Amazon BLOCKED From Filming Union Voting
3 years ago
Tuesday, December 31, 2013
Sunday, December 29, 2013
Accidental tax break saves wealthiest Americans $100B : Business
Accidental tax break saves wealthiest Americans $100B : Business
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y shuffling his company stock in and out of more than 30 trusts, he’s given at least $7.9 billion to his heirs while legally avoiding about $2.8 billion in U.S. gift taxes since 2010, according to calculations based on data in Adelson’s U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filings.
Hundreds of executives have used the technique, SEC filings show. These tax shelters may have cost the federal government more than $100 billion since 2000, says Richard Covey, the lawyer who pioneered the maneuver. That’s equivalent to about one-third of all estate and gift taxes the U.S. has collected since th
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accidental?
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y shuffling his company stock in and out of more than 30 trusts, he’s given at least $7.9 billion to his heirs while legally avoiding about $2.8 billion in U.S. gift taxes since 2010, according to calculations based on data in Adelson’s U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filings.
Hundreds of executives have used the technique, SEC filings show. These tax shelters may have cost the federal government more than $100 billion since 2000, says Richard Covey, the lawyer who pioneered the maneuver. That’s equivalent to about one-third of all estate and gift taxes the U.S. has collected since th
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accidental?
Four years after passage of Obamacare, health care system remains in crisis : News
Four years after passage of Obamacare, health care system remains in crisis : News
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Health care spending gobbled up about $2.9 trillion in 2013. By 2023, it is likely to rise to $5.5 trillion, an increase of 90 percent over the decade, according to the Commonwealth Fund.
“There is broad evidence that much of that excess spending is wasteful,” the fund’s report states.
Stuart Guterman, the fund’s executive director, said the United States spends nearly $9,000 a year per person on health care, more than twice as much as either France or Sweden, countries that offer universal health care for its citizens.
“Better care in the end is the best way to get to lower-cost care,” he said.
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CONTROLLING MEDICAL COSTS
“There is broad evidence that much of that excess spending is wasteful,” the fund’s report states.
Stuart Guterman, the fund’s executive director, said the United States spends nearly $9,000 a year per person on health care, more than twice as much as either France or Sweden, countries that offer universal health care for its citizens.
“Better care in the end is the best way to get to lower-cost care,” he said.
Saturday, December 28, 2013
Paul Ryan lectures the pope
Paul Ryan lectures the pope
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When 1.3 million Americans lose their unemployment benefits on Saturday, they can thank Rep. Paul Ryan. He took the lead in negotiating a bipartisan budget deal with Democratic Sen. Patty Murray, and on behalf of his party, held the line against continuing extended unemployment benefits for the long-term jobless.
Sure, a lot of Republicans share blame with Ryan. But he deserves extra-special (negative) credit for the deal, because he has lately had the audacity to depict himself as the new face of “compassionate conservatism,” insisting Republicans must pay attention to the problems of the poor. Friends say the man who once worshipped Ayn Rand now takes Pope Francis as his moral role model. Except he can’t help treating his new role model with arrogance and contempt.
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When 1.3 million Americans lose their unemployment benefits on Saturday, they can thank Rep. Paul Ryan. He took the lead in negotiating a bipartisan budget deal with Democratic Sen. Patty Murray, and on behalf of his party, held the line against continuing extended unemployment benefits for the long-term jobless.
Sure, a lot of Republicans share blame with Ryan. But he deserves extra-special (negative) credit for the deal, because he has lately had the audacity to depict himself as the new face of “compassionate conservatism,” insisting Republicans must pay attention to the problems of the poor. Friends say the man who once worshipped Ayn Rand now takes Pope Francis as his moral role model. Except he can’t help treating his new role model with arrogance and contempt.
Press Release -- Protect Your Legal Health in 2014 With a Legal Check Up
Press Release -- Protect Your Legal Health in 2014 With a Legal Check Up
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P Reach an understanding. Do not sign a document unless you understand it, agree to it, and receive a photocopy of what you signed (after both parties have signed it).
