The Yes Men

General Electric likes their tax rate low, according to CEO Jeffrey Immelt. Very low. Despite $5 billion in profit last year the company paid no income tax and received a $3.2 billion tax benefit, according to The New York Times. Which is less than low: It's taxpayer funded, again.

Then Immelt was tapped to be an outside economic adviser to the Obama administration, which has been decrying low tax rates for companies and the rich.

Very embarrassing.

So last week, when USA Today reported the company will give back the tax benefit due to public outcry, it seemed credible. The paper wrote: "Facing criticism over the amount of taxes it pays, General Electric announced it will repay its entire $3.2 billion tax refund to the U.S. Treasury on April 18.... The company earned $11 billion in 2010 on revenue of $150 billion. The company, based in Fairfield, Connecticut, plans to phase out the tax havens over five years and said it will create one job in the US for each new job it creates overseas."

Only it wasn't GE that said it was giving the money back, phasing out tax havens and recommitting to creating jobs in the U.S. No, a real GE spokesperson came out and announced that that was ridiculous nonsense -- a hoax. Nor was GE going to "adopt a host of new policies that secure its position as a leader in corporate social responsibility" or give its $3.2 billion tax benefit back to the Treasury. "GE did not receive a refund," said spokeswoman Deirdre Latour.

Goldman Sachs Rules the World (Again)

"The governments don't rule the world, Goldman Sachs rules the world." investment banker and trader Alessio Rastani warned, and the EEC is poised to crash. "Anyone believing anything else is foolish".

"This is not a time right now for wishful thinking that governments are going to sort things out," Rastani said in a recent interview with BBC "The governments don't rule the world, Goldman Sachs rules the world."

The statement came towards the end of an almost three and a half minute interview in which Rastani warned viewers to "get prepared" for the inevitable: "The savings of millions of people are going to vanish" in less than a year, he said.

Who is Supporting the Rich - Not the Rich!

The Massive Rewards for Corporate Tax Dodging Posted on August 31, 2011 in Inequality news Corporations don’t dodge taxes. People do. The people who run corporations. And these people — America’s CEOs — are reaping awesomely lavish rewards for the tax dodging they have their corporations do. The latest annual executive compensation report from the Institute for Policy Studies, released today, tells an old story — with a stunning new twist. The old story: The pay gap between what CEOs and workers in the United States take home continues to widen. Last year, S&P 500 CEOs walked off with 325 times more pay than average American workers, up considerably from the 263-times gap in 2009. The new twist: Many of America’s major corporations are now actually paying their CEOs more in compensation than they pay in federal taxes. “Ample evidence suggests,” notes the new IPS report, Executive Excess 2011, “that CEOs and their corporations are expending considerably more energy on avoiding taxes than perhaps ever before — at a time when the federal government desperately needs more revenue to maintain basic services for the American people.” Among the report’s other key findings: Of last year’s 100 top-paid corporate CEO, 25 took home more in pay than their company paid in 2010 federal income taxes. • Of last year’s 100 highest-paid corporate chief executives in the United States, 25 took home more in CEO pay than their company paid in 2010 federal income taxes. • These 25 CEOs averaged $16.7 million, well above last year’s $10.8 million average for S&P 500 CEOs. • The 25 firms that paid their CEOs more than Uncle Sam last year reported average global profits of $1.9 billion. Only one of the firms reported negative global returns. Eighteen of the 25 firms last year operated subsidiaries in offshore tax haven jurisdictions. The firms, all combined, had 556 tax haven subsidiaries. • The most profitable of the 25 firms: General Electric. GE last year ranked 14th among U.S. firms in global profitability. GE received a $3.3 billion tax refund, despite reporting a whopping $5.1 billion in U.S. pre-tax income. • Of the 25 companies that paid their CEO more than Uncle Sam, 20 also spent more on lobbying lawmakers than they paid in corporate taxes. Eighteen gave more to the political campaigns of their favorite candidates than they paid to the IRS in taxes.

Raising Consciousness

There is a clear indication on the planet that the world is on a perilous collision course -- from ozone depletion to climate change, rainforest destruction, and environmental pollution. The global ecological crisis is compounded by the recent devastating social, economic, and spiritual challenges, which prove equally daunting.

But it seems there is a countervailing set of indicators that shows that we humans may be waking up to our predicament, we are beginning to consciously organize ourselves to respond to the challenges we are facing. 

Stop the Madness

Europe is in the midst of an undeniable economic collapse.  

• In May 2010, Europe was going to save Greece to prevent the "problems" from spreading into Ireland and Portugal.  
• In August 2010, Europe decided to save Ireland, Portugal, and provide more to Greece to stop the problem from spreading.  
• In early 2011, Europe starting buying Italian and Spanish bonds in addition to Portuguese, Irish, and Greek bonds to stop the spread of the "problem" into Italy and Spain.  
• In July, they increased the effort to save Italy, Spain, Portugal, Ireland, and Greece so the "problem" wouldn't spread to the banks.  
• Now, in October, they are going to save Dexia and the banks and Italy, Spain, Ireland, and Greece, to save the world.

It is not too late for Europe to stop the madness.  Let Greece default.  Let Portugal and Ireland negotiate on their debt.  Let some weak banks (even large weak banks) fail. Then provide the support and aid needed to rebuild and stabalize those institutions that have the capacity and infrastructure to grow and succeed. Create new institutions where necessary to safeguard and protect the people - this is what its is all about anyways, isn't it?  Finally, learn the lessons from the past and remember them so we don't (and can't) make the same mistakes again.

A True Revolutionary - Godspeed Mr. Jobs

“Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogma — which is living with the results of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of others’ opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.”

- Steven Jobs (1955-2011)