Check out this website I found at i.usatoday.net
Tuesday, March 1, 2011
Monday, February 28, 2011
REPORT: Ending Special Interest Tax Dodging Would Balance Wisconsin’s Budget...
via ThinkProgress by Zaid Jilani on 2/28/11
Yet the truth is that the relatively minor budget woes that Wisconsin faces aren’t a result of the middle class pay and benefits afforded to hard-working teachers, municipal employees, and other Main Street Americans. Rather, declining tax revenues from a recession caused by Wall Street and corporate tax cuts Walker immediately rammed through the legislature are much more responsible for the relatively minor shortfalls the state is facing.
Walker claims that that the state is facing a $137 million budget deficit and says that the state’s hard-working public employees should sacrifice their pay and benefits and have their collective bargaining rights crippled in order to close this budget gap. Additionally, Walker has included language in his latest budget proposal that would restructure the state’s debt, which would essentially take care of any economic problems in the short-term. Despite the fact that they aren’t responsible for a budget deficit, Wisconsin’s public employee unions have “announced they would accept paying half the cost of pensions and 12.6 percent of the cost of health insurance — as long as they were allowed to keep their collective bargaining rights” — a deal Walker has flatly rejected.
Yet if Walker really feels like the state is facing unacceptable budget problems and that it needs to be able to recoup revenue, he doesn’t have to attack the pay, benefits, or rights of his public employees at all. All he has to do is look at his state’s tax code and take action to close a handful of special interest tax loopholes and tax breaks so that the state’s richest pay their fair share so that the middle class that has already sacrificed so much doesn’t continue to have to bear all the burdens of the recession by itself. ThinkProgress has assembled a far from comprehensive list of just some of these special interest tax breaks and loopholes that could help balance the budget and end any need for a war on unions:
– Close The Internet Sales Tax Loophole: Currently, online retailers all over the country make skillfull use of the tax code to avoid paying sales taxes. Big retailers like Amazon.com set up subsidiary corporations in states and then argue that the subsidiary corporation doesn’t obligate the parent company to collect sales taxes in the state. A University of Tennessee study estimates that “in 2011 alone, Wisconsin will lose an estimated $127 million in uncollected sales tax on purchases made online” — only $10 million short of what Walker projects his state’s deficit to be. While the best way to close the internet sales tax loophole is for federal action, some states like New York have enacted what they refer to as the “Amazon law,” which would decree that any internet sales company would be liable for the state’s tax laws if it has “independent ‘affiliate’ websites in the state promoting sales on its behalf.” After New York enacted its law to capture previously lost revenues in 2008, Amazon responded by unsuccessfully suing the state. Wisconsin could follow New York’s lead.
- Close Special Interest Property Tax Loopholes: Much of the funding necessary to support government services in Wisconsin comes from property taxes, collected by municipalities, with these taxes currently generating “far more revenue than any other state or local tax.” Considering that much of the Wisconsin state budget is consumed by aid to municipalities, closing these loopholes would relieve city budgets and therefore help reduce statewide expenditures. The current exemptions on potential property taxes amount to $700 million a year. Many of these exemptions were won by interest groups with clout in the state legislature. For example, nonprofit community hospitals — which make up 89% of hospital revenue in the state — currently have an exemption, allowing them to forgo $128 million in taxes in 2008. Certain retirement homes also have an exemption that costs the state $15 million a year. The 2009-2011 state budget included a special exemption “for student housing owned by a nonprofit organization that houses up to 300 students, with at least 90% of its residents enrolled at the University of Wisconsin-Madison” — which benefitted a single dorm: the “Pres House on the UW-Madison campus, which would pay about $250,000 in taxes without it.” While some of the state’s current exemptions make sense, others simply benefit special interest groups and should be closely examined.