P Consider future needs. Prepare a durable power of attorney so your family knows your wishes regarding medical treatment in the event you become incapacitated. A form is available on the Missouri Bar website www.mobar.org
P Ignorance is not bliss. Do notignore credit problems. If you are behind on mortgage, credit card or other loan payments, contact your creditor or lender.
P Be inquisitive. Ask questions and demand answers, especially when closing on a mortgage.
P Avoid title trouble.Do not sign an automobile contract without seeing a title first. Remember: A car purchase can only be completed by transferring the title and delivering it to the buyer.
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Protect Your Legal Health in 2014 With a Legal Check Up
With the New Year upon us, now is a good time to consider a legal check-up to prevent larger and possibly more expensive problems in the future. Here are some legal checkpoints to consider prepared by the attorneys at Legal Services:P Reach an understanding. Do not sign a document unless you understand it, agree to it, and receive a photocopy of what you signed (after both parties have signed it).
P Consider future needs. Prepare a durable power of attorney so your family knows your wishes regarding medical treatment in the event you become incapacitated. A form is available on the Missouri Bar website www.mobar.org
P Ignorance is not bliss. Do notignore credit problems. If you are behind on mortgage, credit card or other loan payments, contact your creditor or lender.
P Be inquisitive. Ask questions and demand answers, especially when closing on a mortgage.
P Avoid title trouble.Do not sign an automobile contract without seeing a title first. Remember: A car purchase can only be completed by transferring the title and delivering it to the buyer.
Editorial: Missouri makes it easier to vote. Wait ... what? : Stltoday
Editorial: Missouri makes it easier to vote. Wait ... what? : Stltoday
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Mr. Kander’s new website, (www.sos.mo.gov/votemissouri) allows voters to either update their existing registration if they’ve moved, or start the process from scratch.
“In this day and age, people just expect a certain amount of convenience whether they are dealing with state government or anything else,” Mr. Kander told us.
Legal authority for the new website, which will accept electronic signatures as legally valid, actually comes from a state law passed in 2003.
That was a different era in Missouri. Leading Republicans actually advocated for early voting a decade ago. They included then-Secretary of State Matt Blunt and then-House Speaker Catherine Hanaway.
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Mr. Kander’s new website, (www.sos.mo.gov/votemissouri) allows voters to either update their existing registration if they’ve moved, or start the process from scratch.
“In this day and age, people just expect a certain amount of convenience whether they are dealing with state government or anything else,” Mr. Kander told us.
Legal authority for the new website, which will accept electronic signatures as legally valid, actually comes from a state law passed in 2003.
That was a different era in Missouri. Leading Republicans actually advocated for early voting a decade ago. They included then-Secretary of State Matt Blunt and then-House Speaker Catherine Hanaway.
Friday, December 27, 2013
'Concierge Doctor' Latest Perk For The Wealthy
wonder if obamacare picks this up? I am sure it is tax deductable
Thursday, December 26, 2013
Wednesday, December 25, 2013
How to ruin Christmas: A holiday guide to arguing with conservative relatives
How to ruin Christmas: A holiday guide to arguing with conservative relatives
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But let’s think about these duck guys, this Robertson family with the television show that millions of people watch. Maybe this is the north enforcing its cultural hegemony at the expense of an innocent southern man, tarred as a bigot and kicked off his own television show just for saying what he thinks. But if you are southern, maybe you should think some more about the Robertsons and their television show and what message it sends to the rest of the country.
