Being kept informed is the epitome of a good citizen. With thousands of blogs, media outlets and candidates giving 'selective information' , that is not always an easy task. Truth is simply the information we have absorped at any given moment. New knowledge can change the reality of that "truth' in seconds.
That is why the 'facts' shared with us by "Think Progress" are so important. After the State of the Union, this information gives us the status of America today. There is both good news and bad news contained within the facts. However if you want to be informed, take a few minutes and catch up on some basic information. (For sources go to the Think Progress site).
• Since the last SOTU, the economy has created 1.9 million private sector jobs.
• The top 1 percent take home 24 percent of the nation’s income, up from about 9 percent in 1976.
• Private sector job creation under Obama in 2011 was larger than seven out of the eight years Bush was president.
• The top 1 percent of Americans own 40 percent of our country’s wealth while the bottom 80 percent owns only 7 percent.
• Thanks to the Affordable Care Act, 2.5 million young adults gained health insurance.
• For every one job opening, there are four people looking for work.
• Last year, China spent 9 percent of its GDP on infrastructure. The U.S. spent 2.5 percent.
• 2.65 million seniors saved an average of $569 on prescriptions last year thanks to the Affordable Care Act.
• “In 2011, the United States killed Al Qaeda’s most effective propagandist, Anwar al-Awlaki; its operating chief, Atiyah Abd al-Rahman; and of course its founder, chief executive and spiritual leader, Osama bin Laden.”
• Union membership is at a 70-year low.
• Unemployment benefits have lifted 3.2 million people out of poverty.
• The United States used to have the world’s largest percentage of college graduates. We’re now #14.
President Obama's State of the Union speech was not one of his best however it defined the differences between the two Parties. America will have a clear choice this coming November. The President's theme of fairness and shared burdens was right on target. Playing off the President's message from last night, here are ten "Is It Fair" questions.
1. Is it fair that Romney can attack President Obama for being a "European type leader's while he hides his money in European banks to avoid paying American taxes?
2. Is it fair that corporate executives who get fired get severance packages in the tens of millions for their failed policies while laid off American workers get none?
3. Is it fair that, according to Elizabeth Warren, thirty of America's top corporations spend more on lobbying than in paying taxes?
4. Is it fair that most of American students are raking up student loans that will hinder them for getting a fresh start in life while Romney put $100 million tax free dollars away for his children?
5. Is it fair that Republicans are oppose to any increase in corporate taxes when most Middle Class Americans are paying a higher rate of taxation than many corporations.
6. Is it fair for the Republican candidates to oppose any legislation to stop climate change while many corporations are making plans for just such an event?
7. Is it fair to cut food stamps for the poor while many corporate executives are making well over $50 million dollars a year?
8. Is it fair for 14% of American children to go hungry while we spend billions in the war in Afghanistan?
9. Is it fair to speak of family values and against marriage equality when one of the Republican leading nominees, Newt Gingrich, has had three wives and one of them was his mistress for six years?
10. Is it fair to oppose all governmental regulations on corporations but support regulations on individuals private lives?
One of the most delightful aspects of this Occupy Holiday Song is it being sung by people who look like they come from the heartland of America. Citizens who have had it up to their neck with the corruption, greed and the corporate take over of America. The words are both to the point and amusing in their presentation. Hope you enjoy this "99% Carol".
Listen very carefully to this figure: According to The Los Angeles Times, the wealth of just six heirs to the Walmart fortune is equal to the net worth of the bottom third of Americans. That's right, just six people have more money than all of the entire lower third of Americans combined.
The latest estimate of the Walton family net worth is approaching $100 billion.
The Walmart Corporation has indeed become a global giant. Since opening their first store in 1962 it has grown to over 7,000 complexes around the world. Remember Walmart made its money by being the new bully on the block and moving into small town America and wiping out local businesses with their stores. Studies show that over 50% of small businesses closed when a Walmart store opened in an area.
Then there is the issue of labor relations. For years it has fought unions, failing to give their employees health insurance and implementing some of the worst labor practices around. They would hire people 'part time' in order not to pay them insurance, pensions, etc. The family made money like the 'robber barons' of the 1890's by busting small business and engaging in bad labor practices. Unlike the Gates Foundation or Warren Buffett's work, the family has not been in the forefront of great international change. Bentonville, Arkansas was bequeathed a new art museum of which I am sure they are very proud.
