Mr. King knows how to talk out of both sides of his mouth regarding terrorism and terrorists. For many years, Mr. King as a loyal American (of Irish decent) has defended and supported the Irish Republican Party, a known terrorist organization. The IRA has killed thousands of people outside the United States and has had ongoing support from the Palestinian Liberation Organization. Oh, but they never inteded to kill citizens. The bomb they detonated in a pub was actually intended to send shrapnel flying thousands of feet in to air to damage as many Royal Air Force helicopters and airplanes as possilbe. Wait, what?
The past must be past and forgotten. Now Mr. King is using his new-found power to run a US House committee has declared that he will investigate muslims in America, because they must be terrorists. Okay, they are not his terrorists. No wonder respect for Congress continues to drop every year, They can't even hear their own lies and hypocrisy.
His next step likely will be to use his broad supeona power to harass and intimidate his critics, a common and clever Republican ploy these days.
27 March 2011
Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas is a Fool
Clarence Thomas and his wife, Ginny Thomas have created a large confllict of interest for the Justice, and by his refusal to follow common standards of ethics for all other judges in America, Mr. Thomas is damaging the credibility of the institution of the Supreme Court beyond the damage alread done by this Republican Court.
Justice Thomas' wife has earned almost $700,000 from the conservative Heritage Foundation working to among other things, undermine and kill the 2010 Healthcare reform act. She has publicly stated her position against the law and has marketed herself as a powerful person in this fight, because of her experience and contacts.
Mr. Thomas says his wife's beliefs and actions have no effect on his Supreme Court decisions, except he has publicly agree with his wife's position opposing the law. I know I could not get a fair hearing before him if he and wife publicly declared that they opposed my position in a case, even before the case was heard by the Court.
Justice Thomas is a fool to think that his critics and not his own words and actions are damaging the Court and its standing in the public's regard.
A recent example of his better judgement perhaps was when he recused himself from voting in a case involing interests his son had supported.
What's the difference, Mr. Thomas?
In fact his wife is actively supporting and raising money for the self-proclaimed Tea Party and worked to support the Citizens United appellants in their case decided in 2010, declaring that for the purposes of political campaigns, corporations are "people." They just happen to be anonymous people with a lot of money. Another conflict of interest.
I assume that Mr. Thomas would argue that since he was already a conservative Republican before he was appointed to the Supreme Court, and supported many of his wife's work, that there is conflict "of interest." We already know how he's going to vote. Except that his wife made a lot of money working on these issues.
It is time for the House of Representatives to impeach Mr. Thomas for his failure to report his wife's income, and his failure to follow basis ethical considerations in serving the United States. He has become an insult to justice in America.
Justice Thomas' wife has earned almost $700,000 from the conservative Heritage Foundation working to among other things, undermine and kill the 2010 Healthcare reform act. She has publicly stated her position against the law and has marketed herself as a powerful person in this fight, because of her experience and contacts.
Mr. Thomas says his wife's beliefs and actions have no effect on his Supreme Court decisions, except he has publicly agree with his wife's position opposing the law. I know I could not get a fair hearing before him if he and wife publicly declared that they opposed my position in a case, even before the case was heard by the Court.
Justice Thomas is a fool to think that his critics and not his own words and actions are damaging the Court and its standing in the public's regard.
A recent example of his better judgement perhaps was when he recused himself from voting in a case involing interests his son had supported.
What's the difference, Mr. Thomas?
In fact his wife is actively supporting and raising money for the self-proclaimed Tea Party and worked to support the Citizens United appellants in their case decided in 2010, declaring that for the purposes of political campaigns, corporations are "people." They just happen to be anonymous people with a lot of money. Another conflict of interest.
I assume that Mr. Thomas would argue that since he was already a conservative Republican before he was appointed to the Supreme Court, and supported many of his wife's work, that there is conflict "of interest." We already know how he's going to vote. Except that his wife made a lot of money working on these issues.
It is time for the House of Representatives to impeach Mr. Thomas for his failure to report his wife's income, and his failure to follow basis ethical considerations in serving the United States. He has become an insult to justice in America.
25 March 2011
How to Pay for Republican Wars or Not
Back of the napkin calculation: if Congress had the guts to impose a tax of $1/gallon on gasoline and diesel fuels at the pump with a sunset of 2026, we might succeed in paying for our wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
This kills two economic mistakes with one blow: it makes the cost of war obvious to all citizens, including those who are alleged to not pay any taxes. And it brings one external cost of liquid fuels to The Market. (There are still $3 or $4 more per gallon in public costs that are not paid directly by the consumers, yet. - health, noise, environmenal clean up, global climate change, support for anti-Western oi-rich dictatorships. The list goes on and on.) Talk about subsidies!
The international political benefit would be that the rest of the educated world might take us seriously! IF we're willing to pay for our wars, and not just borrow the money from our competitors, like China, Germany, Japan and India. Somehow they seem to be the more serious countries on this planet.
Ask me the odds of the Republican House voting for this tax? Zip, zippo, zilch. Funny game they're playing. Time to grow up and get serious.