The Robertson family is a gang of college-educated millionaires pretending to be backwoods hillbillies. The beards and camo are literally costumes. Before they had a television show they were clean-shaven yuppies in polo shirts and cargo shorts. The Robertsons are performing a pantomime of southernness, and it is making them even richer than they were before. They are performing for a nationwide audience that is probably not mostly southern, and that is definitely not mostly rural and southern. No one on reality television — especially in this era, when it’s more staged than ever — is being their authentic self. That’s not in and of itself a problem; entertainment is entertainment. But the Duck Dynasty guys are essentially doing a hillbilly minstrel act, filmed and aired by a network jointly owned by the Hearst Corporation and Disney. Maybe that doesn’t offend you. But for much of America, these people are the most prominent modern representatives of white southernness, and the duck guy just confirmed for them the stereotype that white southerners are bible-thumping bigots with twisted racist delusions.
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But let’s think about these duck guys, this Robertson family with the television show that millions of people watch. Maybe this is the north enforcing its cultural hegemony at the expense of an innocent southern man, tarred as a bigot and kicked off his own television show just for saying what he thinks. But if you are southern, maybe you should think some more about the Robertsons and their television show and what message it sends to the rest of the country.
The Robertson family is a gang of college-educated millionaires pretending to be backwoods hillbillies. The beards and camo are literally costumes. Before they had a television show they were clean-shaven yuppies in polo shirts and cargo shorts. The Robertsons are performing a pantomime of southernness, and it is making them even richer than they were before. They are performing for a nationwide audience that is probably not mostly southern, and that is definitely not mostly rural and southern. No one on reality television — especially in this era, when it’s more staged than ever — is being their authentic self. That’s not in and of itself a problem; entertainment is entertainment. But the Duck Dynasty guys are essentially doing a hillbilly minstrel act, filmed and aired by a network jointly owned by the Hearst Corporation and Disney. Maybe that doesn’t offend you. But for much of America, these people are the most prominent modern representatives of white southernness, and the duck guy just confirmed for them the stereotype that white southerners are bible-thumping bigots with twisted racist delusions.
Tuesday, December 24, 2013
Monday, December 23, 2013
10 worst right-wing moments of the week — sitting “Duck” edition
10 worst right-wing moments of the week — sitting “Duck” edition
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3. Rick Santorum delivers unhinged, illogical rant about nationalized healthcare.
We may need to run this excerpt from a Rick Santorum speech in its somewhat cleaned up entirety, because we’re still trying to make sense of it. But it seems very ominous. It is about that death-deliverer, government-subsidized healthcare. Even the Iron Lady herself, Margaret Thatcher, was too frightened to take it on. And she was so tough. That’s how scary it is! Then there is this leap of logic that has us scratching our now totally terrified heads. Because if you get sick, and you don’t have healthcare, you die. (Question: So, why isn’t that an argument for providing healthcare to more people?) And, as if dying weren’t bad enough, you also don’t get to vote if you die. So the whole system is rigged, because only living people can vote. And only living people can get healthcare. See?
Here’s Uncle Ricky to explain:
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3. Rick Santorum delivers unhinged, illogical rant about nationalized healthcare.
We may need to run this excerpt from a Rick Santorum speech in its somewhat cleaned up entirety, because we’re still trying to make sense of it. But it seems very ominous. It is about that death-deliverer, government-subsidized healthcare. Even the Iron Lady herself, Margaret Thatcher, was too frightened to take it on. And she was so tough. That’s how scary it is! Then there is this leap of logic that has us scratching our now totally terrified heads. Because if you get sick, and you don’t have healthcare, you die. (Question: So, why isn’t that an argument for providing healthcare to more people?) And, as if dying weren’t bad enough, you also don’t get to vote if you die. So the whole system is rigged, because only living people can vote. And only living people can get healthcare. See?
Here’s Uncle Ricky to explain:
If we have a system where the government is going to be the principal provider of health care for the country, we’re done. Because then, you are dependent on the government for your life and your health…When Thatcher ran for prime minister she said — remember this, this is the Iron Lady — she said, ‘The British national health care system is safe in my hands.’ She wasn’t going to take on health care, because she knew once you have people getting free health care from the government, you can’t take it away from them. And the reason is because most people don’t get sick, and so free health care is just that, free health care, until you get sick. Then, if you get sick and you don’t get health care, you die and you don’t vote. It’s actually a pretty clever system. Take care of the people who can vote and people who can’t vote, get rid of them as quickly as possible by not giving them care so they can’t vote against you. That’s how it works.
