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.

The Republicans want Americans to treat CEOs like the Pope and Corporations like the Catholic Church

"The name's Francis, but everybody calls me Psycho. Any of you guys call me Francis... and I'll Kill You." - Stripes, 1981 

The Conclave elected Pope Francis I, an Argentinian (of Italian Descent though) to lead the 1 Billion catholics worldwide and address the various problems afflicting the faithful. The United States has the 4th most Catholics by country but America's True Religion is Corporate Hegemony.

Corporations and the Rich and Powerful are the Holy Church and Clergy of this Nation.

Now, the Rich like to call their religion Capitalism and style themselves Job Creators instead of Cardinals but, in reality they are Destroyers and Parasites who live by sucking away money, time and lives from workers.

“When private equity works, it really works,” Stephen Schwarzman said on a Jan. 31 conference call while discussing the year’s earnings. “And our credit business had a truly standout year.” 

Stephen Schwarzman, co-founder and chief executive officer of Blackstone Group LP (BX), received $213.3 million in pay and cash dividends last year, almost matching his payout of $213.5 million a year earlier.

Hosannah...

While the Rich have always had their Bishops, the Republican Party, to issue edicts enforcing their Power nowadays they rarely have to resort to actual physical violence, ala the Pinkertons in the 1800's.

Today their militant religious zealots are provided by the thousands of keyboard conservative commandoes holed up like monks in the flatulent Right-Wing Blog-o-sphere who have willfully cosigned their souls into service of the Rich and issue death threats to the heretics.

Erick Erickson, the disgusting fat-faced, wide-waisted, chicken hawk coward tweeted out the following:

Erick Erickson        ✔ @EWErickson 

That lefties are accusing the new pope of handing over lefties to the right wing junta for execution makes me adore the new pope. 

8:01 PM - 13 Mar 13278 RETWEETS 37 FAVORITES

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Praise Capitalism! Death Squads sure are hilarious Erick.

Of course, besides the run-of-the-mill sinners, Erickson's "leftists", there exist the high-profile heretics who must be made to repent. The two most often cited inside the Right-Wing Fart Bubble and Faux News are Warren Buffett and George Soros.

Lasy year when Buffett stated Taxes should be raised Faux News devoted days of coverage and multiple sermons to denounce his Blasphemy. They asked each other if the Satan of Socialism had corrupted his soul.

But, all of the religious trappings the Plutocracy adopts is window dressing for their true purpose. Which is the creation of a Wage Slave State and the adoption of a code of laws ushering in a Neo-Feudalist Empire.

The Ryan Budget, the current carried interest rules, the Capital Gains tax rate, the Graham-Leach-Bliley Law, the repeal of Glass-Stegal, the demonization of Senator Elizabeth Warren, the destruction of regulations on Banks and Wall Street, Austerity, Sequestration are all about setting up a system of legalized theft by the 1% whilst forcing the entire burden of government to fall upon the Middle and Working Classes. This accomplishes three goals: 

1) Corporations are protected by a legal system which subsidizes their losses and violently protects their profits,

2) The meager pittance of Medicaid, SSI, unemployment thrown to the poor comes entirely from the middle class,

3) Facing the entire burden of a Nation-State and Massive Overseas Empire The Middle Class is ground down and reduced to poverty and penury along with the rest of those not making up the Rich Aristocracy.

Illinois passes Drivers License's for Undocumented Immigrants

Governor Quinn signed into law the Illinois State Legislature bill which will allow Undocumented Immigrants to apply for valid State Driver's Licenses starting October 1, 2013.

This is a fantastic development. One of the most worthless arrests I have to make is a No Valid DL. Sans another violation (DUI, Reckless Driving, Speeding 30+ over, No Insurance, Texting in a School Zone, etc...) it's a huge waste of time and resources. And not just for me, but for all the associated Circuit Court Persons.

What this will accomplish is multi-fold. First off thousands of residents in Illinois will now have proper identification. With valid licenses they will be able to acquire insurance and be held liable for minor traffic infractions and accidents.

Additionally, they won't compound minor accidents or violations with a panicked desire to flee the scene.

Now, Right-Wing morons are livid over this citing their fantasy scenarios of Voter Fraud and their general fear of the Brown People but, the Totalitarian Right should applaud this for a number of reasons.

Right-Wingers, with their inherent distrust of Government, should be against arbitrary political boundaries being used to make people "criminals". And as all conservatives are Totalitarians they should applaud the identification process.

However, Right-Wingers are easily lead by their Corporate Controllers. Corporations and Plutocrats love "illegal" immigrants but want their Right-Wing stooges angry at them.

Corporations have always used the immigrant worker to undercut and control the American worker, in a multitude of ways. Plutocrats get to drive down wages and control employment opportunities while displacing Nativist anger at the incoming immigrant as opposed to the Business which happily employs the "illegal".

Also, Corporate interests are best served by having a ready supply of non-citizens because they can exploit them easily. Citizens in America have rights, benefits and protections. "Illegal" immigrants are a a dime a dozen and can be tossed aside if they get hurt or fired if they step out of line.

So, expect the usual round of Right-Wing Outrage and racist ignorant screeds but this is a win for Justice and Law in Illinois.

How Dare the Government interfere with Boeing! The Free Market is Always Superior!

"Corporations are people, my friend."

If Boeing 787 Dreamliners fall out of the Sky, then it's up to consumers to have the freedom to choose whether or not they would fly on them! The Free Market does everything better! Governments interfering, by grounding all 787's, is just Socialism. 

Regulations are Marxist. Caveat Emptor!

It appears the problems with Boeing's 787 are more than just minor winkles to be ironed-out and are indicative of a deep-seated flaws stemming from a desire to skimp and do all facets of production on the cheap.

Corporations don't want a Free Market. Boeing, especially doesn't want a Free Market. They want the semblance without the substance.

Boeing exists because of the machinations, under-handed deals and Government contracts especially over the last decade.

In 2001, Boeing moved it's Corporate HQ to Chicago, Illinois. Boeing brought all of 500 employees from the Seattle Sprawl Complex because then Governor George Ryan pushed the Illinois Legislation for a 20 year property tax exemption and $56,000,000 in tax subsides from the city and state. Boeing now has the backstop of special tax structures crafted for Corporate Welfare to fall back if they somehow incur a tax liability.

Boeing has repeatedly pulled stunts like this before. On January 4 2012, Boeing announced it was moving Air Force tanker work out of Kansas to other U.S. plants and closing its Wichita operation next year.

In 2008, Boeing asked Kansas officials to help win a $35 billion contract for 18 Air Force tankers. Wichita's Mayor Carl Brewer says Kansas had a long history of coming through for Boeing. Boeing received 650 tax breaks over the last 30 years and $3.5 billion dollars in bonds from Kansas.

One Boeing press release claimed 'Tanker Win Would Bring 7,500 Jobs, $388 Million to Kansas.' However, after securing the $35 Billion Dollar contract from the US Government and and getting special tax dispensations from Kansas Boeing continued their Race-to-the-Bottom and left the workers in Kansas high and dry.