Want to repeat this figure, six people have more money than the lower third of Americans. As we used to say back home, "that just ain't right..."
A few week back we ran the five worst run states in America. 27/7 Wall Street put criteria together to make judgment on the best and worst. The best tended to be smaller, very conservative and rural states. The ones picked for the worst are large and very urban but surprisingly some are in the Sunbelt. You can click here to see all the states listed with much more data for each one.
46. Nevada
Nevada has dropped five places in our rankings. This drop is due primarily to its credit downgrade this year from AA+ to AA. Surprisingly, the state has one of the lowest debts per capita in the country, at just $1,690 per person. However, it has other financial woes that make it a long-term risk. Nevada properties declined 44.5% in value between 2006 and 2010, the worst decline in the country. In October alone, one in every 180 homes was foreclosed upon, easily the worst rate in the country. The state also has the second lowest percentage of residents covered by health insurance and the highest unemployment rate in the country.
47. Arizona
Arizona’s housing market was one of the worst hit in the country during the housing crisis. Home values have dropped 28.6% since 2006, the fourth worst rate in the country. In October 2011, one in every 259 housing units were foreclosed upon, which was the third worst rate that month in the U.S. Arizona also has one of the lowest credit scores in the country after its downgrade to AA- in 2009.
48. Michigan
Michigan has arguably suffered more than any state in post-industrial America. The state is one of just four with a credit rating of AA-, although its debt per capita is actually below average. The state ranks among the worst in the country for violent crime, unemployment, foreclosures and home price decline.
49. Illinois
Illinois has fallen from 43rd last year to the overall second-worst run state in the country. The state performs poorly in most categories, but is worst when it comes to its credit rating. Illinois has a credit rating of A+, the second worst given to any state, behind only California. The state has been on credit watch since 2008 because of budget shortfalls and legal challenges against then-governor Rod Blagojevich.
50. California
California has moved down one slot on from last year to earn the title of the worst-run state in the country. In the fiscal year 2009, the state spent $430 billion, roughly 14% of all the money spent by states in that year. Compared to its revenue, the state spent too much — California had the 10th lowest revenue per person, and spent the 15th most per person. California is the only state in the country to be rated A-, the lowest rating ever given to a state by S&P. Despite the huge amount the state spends each year, conditions remain poor. California has the second-lowest percentage of adults with a high school diploma in the country, the second-highest foreclosure rate and is tied for the second highest unemployment rate in the U.S.
Populist and progressive CEO Leo Hindery has been absolutely fearless in challenging his own Party to do more for the American worker. In his latest column for The Huffington Post, he warns that Republican control would be disastrous for the working stiff. Leo has never felt it was a productive use of his time to discuss Republican policies since that Party is so hopeless and beyond reach.
However, with the battle over the Payroll Tax, he is enraged that the Republicans, with Romney's support, would deny a tax break to 160 million Americans in order to prevent a minor tax increase for the most wealthy 350,000 Americans. Here is the last part of Hindery's column:
"Something on the order of 160 million taxpayers would be the beneficiary of a payroll tax cut extension, with a benefit for the typical family of four of more than $1,000, and of these millions of taxpayers, only about 350,000 or so would be thought to be 'wealthy.' These '160-million-minus-350,000' are women and men who would almost immediately flow this benefit back into the economy, and while I am skeptical of assertions that a lot of permanent new jobs would be created by this extension, it is indisputable that there would be very positive 'ripple effects' to the overall economy which could forestall any new job losses. So whether your cup of tea is economic or moral or both, a payroll tax cut extension should be Item Number One for this Congress, its anticipated continued dysfunction notwithstanding.
And the Democrats in Congress who favor the extension have very sensitively coupled their extension proposal with a commensurate tax increase on those 350,000 taxpayers with more than $1 million in annual earnings. The one-year extension, including applying it to the employers' portion as well plus a separate tax credit for small business, would cost $265 billion. The so-called surtax on the extremely wealthy would raise $268 billion over 10 years (Jackie Calmes, New York Times, 12-01-11).
The Republicans, however, are almost uniformly outspoken against the extension, whether they are in Congress, running for Congress or running to be president. They say that it's "sacrificing the bedrock Republican principle that new expenditures be paid for with offsetting budget cuts."