Saturday, December 21, 2013
Friday, December 20, 2013
Thursday, December 19, 2013
Technology is winning the war on coal
Technology is winning the war on coal
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Regulators now want to make CCS more alluring. New rules from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency mandate that any new coal-fired power plant willrequire at least part of its CO2 pollution to be captured and stored. The levels in the proposal would allow 1,100 pounds of CO2 per megawatt-hour of electricity produced to be emitted, the amount of gas spewed by the average new power plant burning natural gas. (Of course, to truly combat climate change, even that pollution would have to be captured and stored.)
The question now relates to whether the technology is ready for wide deployment. “It is happening now,” argues Secretary of Energy Ernest Moniz, a point backed up by a Congressional Research Service report from October and the new Kemper power plant. In fact, that facility is the first large-scale effort to move CCS beyond the scale of demonstration projects. The 550-megawatt coal-gasification power plant, fitted with CCS, is scheduled for completion in 2014. “It’s a monster,” says Moniz, who recently toured the site.
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Regulators now want to make CCS more alluring. New rules from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency mandate that any new coal-fired power plant willrequire at least part of its CO2 pollution to be captured and stored. The levels in the proposal would allow 1,100 pounds of CO2 per megawatt-hour of electricity produced to be emitted, the amount of gas spewed by the average new power plant burning natural gas. (Of course, to truly combat climate change, even that pollution would have to be captured and stored.)
The question now relates to whether the technology is ready for wide deployment. “It is happening now,” argues Secretary of Energy Ernest Moniz, a point backed up by a Congressional Research Service report from October and the new Kemper power plant. In fact, that facility is the first large-scale effort to move CCS beyond the scale of demonstration projects. The 550-megawatt coal-gasification power plant, fitted with CCS, is scheduled for completion in 2014. “It’s a monster,” says Moniz, who recently toured the site.
Wednesday, December 18, 2013
Jamie Dimon’s perp walk: Why it could be this year’s Christmas miracle
Jamie Dimon’s perp walk: Why it could be this year’s Christmas miracle
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The crowd waited impatiently outside 270 Park Avenue, corporate headquarters of JPMorgan Chase. Photographers readied their cameras. Then, the murmuring grew into a low roar. There was CEO Jamie Dimon, accompanied by two FBI agents. His hands were tied behind his back, held together by handcuffs. As flashbulbs popped, the agents guided Dimon into an awaiting vehicle, and drove off to take him into police custody.
Christmas miracle? It doesn’t have to be. Even putting aside the rap sheet of crimes committed by JPMorgan Chase over the past several years for which its CEO can be said to be ultimately responsible, just a week ago, Jamie Dimon explicitly violated a federal statute that carries a prison sentence. That he’s a free man today, with no fear of prosecution, doesn’t only speak to our two-tiered system of justice in America. It should color our perceptions of new rules and regulations that supposedly “get tough” on the financial industry, as we recognize that any law is only as strong as the individuals who enforce them.
note; would be happy to provide lad with soap on a rope if he gets to jail
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The crowd waited impatiently outside 270 Park Avenue, corporate headquarters of JPMorgan Chase. Photographers readied their cameras. Then, the murmuring grew into a low roar. There was CEO Jamie Dimon, accompanied by two FBI agents. His hands were tied behind his back, held together by handcuffs. As flashbulbs popped, the agents guided Dimon into an awaiting vehicle, and drove off to take him into police custody.