What Corporations want from Government are negligible taxes, lax financial laws and no regulations.

It's part of the Myth of Self-Regulation. When Corporations are allowed to regulate themselves they use their connections in Government to receive Special dispensations and unfair advantages.

Corporations allowed to regulate themselves use shoddy construction materials and eliminate safe-guards and safety systems as was demonstrated with BP's Deepwater Horizon platform.

Corporations allowed to regulate themselves, lie and have actors pretend to be Doctors to promote the benefits of their products, as Tobacco Giants did for decades.

The Republican Party has been propagating the Myth of Self-Regulation for decades. Basically, that if the insidous government wasn't strangling Businesses with onerous regulations the engine of Capitalism would operate at 100% efficiency. It's as big a fraud as Perpetual Motion Machines. And designed for the same reason; to dupe and swindle Americans and transfer billions from the Poor to the Rich whom the Republicans slavishly serve.

The Reason Conservatives love Corporation like Hostess

Because it allows them to be as racist and criminal as they want to be.

"I believe in free enterprise. I don't think the government should be telling people what you pay and what you don't pay. I think it's about freedom. If someone wants to hire somebody and they agree on a salary, that's fine, however it wants to work. So, the government sticking its nose into all kinds of things has gotten us into huge trouble." - Todd Akin (Loser- MO) stated in a vile comment less well known than his Pro-Rape positions.

Hostess Brands Inc. filed for Bankruptcy (again for they did in 2004 when Conservatives claim Bush was leading an Awesome Economic Boom) citing employees refusal to accept further reductions in pay and further company raiding of their pensions.

If Hostess wanted to use slaves chained to their ding dong machines or have children stuff the gooey nutritious filling into twinkies with their tiny fingers or pay their employees in Company Scrip while the monies set aside for pensions are raided to provide the CEO and Upper Managment with a Golden Parachute I ask you!!! Who is Government to interfere? That's the Free Market!

Certainly, Senator Mike Lee of Utah a Guard Dog of the Plutocracy believes Child Labor Laws are Unconstitutional.

Here is the final offer Hostess made to its' employees before declaring Bankruptcy,

1) 8% hourly pay cut in year 1 with additional cuts totaling 27% over 5 years. Currently, I make $16.12 an hour at TOP rate of pay in the bakery. I would drop to $11.26 in 5 years. 

2) They get to keep our $3+ an hour forever. 

3) Doubling of weekly insurance premium. 

4) Lowering of overall quality of insurance plan. 

5) TOTAL withdrawal from ALL pensions. If you don't have it now then you never will.

Government puts up all these fake rules like "hostile work environment" and "minimum wage" and "taxes" and "discrimination" and "Maternity Leave" and "criminal sexual assault" which hamper the aspirations of conservatives and Private Business.

The Government and the Public Sector enforces rules on behavior. Conservatives are racist and sexist and as natural pig-people are incensed that they can't grab women's asses and yell Barack Obama is a Ni-[Clang] all day long.

This is also why conservatives hate Unions. Unions also help enforce rules of behavior, help employees bargain for better pay, benefits and working conditions and provide workers with avenues to address Corporate malfeasance and Bosses misbehavior.

Corporations want Unions eliminated. This is why Republican Dogs and Conservative Stooges blame Unions for all of Americas problems. 

Mary Matalin, whose never been right about any issue, defended Vulture Capitalist Mitt Romney and blamed Unions and the Minimum Wage,

The greatest impediment to upward mobility for women and minorities are liberal policies such as the teachers unions, which secure teachers jobs, they don't educate our youth, such as African- American youth locked out of entry level jobs because the insistence on minimum wage, such as poverty programs that have dismantled the families.

See... If Companies could pay Black Youths Nothing for their labor then that's Right and Just. Vice President Biden was absolutely correct when he stated Republicans want to "put y'all back in Chains."

But, Wage Slavery is a profitable business model in America.

Chipotle is facing a Class Action lawsuit because it's taken to renaming some employees as "apprentices" and paying them as managerial employees who don't qualify for overtime. Want to know how a Company is using slave labor in America today? Classify an employee as "salaried" then work them 40 hours extra a week and pay them Nothing for the extra work.

The reason Stench Romney wanted to "Let Detroit Go Bankrupt" is because Bain Capital would have swooped in, canabalized the remnants, jettisoned the UAW contracts, sold the factories off to China and skimmed the profits from the bones of GM and Chrysler while perched waiting for Ford to go belly up as well.

So, when a conservative tells you how awesome the Free Market is he's telling you he's a racist corporatist who wants to grind up on the ass of that hot secretary without the fear of some bogus "harassment" complaint, while he and upper management scheme on how to swindle the average worker out of his pension and repeal laws which keep Corporations from scooping up children from the playgrounds and shoving them down into MSHA free death-trap mines.

It's all part of the Rapacious Vulture Capitalist Model which has taken control of the Nation.

The Paul Ryan and Republican Budget is a Trojan Horse by a Flaccid Party

“Yes, I’ve found a flaw. I don’t know how significant or permanent it is. But I’ve been very distressed by that fact,” conceeded by former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan.

Paul Ryan's budget has been accurately described as "Social Darwinism". Although I hate the term because the magnificent, venerable and kind Charles Darwin never proscribed any of the political doctrines labeled today as "Social Darwinism" anymore than Jesus proclaimed the Spanish Inquisition during the Sermon on the Mount.

"If it prevents a Debt Crisis..." Congressman Paul Ryan began when asked by the loving Corporate Media about his Path to Penury. However, Ryan's Budget doesn't address the Debt but immediately goes to cut taxes on the 1% and Corporations. And how do "we" pay for the estimated $4.6 Trillion in Tax Cuts for the Super Wealthy? Why by eliminating any Government function which aids or helps the poor, sick and old.

- In order, to pay for lowering the tax rates to 10% and 25%, those making less than $100,000 will pay a higher effective rate than they do today. While the "average" millionaire will see a tax cut of roughly $150,000 plus.

- According to the CBO, 17 million people who gained Medicaid and CHIP coverage, thanks to Obamacare, would lose that coverage as a result of Ryan Plan of repealing the Affordable Care Act.

- It cuts a total of $1.7 trillion from Medicaid over the next decade, and according to CBO, is on track to cut the program by 75% by 2050.

- Reduces Pell Grants by more than $1,000 for 9.6 million students in 2014 and could eliminate Pell Grants for over one million students over the next decade.

- Kicks 60,000 low-income children out of the Head Start program in 2013 and 200,000 low-income children out of the program each year over the next decade.

- Cuts funding for Individuals with Disabilities Education Act.

- Cuts the WIC program, Special Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program for Women, Infants, and Children, Each year over the next decade, the cuts would kick 1.8 million women, infants, and children off the WIC program.

