) as 1972. And importantly (according to data from a 2007 U.N. study) the U.S. firearm homicide rate and overall homicide rate are higher than those in Canada, Australia, Japan and in Western European and Scandinavian nations.

Thus, when put into context we see that Gun Deaths are cycling upwards from a low point in 1999.

The fact is what the NRA and Gun Owners of America apparently want is This.