This harsh view between sensitively balancing "cuts" and "new revenues" can really be no surprise. All of the Republican presidential candidates, for example, have shown that they are distinctly out of touch with the fact that responsible emergency measures are needed right now to keep the middle class afloat. Mr. Romney continually says that, "unemployment benefits... actually serve to discourage some individuals from taking jobs."
Mr. Romney's infamous line is that, "corporations are people." Of course, Mr. Romney, corporations are never unemployed people. Unemployment is obviously not in your realm of consciousness, even though today it preoccupies nearly every waking moment for millions of American workers.
It shouldn't surprise anyone, however, that Mr. Romney would so readily put down America's unemployed and underemployed. This is a man who made his very considerable personal fortune -- estimated by his own campaign to be "between $190 and $250 million" -- first by advising clients of Bain and Company to lay off employees and later, as the senior-most executive of Bain Capital-owned companies, by demanding such layoffs.
Mr. Romney's responses to the economic crisis suggest that if elected president he would precede to "Bain-ize" America. We should expect aggressive cuts in spending (the middle class social safety net be damned), even more real unemployment and little productive investment in infrastructure or otherwise. And when all this cutting to the bone fails to produce an economic recovery, look for Mr. Romney to try the governmental equivalent of breaking the company up and selling its pieces: i.e., mass privatization. President Bush brought us the ill-advised "ownership society" -- a President Romney would give us the far worse "outsourced society."
Leo Hindery Jr. is chair of the U.S. Economy/Smart Globalization Initiative at the New America Foundation, co-chair (with Leo Gerard) of The Task Force on Jobs Creation, founder of Jobs First 2012, and a member of the Council on Foreign Relations. He is the former CEO of AT&T Broadband and its predecessors, Tele-Communications, Inc. and Liberty Media, and is currently an investor in media companies.
Follow Leo Hindery, Jr. on Twitter: www.twitter.com/leohindery
Los Angeles City Councilman Bill Rosendahl and City Council President Gil Garcetti Endorses Torie Osborn
-The race in California's 50th Assembly District is dividing the LGBT community in Los Angeles. Pitting long time lesbian activist and visionary Torie Osborn against a more establishment straight ally, Betsy Butler. Blogger Karen Ocamb of LGBTPOV has written an interesting article about the race.
-With the addition of former Equality California's Development Director Eric Harrison, the California organization "Love Honor Cherish" is still hoping to place marriage equality on the California ballot next November. Harrison will serve as Executive Director. At this stage, they face an uphill battle.
-In New York, three term Mayor Matt Alexander of Wappingers Falls has announced he is seeking the 19th Congressional district seat as an openly gay Democrat. The district lies just north of New York City and is currently held by a Tea Party Republican! The town, by the way, named after a native American tribe, lies in Duchess County,
-Climate change is all about extremes and not necessary being warm all the time. In a massive report, the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change says that extreme weather events are already occurring, inflicting great damage and loss of life. They urge all governmental entities to start preparing immediately for extreme weather events.
-The last week or two has been like an award show at the Glass House Tavern. Seen breaking bread at the West 47th Street eatery was Tony-nominated actor Bobby Cannavale (photograph), The Good Wife's Alan Cumming, Patti LaPone, Mandy Patinkin, Angela Bassett, Courtney Vance, Frances McDormand and husband Joel Coen , jazz legend Dave Koz and NBA's Commissioner David Stern!
-Herman Cain is the gift that keeps giving - at least to Newt Gingrich. As news of an alleged long term affair surfaced this weekend, Cain supporters are flocking to Newt. This strengthens the momentum that Gingrich is building. By the way, Iowa is just 33 days away....that's right...a little over a month!
-Speaking of Newt, the latest National poll has him at 32% and Romney at 23%. The spread keeps getting larger as Cain's gets smaller. Also a new CNN Poll has him with a seven point lead over Romney in Iowa. He lays it out for Iowa Conservatives by saying, "I don't claim to be the perfect candidate. I just claim to be a lot more conservative than Mitt Romney."
-Legendary blogger and radio personality Michelangelo Signorilehas been anointed by the Huffington Post as the new "Editor-at-Large" on their "Gay Voices" page. This is a real coup for the Post.