Christmas miracle? It doesn’t have to be. Even putting aside the rap sheet of crimes committed by JPMorgan Chase over the past several years for which its CEO can be said to be ultimately responsible, just a week ago, Jamie Dimon explicitly violated a federal statute that carries a prison sentence. That he’s a free man today, with no fear of prosecution, doesn’t only speak to our two-tiered system of justice in America. It should color our perceptions of new rules and regulations that supposedly “get tough” on the financial industry, as we recognize that any law is only as strong as the individuals who enforce them.
note; would be happy to provide lad with soap on a rope if he gets to jail
7 ways to shut down a climate change denier
7 ways to shut down a climate change denier
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It is virtually impossible to disprove accusations of giant global conspiracies to those already convinced of them (can anyone prove that the Freemasons and the Roswell aliens aren’t involved, too?). Let it therefore be noted that the magnitude of this hypothetical conspiracy would need to encompass many thousands of uncontroversial publications and respected scientists from around the world,Carbon Dioxide and Climate,” by Gilbert N. Plass, from Scientific American in July 1959.) It is also one so powerful that it has co-opted the official positions of dozens of scientific organizations including the U.S. National Academy of Sciences, the Royal Society, the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the American Geophysical Union, the American Institute of Physics and the American Meteorological Society.
If there were a massive conspiracy to defraud the world on climate (and to what end?), surely the thousands of e-mails and other files stolen from the University of East Anglia’s Climatic Research Unit and distributed by hackers on November 20 would bear proof of it. So far, however, none has emerged. Most of the few statements that critics claim as evidence of malfeasance seem to have more innocent explanations that make sense in the context of scientists conversing privately and informally. It is deplorable if any of the scientists involved did prove to manipulate data dishonestly or thwart Freedom of Information requests; however, it is currently unclear whether that ultimately happened. What is missing is any clear indication of a widespread attempt to falsify and coordinate findings on a scale that could hold together a global cabal or significantly distort the record on climate change.
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It is virtually impossible to disprove accusations of giant global conspiracies to those already convinced of them (can anyone prove that the Freemasons and the Roswell aliens aren’t involved, too?). Let it therefore be noted that the magnitude of this hypothetical conspiracy would need to encompass many thousands of uncontroversial publications and respected scientists from around the world,Carbon Dioxide and Climate,” by Gilbert N. Plass, from Scientific American in July 1959.) It is also one so powerful that it has co-opted the official positions of dozens of scientific organizations including the U.S. National Academy of Sciences, the Royal Society, the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the American Geophysical Union, the American Institute of Physics and the American Meteorological Society.
If there were a massive conspiracy to defraud the world on climate (and to what end?), surely the thousands of e-mails and other files stolen from the University of East Anglia’s Climatic Research Unit and distributed by hackers on November 20 would bear proof of it. So far, however, none has emerged. Most of the few statements that critics claim as evidence of malfeasance seem to have more innocent explanations that make sense in the context of scientists conversing privately and informally. It is deplorable if any of the scientists involved did prove to manipulate data dishonestly or thwart Freedom of Information requests; however, it is currently unclear whether that ultimately happened. What is missing is any clear indication of a widespread attempt to falsify and coordinate findings on a scale that could hold together a global cabal or significantly distort the record on climate change.
Tuesday, December 17, 2013
Wal-Mart’s dirty partners pay up: Fired workers win thousands
Wal-Mart’s dirty partners pay up: Fired workers win thousands
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Days after Wal-Mart warehouse workers in California announced a $4.7 million settlement over alleged stolen wages, workers fired from the retail giant’s top U.S. distribution center announced a new Labor Board settlement over allegations their activism cost them their jobs.
“We knew our rights, but the Walmart contractors running the warehouse didn’t care and fired us illegally,” ex-employee Mike Compton said in an e-mailed statement. “Now they have to pay us thousands of dollars and they should think twice before going after warehouse workers organizing!” Wal-Mart did not immediately respond to an early morning inquiry.
Wal-Mart’s contractor at the warehouse, Schneider, sent Salon a one-sentence statement: “It is in the best interest of our associates and the company to settle these charges, end the distraction, and focus on what we do best: moving freight for our customer.”
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Days after Wal-Mart warehouse workers in California announced a $4.7 million settlement over alleged stolen wages, workers fired from the retail giant’s top U.S. distribution center announced a new Labor Board settlement over allegations their activism cost them their jobs.