- Crack Down On Corporate Income Tax Dodgers: The Institute for Wisconsin’s Future (IWF) notes that the state is “losing over one billion dollars annually to the ‘tax gap,’ the difference between what is legally owed by taxpayers and what is actually paid.” It notes that “business income is only 8% of Wisconsin income, but responsible for 57% of the underreporting tax gap,” mostly due to underreporting. This gap accounts for $113 million in revenue. Some companies dodge their taxes by setting up subsidiaries in neighboring states with corporate income tax havens, like Nevada and Delaware. IWF suggests that simplying the tax code and expanding the network of state auditors could help close the tax gap and stop businesses from underreporting their income to avoid taxes.
And it’s worth noting that the tax cuts Walker rammed through during his first month in office “will reduce general fund tax collections by $55.2 million in 2011-12 and $62.0 million in 2012-13.” It is simply irresponsible for Walker and his allies to continue to blame middle class Wisconsinites for his state’s modest budget woes while ignoring the tax dodging by the state’s special interests who continue to fail to pay their fair share.
Republicans: No compromise possible on net neutrality
via Ars Technica by nate@arstechnica.com (Nate Anderson) on 2/28/11
The recently installed Republican Speaker of the House, John Boehner (R-OH), has no intention of finding any compromise on network neutrality. If he can't override the new rules, he will work to defund their enforcement. And if that doesn't work, he will continue railing against a "government takeover of the Internet" in speeches until something gets done.
Boehner gave his first speech outside of Washington DC as Speaker of the House yesterday, appearing at the National Religious Broadcasters Convention in Nashville Tennessee. The speech moved quickly from a discussion of that morning's sermon text (“No man can serve two masters”) to a discussion of God's love of humility to an assertion that America was founded on said humility and that this in turn led to the freedoms that Americans enjoy.
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All Books Must Now Appeal to Cracker Barrel Patrons [Publishing]
via Gawker by Hamilton Nolan on 2/28/11
Dear Koch Brothers, Tea partiers amp; union bashers:nbsp; ‘Anonymous’ would ...
via Dangerous Minds by Richard Metzger on 2/28/11
“Hello, Anonymous calling for the enemies of democracy. Are the Koch Brothers in?”
This warms my Trotskyite heart: After posting the following “open letter” to Koch Industries, effectively putting them on notice and asking the American and European population to stop buying their products, the politically motivated hackers of “Anonymous” have already begun to make good on their threat, as last night and this morning the Koch-supported rightwing political organization, Americans for Prosperity’s website was knocked offline several times. If an elite hacker was able to get into the intranet of Koch Industries, they could probably really disrupt their business for a few days. Let’s hope they cause maximum chaos for these evil bloodsuckers. (I hope Fox News is next. THAT would be the best thing ever, wouldn’t it?)
Here is the text of the letter:
Dear Citizens of the United States of America,
It has come to our attention that the brothers, David and Charles Koch—the billionaire owners of Koch Industries—have long attempted to usurp American Democracy. Their actions to undermine the legitimate political process in Wisconsin are the final straw. Starting today we fight back.
Koch Industries, and oligarchs like them, have most recently started to manipulate the political agenda in Wisconsin. Governor Walker’s union-busting budget plan contains a clause that went nearly un-noticed. This clause would allow the sale of publicly owned utility plants in Wisconsin to private parties (specifically, Koch Industries) at any price, no matter how low, without a public bidding process. The Koch’s have helped to fuel the unrest in Wisconsin and the drive behind the bill to eliminate the collective bargaining power of unions in a bid to gain a monopoly over the state’s power supplies.
The Koch brothers have made a science of fabricating ‘grassroots’ organizations and advertising campaigns to support them in an attempt to sway voters based on their falsehoods. Americans for Prosperity, Club for Growth and Citizens United are just a few of these organizations. In a world where corporate money has become the lifeblood of political influence, the labor unions are one of the few ways citizens have to fight against corporate greed. Anonymous cannot ignore the plight of the citizen-workers of Wisconsin, or the opportunity to fight for the people in America’s broken political system. For these reasons, we feel that the Koch brothers threaten the United States democratic system and, by extension, all freedom-loving individuals everywhere. As such, we have no choice but to spread the word of the Koch brothers’ political manipulation, their single-minded intent and the insidious truth of their actions in Wisconsin, for all to witness.
