Gravitymaster 0 #51 February 11, 2011 Quote Quote Quote Quote Quote Quote Hey Turtle, Do you think all those Americans with secret accounts in Swiss banks like Credit Suisse, you know, the ones that the IRS is going after, are poor, middle class, or wealthy? Middle and Wealthy, why? All those school teachers, middle managers, and other middle class folk like your local dry cleaner or gas station owner - yep, I can see them salting away millions in Swiss banks. There was a Chinese guy who died a few years ago who owned a dry cleaners and was worth $millions. Do you have any idea of what the profit margins are in that business? I do indeed, I was in partnership in owning an airplane for 17 years with a guy who owned a chain of dry cleaning stores. I'll ask him about his Swiss bank account. Next. why would he tell you if its a secret? Exactly...Next! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
dreamdancer 0 #52 February 12, 2011 QuoteUK UNCUT SHUT DOWN BOOTS AND TARGET TESCO OVER TAX AVOIDANCE On the day before the tax return deadline UK Uncut’s Big Society Revenue and Customs have taken to the streets once again calling on wealthy tax avoiders to pay their tax. Up to 30 protests took place around, with many focusing their anger at Boots and Tesco. On Oxford Street, around 150 activists dressed as Doctors and Nurses occupied and shut down the large Boots store. They chanted "save the nhs". Boots have moved their Boots Alliance HQ to a postbox in the Swiss town of Zug, where they now pay around 3% tax to the UK public purse. It is estimated that this is costing the tax payer £100m per year [1] . Walkers Crips and Cadbury products were also removed off the shelves of Tesco in central London [2]. Tesco have avoided over £100m through using complex offshore holding vehicles and partnerships [3]. Kraft have moved the Cadbury HQ to Switzerland which is estimated to cost the tax payer £60m [4]. Walkers Crisps, despite priding themselves on having 100% British Crisps, have had their HQ registered in Switzerland which is estimated to cost the British tax payer between £10 - 20m every single year [5]. The group has said that the day will “ram home the message that the cuts are ideological and unnecessary”. They are also pointing out that the government will fine ordinary people who miss the deadline for self-assessment tax returns, which are due on the day after the protests, whilst Big Business and wealthy individuals that avoid tax through complex systems of offshore trusts, accounts, partnerships and subsidiaries are rarely held to account. The groups previous days of action on the 27th, 30th October and 4th and 18th of December have seen thousands of ordinary people creatively targeting tax-dodgers such as Vodafone and Philip Green. Previous actions have included a ‘read-in’ in Vodafone, confronting cuts to libraries and a ‘sports day’ in Top Shop highlighting cuts to schools sports programmes [6]. Samina Fiaz from UKuncut said, “We are clearly not all in this together. The cuts that will hit the poorest in our society the hardest are a political choice, there is an alternative.” http://www.ukuncut.org.uk/blog/press-release-uk-uncut-shut-down-boots-and-target-tesco-over-tax-avoidancestay away from moving propellers - they bite blue skies from thai sky adventures good solid response-provoking keyboarding Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Kennedy 0 #53 February 12, 2011 QuoteWhaaaa! Those evil people with wealth, they are using all means afforded them under the law to protect and grow that wealth. They're following the law! That should be illegal! (because they're not giving me everything I want for free) -dreamdancer By the way, your "source" is a couple of disaffected whiners who like to stage sit-ins and chant slogans every bit as idiotic as the government slogans they hate. So here's a question for you: other than complaining and demanding more free stuff, what do you actually want the government to change? Should they pass a certain law? Ban anyone with more assets than you from sitting parliament? What do you want, other than "more" from anyone that's not you, and "more" for anyone that is you.witty subliminal message Guard your honor, let your reputation fall where it will, and outlast the bastards. 1* Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
kallend 1,640 #54 February 12, 2011 QuoteQuoteWhaaaa! Those evil people with wealth, they are using all means afforded them under the law to protect and grow that wealth. They're following the law! That should be illegal! (because they're not giving me everything I want for free) -dreamdancer By the way, your "source" is a couple of disaffected whiners who like to stage sit-ins and chant slogans every bit as idiotic as the government slogans they hate. . They are members of the Tea Party?... The only sure way to survive a canopy collision is not to have one. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Kennedy 0 #55 February 12, 2011 The tea party (as if it were actually a single coherent group) is stagin sit-ins? I missed that one in the news. Were they trying to shut down a business that committed nonprime because they want more of the business' money for themselves, too? Or does your snappy little one-liner fall apart at the slightest scrutiny?witty subliminal message Guard your honor, let your reputation fall where it will, and outlast the bastards. 1* Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
dreamdancer 0 #56 February 12, 2011 the tea party are just another face of big business (look up who's financing them). uk uncut is a genuine movement of 'we the people' (does that scare you) stay away from moving propellers - they bite blue skies from thai sky adventures good solid response-provoking keyboarding Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
