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Thursday, April 16, 2015

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The Owner Of This Credit Card Processing Company Is Cutting His Pay To Give A $70,000 Minimum Wage

The Owner Of This Credit Card Processing Company Is Cutting His Pay To Give A $70,000 Minimum Wage
I wish more bosses were like this.
Read more 

Bernie Sanders Drops A Bomb On Greedy Corporations With Bill To Make Them Pay Their Fair Share

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Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT) drops a bomb on corporations who are dodging taxes by hiding money overseas by introducing new legislation that will force tax dodgers to pay their fair share.
Here is part of what The Corporate Tax Dodging Prevention Act of 2015 would do:
1. Ending the rule allowing American corporations to defer paying federal income taxes on profits of their offshore subsidiaries. (Section 2 of the bill.)

Current law allows American corporations to defer paying U.S. income taxes on profits of their offshore subsidiaries until those profits are “repatriated” (officially brought to the U.S.) which may not happen for years, if ever. As a result, American corporations would rather report foreign profits than domestic profits to the I.R.S. Deferral therefore creates an incentive to either move operations and jobs to a lower-tax country, or to use accounting gimmicks to make U.S. profits appear to be earned in a lower-tax country.

The Congressional Research Service has indicated that the cost of this tax avoidance to the U.S. Treasury approaches or exceeds $100 billion annually. The Corporate Tax Dodging Prevention Act would end this tax avoidance by ending the rule allowing deferral of U.S. income taxes on offshore profits.
Under this legislation, American corporations would still be allowed a credit that reduces their federal income tax liability by an amount equal to income taxes paid to foreign governments on these profits. This foreign tax credit exists under current law and already prevents double-taxation of profits.
2. Closing loopholes allowing American corporations to artificially inflate or accelerate their foreign tax credits. (Section 4 of the bill.)
When U.S. corporations earn profits overseas, taxes paid to the foreign country are credited against U.S. tax liabilities, in order to avoid double-taxation. Under current rules and tax planning strategies, corporations are allowed to claim foreign tax credits for taxes paid on foreign income that is not subject to current U.S. tax (meaning foreign tax credits in excess of what is needed to avoid double-taxation). As a result, companies are able to use such credits to pay less tax on their U.S. taxable income than they would if it was all from U.S. sources – providing them with a competitive advantage over companies that invest in the United States. Under the Corporate Tax Dodging Prevention Act, foreign tax credits generated by profits earned in one country could not be used against U.S. income taxes on profits earned in another country.

3. Preventing American corporations from claiming to be foreign by using a tax haven post office box as their address. (Section 5 of the bill.)
At a news conference to unveil the legislation, Sen. Sanders said, “”At a time when we have a $18.2 trillion national debt and an unsustainable federal deficit; at a time when many of the largest corporations in America are paying no federal income taxes; and at a time when corporate profits are at an all-time high, it is past time for corporate America to pay their fair share in taxes so that we can create the millions of jobs this country needs.”
The House companion measure to The Corporate Tax Dodging Prevention Act of 2015 is being introduced by Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-IL), who said, “Over the past 30-40 years, virtually every time Americans have been asked to make ‘tough choices,’ it has resulted in disproportionate harm to low- and middle-income individuals and families. Cuts to programs that help Americans get ahead and stay ahead have been significant, while tax breaks have been handed out like candy to captains of industry and the behemoth corporations they run. Most perversely, these tax breaks have incentivized moving revenue and jobs overseas. It’s time that we end that skewed system, and the Stop Corporate Tax Dodging Act would help us do that.”
There is a mounting wave of outrage building against corporations who are dodging their taxes by hiding profits overseas. There is a consensus on the left and right that this money needs to be brought back home. The problem is that many Republicans don’t believe that corporations should have to pay their fair share. In fact, the Republican budgets passed by both the House and Senate include big tax breaks for the wealthy and corporations.
As millions of hard working Americans and small businesses file their tax returns, it is important to remember all of the big and extremely profitable corporations who are forcing you to pay more while they pay nothing, or even get a rebate.
The issue is one of fairness. Those who make their money off of American consumers should be paying their share of taxes. The era of the free ride must come to an end for greedy corporate deadbeats, and Bernie Sanders is proposing the legislation that will accomplish this goal.