-Former Massachusetts State Senator and President of GLAAD, Jarrett Barrios, has been selected to be the new head of the Massachusetts Red Cross.
-Universal Picturescracked one billion dollars domestic gross so far in 2011 and another $1.3 billion in overseas revenues. Someone is getting a nice holiday bonus!
-Violent floods swept Italy this month and the following video will give you a taste of them.
-George W. Bush had to cancel a trip to Switzerland for fear of being arrested on torture charges. Just when you think it is all behind you, that pesky 'War Criminal' sobriquet rears its ugly head....
-Believe it or not, this is not good news. The Brazilian Wandering Spider can cause a four hour erection. Sound good? Not so fast buddy.....it also can cause intense pain and inflammation.
-If the Russian election for President were held today, Vadimir Putin's party would get only 53% according to the latest national poll.
-According to Sky News at least six people are dead in England after some evangelical churches had convinced them that they had been healed of HIV/AIDS by Jesus. They insisted the members of their churches stop taking their meds!
-At least 7% of American homeowners have lost their homes to foreclosure. Take a look at these listings for some homes selling for as much as $100 million and they are being bought by the 1%!
-Over 1,300 Germans were arrested (photograph above) as they attempted to stop a shipment of nuclear waste by rail across their country.
-Really bad news has arrived from the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria. They have run out of money to fund any new grants around the world and won't be making any new ones until 2014!
- Meanwhile, according to CNN, southern American cities such as Atlanta, Memphis, New Orleans, Orlando and Charlotte are showing a dramatic increase in the number of new case of HIV/AIDS
-Incumbent Democratic Senator Bob Casey looks good for re-election in Pennsylvania. The latest Public Policy Poll has him with the closet Republican candidate still trailing by 11 points.
-To fully understand the impact of the great Japan earthquake watch the following video. It might appear confusing at first because of the language barrier but when it reaches the end of March you will have a shock. You only have to watch the first two and a half minutes. Be patient and check it out.
The parks are slowly being cleared out by the police and the movement is moving more unto university land. Many are wondering what is next for the economic justice movement. Those who have put their bodies, resources and safety on the line are having long and serious discussions about what are the next logical steps. While not participating in those decision making circles, would love to throw out five ideas for possible action by the movement. Maybe it is possible to do one or two of these ideas. Do you have some ideas for action? Leave them in the comment section!
1. Congressional Offices: Pick a time every week to get dozens if not hundreds to stand outside (or inside) Congressional offices around the country demanding jobs. If people can't make it to the offices then every week thousands should send their resumes to their Congressperson or just a simple email that said "jobs and economic justice" Flood their offices with these emails. Special focus should be given to those in leadership positions in Congress who are not creating jobs, coming to terms with poverty or reforming America's financial system. Make sure the press and media understand it is about their failure to accept leadership or responsibility for our current status in America.
2. Boycotts:Pick a corporation that hasn't paid any taxes or one that is making obscene profits while America is suffering and have an all out boycott. You can only boycott one or two to be effective. But an all out boycott say of General Electric or Exxon would have a powerful effect. Americans will only buy from those who are standing by our sides and attempting to put America back to work and end poverty. There is no room in today's America for corporate tax-dodgers.
3. March of the Unemployed: Organize Marches of the Unemployed to the State Capitols around America. Have the hundreds/thousands without jobs line up single file and present to their government their resumes and demand jobs.
4. Reach Out America: Pick one day next spring and have people all over America go door to door to ask them to join us in our effort to make the country great again by putting people to work, ending poverty and reforming our financial system. Have one thing you can ask them to do when you knock on your neighbors' doors. Especially canvass in the districts of those politicians who have refused to hear our demands.
5. March on Washington For Jobs: Next spring, working with all of our allies including LABOR, have a massive march on Washington for jobs. Go all out and attempt to have over a million people demand governmental action for 1. Jobs, 2. Ending Poverty and 3. Financial Reforms.
Earlier this year it was revealed that General Electric (GE) didn't pay any taxes on $14 Billion dollars in profits. Generating much outrage it is baffling that in these economic times how such a whopping profit could yield no taxes. GE is not the only giant corporation failing to pay taxes but in hearings recently it became clearer how GE failed to contribute to getting America back on track.