dreamdancer 0 #57 February 12, 2011 a spark here... QuoteOver the years, Milwaukee Labor Press editor Dominique Paul North has covered a “heck of a lot of protests” in Wisconsin. Last summer, a peace rally in Wisconsin’s inner city drew about 100 people calling for the U.S. to get out of Afghanistan. “There was no media coverage,” he says. “I was the only reporter there.” The next day, 40 people attended a tea party event in Wisconsin and every local media outlet was there to cover it. “This is what we’ve been seeing over the past year. If there’s a peace rally or a worker’s rights rally, it’s ho hum. You might find a reporter or two. The tea party would gather five people on the corner and there would be coverage.” So while it was disappointing, it came as no surprise when most Wisconsin and national media outlets ignored the state’s first anti-inaugural rally on January 3. Over 700 people gathered outside the Wisconsin State Capitol to protest the inauguration of newly-elected Republican Governor Scott Walker. http://www.alternet.org/vision/149877/vision%3A_across_the_country%2C_people_are_rising_up_to_fight_for_change/stay away from moving propellers - they bite blue skies from thai sky adventures good solid response-provoking keyboarding Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
kallend 1,640 #58 February 12, 2011 Quote The tea party (as if it were actually a single coherent group) is stagin sit-ins?? You're right, mostly they stand up while they shout and rant.... The only sure way to survive a canopy collision is not to have one. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
rushmc 18 #59 February 12, 2011 Quote Quote The tea party (as if it were actually a single coherent group) is stagin sit-ins?? You're right, mostly they stand up while they shout and rant. WOWIf that is the case you are the mascot for the group! Way to go!"America will never be destroyed from the outside, if we falter and lose our freedoms, it will be because we destroyed ourselves." Abraham Lincoln Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ECVZZ 0 #60 February 12, 2011 Quotelet the next revolution begin... QuoteImagine a parallel universe where the Great Crash of 2008 was followed by a Tea Party of a very different kind. Enraged citizens gather in every city, week after week—to demand the government finally regulate the behavior of corporations and the superrich, and force them to start paying taxes. The protesters shut down the shops and offices of the companies that have most aggressively ripped off the country. The swelling movement is made up of everyone from teenagers to pensioners. They surround branches of the banks that caused this crash and force them to close, with banners saying, You Caused This Crisis. Now YOU Pay. As people see their fellow citizens acting in self-defense, these tax-the-rich protests spread to even the most conservative parts of the country. It becomes the most-discussed subject on Twitter. Even right-wing media outlets, sensing a startling effect on the public mood, begin to praise the uprising, and dig up damning facts on the tax dodgers. Instead of the fake populism of the Tea Party, there is a movement based on real populism. It shows that there is an alternative to making the poor and the middle class pay for a crisis caused by the rich. It shifts the national conversation. Instead of letting the government cut our services and increase our taxes, the people demand that it cut the endless and lavish aid for the rich and make them pay the massive sums they dodge in taxes. This may sound like a fantasy—but it has all happened. The name of this parallel universe is Britain. As recently as this past fall, people here were asking the same questions liberal Americans have been glumly contemplating: Why is everyone being so passive? Why are we letting ourselves be ripped off? Why are people staying in their homes watching their flat-screens while our politicians strip away services so they can fatten the superrich even more? http://www.alternet.org/teaparty/149806/vision%3A_everyday_brits_are_in_revolt_against_wealthy_tax_cheats_--_can_we_do_that_here/ I didn't read further than your opening post, but as a start for an answer to your question; No. The reason being that we would have to replace a vast majority of the politicians (local, state and especially federal) and overhaul the political system. The current system is based on Graft and Patronage and has been since it's inception. When the federal government was formed and the politicians allowed to write special laws that apply to them only it set the stage for the entire corrupt "power Elite" to become "above the law" so to speak. Where they might get a thorough tongue lashing, you or I would see the inside of a state or federal prison for the same offence. G. Jones "I've never been quarantined. But the more I look around, the more I think it might not be a bad idea." Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Kennedy 0 #61 February 13, 2011 So, what laws apply to the people that don't apply to congress, or vice-versa? Or is this a more general rant against corruption and the fact that lawmakers are generally "rich and powerful" and so take care of same?witty subliminal message Guard your honor, let your reputation fall where it will, and outlast the bastards. 1* Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