[More information can be found at: A Choice of Two Futures: A Look at How the Republican Budget Ends Medicare, Destroys Jobs, Benefits the Wealthy]

"You know that budget was a joke, doesn’t balance the budget for years,” Republican Congressman and Senate candidate Connie Mack stated of the Ryan budget plan during a weekend Orlando Tea Party forum. Mack, who missed the vote in Washington last week while he was fundraising in Florida for a Senate run, later said through a spokesman that he would have voted for it anyway.

But, Mack is correct that the Ryan is a joke because any plan which doesn't address and slash the outrageous Military spending is doomed to fail or a dishonest doublespeak sham. And no Republican Budget would be complete without Orwellian Language. A section is titled "Repairing the Social Safety Net", by which Ryan and his 1% Masters mean the Safety Net's destruction because destroying Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid "repairs" them for the 1%.

As James Surowiecki notes in The New Yorker,

The Budget is, as many have said, an act of political theatre, a way for Republicans to demonstrate what they stand for.

And what do the Republicans stand for? Wars and the very, very Rich.

It's obvious Paul Ryan and the Republicans are going to be promoting these Reverse Robin Hood plans every year. Back in 2011, Paul Ryan's Deathcare passed in the U.S. House because 235 of 240 Republicans voted for it. 40 of 45 Republican Senators voted for the Paul Ryan Deathcare Budget, Rand Paul voted in opposition but only because the Ryan spending cuts did not go far enough. Fortunately, it was defeated.

The Government isn't bankrupt and isn't bankrupting you. But, a Government enthralled to the 1% is already morally bankrupt and will seek to drive you into wage slavery at their Plutocratic Masters. And the rapacious never satisfied Wall Street, Banking Conglomertates, Oil Industries and DoD Contractors are the biggest receivers of U.S. Government monies. By Far. We're talking 10 Trillion Dollars over the last decade at least. There is your deficit and your debt. Languishing in the bank accounts of Warmongers having been sifted through the deserts of Iraq, HOA and Afghanistan.

What the Ryan Budget stands for, and what 99% of the Republicans in the U.S. government will vote for, is a shackled Government bonded to do the work of the Thieves, Vultures and Murderers of Wall Street. Once the Republicans have the Government shackled those shackles will be fastened onto you, too.

Related:
The Resurrection and Immaculate Deception of Paul Ryan by PERRspectives.

Call it Ryan's Book of Non-Revelations. And the result is a fiscal Armageddon. Of course, by now Paul Ryan's economic apostasy is Republican orthodoxy. The only surprise is that it took so long: in the world according to the GOP (if no one else), tax cuts magically pay for themselves and enable so-called "job creators." Three years after he first brought them The Good News, the GOP faithful have embraced Paul Ryan's cruel vision, if not the meek and the least of these.

Ryan, Obama, and Deficits by Paul Krugman.

The Closer: The Ryan proposal would lead to bigger, repeat bigger, deficits than the Obama proposal.

Corporate Slavery starts with your Facebook Password

Corporate Dominance of Americans is increasingly becoming a reality.

Republicans claim to loathe the government. The only part of the Government Republicans hate are those laws and governmental bodies which help the poor, protect the weak and empower the 99% against the Plutocracy. Anything which serves to aid or protect individuals is hateful to Right-Wingers. But, what Republicans do love is unbridled Corporate Hegemony and Corporations unrestrained by anything which hampers their acquisition of Power and Money.

Thus, while we have protections from the Government, Americans increasingly have no protections from the oppression by Corpoate Neo-Feudalism and their servile Republican lapdogs across the Nation.

There is no point discussing this with some Right-Wingers who have so swallowed the lies of the Republican Party as to not see the chains of Wage Slavery and Corporate Bondage fastened around their necks.

Employers asking for your Facebook password as a pre-requisite for employment?

Employers asking women for what possible reason they want birth control pills?

Churches or Business owners being able to deny you health care because they have a moral objection to how you use it?

Think about this. You, as an American, could tell any individual, police officer, or right-wing bureaucrat to go Transvaginal Ultrasound themselves if they asked this information of you. Yet, Republicans and Right-Wing crypto-fascists are not only happy to let Corporations violate your basic rights but are actively passing laws to empower Corporate Behemoths to oppress and control you. Republicans in Arizona have already made it legal for an employer to ask women about their sex lives and to deny them access to birth control.

When Rand Paul or Ron Paul state they wouldn't have voted for the Civil Rights Act or dance around it's repeal, it is because of the constraints it puts upon businesses. A private business can discriminate, can violate your rights and can have total control over you because it's not government.

When Newt Gingrich or Republican Senator Mike Lee of Utah say child labor laws are unconstitutional it's because they feel that Coprorations should have No Restraints put upon their Ravenous predation of the American people including your children.

When the Republican-led House, bolstered by vast number of Democrats, votes to pass a Orwellian-named "Jobs Act", which would further eliminate safeguards, roll back transparency and deregulate the gambling Wall Street interests who crashed the economy a mere 5 years ago they feel no compunction, let alone guilt at their actions, because Corporate/Banking/Wall Street power has so throughly corrupted the US Government all ill-gotten profits are privatized while all losses are subsidized.

Already Corporations pay less in taxes than the average middle class American. Already Corporations, like Boeing, steal Hundreds of Millions of dollars but get away with it under the euphemism of fraud. Already Corporations, like BP, routinely violate pollution standards by willful malfesance or gross negligence. Already Corporations, like Massey Energy, kill their workers by knowingly placing them in unsafe conditions but get away with fines instead of jail time.

What this amounts to is Unequal Protection. The whole Lard Ass Republican Party and most members of the Democratic Party are greasing the slippery slope of Corporate Neo-Feudalist Wage Slavery.

BP Commercials and Lawsuits and the Petroleum Pigs

"Are you fuckin' kiddin' me? You don't ever admit the existence of this thing. Ever!" ~ Frank Vincent, The Sopranos

BP wants you to know they destroyed the Gulf for Generations but, it's fine now. I'm actually surprised that BP ran a commercial during the BCS title game. I'm not surprised they choose to peddle their pablum to the mouth-breathers who breathe vicariously through student-athletes. Just that they would reference it at all.

The standard model for the rapacious evil Petroluem Companies has been to blame 'Mother Nature' let a spill fade into memory and then proclaim 'See it's all better now!'

BP's commercials portray a sublime Gulf, with sparkling beaches, reenergized businesses, smiling happy fishermen and pristine waters bursting with seafood. As the propaganda tells Us, 'BP is still here and isn't going anywhere.' So get used to your gulf shrimp and oil cocktail.

These commercials, only 20 months after the biggest criminal Oil disaster (that Americans have seen), should serve as a stark reminder of BP's absolute evil. But, Surprise America! The undying negligent Corporate Monster BP has been screwing the US and the World for decades in the pursuit of Oil profits.

Every now and again, a Petroleum Corporation has to step forward and receive the lash of public criticism, but the key for the Oilmen has always been to keep the game going. And they have honed their skills and refined their modus operandi for a century.