Anonymous hears the voice of the downtrodden American people, whose rights and liberties are being systematically removed one by one, even when their own government refuses to listen or worse - is complicit in these attacks. We are actively seeking vulnerabilities, but in the mean time we are calling for all supporters of true Democracy, and Freedom of The People, to boycott all Koch Industries’ paper products. We welcome unions across the globe to join us in this boycott to show that you will not allow big business to dictate your freedom.
U.S. Product Boycott List
Vanity Fair [not the magazine, the napkins and “classy” paper plates -RM]
Quilted Northern
Angel Soft
Sparkle
Brawny
Mardi Gras
DixieEuropean Product Boycott List
Demak’Up
Kitten Soft
Lotus / Lotus Soft
Tenderly
Nouvelle Soft
Okay Ktchen Towels
Colhogar
Delica
Inversoft
TuttoTo identify these brands, please look for the following logo anywhere on the packaging:
Anonymous.We are Legion I We do not forgive I We do not forget I Expect us
Happy to say that I don’t think I’ve ever bought any products manufactured by Koch Industries. I wouldn’t wipe my ass with them. Literally!
{extended}
Seeing the Past
via Dilbert.com Blog on 2/28/11
Imagine a future with no data privacy whatsoever. Imagine that the images from every video camera are public. Your health records, your web browsing history, your physical location at any moment, and even your financial records are public. We generally assume that having no privacy would be an awful thing. That's not the debate for today. Instead, imagine what types of spectacular apps you could have in a world with no privacy. Allow me to describe a few.Assume in this imagined future that the cost of data storage continues dropping, and all data gets sent to the so-called cloud. That way, everyone has access to all of the data in the world all of the time.Assume also that someday almost every space in the populated world has cameras that stream to the Internet. Cameras will someday cost about $1 apiece.One hypothetical app in the no-privacy world would allow you to see the past and the future through your phone. Just point the camera app in any direction, specify the date you'd like to view, and your phone gives you a video replay of what was happening in your vicinity during that time. You could also use face recognition to search the past for someone specific and replay just the time that individual was in the room. Can't remember where you left your keys? No problem. Just replay the five minutes after you entered the room.You could also see the future, in rough form, if you knew everyone's current location and speed via GPS, plus any reservations they booked, their Outlook calendar entries, their addresses, their Evite status, and more. Just open your map application, say a name and a time, and a dot will appear on the map for that person's predicted location. Now zoom in to street level to see the actual building.How about a health scanner? Point your phone at a person and ask for a health scan. You'd instantly have access to the person's health records and lifestyle information. You'd know how much alcohol he purchases, how many cigarettes he buys, and how many times he visits the gym. You'd know age, family history, medical records, and more. Your screen would show the image of the person along with animated highlights of any actual or likely problem areas. Airport security would be a lot faster. Every person would be so thoroughly profiled by the system that an x-ray would be unnecessary for 99% of fliers.Finding a mate would be easier. Just point your camera toward a crowd and it would highlight anyone who is a match. Making conversation with strangers would be easier. You'd instantly know what you have in common with any other person. That's often all it takes to turn a stranger into a friend. Imagine driving down the road and having access to the driving record of every other motorist. The risky drivers would be highlighted by the heads-up technology in your windshield. Give them a bit more room. Privacy has its benefits, but you're giving up a lot of cool apps.
Koch Bros Boycott list
Start of the list of products, I'll add more as they are discoveredU.S. Product Boycott List Vanity Fair
Quilted Northern
Angel Soft
Sparkle
Brawny
Mardi Gras
Dixie
European Product Boycott List Demak'Up
Kitten Soft
Lotus / Lotus Soft
Tenderly
Nouvelle Soft
Okay Ktchen Towels
Colhogar
Delica
Inversoft
Tutto
Quilted Northern
Angel Soft
Sparkle
Brawny
Mardi Gras
Dixie
European Product Boycott List Demak'Up
Kitten Soft
Lotus / Lotus Soft
Tenderly
Nouvelle Soft
Okay Ktchen Towels
Colhogar
Delica
Inversoft
Tutto
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