kallend 1,640 #62 February 13, 2011 QuoteSo, what laws apply to the people that don't apply to congress, or vice-versa? Well, for starters members of Congress are immune from lawsuits for slander based on anything they say on the floor of the house or senate. Congress has also exempted itself from equal-opportunity and affirmative-action laws, and from the Veterans Employment Opportunities Act. I'm sure you'll find more if you care to look.... The only sure way to survive a canopy collision is not to have one. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ECVZZ 0 #63 February 13, 2011 Kennedy, Professor Kallend is correct. And his is merely a minor example to show basis for my statement. As he stated, a search will give you all the information you could ever ask for, including the fact that SCOTUS has ruled repeatedly to narrow the scope of Legislative Privilege and Legislative immunity only to have those precedents ignored time and again by the D.C. Circuit Court. I'll give you a place to start. Research Legislative Privilege and legislative immunity. Go beyond the base definition and research case histories that are referenced. You'll find interesting reading there, especially United States V. Rayburn. G. Jones "I've never been quarantined. But the more I look around, the more I think it might not be a bad idea." Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
dreamdancer 0 #64 February 15, 2011 QuoteBarclays is braced for a row over bonuses as campaigners calculated that a tax on its £2.7bn bonus pool would allow the government to reverse cuts to the education maintenance allowance, disability allowance and housing benefit. The analysis by the Robin Hood tax activists comes as Barclays is expected to announce profits of £5.8bn at the start of the bank reporting season on Tuesday. Its new chief executive, Bob Diamond – whose bonus is expected to be at least £8m – will have to admit the bank is using a higher proportion of revenues to pay bonuses than last year. The American-born banker is likely to argue Barclays has incurred a jump in this compensation ratio because of demands by regulators that bonuses should be deferred over three years. As a result, proving the bank has reduced the bonus pool for its UK staff, as promised by the Project Merlin agreement, may be difficult. Merlin, which also included a pledge from the banks to lend £190bn to businesses, is intended to put an end to criticism of bankers. But business secretary Vince Cable this weekend described the potential payouts as "offensive" while trade union Unite is keeping up the pressure on banks after making a submission to the high pay commission highlighting the difference between the pay of top bosses and junior staff. http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2011/feb/14/barclays-bonuses-tax-activistsstay away from moving propellers - they bite blue skies from thai sky adventures good solid response-provoking keyboarding Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
futuredivot 0 #65 February 15, 2011 For your reading enjoymentYou are only as strong as the prey you devour Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
kelpdiver 2 #66 February 15, 2011 Barclays did not take a bailout, unlike RBC. It accomplished this by selling BGI to Blackrock for 13.x billion USD. (just to remove any question that this company was part of the debacle) Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest #67 February 15, 2011 QuoteQuoteUK UNCUT SHUT DOWN BOOTS AND TARGET TESCO OVER TAX AVOIDANCE On the day before the tax return deadline UK Uncut’s Big Society Revenue and Customs have taken to the streets once again calling on wealthy tax avoiders to pay their tax. Up to 30 protests took place around, with many focusing their anger at Boots and Tesco. On Oxford Street, around 150 activists dressed as Doctors and Nurses occupied and shut down the large Boots store. They chanted "save the nhs". Boots have moved their Boots Alliance HQ to a postbox in the Swiss town of Zug, where they now pay around 3% tax to the UK public purse. It is estimated that this is costing the tax payer £100m per year [1] . Walkers Crips and Cadbury products were also removed off the shelves of Tesco in central London [2]. Tesco have avoided over £100m through using complex offshore holding vehicles and partnerships [3]. Kraft have moved the Cadbury HQ to Switzerland which is estimated to cost the tax payer £60m [4]. Walkers Crisps, despite priding themselves on having 100% British Crisps, have had their HQ registered in Switzerland which is estimated to cost the British tax payer between £10 - 20m every single year [5]. The group has said that the day will “ram home the message that the cuts are ideological and unnecessary”. They are also pointing out that the government will fine ordinary people who miss the deadline for self-assessment tax returns, which are due on the day after the protests, whilst Big Business and wealthy individuals that avoid tax through complex systems of offshore trusts, accounts, partnerships and subsidiaries are rarely held to account. The groups previous days of action on the 27th, 30th October and 4th and 18th of December have seen thousands of ordinary people creatively targeting tax-dodgers such as Vodafone and Philip Green. Previous actions have included a ‘read-in’ in Vodafone, confronting cuts to libraries and a ‘sports day’ in Top Shop highlighting cuts to schools sports programmes [6]. Samina Fiaz from UKuncut said, “We are clearly not all in this together. The cuts that will hit the poorest in our society the hardest are a political choice, there is an alternative.” http://www.ukuncut.org.uk/blog/press-release-uk-uncut-shut-down-boots-and-target-tesco-over-tax-avoidance Then there are the "tax exiles" such as the members of The Rolling Stones. No slack for them either, right? mh"The mouse does not know life until it is in the mouth of the cat." Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