The Petroleum Pigs have some how convinced the American People, Natural Resources which belong to Us as a Nation, are theirs. So, they steal Our Oil and sell it for Their Profits and ensure whatever the damage to the land and people that occurs isn't their problem and they receive taxpayer funding to do it all. Profits Privatized, Losses and Costs Socialized. American Capitalism at it's finest.

Even when the victims of the Oil Monsters victims were nominal Americans, i.e. Native Alaskans and the land and seas destroyed were "U.S." territory, Americans could be relieved to know no lawsuits against Exxon would be heard as a result of the heinous unforgivable Exxon Valdez spill.

Although Alaska Natives may have suffered to a greater degree than members of the general public, "differences in the intensity with which a public harm is felt does not justify a private claim for public nuisance." . . . All Alaskans have the right to lead subsistence lifestyles, not just Alaska Natives.

Judge Russell Holland 03/23/94.

Fortunately, as long as the BP or Chevron or ExxonMobil or Royal Dutch Shell Group were destroying ecosystems and screwing people Overseas no problem! The Free Market knows best. Drill, Baby! Drill! I bet you didn't hear about the massive Oil spills from Royal Dutch Shell Group, the equivalent of an Exxon Valdez every year for 50 years or the fact it will take 30 years for the damage to subside and cost $1 Billion Dollars.

In South America, at least, the people are fighting back. President Rafael Correa, a U.S. and Belgian educated economist declared the debts forced on Ecuador by Vulture Capitalists and Corporate Oil Monsters to be illegitimate and that the oil and gas reserves in the country belong 100% to the People of Ecuador. This greatly angers the Neo-Feudalists and the Petroleum Pigs. Happily, the Ecuadorian Courts have ruled the overwhelming evidence of criminal negligence and evil tactics used by Chevron from 1964-1992 constituted a ruling of $18 Billion Dollars in damages.

The evidence against Chevron comes not only from plaintiffs, but also from Chevron's own experts and environmental auditors as well as independent third-party sources. The damages included a punitive component designed to punish Chevron for trying to sabotage the trial and threaten judges with jail time if they did not rule in the company's favor.

On Sunday 01/08/12, Hugo Chavez declared, "I will say it once. We will not recognize any decisions of the ICSID. We will not recognize them." Chavez seized back control of Venezuela's resources from the Vultures at ExxonMobil. Exxon called upon the power of the IMF and the World Bank to exert economic pressure on Venezuela regain control. Chavez along with allies Bolivia and Nicaragua, has said in the past that it would withdraw from the convention that created the ICSID, arguing that the international body gives transnational companies a gateway to violate national sovereignty.

So, BP agreed to pay $20 Billion Dollars for damages to the Gulf. This only happened after Republicons nearly shit themselves unconscious apologizing to BP for the hassle. And only after BP agreed to a "fair mediator" Kenneth Feinberg to administer the fund. "I want the lawsuits to stop" Kenneth Feinberg said. Of course, what Ken Feinberg actually wanted was the lawsuits against BP to stop. BP has been free to sue whomever they wanted and they did so in April 2011 when they filed lawsuits against Transocean Ltd., Halliburton Co. and Cameron International, for over $40 Billion Dollars.

See how "fair" that is? BP causes a Disaster and stands to gain $20 Billion Dollars in profit. It's all part of the Game. Oil Companies steal your Oil and sell it back to you. And they get you to finance the con they are pulling, foist the cost of the damages their rape of the land causes, while getting the rubes to clap and cheer wildly "Drill Here Drill Now!"

Eat less Chick-fil-A Corporate Bully

Being stationed in CLNC (that's Camp Lejeune, North Carolina) for 4 years, one of the off-base fast food joints we had was Chick-fil-A. Their chicken sandwiches were decent, nothing to write home about, which is why I never wrote home about them.

However, before going into the specifics, let me ask you; When was the last time you mistook a quick fried chicken breast for a leaf of kale? Chick-fil-A is attempting to stop Vermont artist Bo Muller-Moore from using the phrase "Eat More Kale" because according to their bevy of Corporate criminal lawyers it violates their phrase "Eat Mor Chikin".

If Corproations are people, then Chick-fil-A is an ignorant, authoritarian, homophobic, self-righteous, chicken-shit bully with a cow udder fetish...

Now, to be completely fair the original founder of Chick-fil-A, S. Truett Cathy, appears to be an incredibly generous, hard-working and giving man (the opposite of the Ayn Randian Superman) as he spends time and gives vast amounts of money to charity.

But, just as Polybius described in the cycle of political revolution, once the goodly beloved king passes away or loses control of the realm (or in this case the Corporation) the small elite cadre which eventually takes over doesn't have the same benevolent aspects and descends into tyranny.

Of course, when the Mythical Age of Corporate Self-Regulation occurs we need not worry what a business like Chick-fil-A is doing because every cease-and-desist order or whatever they may be doing, it'll be with our best interests at heart.

Which Side Are You On?

"Go get a job right after you take a bath." - Newt Gingrich recalls his chicken hawk youth and revives the Dirty Hippie taunt, lovingly highlighted by Andrew Breitbart.

The recent criminal violence by Police Officers directed at the #Occupy Protesters is merely a symptom of the Overall Disease which plagues America; The Infestation of the Nation by the 1%. I use the terms very purposefully because what we have seen besides Criminal Behavior by the Police (at the direction of their 1%) is a orchestrated campaign of dehumanization from Rightwing Propagandists and servants of the Plutocracy designed to create conditions were conservatives support violence against the 99%.

It's a daily barrage of loaded terms, bigoted labels, and dehumanizating castigation of the #Occupy Movement which has seeped into and now permeates every rightwing blog and news site. It's also a very old tactic. And if you should happen to be so skeptical that the Rightwing Media of this Nation is being pulled/directed/massaged towards vilifying and lying about OWS, you are not paying attention.

Here is a Lobbyist memorandum to the American Bankers Association highlighting ways to target OWS, including the monitoring of Open Source Intel (#Occupy Social Media Sites) to manufacture smears and plan counter-protest actions and strategizing the Messaging War against OWS. All for the low, low price of $850,000 USC.

It should have been clear early on that the 1% wasn't going to allow their control of this country subside merely because their inhuman greed, evil crimes, theft, oppression and murder had pushed the total income of 150 Million Americans under that of 400 people. And that a mere 0.1% (One-Tenth of the One Percent) make HALF of the Capital Gains Income in this Nation.

The 1% has always had willing defenders who will lie, obfuscate, confuse, smear, distort and when that fails just call for outright violence.

"Remember the lesson from my book: It just took a few shootings at Kent State to shut that down for good," - Ann Coutler.

The Process of dehumanization is almost complete. From World Net Daily writer Phil Elmore,

"Call out the National Guard. Turn on the fire hoses. Send bulldozers. Bring flame-throwers, for pity's sake. Men and women who give a damn about their country, wearing Hazmat suits and respiratory gear, empowered by the lawful government of this nation, should be marching in ranks on every Obamaville this very moment, prepared to beat with truncheons and shoot with rubber bullets every last filthy hippie. The "occupiers" are criminals and terrorists."