This kills two economic mistakes with one blow: it makes the cost of war obvious to all citizens, including those who are alleged to not pay any taxes. And it brings one external cost of liquid fuels to The Market. (There are still $3 or $4 more per gallon in public costs that are not paid directly by the consumers, yet. - health, noise, environmenal clean up, global climate change, support for anti-Western oi-rich dictatorships. The list goes on and on.) Talk about subsidies!
The international political benefit would be that the rest of the educated world might take us seriously! IF we're willing to pay for our wars, and not just borrow the money from our competitors, like China, Germany, Japan and India. Somehow they seem to be the more serious countries on this planet.
Ask me the odds of the Republican House voting for this tax? Zip, zippo, zilch. Funny game they're playing. Time to grow up and get serious.
Prosecutor-in-Chief
I didn't vote for Ms. Martinez. And I'm glad I didn't. I don't want our govenor to be our "prosecutor-in-chief." I want her to lead us to a hopeful future.
She vows to kill the proposed business tax to shore up the unemployment support fund today. She may think this isn't the right time for a tax on business, but the fund is projected to go broke in March 2012. After that, New Mexico will have to borrow money from Washington to continue to meet its obligations to its working citizens who are suffering from the Republican (aka Republicon or Repuglican) Great Recession.
Oh, well, if you can't believe the Albuquerque Chamber of Commerce and Albuquerque Economic Development who support the tax today, who can you believe?
She vows to kill the proposed business tax to shore up the unemployment support fund today. She may think this isn't the right time for a tax on business, but the fund is projected to go broke in March 2012. After that, New Mexico will have to borrow money from Washington to continue to meet its obligations to its working citizens who are suffering from the Republican (aka Republicon or Repuglican) Great Recession.
Oh, well, if you can't believe the Albuquerque Chamber of Commerce and Albuquerque Economic Development who support the tax today, who can you believe?
GE Makes Fools of Us All
Believe it or nuts! The largest corporation in America pays no federal taxes. GE is gaming the system so successfully that they're getting a free ride. Thank goodness we can afford to give them the services of the US Army, Navy and Air Force for free, while they sell weapons to our "friends." What's wrong with this picture?
Even Ronald Reagan was frustrated when he learned back in the 1980s that GE paid almost no taxes then. Closed corporate loopholes with 1986 tax law. Raised GE's tax rate to over 32% some years. Then they went to work in the congressional-military-industrial game and by the 90s their taxes were going down, down, down.
GE grew profits overseas, grew jobs overseas. What's wrong with this picture? GE pays no taxes in the U.S., but claims high U.S. taxes are making it uncompetitive globally, and keeps them from creating jobs here at "home." I think they've got it backwards. GE is an irresponsible corporate leech, profiting off of the gullibility of American taxpayers. U.S. tax laws coupled with competing cooperative foreign countries' low-corporate tax laws encourage GE to "move" profits overseas, and move jobs overseas.
Hmm. How can they do that? One old-fashioned example: First, sell U.S.-made GE parts at an in-house discount to overseas branches. Fair enough accounting, I suppose, but the U.S. branch loses money every year! No tax liability! But look at the plant in Ireland: they are able to get cheap parts from the U.S. and sell the finished products at a market price. Voila! Irish plants are very profitable, but Ireland doesn't insist on much in taxes. They don't provide nuclear aircraft carriers to defend the Free World, either.
Somehow, I feel I'm being screwed. It's not class envy on my part. Call it "shared sacrifice." It's time, again, to get GE and its fellow corporate welfare kings, back into the fold or responsible American corporate citizens. We need to put them back to work here.
Even Ronald Reagan was frustrated when he learned back in the 1980s that GE paid almost no taxes then. Closed corporate loopholes with 1986 tax law. Raised GE's tax rate to over 32% some years. Then they went to work in the congressional-military-industrial game and by the 90s their taxes were going down, down, down.
GE grew profits overseas, grew jobs overseas. What's wrong with this picture? GE pays no taxes in the U.S., but claims high U.S. taxes are making it uncompetitive globally, and keeps them from creating jobs here at "home." I think they've got it backwards. GE is an irresponsible corporate leech, profiting off of the gullibility of American taxpayers. U.S. tax laws coupled with competing cooperative foreign countries' low-corporate tax laws encourage GE to "move" profits overseas, and move jobs overseas.
Hmm. How can they do that? One old-fashioned example: First, sell U.S.-made GE parts at an in-house discount to overseas branches. Fair enough accounting, I suppose, but the U.S. branch loses money every year! No tax liability! But look at the plant in Ireland: they are able to get cheap parts from the U.S. and sell the finished products at a market price. Voila! Irish plants are very profitable, but Ireland doesn't insist on much in taxes. They don't provide nuclear aircraft carriers to defend the Free World, either.
Somehow, I feel I'm being screwed. It's not class envy on my part. Call it "shared sacrifice." It's time, again, to get GE and its fellow corporate welfare kings, back into the fold or responsible American corporate citizens. We need to put them back to work here.
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