dreamdancer 0 #68 February 17, 2011 now a small fire... QuoteThe people power in Wisconsin has become too big for the local and national media to ignore. Just a few weeks ago, Milwaukee Labor Press editor Dominique Paul North told me that workers' rights rallies receive very little media coverage compared to Tea Party rallies. Last month, over 700 people gathered outside the Wisconsin State Capitol to the hold the state's first ever anti-inauguration rally, but it got very little coverage in the local media. Numbers clearly matter. On February 15, an estimated 15,000 citizens, including union and non-union workers, surrounded the state capitol to express opposition to Republican Governor Scott Walker's plan to strip the state’s 175,000 public employees of almost all of their collective bargaining rights and require them to make larger contributions to their pensions and health insurance plans. "In Wisconsin we're smart enough to know the truth. We know what this is all about. It's about breaking the back of the middle class," AFSCME International president Gerald McEntee told the crowd. [Watch WBAY-TV's coverage.] Mike Imbrogno, a shop steward in AFSCME Local 171, told the Socialist Worker's Aongus O'Murchadha how union members surged inside the capital building, chanting their demands. http://www.alternet.org/economy/149942/is_wisconsin_our_egypt_15%2C000_protest_off-the-wall_right-wing_governor%27s_policies/stay away from moving propellers - they bite blue skies from thai sky adventures good solid response-provoking keyboarding Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
rushmc 18 #69 February 17, 2011 Quotenow a small fire... QuoteThe people power in Wisconsin has become too big for the local and national media to ignore. Just a few weeks ago, Milwaukee Labor Press editor Dominique Paul North told me that workers' rights rallies receive very little media coverage compared to Tea Party rallies. Last month, over 700 people gathered outside the Wisconsin State Capitol to the hold the state's first ever anti-inauguration rally, but it got very little coverage in the local media. Numbers clearly matter. On February 15, an estimated 15,000 citizens, including union and non-union workers, surrounded the state capitol to express opposition to Republican Governor Scott Walker's plan to strip the state’s 175,000 public employees of almost all of their collective bargaining rights and require them to make larger contributions to their pensions and health insurance plans. "In Wisconsin we're smart enough to know the truth. We know what this is all about. It's about breaking the back of the middle class," AFSCME International president Gerald McEntee told the crowd. [Watch WBAY-TV's coverage.] Mike Imbrogno, a shop steward in AFSCME Local 171, told the Socialist Worker's Aongus O'Murchadha how union members surged inside the capital building, chanting their demands. http://www.alternet.org/economy/149942/is_wisconsin_our_egypt_15%2C000_protest_off-the-wall_right-wing_governor%27s_policies/ Bout time we got some people who will stand up to the union thug/crooks They would bankrupt a state just for their own gain Screw them Let em bitch And it is just a good start More to come Why? Because there is no other choice BTY I have been following this He may make a good president some day Oh and it must really suck to be have to pay for some of your own pension and health care. Poor cry babies And gov workers should not be making more that people in the private sector They produce nothing Now they need to grow up"America will never be destroyed from the outside, if we falter and lose our freedoms, it will be because we destroyed ourselves." Abraham Lincoln Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
dreamdancer 0 #70 February 23, 2011 QuoteNow, the UK Uncut movement has come to America. US Uncut just recently launched, but there are already chapters springing up across the country. The whole thing is moving faster than Carl Gibson, the director of US Uncut's founding chapter in Mississippi, could have ever hoped for. "This is snowballing so quick," said Gibson. "I made the Twitter page and Facebook group and invited a few friends and said, 'Guys, we've got to do something about this,' and this is right after I read the article about UK Uncut in The Nation that had the ten steps to launching a US Uncut movement, and I got busy." Now, Gibson is helping to coordinate movements in twenty states. UK Uncut helped him organize a unified day of protest against the banks. He's spoken with BBC World and The Guardian. Additionally, Gibson says certain US Uncut participants have reached out to the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) in order to bridge the divide between liberalism's two great abandoned resource pools: the poor and labor. "I think this just indicates that people are so, so ready for a movement like this to come out," he said, "especially when you consider how the right-wing has stolen the mantle of populism in order to preach corporate propaganda and get people to protest against their own economic self-interest in the Tea Party movement." As part of their efforts to nurture their fledgling counterpart, UK Uncut is helping Gibson locate those easy-to-recite tax dodging figures that captured the attention of Brits everywhere. The figures shouldn't be difficult to find. The IRS estimates that individuals and corporations currently hold $5 trillion in tax haven countries. Nearly two-thirds of corporations pay no taxes at all, and the great vampire squid, Goldman Sachs, which received $10 billion dollars in taxpayer money during the bailout, negotiated their tax rate down to one percent. The entire tax haven scam costs taxpayers as much as $100 billion per year. http://www.alternet.org/economy/150010/us_uncut_--_a_grassroots_uprising_against_corporate_tax_deadbeats/?page=entirestay away from moving propellers - they bite blue skies from thai sky adventures good solid response-provoking keyboarding Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