Here's a twittter rundown from John Nolte, Editor-in-chief of Andrew Breitbart's Big Government Site. His tweets read as a justification of violence and oppression and are cheerfully supported by the diseased Rightwingers. A Nolte tweet from Nov 17, "#OWS #OccupyWallStreet is a domestic terrorist organization. End of Story." A Nolte tweet from Nov 20, "Why do people say 'pepper-spraying defenseless Occupiers' as though it's a bad thing?"

Because at the core of this Battle is; Who shall control the Country? The 1% and their Rightwing Guardians or the 99%? Which side are you on? The 99% or Karl Rove's? We ARE the 99%.

"No you're not! No you're not! No you're not! No you're not! No you're not! If you believe in the right of the First Amendment to free speech then you demonstrate it by shutting up," Karl Rove...

Capitalism Wills It! OWS or the Tea Party? Tear Down the Faux Capitalist System.

#Occupy is calling for those accountable to be brought to justice.

Justice would be the end to the current American Capitalist System, which can be better described as Neo-Feudalism, with all profits privatized and all loses subsidized. It's really that simple, the 1% have been cultivating a political elite (The Republican Party and Business-Friendly Democrats) who cater to their whims, use the power of the Federal Government to control the economy and transfer Trillions of dollars into the hands of a small cadre of politicos, military leaders, lobbyists, and multi-national Corporations.

A University of Zurich study shows 147 interconnected Corporations - mainly Banks - control 40% of the World's Wealth.

We have an increasingly stratified class system in America, the problem is so many of the 99% refuse to believe the evidence before their eyes and fall back on the comfortable narrative peddled by the Guardians of the Rich.

The Republican Party and the Right Wing has to put the focus on President Obama, or SEIU, or ACORN, or Teachers, or lazy minorities because the fact is the system they set-up and tended to, is a rotten evil one in which the 1% have now garnered a vast majority of the wealth of the Nation. The 400 richest own more wealth than 150 Million Americans. The 1% own 70% of all Corporate Stocks. Since the 1960's the mobility of Middle Class families has been downward.

Tax laws and Governmental policy has focused on shifting the burden of the Nation onto the Middle Class to sow dissent, drive wages, and living standards down in the Race to the Bottom.

However, such blatant theft and oppression wouldn't last long if the 1% didn't turn around and blame others for the theft. Hence the "welfare queens" rhetoric and the entire mythos the Right wing has been incessantly repeating for 30 years.

It's never been more clear the distinction than when a grass-roots up-rising of the 99% called for an end to the Wall Street Corruption and were immediately smeared, called Nazis and infiltrated by Right Wing Agent Provocatuers. It's difficult for many to drop what they've been spoon-fed by Toxic Right Wing radio, Faux News, and Conservative Think Tanks.

For decades these organizations have been focused on convincing a sizable segment of the population the problems, the regressive tax structure, the deference to the Rich, the stagnant wages, the loss of the industrial base, the inflation, the growing disparity and tremendous inequality between the Well-Off and everyone else, lies with individuals (mainly liberals and minorities) and not the corrupt system itself.

And that's where we find the Tea Party Dupes and Charlatans and the Republican Blame Barack Obama for Everything Campaign. Here is an excerpt from the most recent Tea Party Nation broadside against Socialism:

Resolved that: Our President, the Democrats-Socialists, most of the media, and most of those from Hollywood, have now encouraged and supported "Occupy" demonstrations in our streets, which are now being perpetrated across the globe, and which are being populated by various marxists, socialists and even communists, and are protesting against business, private property ownership and capitalism, something I thought I'd never see in my country, in my lifetime.

I, an American small business owner, part of the class that produces the vast majority of real, wealth producing jobs in this country, hereby resolve that I will not hire a single person until this war against business and my country is stopped.

I hereby declare that my job creation potential is now ceased.

"I'm on Strike!"

Reading the comments I came upon what, I think are plants but, could be the realization of decades of active disinformation,

The EPA needs to be closed. Think of the money that the government would save if it was closed. Think of the money that businesses would save if it were closed and their regulations were rolled back keep.ing only those needed to keep our enviorment clean. You add closing the department of education and let the states educate their chrildren, close the department of energy that is not needed because the free markets. - Wayne Thomas Inman

You're singing my tune. We will reduce hiring anyway. With all the regulations, it's better to outsource, partner, or utilize the services of independent contractors. That's what four of my five startups are doing right now, and we will continue to use the services of only experienced, independent business people until one of three things happens. 1) We get a government that boldly gives us back our freedom. 2) The majority of small businesses agrees to conduct a tax strike and bring down the government unless the Congress commences immediately to impeach and expel every representative, every senator, every executive branch officer, and every federal judge who has failed to uphold the Constitution in accordance with the interpretation of those who ratified it. 3) Every business person agrees to ignore all unconstitutional regulations and to act as a group to put under citizens arrest any government official or agent who attempts to enforce the unconstitutional regulations. If we wait until the second or third option is necessary, we will also have to band together with armaments to defend our businesses against rioters and looters. Make my day! And let's keep the military on our side. - Ed Stoneham(note the double spacing after periods)

agree, 100% with Melissa; Obama is the root cause of killing jobs in America by his policies;
further, he is killing the coal industry, as well the oil and gas industry and this winter millions of Americans will pay for higher costs to heat their homes - Claire C. Benson

Close the EPA. Obama is killing the Coal Industry. The Free Markets shall save us! Don't hire or if you do "outsource". These are, Classic Capitalists. If the policies they hold to be true, cause suffering to their fellow man or takes their lives; So Be It! Capitalism Wills It!

It's what American Capitalism has always been, whether it be against the women workers at the Triangle Shirt Waist Factory, in New York City or the Miners in the Massey Energy Upper Big Branch mine in West Virginia. Capitalism has failed the 99%.

The Perfect Hippie Hypocrisy Fallacy

One of the cries amongst the Defenders of the Rich is the OccupyAmericaRevolution is being conducted by people who use products created by Corporations. Ha ha! Gotcha! You stupid leftist hippies are committing moral hypocrisy. Products are made by corporations.

It reminds me of the time, while I was in the Corps when I asked a fellow devildog how he could justify the deaths of innocents in Iraq. He got kind of upset by that and while we debated around the Just War Theory he ended up, and I'll paraphrase, 'You're an atheist so you get to live a life of debauchery but, you can't chide me on the deaths of innocents because I'm a christian, therefore already ahead of you morally, and asking me to stand against an unjust war and the deaths of innocents is not allowable.'

So Gus Lubin over at Business Insider has a photo of the OWS overlayed with captions highlighting smartphones, clothing and other products being used by the protesters. Ha ha!

It's a variation on the 'You can't be against the Iraq War if you drive a car' and stems from the Fallacy that in order to combat indecency you have to be a paragon of Righteousness.

Well, We are the 99% not the Amish... One need not divest themselves of every modern manufactured product in order to decry inhumane working conditions, rampant pollution, violations of law or union busting behavior by Corporations.