“We knew our rights, but the Walmart contractors running the warehouse didn’t care and fired us illegally,” ex-employee Mike Compton said in an e-mailed statement. “Now they have to pay us thousands of dollars and they should think twice before going after warehouse workers organizing!” Wal-Mart did not immediately respond to an early morning inquiry.
Wal-Mart’s contractor at the warehouse, Schneider, sent Salon a one-sentence statement: “It is in the best interest of our associates and the company to settle these charges, end the distraction, and focus on what we do best: moving freight for our customer.”
Worst corporate handout ever: How the government funds abusive tycoons
Worst corporate handout ever: How the government funds abusive tycoons
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“Many of the most flagrant violators of workplace safety and wage laws are also recipients of large federal contracts,” states the HELP report, “Acting Responsibly? Federal Contractors Frequently Put Workers’ Lives and Livelihoods at Risk.”
The authors contend that an existing database created under the the Clean Contracting Act of 2008 fails to capture “many incidents of misconduct,” citing examples including the deaths of a worker “swept into an industrial dryer” at Cintas Corp., two workers killed in an explosion at a ship company owned by ST Engineering Limited, and seven workers in the Anacortes, Wash., refinery of the Fortune 100 petroleum company Tesoro. The HELP report states that Tesoro “received $463 million in federal contracts in fiscal year 2012,” and that the $2.4 million initial penalty safety assessed against it ranks — along with initial penalties assessed against 17 other contractors — among the largest assessed between 2007 and 2012. A 2010 report from the Government Accountability Office found that 15 contractors with citations for federal labor law violations had collectively received $6 billion in government contracts in fiscal 2009.
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“Many of the most flagrant violators of workplace safety and wage laws are also recipients of large federal contracts,” states the HELP report, “Acting Responsibly? Federal Contractors Frequently Put Workers’ Lives and Livelihoods at Risk.”
The authors contend that an existing database created under the the Clean Contracting Act of 2008 fails to capture “many incidents of misconduct,” citing examples including the deaths of a worker “swept into an industrial dryer” at Cintas Corp., two workers killed in an explosion at a ship company owned by ST Engineering Limited, and seven workers in the Anacortes, Wash., refinery of the Fortune 100 petroleum company Tesoro. The HELP report states that Tesoro “received $463 million in federal contracts in fiscal year 2012,” and that the $2.4 million initial penalty safety assessed against it ranks — along with initial penalties assessed against 17 other contractors — among the largest assessed between 2007 and 2012. A 2010 report from the Government Accountability Office found that 15 contractors with citations for federal labor law violations had collectively received $6 billion in government contracts in fiscal 2009.
Monday, December 16, 2013
Sunday, December 15, 2013
Saturday, December 14, 2013
Ed Schultz doubles down: “I am not gonna get bamboozled by reporters”
Ed Schultz doubles down: “I am not gonna get bamboozled by reporters”
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For a second consecutive day, MSNBC primetime host Ed Schultz used his national radio show Friday to criticize coverage of his handling of an NBC labor dispute, but did not specifically address alleged union-busting by an NBC Universal-owned company.
“I am sorry for those of you that do believe in the big red head,” Schultz told listeners at the start of the show, “that you have to put up with some lies and deception on Twitter.”
Schultz has drawn harsh tweets since Salon printed a Thursday morning story about labor strife at the NBC Universal-owned Peacock Productions, where a unionization vote covering about a hundred workers was held but a corporate legal challenge has kept the ballots from being counted. Alleging “a textbook anti-union campaign that you would see at companies like Wal-Mart,” the Writers Guild of America – East has asked five primetime MSNBC hosts to publicly support the campaign. None so far have, though several people who were in the room told Salon that Chris Hayes held a private meeting with workers and union staff. Asked Tuesday about the campaign, Schultz e-mailed Salon, “Moveon.org has never been an ally of Ed Schultz, why should I help you with a story? Give me a reason.” He did not respond to a follow-up, or to a series of subsequent inquiries.
