Bad Deeds for 11-8-2011

Galveston County Democratic Chair Was Denied His Right to Vote Today – From Lloyd Criss:

Today I went to my voting precinct today at City Hall in La Marque to vote on the Constitutional amendments. I produced my voter registration certificate. Every person in the room knew who I am. The people in charge looked on the computer and said I had to produce a driver’s license or a voter ID to be eligible to vote. I was not allowed to vote. What worries me is how many others through the process of this election were denied the RIGHT TO VOTE due to the ignorance or incompetence of those in charge of this election. Someone needs to know about the law and the rights of voters if they are to conduct elections and I am not talking about the innocent voting clerks and judges at the precinct level. They were just following instructions from above. I do not know who exactly is at fault, but I believe they should be held accountable.

Alaska Militia Member Found With Ricin Instructions – An Alaska member of a fringe militia group was apprehended at a Canadian border crossing after she was purportedly found to be carrying an illegal firearm and a large cache of papers relating to the production of ricin as well as handwritten directions for constructing crude explosives.

Court filings assert that Morgan is a high-ranking member of the far-right Alaska Peacemakers Militia — an organization with a checkered legal past. Five other members have been accused by authorities of plotting to seize and assassinate Alaska state troopers and U.S. judges.

Other extreme-right militia groups have also studied the potential of using ricin as a biological weapon. Last week, two Georgia militia members were charged in federal court with scheming to produce and use ricin in bioterrorism attacks aimed at undermining federal and state governments

Many Companies Pay No Income Taxes – The corporate tax rate is supposedly 35%. But an examination of 280 of the nation’s largest corporations suggests that many aren’t paying anything close to that. The real tax rate paid by a slew of major corporations averages closer to 18.5%, according to a study released Thursday by two tax research groups. The report issued by Citizens for Tax Justice and the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy paints the corporate tax code as wildly inefficient, filled with loopholes and subject to the influence of lobbyists who carve out special provisions for the companies they represent.

The study looked at 280 companies in the Fortune 500 that were profitable for all three years between 2008 and 2010. The results: 111 companies paid effective tax rates of less than 17.5% over the three-year period; 98 paid a rate between 17.5% and 30%; and 71 paid more than 30%. The average rate? 18.5%. Some companies paid zero. And 30 actually owed less than nothing in income taxes over the three years. How does that happen?

At the root of the problem is a system of inverted incentives that encourages corporations to lobby for special tax breaks — and politicians to insert them into the tax code. Corporations pay lobbyists. Lobbyists convince lawmakers to add tax breaks. Lawmakers modify the tax code. According to the study, utility Pepco Holdings and conglomerate General Electric have the highest negative income tax rates. Pepco’s profits totaled $882 million over the three-year period, while the company had a negative tax rate of 57.6%. GE earned $10.5 billion, with a negative rate of 45.3%, according to the study.

US Bank President on Peoples’ Financial Problems: “Get Over It!” – The economic environment has seemed pretty unfair in the last few years. The rich keep getting richer while everyone else struggles to find jobs, pay their bills and keep their homes. Companies are cutting benefits, health care and food costs are skyrocketing. CEO’s are receiving huge bonuses, even after they nearly failed and had to be bailed out by the government.

And U.S. Bank President Richard Davis has heard all that grumbling before. His answer?

“Get over it!”

Addressing the a Minnesota Chamber of Commerce luncheon, Davis said that being prepared was the key to making it through this recession. If it’s raining, he counseled, “get an umbrella.”

“Everybody’s breaking the rules, blah blah blah,” Davis said at one point, admonishing the assembled business leaders to “get over it.”

Regards,

Jim