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Thom, Im a big fan and admirer. I'm afraid I don't understand your stance on "reparations". I agree with you on every aspect of the evil of slavery and racism in general. I'm against reparations and heres why.#1, Our government did not institute slavery,of course it could have done more to end it sooner. #2, nobody alive today was enslaved with respect to the "slave era". #3, Trying to figure out who gets what would be an impossible task. For instance, our GREAT President Obama is half white, would he get half the settlement amount? Tracing a persons lineage to slavery would be a mess. Even "white" people could have had black ancestors who were enslaved. #4, Were'nt white Irish people enslaved in certain states during that time as well? #5,Racisim is alive and very well (most if not all Trump supporters), would'nt reparations fuel more hate from the right... I mean white racist? I see more harm than good.
In closing let me say.... Go Bernie!!!
CORPORATIONS ARE TAX COLLECTORS, NOT TAXPAYERS, I repeat, CORPORATIONS ARE TAX COLLECTORS, NOT TAXPAYERS, again, CORPORATIONS ARE TAX COLLECTORS, NOT TAXPAYERS, one more time, CORPORATIONS ARE TAX COLLECTORS, NOT TAXPAYERS. It puzzles me greatly that the public still can't understand where corporations get the money to pay taxes from. So we force corps to pay their "FAIR SHARE", get real, the public, read "customer", now gets to pay their "FAIR SHARE" and the corporate "FAIR SHARE", what the hell is "FAIR" about that. Eliminate corporate/business taxes on profits and watch all those companies come back to roost in America. Develop incentives to limit executive greed and pass the savings back to the consumer. Convict those who remove money from our economy unlawfully of treason and lock them up. Repatriate as much as possible the offshore transfer of funds solely for tax evasion and distribute them to the public in the form of tax credits. And get over this "FAIR SHARE" crap, there is no fair share when applied to taxation.
The last gallup poll I looked at indicated that only 26% were opposed to hiking tax on corporations by getting rid of tax loopholes. Over 70% were in outright favor of increasing the corportrate tax rates in this manner.
This poll makes it important to note which political party, Thom already pointed them out....a Teapublic Party lead congress sitting on their hands, is responsible for not acting on corporate tax evasion.
So if we had a fair and balanced corp. media, the scoop would go like this: Because of willful inaction by congressional Republican public servants, the U.S. Treasury Department has stepped in to block the corporate tax evasion being attempted by Pfizer via a merger tactic known as inversion. Polls indicate that a vast majority, over 70% of the population favors this action by our Treasury Department.
In a related story, an unsolved mystery continues...... Why almost half of the voting population continues to vote against what they indicate they desire in polls......this by voting Teapublican?????? Our network will air a one hour special on this bizarre self injurious behavior Monday night, right after your nightly news.
The rather large mistake being made by everyone writing here is that the choice is not between Sanders and Clinton, but rather between Clinton and one of four or five Republicans. The Republican nomination is far from settled and the Democratic nominee could wind up facing someone like Paul Ryan or even Marco Rubio. If that happens it's going to take more than unity to put a Democrat in the White House. It will take a candidate closer to the moderate wing of the Republican Party than Bernie Sanders is or ever could be. For good or bad, like it or not, that candidate is Hillary. I don't particularly like her, and like more than half the people polled, don't find her especially trustworthy, and I wish someone else had stepped up to the plate, but nobody did.
Perhaps if Bernie had started his campaign when she started hers, perhaps if Liz Warren had said yes when people asked her to run, if only... Well, now it is what it is, and if this party is to have any hope of surviving the religious authoritarian onslaught coming from the right, it should give up any hope of electing a self-proclaimed Socialist. If you think Bernie had a tough time with a newspaper's editorial board, try to imagine him onstage, attempting to defend spending money when there's an $18 Trillion deficit against Ted Cruz (one of the best think-on-his-feet debaters I've ever seen.) It's gonna' be brutal.
So before we villify Secretary Clinton (easy enough to do) let's consider the alternatives. If a Republican appoints three justices to The Court, it'll take a generation to repair it, if in fact it can be repaired. For every one of you who thinks Hillary is conservative, there's at least one person on the right who thinks John Kasich is a liberal.
It's about time this was adressed, and I'm guessing it would not have been, if not for Bernie Sanders having pressed the issue.
Thom, I believe you're entirely mistaken about the vast gulf of vitally important differences between Bernie Sanders, our Democratic candidate for the presidency, and
Hillary Clinton: Republican For President (Documentary)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bzahvR0xbQ4
With regard to then-Senator Clinton's Iraq War vote...
saying "but, she walked that back" (if I'm quoting correctly) simply does not wash.