Did Pat Robertson Just Endorse Hillary Clinton For President?

Image via https://twitter.com/gaystarnews/status/585406645712232448Religio-wingnut Pat Robertson says Hillary will bring America back to a wingnut utopia… the 1950’s!

Carly Fiorina Should Never Call Anyone — Least of All Hillary Clinton — Unqualified

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Carly Fiorina is thinking about running for president. I’m not really sure why. She was a surrogate for John McCain, but got moved aside quietly after saying he…

Chris Christie Proposing Major Cuts To Social Security Program

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New Jersey's Chris Christie (R) proposed broad changes to Social Security, Medicaid, and Medicare in a speech in New Hampshire. Christie’s proposed cuts to Social Security are even more far-reaching than the entitlement changes in the plan offered by Republicans in the past few years.


Marco Rubio Is The Lipstick, The GOP Is The Pig

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The Crazy Base Still Hates Marco Rubio, And Some Might Go Birther On Him

The Crazy Base Still Hates Marco Rubio, And Some Might Go Birther On Him
If Rubio does catch on, will the haters go birther on him?
Go Birther 

Marco Rubio Thinks His Autographed Photo Is Worth $250

Marco Rubio WaterGot a spare 250 bucks lying around? Want a picture of a first-term senator who will never be president of the United States? Well oh boy does Marco…
Marco Rubio is an idiot and this proves it - his autographed photo is so below worthless as to be that it's  hysterically funny that in his deranged mind it is worth a plug nickel much less $250.

Jeb Bush Uses Terri Schiavo Case To Burnish His Religio-Wingnut Credentials

Jeb Bush Uses Terri Schiavo Case To Burnish His Religious Right Credentials
Apparently being a liar and a tyrant is fine if it wins a few votes.




Rand Paul Screwed Pacific NW In $250 Million Deal

Report: Rand Paul Screwed Pacific NW In $250 Million Deal
Why do you not see this story on your TV?
Rand Paul Screwed Them

Indiana Governor Mike Pence’s Popularity Nosedives After Indiana “Religious Freedom” Bill

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A Greenberg Quinlan Rosner Research poll released on April 13, 2015, finds that Indiana Republican Governor Mike Pence’s popularity has taken a nosedive since he signed a right to discriminate “religious freedom” bill into law. Although the Governor backtracked slightly in the face of opposition to the law, his decision to support religious-based bigotry in the first place, has not been forgotten by Indiana voters.
The poll finds that only 43 percent of Indiana voters now believe the Governor is doing a “good” or “excellent” job. This contrasts sharply with the 62 percent of Indianans who approved of the Governor’s job performance in February 2015, according to an Indiana Association of Realtors poll. While the two polls were not done by the same polling firm, the dramatic disparity in the results suggests a pronounced drop in support for the Governor.
When Indiana voters were asked a more direct question about whether or not they had a favorable or unfavorable impression of Governor Pence for signing the Religious Freedom Restoration Act into law, the results were even harsher. By a 53-38 percent margin, voters said Pence’s decision gave them an unfavorable impression of the Governor.
By a 2 to 1 ratio, Indianans disagree with right to discriminate legislation. 62 percent of Indiana voters do not think businesses should be allowed to refuse service to someone because of their sexual orientation or gender identity, even if it “violates” the owner’s religious beliefs. Just 31 percent feel the owner should have the right to discriminate based on his or her religious beliefs.
The survey also found that in a rematch between Republican Governor Mike Pence, and his 2012 Democratic challenger, John Gregg, the hypothetical race is tied at 47-47. Pence’s decision to stand loudly and proudly on the side of anti-gay bigotry may have impressed right-wing Christian conservatives, but it may very well cost him his job if he runs for re-election.
Governor Pence’s plunging popularity should serve as a warning to red state governors around the country that while bigotry may help them curry favor with right-wing evangelical voters, it’s becoming a sure fire loser with the general public. Republican politicians haven’t seemed to grasp the political consequences of standing on the wrong side of history just yet. However, if voters who show up at the polls say the same thing as the voters who are answering the polls, the GOP should get the message on election night.