According to a The Weekly Standard article by John McCormack, GE filed, get this, a 57,000 page tax return with the IRS! If the electronically filed tax return was printed out it would rise to a nineteen feet high stack of paper. Why so many pages? So the corporation could take advantage of the tax loopholes and the mountains of tax rules and regulations that only those with money know how to work to their advantage. GE claimed that $14 billion of their profits came from overseas and only $5 billion in the United States. The entire five billion in America was wiped out by tax loopholes.
My guess is they deducted everything from grandma's farm in North Dakota to the pickles they buy for employees' lunches. People are being laid off left and right and they made $14 billion and gave this nation nothing in taxes when we needed it the most. As they used to say back home....."it just ain't right."
Forget the 1%, since those holding the vast majority of global wealth number a little under 200,000 individuals. To give you a perspective, that would mean that over $25 trillion dollars would be in a city smaller than Ft. Wayne, Indiana! Most importantly, a mere 5% increase in taxing that wealth could bring the country out of its financial crisis without the billionaires even missing the money. That is simply an astounding concept. Sam Pizzigati writing in "The Huffington Post" explains the numbers.
Last week, a new global firm -- the Singapore-based Wealth-X -- entered the global wealth survey fray, joining a crowded field that already includes Capgemini and Merrill Lynch, the Boston Consulting Group, Credit Suisse, and Deloitte LLP.
Each of these firms has tried to carve out a unique market niche. The Wealth-X specialty? The world of the ultra rich, those individuals who can claim at least $30 million in net worth. And the researchers at Wealth-X haven't just counted these ultras in their first annual global wealth census. They've tiered them.
For the entire world -- and major nations -- Wealth-X teases out subsets of the super rich, from the $30-to-$50 million set to the $1 billion and up. For the first time, thanks to Wealth-X, we can compare the barely ultra with the comfortably ultra and those super ultras who can make the comfortables seem pinched.
"Our report maps exactly where the biggest money is located," Wealth-X CEO Mykolas Rambus boasted at a Geneva news conference last week, "and just how much there is."
The Wealth-X research answers "how many" as well. The firm counts 185,795 individuals worldwide with at least $30 million net worth. These ultra high net-worth individuals -- UHNWs -- hold $25 trillion in combined wealth.
The global economy may be tottering, the new Wealth-X World Ultra Wealth Report 2011 goes on to inform us, but the "lifestyle habits of UHNW individuals have not been severely impacted."
"Simply put," the Wealth-X analyst team gushes, "the world's wealthy elite are in a class of their own."
Now how does this enable the United States to finally end our financial crisis? Read on, my friends:
In that class, Americans pack a bunch of the rows. Of the near 186,000 global ultra rich, 57,860 -- 30 percent -- carry U.S. passports. These American ultras hold a combined net worth of $7.6 trillion, an average of $131.4 million each.
That average masks a huge concentration of wealth at America's summit. The 455 deep-pocketed Americans worth at least $1 billion hold half a trillion more in wealth than the 29,415 Americans in the Wealth-X $30-to-$50 million tier.
These numbers need a bit more context to have any real meaning, and we can take a stab at providing that context by glancing over at the "super committee" deficit-reductions deliberations now underway in Washington, D.C.
The 12 lawmakers on this congressional super committee -- six Republicans and six Democrats -- are trying to trim $1.2 trillion off federal red ink over the next ten years. On their chopping block: Medicare, Social Security, and assorted other programs essential to the well-being of America's 99 percent.
The super committee reporting-out deadline comes next week. No one knows how much budget-cutting pain the panel will be recommending. But panel members could actually avoid all that pain -- and raise over $1 trillion in new money for investing in America -- simply by subjecting all U.S. individual net worth over $30 million to a modest wealth tax.
Our U.S. ultra wealthy, Wealth-X calculates, together hold almost $5.9 trillion over this $30 million threshold. An annual 5 percent wealth tax on this overage would raise over $293 billion a year, or $2.9 trillion over the next decade -- more than double the $1.2 trillion the super committee is so desperately looking to find.
The most amazing part of this? America's ultra rich could easily pay this 5 percent annual wealth tax for the next ten years and remain as rich as ever.
That's because wealth begets wealth. All those trillions of dollars America's ultras are currently holding don't sit under some mattress. The ultra wealthy have those trillions invested in assets that generate short- and long-term returns.
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