Of course, while the BrandySnifter Class may chuckle while viewing the photoshopped image, the fact is we are not demanding a luddite existence, we are demanding justice, an end to the massive transfer of wealth from the 99% to the 1%, the predatory lending, the criminal derivatives ponzi schemes, the off-shoring of jobs and an end to the attack on Unions, Pell Grants, Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security.

The Rightwing 1% sycophants are demanding those who might protest live the austere lives of aesthetic monks (or Paladins) in order to voice criticism over the Rampant Rapacious Crimes of the Wall Street Thieves and the Trillions of Dollars they've stolen. Of course, it's all part of the plan from the Guardians of the Rich as they attempt to undercut the OccupyAmericaRevolution via any means possible.

Peter Roskam called me the other day about the job-killing EPA

While relaxing at home one evening, my antiquated landline rang. Why whomever could it be calling me on this line? I wondered. It was Republican Illinois House member Peter Roskam conducting a Telephone Town Hall Meeting

Roskam does these phone call "town halls" where the listener can listen to Roskam speak to people or, if they are so inclined, press the pound key to be transferred to a staffer to screen a question for Representative Roskam. I did so and told the nameless staffer I'd like to ask Representative Roskam a question about his yes vote for HR 2018, A Republican House bill in which 223 of 236 (94.5%) of Republicans voted to eliminate the Clean Water Act of 1972.

Representative Roskam took my question. I told him in light of the egregious and on-going dumping problem by the BP plant at Whiting Indiana how did he feel it was a responsible position to vote to eliminate the Federal Government's power to regulate and stop Corporations from polluting and put that power in the hands of the States, when his constituents' drinking water was directly affected by another State Government's decision.

For reference, the Indiana State Government voted to allow BP to ignore the EPA and the Clean Water Act on the amount of Mercury it dumps into Lake Michigan. Mercury is toxic substance to humans that once it enters the human body can not be gotten rid of and leads to heavy metal poisioning*. The reason we Chicagoans can not eat Lake Michigan fish? Too much Mercury. The BP Whiting Indiana plant also dumps a dozen toxic byproducts of oil refining, including benzene, toluene and suspended solids containing mercury, lead, nickel and vanadium

The BP Whiting Indiana plant has a history of flouting EPA regulations and dumping huge amounts of toxic pollutants into our air and drinking water. And while in 2007 the Indiana Government was paid off to state BP would self-regulate and was working within Federal guidelines, the truth is BP was blatantly polluting the Lake.

In 2009, BP acknowledged that for the last six years its Whiting refinery violated federal pollution limits on benzene, a highly toxic chemical linked to leukemia and other health problems.

BP reported that it had processed too much benzene at the refinery's sewage treatment plant, about 15 miles southeast of Chicago.

Last year alone (2008), the company processed more than 95 tons of benzene waste -- about 16 times the amount allowed. BP also violated the 6-ton limit from 2003 to 2007.

Whiting Refinery was cited who violations of U.S. and Indiana EPA regulations in October 2008,

Federal regulators say BP PLC violated the Clean Air Act by beginning to make modifications at its Indiana oil refinery along Lake Michigan to process Canadian crude without the proper permit.

So, faced with the fact that his vote would allow a Corporation based in one state, in this case Indiana, to flout laws and regulations and directly harm the citizens of other states, Illinois, Wisconsin and Michigan all draw water from Lake Michigan, how could he justify it?

Well, here's how all Republicans justify their actions, by anecdotal analogy. Peter Roskam related to me a story about how some nice small business in Oakbrook Terrace, Illinois was hampered in their mechanical engineering designs by the over regulation of the EPA, which demanded they produce an engine type which they could not possibly produce thus causing the small business to fail. If there is one thing the Republicans do well it's stay on message.

The Republicans have been proclaiming the EPA kills jobs, and obviously Roskam's folksy aw shucks small business anecdote was unassailable and proved the Republican message. Plus this being a telephone conference, I was not allowed to ask a follow-up about his vote about the Clean Water bill, but that is to be expected.

Now, Representative Roskam seems like a nice moderate conservative, but it's his type and his willingness to go along with the Michele Bachmann's of the Party and their crazy, fringe, plutocratically controlled views, in this case "The Job-Killing EPA" and vote overwhelmingly for bills which are clearly harming the American people.

* - Sir Isaac Newton most likely suffered from mercury toxicity due to his early alchemical work.

NYPD makes me Blue. Occupy America!

"¡El pueblo unido, jamás será vencido!"

Capitalism has always been a failure for the lower classes. It is now beginning to fail for the middle classes. ~ Howard Zinn, A People's Hisotry of the United States

Well, as a Police Officer I am dismayed and sickened by the behavior of the New York Police Department, but not surprised. The Occupy Wall Street demonstration is in the middle of the Rapacious Thieves mere blocks away from the heavily fortified NYPD headquarters. Bloomberg and his Corporate Masters will not suffer a poor person to been seen for once you become a Big Enough Thief the Police work for you.

In any Police Force one can find a power hungry less than scrupulous cop ready to do what he's told. NYPD Lieutenant Anthony Bologna appears to be one of the police officers who make the job harder for the rest of us. Bologna can be seen in a video walking up to a female protester who's been herded off, like so much cattle, behind orange plastic flexible fencing and maliciously spraying her in the face. Bologna has a history of ill-treatment towards protestors with whom he disagrees, having been named in a Civil Rights Violation suit stemming from allegedly making an illegal arrest of a man for protesting the Republican National Convention in 2004.

Take a look at the treatment of this protest. The People have had Enough!

Like, the Wisconsin protestors, the Anti-War Protests, the Protests at the Republican Conventions, the Right Wing Media is ready and willing to tarnish these protests because they don't serve the Faux News/Dick Armey/Koch Brothers crafted Hate-riots efforts to pin the collapse of the Middle Class and Generational Theft of Trillions onto one black guy.

Don't just look but, actively SEE the difference. During the 2009-/2010 Conservative Hate-riots the police were ordered far away and the most racist, vile, filthy, threatening ignorant trash walked in the open, displaying their weapons and threatening violent warfare against the government.

But, a Rally against the Criminals who've stolen Billions on Wall Street? The Police are mobilized and instructed to beat, pepper spray, cordon off and detain without provocation.

Power does not surrender itself. Power will never surrender itself. Those with the power will not heed your requests for clean drinking water or safe working conditions or healthcare. There is too much money at stake. Citizens United is just another Orwellian twist of Language the Rich have engaged in, just another system of control. For, when Money and Power beckon and call enough miscreants will take up truncheon and mace and hold the people down.

Howard Zinn noted and hoped the Guardians of the Wealthy would realize their situation and rise up and throw off the shackles of control and side with the 99% against their Corporate Masters.

[T]he Establishment cannot survive without the obedience and loyalty of millions of people who are given small rewards to keep the system going: the soldiers and police, teachers and ministers, administrators and social workers, technicians and production workers, doctors, lawyers, nurses, transport and communications workers, garbagemen and firemen. These people-the employed, the somewhat privileged-are drawn into alliance with the elite. They become the guards of the system, buffers between the upper and lower classes. If they stop obeying, the system falls.