...And I did not make it through a rough childhood by shutting up and letting the bullies bully me. I do not intend to start now.
The Smallest Girl on the Playground
The same goes for Bernie supporters insulting Hillary supporters. I'm darn sick of people telling me not to stand up for myself against the immature unexperienced mean, used to getting their way Bernie supporters. "Let them be mean and insulting to other Dems so we don't lose them."
They say all the time they won't vote for Hillary under any circumstances--which is reckless and sets us up NOT to take advantage of the disarray in the Republican Party. WE NEED UNITY!
Sorry, they need to grow up. Why are they so adverse to being educated by more experienced politcal citizens?
This NOT a winner taker all video game. This is life and future. I fight for my children/grandchildren with knowledge and truth. We should all be holding hands together to get progressive issues through and into reality.
I NEVER diss/dismiss/namecall Bernie like they do Hillary. I think they are BOTH fine. But I think Bernie would be way more effective and his gifts not wasted as a REVOULTIONARY LEADER for the REAL change we need than as a president whose scope WILL BE LIMITED.
I find the fevor of mean Bernie supporters very off-putting and immature and think lessons in civics and how the government really works are in order. I'm sure Bernie would not appreciate their mean tone toward fellow Dems.
I want Bernie to be effective; I don't think he can do this as president and has a better chance if a Dem is president to get that work DONE. I want his stump speeches to beome reality. How in the hell is that mean and off-putting to them?
Warmth hence Harmth
{… a Haiku: 5 syllables then 7 then 5 …}
{… Extra points if it rhymes …}
Earth is get-ting warm,
and soon we’ll have bought the farm.
Man does him-Self harm.
===============================
The NYT has an article suggesting that corporate tax dodging is a good thing in the Friday article : Free Pfizer--Why Inversions are Good for Us. (Here is the link) http://www.nytimes.com/2016/04/08/opinion/free-pfizer-why-inversions-are-good-for-the-us.html?emc=edit_ty_20160408&nl=opinion&nlid=70208152&_r=0
“Rumble” Rightists
{… in limerick-style rhythms …}
re Thom’s shows’ segments called “Rumble”,
permit me again here to grumble: -
- These Rightists stumble
and jumble and fumble; …
… so these segments’ qualities tumble.
These Rightists detract
with dissemblings packed
with opinions boldy-stated
but which should be rated
as opinions which instead are quite “humble”.
=====================================
Not a socialist.
So Democrat's are resorting to political extortion? Then if Bernie is the nominee... I will be encouraging as many as possible to vote for Trump. THE AMERICAN PEOPLE GET THE GOVERNMENT THEY DESERVE and if Democrats are nasty enough to extort..then you deserve Trump.
I have always disliked Hilary.. but I would vote for her as would many of my contemporaries. Because a lot of my peers are European expats from socialist countries so we understand the pros and cons of socialusm; we would never vote for Bernie. NEVER.
The US will complete their destruction of this country if they try to cobble certain socialist principles to a capitalist system. SCHOOLING and Healthcare with no caps or controlled salaries coupled with public money is a recipe for bankruptcy.
Socialism is not an all you can eat buffet me..you cannot cherry pick what you want and simply continue as you are. Socialism is not sustainable which is why Holland and other European countries have been slowly converting to a model more like the US.
From the outside..the social programs might look great but Americans actually have no idea of the level of control of our businesses and programs by our government nor do they understand the level of sacrifice in income and freedom the Ave European must live under.
The grass is always greener on the other side..but try to remember grass is not a sustainable nutrition for people.
Bernie would lose. He is not only a socialist, he is also a shameless pander an idealist. I have heard he is offering free education to college students. WHO believes that is even possible?
NO one who understands civics and capitalism would believe it. MOST college grant money is dispensed and controlled by states but each college sets their own fees. REGARDLESS, Presidents no more decide how college fees are set and how much grant money there is than they decide to build 50 foot walls around the US.
Ridiculous promises are being made at a time when we have no money. WE are nearing hyperinflation, we are starting wars to justify the last scramble for oil and a foothold in the Middle East. WE are facing record droughts and have an infrastructure so decrepit that we have pot hole roads..crumbling bridges and lead in our sewer pipes and water lines.
Against this back drop and universities offering scholarships to competing foreign students , we have politicians offering things that their office cannot decide or even vote on.