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For a second consecutive day, MSNBC primetime host Ed Schultz used his national radio show Friday to criticize coverage of his handling of an NBC labor dispute, but did not specifically address alleged union-busting by an NBC Universal-owned company.
“I am sorry for those of you that do believe in the big red head,” Schultz told listeners at the start of the show, “that you have to put up with some lies and deception on Twitter.”
Schultz has drawn harsh tweets since Salon printed a Thursday morning story about labor strife at the NBC Universal-owned Peacock Productions, where a unionization vote covering about a hundred workers was held but a corporate legal challenge has kept the ballots from being counted. Alleging “a textbook anti-union campaign that you would see at companies like Wal-Mart,” the Writers Guild of America – East has asked five primetime MSNBC hosts to publicly support the campaign. None so far have, though several people who were in the room told Salon that Chris Hayes held a private meeting with workers and union staff. Asked Tuesday about the campaign, Schultz e-mailed Salon, “Moveon.org has never been an ally of Ed Schultz, why should I help you with a story? Give me a reason.” He did not respond to a follow-up, or to a series of subsequent inquiries.
Corporate Democrats freak out over Elizabeth Warren threat
Corporate Democrats freak out over Elizabeth Warren threat
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Ignore the not-so-hidden sexism in that comment, and consider for a second what’s really going on here.
Jim Kessler and the corporate Democrat “moderate” types who support Third Way are absolutely terrified. They’re terrified that Elizabeth Warren and her supporters will upend the stranglehold they’ve had on Democratic politics since the Clinton era.
So now they’ve joined Republicans in declaring an all-out war on her and everything she stands for.
Warren has said that she won’t run for President in 2016, but that doesn’t really matter. Because even if she makes good on her promise to fill out her Senate term, Warren’s message and her supporters will continue to threaten what the Democratic establishment sees as an easy road to a second Clinton presidency.
So make no mistake about it—that Wall Street Journal editorial was just the start of a big multi-year smear campaign against progressives who might represent a threat to Hillary Clinton in 2016.
And here’s the thing—those establishment Democrats know that Elizabeth Warren is spot-on when it comes to policy issues.
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Ignore the not-so-hidden sexism in that comment, and consider for a second what’s really going on here.
Jim Kessler and the corporate Democrat “moderate” types who support Third Way are absolutely terrified. They’re terrified that Elizabeth Warren and her supporters will upend the stranglehold they’ve had on Democratic politics since the Clinton era.
So now they’ve joined Republicans in declaring an all-out war on her and everything she stands for.
Warren has said that she won’t run for President in 2016, but that doesn’t really matter. Because even if she makes good on her promise to fill out her Senate term, Warren’s message and her supporters will continue to threaten what the Democratic establishment sees as an easy road to a second Clinton presidency.
So make no mistake about it—that Wall Street Journal editorial was just the start of a big multi-year smear campaign against progressives who might represent a threat to Hillary Clinton in 2016.
And here’s the thing—those establishment Democrats know that Elizabeth Warren is spot-on when it comes to policy issues.
Friday, December 13, 2013
Thursday, December 12, 2013
Wednesday, December 11, 2013
Look at the stats: America resembles a poor country
Look at the stats: America resembles a poor country
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America has become a RINO: rich in name only. By every measure, we look like a broken banana republic. Not a single U.S. city is included in the world’s top 10 most livable cities. Only one U.S. airport makes the list of the top 100 in the world. Our roads, schools and bridges are falling apart, and our trains—none of them high-speed—are running off their tracks. Our high school students are rated 30th in math, and some 30 countries have longer life expectancy and lower rates of infant mortality. The only things America is number one in these days are the number of incarcerated citizens per capita and adult onset diabetes.