Florida legislature passes bill to end ban on adoptions by gay parents

House Democrats Introduce Resolution To Combat LGBT Discrimination, Set To Unveil New LGBT Civil Rights Bill

House Democrats Introduce Resolution To Combat LGBT Discrimination, Set To Unveil New LGBT Civil Rights Bill
How do Democrats in Congress intend to smackdown “right to discriminate” legislation? Pass a new civil rights bill – this time for LGBT Americans.

Idaho Risks Losing $46 Million In Fight to Stop Sharia Law

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Georgia Republican slips in $350,000 tax giveaway for evangelist training school where he is trustee

Georgia Republican slips in $350,000 tax giveaway for evangelist training school where he is trustee

House Republicans Want To Strip Protections For People Living In Mobile Homes

New Mexico Is The Second State To Ban Police From Seizing Innocent People’s Property

The state has previously been one of the worst offenders.

Taxpayers Subsidize $153.8 Billion In Corporate Profits Due To Low Wages

If American taxpayers realized their largesse was going to those who need it least, highly-profitable corporations, they would likely put an end to their generous ways in a…
Strikers march outside a Wendy's restaurant in Boston
Generosity, or largesse, is a desirable trait for most Americans in the habit of giving freely of their assets to aid other Americans in need without expecting anything in return. As a virtue, charity has always been widely accepted as one of the most cherished virtues throughout history. However, one of the primary requirements of generosity, besides giving without expecting anything in return, is that the recipient is “in need.” If American taxpayers realized their largesse was going to those who need it least, highly-profitable corporations, they would likely put an end to their generous ways in a heartbeat.
While most American taxpayers do not object to, and in fact are supportive of, their tax dollars going to help other Americans in need, most taxpayers would recoil at charitable giving to those who need for nothing. Likely most taxpayers are unaware they are spending over $153.8 billion annually to subsidize corporate profits due to low wages that keep millions and millions of American workers on public assistance programs. It is that lack of awareness that prevents massive outrage against Republicans for  opposing raising the minimum wage.
This week on tax day, April 15, workers across America are planning to protest for higher pay and union representation for low-wage workers living in poverty and reliant on social safety nets to survive. The higher minimum wage protests are being organized by Fight for 15, a national worker movement engaged in the uphill struggle against Republicans to raise the federal minimum wage to $15 an hour. The federal minimum wage is a pathetic $7.25 an hour that prevents a person working full-time at that rate from bringing in enough income over the course of a year to live above the federal poverty line for a family of two; with any children the poverty level is below dire. Subsequently, workers earning minimum wage cannot survive without depending on at least one form of government assistance if they are extremely frugal and pool their resources with another family.
The poverty wages Republicans claim are more than sufficient for Americans, or too high according to Republicans who want the minimum wage abolished, is an abomination and an insult to highly productive American workers. They are also costing taxpayers over $153.8 billion each year according to a recently released report from the University of California, Berkeley. The reason taxpayers are being tasked to supplement worker wages, and provide corporate welfare subsidies for profitable corporations, is because when hard working families are forced to subsist on low-wage jobs just to survive, they have little option but to depend on government social programs. These include Medicaid, the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP), Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC), Temporary Aid to Needy Families (TANF or welfare), and food stamps low-wage workers rely on just to make ends meet, barely.
The new Berkeley report examined how much the states and federal government spends on social safety net programs and discovered that the federal government spends about $127.8 billion per year, and states collectively spend about $26 billion per year on assistance programs for working families. Now, that $153.8 billion a year is not only being spent to help other Americans live, something most Americans are willing to provide for their struggling fellow citizens, it is yet another instance of taxpayer-funded corporate welfare. American taxpayers should not have to subsidize businesses that are already reaping profits on the backs of their highly-productive and low-paid workers and Americans’ tax dollars as well.