Don't lead a life of quiet desperation! Occupy Chicago! Occupy Every Downtown! Stop Obeying your Corporate Masters! Rise Up!

Related:
The elites and the media loathe and will never provide coverage of the Occupy Wall St movement. (From Firedoglake)

Social Security has been the greatest Achievement of the U.S. Government

"Give us the fucking money, Lebowski!" ~ Nihilists, The Big Lebowski

The creation of Social Security and the Supplemental Security Income (SSI) has been one of the greatest achievements of the United States. And it's no wonder Republicans hate it because it helps people.

Oh no, it’s going bankrupt! By 2037 it won’t be able to fully fund seniors! What a crock of conservative crap!

What Government program is funded for 2012? The military? Guess what none of them are. No other program has faced the consistent attacks from the Right like Social Security and even with their efforts, it's scheduled to work for another 25 years.

It's a Ponzi Scheme! Like all Republican talking points crafted by the Koch Brothers and Rupert Murdoch, multiple conservatives have been repeating Social Security is a scheme, but Social Security is such a rousing success that it’s predicted, even by Republicans and rich assholes like Sean Hannity, to still be working 100 years after it's inception. It's the exact opposite of the Chicago Cubs.

In my duties as a Police Officer I've often come into contact with people on SSI. People with severe disabilities or low mental functioning. Now sometimes these people make attempts to get extra money from organizations, churches and persons and I have had to tell them to stop. But these efforts are most often merely a nuisance and do note involve criminal activity. They simply, most often, do not possess the physical strength, cunning or ability to committ burglaries, thefts or other crimes.

But, when you see them schlepping their entire worldly possessions into a run down 1977 Ford LTD, you realize these people living out of cars or in Motel 6 or a group home really have nothing.

And these are exactly the people the Republican Party wish to take from. The SSI disability funds are the last great bastion of funds which the Rich haven't been able to raid. They. Want. That. FUCKING. Money.

Remember, the Rich aren't paying huge sums into Social Security. The FICA tax is capped at $106,000 and Dividends and Capital Gains are, of course, exempted.

There are several Trillion dollars at stake. But, the Corporate Plutocracy knows... They know! If they can get the right Republican into office they can steal it. They can roll it into Wall Street derivatives equations and computations and...

Lowe's, Let's Destroy Something Together

Lowe's Home Improvement store in Schaumburg, Illinois snuck out in the middle of the night on Tuesday, closing the doors on it's 116,000 square foot store. The store had been open for 5 years. Lowe's also closed a nearby store in Elgin, Illinois.

Schaumburg is famous for Woodfield Mall which brings in a billion or so in revenue for the Village but, here's the question everyone should be asking; How much did tax incentives, deferred lease payments, quickly approved construction permits, free electricity, water and sewage did Lowe's get for convincing Schaumburg officials of all the wonderful jobs and money Lowe's would bring in?

Meanwhile, a nearby ACE hardware on Negre and Plum Grove Road is owned and operated by a family that has lived in the Schaumburg area for years, do you think they received any assistance?

Well, this is the crack-like allure Big Box Stores exert upon Village officials. They come in with an easy smile and visions of big time tax revenues for a town and like addicts, Village managers bend over to accommodate them. Of course, Lowe's, Wal Mart, target and the rest of the Big Box Conglomerates can easily slide from friendly to menacing by threatening to just open up in a neighboring town.

And so these big box bastards undercut local small shops and, in the past, have even run at a loss for years because they know once they eliminate the small shops they can raise prices. And if that tried and true technique should fail, say because of a Republican Recession,

“The sales numbers missed estimates,” said Abby Buford, a spokeswoman for Lowe's. “Sales were well below projections and they did not improve over time.”

Then they simply leave and leave a gaping monstrosity of a building vacant in your town.

And they call it Capitalism, because they Capitalize.

The People's Champion... Corporate People

I am yours
You are mine
You are what you are ~ Suite: Judy Blue Eyes, Crosby Stills & Nash

Corporations are people, my friend. ~ Mitt Romney

They’re us. They’re the middle class. We all own parts of corporations. ~ Rand Paul

The big reason things are going this way is because the Bush Economy and the Republican Recession had no impact on the Ultra-Rich. The Wealthy, The Plutocrats, the Hedge Fund Managers, the Billionaires, Corporate Unpersons are doing better than at anytime in American History, in 2009 the top 25 Hedge Fund managers "earned" $25 billion amongst themselves - more than they had made before the Bush Recession, and the stock market volatility, the Union busting, the Charter Schools, the Tea Party, the GOP are all happening to continue and expand their dominance.

Your Moneyed Masters are doing fine, so sit back and relax America. And if you're not fine with that? Well, too fucking bad the Corporate Unpersons and their lackeys don't want to hear it. And they won't.

Remember the Free Speech Zones John Ashcroft ordered to safeguard the image of the Bush/Cheney Presidency? They are back.

Paul Ryan doesn't want to hear from you plebeians. Don't you dare befoul his ears with complaints about him destroying Medicare and Social Security. After previously just having Police remove filthy peasants from his presence, Paul Ryan has set up a pay-per-view Town Hall meeting wherein questions and questioners will be screened and must fork over a fee in order to ask him a question. The fee is nominal but the screening is invaluable to Ryan as his town hall will seem serene and calm and the Media can continue to fawn over him as a brilliant policy wonk who knows what to do.

Republican congressman Doug Lamborn of Colorado called President Obama a "tar baby" so he's now deemed his office "Private Property" and has placed signs declaring "No Protesting".

And at the same time the Supreme Court recently ruled that threatening President Obama's life is protected speech. And this is after the 2009 Tea Party Agent Provocateurs ambushed Democrats at town halls over The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA). And everytime Bill Maher or Janeane Garofalo picked on the wrong target, the duped impoverished conservative, and called them racist (for... well... being racist) the more the Teabaggers ire was raised, the more they set themselves against other working people and the more Karl Rove, Dick Armey, the Koch Brothers and the Plutocracy cheered.

What the Republicans have done is a create a system where they will not allow you to protest them. We are rapidly moving to a time of One Party control of the government, as Gore Vidal called it the Property Party, which ruthlessly curtails any protest aimed at them but happily allows protesters to rail against the other party (you know the weak willed demonic party of America-hating enemy appeasers, who seem more than willing to play the role of patsy, of punching bag, of the Washington DC Generals.

Meanwhile, Corporate Unpersons steal Trillions, instruct their lapdogs to eliminate all safety and environmental regulations, tear down and pilfer benefits for the working classes, and continue sending your sons off to die in wars of Imperialist Market expansion.

Update:
Corporate Lapdog Rick Perry calls for a moritarium on all regulations.