..and people believe them.
I came from a socialist country. The one thing that MUST be in place for socialist programs to work are government owned and controlled industries and institutions.
You cannot have government mandated Healthcare without government controlled costs. To have free schooling you would h Ave to employ all educators and control the costs to attend each school. It is not possible to combine free or wholesale health care or schooling to a system that is in both things to make as much money as they can.
When socialism is attempted in a capitalist country you end up bankrupt and with massive corruption as each institution steals as much as they can from public coffers and the public is forced to use that system
The irony is that social countries are trying to emulate the American model as costs to care for the public spiral beyond governments and at the same time they move to emulate America.. the US is trying to emulate Europe.
Sadly, the US is trying to copy a system they actually do not understand or no very little about. TAKE a good look at the Obama care program. Hospitals are making so much money they are building massive campuses. THE public are at risk for more and more bogus health services.. the costs for many are spiraling but they have no choice in coverage. IF my family opts out of coverage we must pay 7800.00 for no insurance. BEFORE OBama care we had full coverage for 4700.00 a year.
On top of this , some hospitals are targeting immigrants from countries like Africa and telling them to come in for well check ups..MRIs and other services telling them to not worry about the costs because Obama care will pay for it. SINCE when do hospitals cold call people to drum up business?
THIS and much more are what someone like Bernie Sanders mean to me and my peers.
What will truly change the course of the 2016 Democratic primary race is when super delegates vote with the will of their constituents in mind.
I've been an Independent since 1982. Lately that moniker has been co opted by the so called disaffected of the 2 main parties but Independent is NOT a political party; instead it is a designation for people whose ideal governance is not reflected by either party and who do not subscribe to party dogma.
Lately, to be called an Independent is to reflect a sort of party petulant as those who fail to get their way decide to 'teach their party a lesson' by withholding their votes if they don't get their way.
Seriously? What? Do democrats feel left out from the GOP kindergarten antics of temper tantrum throwing? Is it that parents failed to instill discipline and/or cooperation in the millenia generation and generation x so we get these weird displays of party betrayal threats OR could it possibly that the sheer stupidity of the Republican party schism is actually a contagious disease?
GROW UP Democrats and seize the opportunity or be just as self destructive and idiotic as the GOP.
here is a clue: remember your common goals and stop trying to extort your own party..you are not Independents..you , like so called indie republicans are all spoiled brats..you have no separate ideology from your core party. You come to this place with your silly platforms still intact..just angry that your party orthodoxy did not let you have your way.
I truly wish that being an Independent was an actual party..so that when most of you came calling we could refuse your troublesome and whiny buts admission.
The Democratic party has the chance to become a true juggernaut with the GOP in disarray...but instead they seem poised with a sort of ideological damoclese sword..threatening to cleave their own party
Jussmartenuf. You are so right. In Canada I payed $24.00 before my insurance plan I pay 10% for eye drops. I was in Pheonix, AZ and the exact same drops where $114. 00 before my plan. Both where at Safeway. Both where the exact same manufacture. That's pretty bad
Kudos to those at the the Treasury Dept. Those that gain from the United States economic system should pay into the tax system accordingly. That goes for blue collar and white collar workers, Business owners, and corporations.
Those in Washington now are too afraid of upsetting their campaign donors to close tax loopholes with legislation That's why congress needs an oil change, drain out the old corrupted politicians and pour in some fresh new representatives of we, the people. Then, if our fresh new representatives make the necessary changes before they too become corrupt, our tax laws will make sure everyone including corporations pay their fair share of taxes and our campaign finance system will not allow the buying of politicians. This may sound like a dream but it's not an impossible dream. Republicans and Democrats alike are beginning to understand that our elected representatives in Washington seem to be representing someone other than those of us that elected them. That's why we have Trump and Bernie doing so well in the Presidential primaries. They both march to the beat of a different drummer. The people as a whole want change. Until we get money out of politics, set term limits, and stop voter disenfranchisement, things like the tax code will not change for long. Most of our politicians did not start out as corrupt individuals, the system encouraged them to become so over a period of time.
here is what i think and what i also know. U.S. citizens pay more for medicines than anyone else in the world and Big Pharma companies have rigged the system that Medicare is not even allowed to bargain for lower prices. I know that we would be stupid to start a race to the bottom by lowering taxes simply because the rate is lower in Ireland. Ireland is a total financial basket case. They do it to lure businesses there and if we were to lower our tax rate to compete, they would simply lower theirs more. I know that this move by Obama to stop Pfizer was a supurb move for the American tax payer. A move the Republcan congress refused to take as they are bought and paid for by their corporate/Wall St owners. Wall Street does not give a damn about anything but profit goals being achieved by the corps listed there. Pfizer makes it's big money from U.S. citizens and should pay taxes here, not in some foreign land where they only keep a post office box to avoid taxes.