The study, “The High Public Cost of Low Wages” found that besides stagnant and poverty-level wages, the dearth of employer-provided benefits mean that minimum-wage workers in the United States are even more reliant on federal and state-run public assistance programs than previously thought. What that means for taxpayers is that their tax dollars are taking up the slack and subsidizing highly-profitable corporate employers who refuse to pay a living wage; that and only that reason is why there is a need for a federal minimum wage in the first place. Many employers, particularly large corporate employers will never pay decent wages without a federal minimum requirement and since  Republicans refuse to even entertain raising the minimum, it is left to taxpayers to “bear a significant portion of the hidden costs of low-wage work in America” according to the report’s authors Ken Jacobs, Ian Perry, and Jenifer MacGillvary.
The report revealed that 73 percent of Americans enrolled in the nation’s major assistance programs are members of working families. It is noteworthy that the $153.8 billion of taxpayer money spent annually is on “working families” and not, as Republicans claim, lazy moochers who need to learn the culture and value of hard work. After the 73 percent of Americans receiving some assistance who are working at low-wage jobs, the rest are children, the elderly and disabled Americans.
What is telling is that despite the recovering economy, record corporate earnings, and robust Wall Street gains, millions of workers are not being compensated at a rate commiserate with economic gains at the top. According to the report’s research, when adjusted for inflation, wage growth from 2003 to 2013 was either flat or negative for the entire bottom 70 percent of the wage distribution. To make matters worse, and cost to taxpayers higher, the number of non-elderly Americans receiving insurance benefits from their employer fell from 67 percent to 58 percent in 2013. One of the study’s co-authors and chair of the Berkeley Labor Center said “When companies pay too little for workers to provide for their families, workers rely on public assistance programs to meet their basic needs. This creates significant cost to the states.” And, a significant savings to corporations that translates into higher corporate earnings and greater compensation packages for CEOs.
Many Americans may think only fast food workers impact social safety net spending, but the study revealed that dependence on public assistance “spans a diverse range of occupations, including fast-food workers (52%), childcare workers (46%), home care workers (48%), and part-time college faculty (25%).” Add in retail employers such as Walmart and Target, and it is easy to understand why taxpayers are subsidizing corporations to the tune of $153.8 billion annually.
A few low-wage employers, like Walmart and McDonald’s, have announced pay raises in recent months to go into effect in the next year or so, but workers say it is not enough and they are hardly exaggerating. For example, McDonald’s plan to raise minimum wage by a whopping 10 percent that still will only affect a very small percentage of the company’s workers. Increasing the minimum wage by 10 percent will mean a worker will earn $7.98 per hour; that will still keep an employee in dire poverty and taxpayers on the hook for $153 billion annually as opposed to $153.8 billion. McDonald’s claims it has no control over how much its franchises pays their workers, but the corporation is a staunch opponent of raising the federal minimum wage and a major Republican donor.
The majority of  Americans do not oppose their hard-earned tax dollars going to help those who need assistance and many believe Republicans are barbaric for cutting what little low-wage earners receive now. However, it is highly likely they oppose those tax dollars going to subsidize payrolls of large profitable corporations that happily take the $153.8 billion in savings as higher earnings. It is a travesty that corporate mainstream media is not reporting where taxpayer dollars funding social safety net and assistance programs is really going, because if they did the outrage against Republicans refusing to consider raising the minimum wage would certainly produce results.

US Forest Service Investigates Expired Permit Nestle Uses To Draw CA Water

US Forest Service Investigates Expired Permit Nestle Uses To Draw CA Water
The water is piped across the national forest and loaded on trucks to a plant where it is bottled as Arrowhead 100 percent Mountain Spring Water.