Your Moneyed Masters are getting Angry with you America

“When someone is overextended and broke they don’t continue paying for country club dues, they drop out of the country club,” - Paul Broun (Let Them Eat Cake Party)

"Things are rough all over," - Cherry Valance, The Outsiders

The Republicans and their Moneyed Leash Holders are wholly disconnected from the average American. The comments coming from the Elitist bureaucrats show with whom they chum around. The Country Club? $700 dollar wine dates?

At the same time the GOP is insisting that questioning tax subsides for Private Jet Owners is suggesting a Maoist 5 year plan they are seeking to eliminate Pell Grants because some poor person may get a chance at education. "So you can go to college on Pell Grants — maybe I should not be telling anybody this because it’s turning out to be the welfare of the 21st century," Rep. Denny Rehberg (R-Montana). That's the same Denny Rehberg, the 23rd Richest member of Congress who gave a woe is me Town Hall meeting to state he and his wife "are struggling like everyone else" and when asked, 'What's your net worth?', replied "I am land rich and cash poor."

The Republicans are fantastic at staying on message; Pell Grants? Welfare! Medicaid? Welfare! Social Security? Bankrupt Welfare!

Should the Pell Grant system be looked at and modified? Sure, especially in light of the fact that the University of Phoenix, a for-profit corporation receives about $1 Billion of it and produces non-certified degrees from a near worthless curriculum. But, that's not the Republican message. The Republican message is a Pell Grant goes to an (implied) non-deserving type who blows the money on drugs and doesn't take any "real" classes anyway since he's studying at a Leftist indoctrination camp.

This situation wouldn't be so dire if a large number of Democrats, in an effort to be business friendly, weren't siding with the Republicans in selling the country's natural resources, infrastructure and American people out to the Plutocracy.

The Plutocracy has moved so far beyond the lives of 99% of Americans that articles like, You Try to Live on 500K in This Town, should make any decent person vomit when they read:

Five hundred thousand dollars — the amount President Obama wants to set as the top pay for banking executives whose firms accept government bailout money — seems like a lot, and it is a lot. To many people in many places, it is a princely sum to live on. But in the neighborhoods of New York City and its suburban enclaves where successful bankers live, half a million a year can go very fast.

“As hard as it is to believe, bankers who are living on the Upper East Side making $2 or $3 million a year have set up a life for themselves in which they are also at zero at the end of the year with credit cards and mortgage bills that are inescapable,” said Holly Peterson, the author of an Upper East Side novel of manners, “The Manny,” and the daughter of Peter G. Peterson, a founder of the equity firm the Blackstone Group. “Five hundred thousand dollars means taking their kids out of private school and selling their home in a fire sale.”

But, instead we've allowed a small cadre of Politicos, Bankers and Industrialists to determine the political course of the Nation. Upper New York State Mansion owning, $100+ Million Dollar Man Sean Hannity is given 6 hours everyday to talk about 'shared sacrifice' and glibly remarks “If we can experience a little pain now…"

We let parasites like Hedge Fund "Manager" Stephen Schwarzman get away with saying, “It’s like when Hitler invaded Poland in 1939,” if his precious Capital Gains is taxed as ordinary income. And in a pervese Orwellian Double Speak we let the political class call Schwarzman and his ilk, Job Creators, when these Hedge Fund Managers make money by raiding companies and laying off 25-50% of their workers, closing plants and opening new ones up overseas.

Recently, 50 billionaires entreated Chris Christie to run for President. Amongst them were Paul Tudor Jones (hedge funds; $3.3 billion), Stan Druckenmiller (hedge funds; $2.5 billion) and Bernie Marcus (Home Depot; $1.9 billion). Apparently these Billionaires are sorely disappointed with President Obama, the biggest complaint was 'class warfare.'

This is Class Warfare. It's palpable. Every American kind of knows it. But, the Plutocracy defintely knows it. So, they are all in.

Seizing upon the elections in 2008 and 2010 to foment disaster and discontent in this Nation, they have hired Hit men to bring down the Government from inside. Druckenmiller specifically wants default by the Government because he knows his future investments will be paid off by whomever is running the future Government but a default now will destroy many social programs. "I think technical default would be horrible," Druckenmiller said, "but I don't think it's going to be the end of the world. It's not going to be catastrophic. What's going to be catastrophic is if we don't solve the real problem."

And the only question is; as in previous times will enough people be fooled into transferring their anger at the wrong people? Can the Rich succeed in dividing the poor and middle class and setting them upon each other?

Boeing steals from Taxpayers

Boeing is a company which could not survive in a Free Open Market competition. For years Boeing has remained a viable company by receiving Billions of Taxpayer dollars in Corporate Welfare, euphemistically called Defense Contracts. But, even the Billions of dollars handed to them for shoddy work isn't enough for Boeing, as the company has routinely and criminally overcharged the US Government for their work.

Boeing overcharged the U.S. Army $13 million on spare parts that Army officials could have purchased from the Defense Logistics Agency (dla).

And this is the company that Jim DeMint, Nikki Haley and the Republican Party are holding aloft as a Stalwart Business Model!

I understand why. Anything President Obama proposes the Get Obama Party is against. The GOP's job isn't looking out for the American Taxpayer, it's not to defend and protect the American worker, it's not even to defend the nation from harm. The GOP's job is to, quote Mitch McConnell, "make Obama a one term President."And all it takes to get so-called fiscal conservative Teabaggers on their side is too have Faux News, Racist Limbaugh and the Right Wing Radio cohorts wailing about anti-Business Obama harming poor little Boeing, a company which steals Billions from the American people.

Here is the big problem; What we have in America is not Capitalism. We have a Corporate run Government which ensures that TRILLIONS of dollars is stolen from the People and transferred to Banksters, War Profiteers and Politcos. And when times get tough they demand Shared Sacrifice. We sacrifice and they share. American Capitalism is Socialism for the Rich, in which their profits are privatized and their losses are socialized.

Please Help the Republicans Eliminate Welfare and Reduce Government Spending

By demanding they stop the Corporate Welfare to Oil Companies, cut foreign aid to Israel and reduce the Department of Defense budget by half.

With these simple to adopt austerity measures, the standard of living for Americans would increase dramatically and the future promises to our citizens would be remain solvent for a century.

Eh, What's that? What's that you say? Oh, that's right to the Republicans anything which does not advance their goals of enslaving the American People to the Rich is not worth doing.

At a meeting in the Chicago headquarters of the CME Group, “the world’s largest owner and operator” of private exchanges for derivatives products, Eric Cantor spoke to his Moneyed Masters to assure them the Republicans will never curtail their Welfare.

And further informed them, Republican never-had-a-real-job paper pushing bureaucrats will fight any safety regulation which protects the lives of Americans at an expense to their bottom line.

"Whether it’s the EPA, the FDA, the FCC, the SEC, the CFTC, you name it, there is an acronym for a federal agency causing harm right now. We’re trying to pull that in." - Eric Cantor

We all know that the Republicans have no interest in stopping the Corporatist Neo-Feudal Government which controls the Federal Government these days. That is their only reason they are in office. The Republicans job is to make the Government subservient to business.