Three decades of trickledown economics; the monopolization, privatization and deregulation of industry; and the destruction of labor protection has resulted in 50 million Americans living in abject poverty, while 400 individuals own more than one-half of the nation’s wealth. As the four Walmart heirs enjoy a higher net worth than the bottom 40 percent, our nation’s sense of food insecurity is more on par with developing countries like Indonesia and Tanzania than with OECD nations like Australia and Canada. In fact, the percentage of Americans who say they could not afford the food needed to feed their families at some point in the last year is three times that of Germany, more than twice than Italy and Canada.
The destruction of labor has been so
Tuesday, December 10, 2013
Sunday, December 8, 2013
Friday, December 6, 2013
Wednesday, December 4, 2013
Tuesday, December 3, 2013
Wis. trucker faces sentencing in Koch cyberattack
Wis. trucker faces sentencing in Koch cyberattack
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A Wisconsin truck driver who joined a cyberattack on Wichita-based Koch Industries will learn his fate for the onslaught that briefly took the company's website offline.
Eric Rosol, of Black Creek, Wis., faced sentencing Monday in U.S. District Court in Wichita on one misdemeanor count of accessing a protected computer.
Prosecutors agreed in Rosol's plea deal to recommend a sentence at the low end of federal guidelines.
Koch's website was offline for about 15 minutes during the February 2011 attack organized by the hacking group Anonymous.
The parties agreed the direct loss to Koch was less than $5,000. But Koch contends it spent $183,000 for a consulting group when it learned of the planned attack.
Fast food CEOs exploit despicable tax loophole
Fast food CEOs exploit despicable tax loophole
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A 20-year-old tax loophole netted top fast food chains an extra $64 million over the past two years, according to a new study released days before fast food workers plan the largest U.S. strike in the industry’s history.
“This is a perverse loophole that encourages excessive executive compensation …” said Sarah Anderson, who directs the Global Economy Project of the progressive Institute for Policy Studies. “Taxpayers absolutely should not be subsidizing runaway CEO pay.”
Anderson’s new IPS paper, “Fast Food CEOs Rake in Taxpayer-Subsidized Pay,” tallies the tax savings fast food corporations have reaped from “performance pay” language in federal law. Two decades ago, when Congress placed a $1 million cap on the amount of executive pay that could be tax-deductible, lawmakers created an exception for so-called performance pay. “This loophole quickly led to an explosion of ‘performance-based’ compensation, particularly stock options,” writes Anderson, which “encourages executives to carry out short-sighted, reckless actions aimed at boosting stock prices in order to inflate the value of their own options.” Rather than serving to “align the interests of executives and shareholders,” argues Anderson, instead “boards often respond to declining share prices by doling out huge new options grants with lower exercise prices” for undeserving execs. She notes that Goldman Sachs paid out 10 times as many stock options after the 2008 crash than it had the year before.
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A 20-year-old tax loophole netted top fast food chains an extra $64 million over the past two years, according to a new study released days before fast food workers plan the largest U.S. strike in the industry’s history.
“This is a perverse loophole that encourages excessive executive compensation …” said Sarah Anderson, who directs the Global Economy Project of the progressive Institute for Policy Studies. “Taxpayers absolutely should not be subsidizing runaway CEO pay.”
Anderson’s new IPS paper, “Fast Food CEOs Rake in Taxpayer-Subsidized Pay,” tallies the tax savings fast food corporations have reaped from “performance pay” language in federal law. Two decades ago, when Congress placed a $1 million cap on the amount of executive pay that could be tax-deductible, lawmakers created an exception for so-called performance pay. “This loophole quickly led to an explosion of ‘performance-based’ compensation, particularly stock options,” writes Anderson, which “encourages executives to carry out short-sighted, reckless actions aimed at boosting stock prices in order to inflate the value of their own options.” Rather than serving to “align the interests of executives and shareholders,” argues Anderson, instead “boards often respond to declining share prices by doling out huge new options grants with lower exercise prices” for undeserving execs. She notes that Goldman Sachs paid out 10 times as many stock options after the 2008 crash than it had the year before.
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