Do sharks eat meat?
Will corporations not use every legal means to reduce their taxes?
Rather than berate corporate behavior, focus on the scumbag senators who make the rules that corporations operate under.
ct
What do I think? I think the Corporate States of America has destroyed this country and its workers are nothing more than road kill on their way to more and more profits kept in place by a corrupt campaign finance system. Both political parties should burn to the ground! I for one hope the revolution is just around the corner and if it means violence in every city and town so be it.
Hi Thom. What do I think? I think they've already rigged this capitalist system to get almost all the economic gains workers produce for them and Corporate Inversion is what they've been doing with what I call "Labor Inversion" which is where they use so-called Trade deals to pay less for labor by moving production "offshore".
They are done with us. They'v squeezed us for all we got and now heading to other shores while our cities will start to look like Detroit complete with packs of wild dogs as we Uber around the 10% Yuppie Class from Yoga to their book clubs before heading to our job at Starbucks at minimum wage.
Is this sustainable? No. Not at all. Do they care? Most of them don't. The ones who do are not helping us by funding progressive education and grassroots civic activism.
The government like the Democratic Party is only technically "open" to the public to participate in but if you can't afford to run for office and none but the wealthy can and if the Democratic (or Republican) Party makes no effort to promote participation in things like Central Committee meetings and so on, then is it really open? Is it?
I went to look at my LA CDP (Los Angeles Dem Party) website for a listing of the Central Committee meeting and it had a map showing Washington State and the wrong address listed. Incompetance or neglect I don't know but my experience is that in any organization people who run it dislike having new people come in and threaten to take their jobs from them. So they don't make it easy to do so Thom.
That's why the so-called Super Delegates you believe would swing over to Bernie like they did Obama actually would not do so this time! See Bernie unlike candidate Obama has promised to enact Public Financing of Campaigns making it easier for Jane or Joe Citizen to run for office negating the power of incumbency and party nepetism. THAT is a big threat to the party insiders the status quo Super Delegates and they will fight to stop Bernie as a result.
A revolution is coming Thom. Those who make change impossible by peaceful means invite violence. We all don't want that! But since when has power ever given us anything without civil disobedience ie a fight? My dad lived through the Watts riots, I experienced the Rodney King riots and saw the city burning. Tragic events both with working class people burning down our own few possessions really. I wish we were Iceland.
Thanks,
Joseph Segal
When we use money, power and privilege as our primary measure of success, are we making it more important than us? Are we giving it power over us? Money, in and of itself, is an amazing convenience for the exchange of goods and services when it keeps things working. However, when it becomes an end in itself and, enough is never enough, it loses its value because it no longer serves society in a healthy way. It only fuels the distorted, greed-driven fantasies of a few. Like blood in the body, money must circulate freely for society and the world to thrive.
When principles and idealism go out the window, we lose our balance, which is not necessarily a bad thing. It's our way of clarifying the difference between what we like and what we don't like, what works for us and what doesn't, what makes us happy and what doesn't. It's simply a reminder that the challenge of being and creation is learning how to use the power of thought and imagination to shape energy (it's all energy), money included, into a pleasing reality. The prize is a sense of satisfaction, the feeling of a job well done. Like learning how to walk and talk, it is a personal, subjective endeavor that requires creative aggression. It is a great balancing act where we, like children, must accept falling down as part of learning how to stand up.
Remember, thoughts are things with a "reality" of their own, and each one of us, an artist. With thought in the form of beliefs, attitudes, values and expectations, we paint the landscape of our lives. Isn't it time to wake up, wise up and rise up to the better selves we can be? What can we do today for the selves we'll be tomorrow? What works and makes us happy?
Of course both Bernie and Hillary are qualified to become President. The real issue is whether or not we want real change for the better for most Americans (Bernie) of essentially more to the same corporately-driven disastrous foreign and domestic policies (Hillary).
Shell company = Zombie Corporation, that cannot be traced back to a taxpayer. Only available to mega-million and billionaires...for their foreign affiliates income, etc. However, the local big pockets can utilize depreciation and depletion to offset their big incomes, without using high priced zombie lawyers.
http://davidcayjohnston.com/