Sheila Bair joins Bill Moyers to talk about American banks

Sheila Bair joins Bill Moyers to talk about American banks

What You Should Know About That Completed TPP "Trade" Deal;

 The Trans-Pacific Free-Trade Charade

The TPP is still secret and according to the terms in this year's fast-track legislation it will remain secret for 30 days after the president formally notifies Congress that he will sign it. That could be a while still, as the agreement's details need to be "ironed out." After that 30-day wait the full text has to be public for 60 days before Congress can vote. Expect a massive and massively funded corporate PR push.

Dave Johnson; Joseph Stiglitz and Adam Hersh

http://portside.org/2015-10-07/what-you-should-know-about-completed-tpp-trade-deal-trans-pacific-free-trade-charade

-      See more at: http://portside.org/2015-10-07/what-you-should-know-about-completed-tpp-trade-deal-trans-pacific-free-trade-charade

Offshore Shell Games 2015 | CTJReports

Offshore Shell Games 2015 | CTJReports

The largest 500 U.S. companies would owe an estimated $620 billion in U.S. taxes were it not for the more than $2.1 trillion in offshore cash that most of the firms hold in foreign tax havens, according to a study released Tuesday.

The report (PDF), based on an analysis of company filings to the IRS and the Securities and Exchange Commission, was authored by the Citizens for Tax Justice and the U.S. Public Interest Research Group Education Fund.

It found that close to three-quarters of the 500 biggest companies by gross revenue utilize tax havens through foreign subsidiaries in countries with low tax liability, including Bermuda, Ireland, the Netherlands and the Cayman Islands.

Ben Bernanke on Lehman Collapse

A review of Bernanke's new book tells the tale.

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/10/06/business/dealbook/in-ben-bernankes-memoir-a-candid-look-at-lehman-brothers-collapse.html?_r=0

In another review he suggests that some of the financial CEOs should have gone to jail.
Duane

Trade Agreements

The trade agreements are a major part of the neoliberal agenda.  Here we have a record of the Obama Administration pushing " free trade." 

Negotiators Reach Deal on TPP Oct.5, 2015. 

Obama Administration negotiators have reached a agreement with other nations on TPP.  Negotiators announced an "agreement in principle" for something called the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP), meaning it will soon move to Congress for approval.

By Paul Garver

Throughout the spring, liberal Democrats and some Tea Party Republicans, aided by a coalition of labor, environmental, and progressive groups, joined forces against a massive corporate power grab known as “Fast Track” Trade Promotion Authority (TPA) only to see it narrowly pass the House by a 218-208 vote in early June. TPA and the accompanying Trade Adjustment Assistance (TAA) bills were signed into law by President Barack Obama on June 29. 

Polls show that a majority of American voters oppose “trade deals” that endanger workers’ jobs and environmental regulations. But the political game is rigged. Fast Track Trade Promotion Authority, which allows U.S. trade representatives to negotiate agreements in secret (retroactively in the TPP case), is not really about “free trade.” Such authority would cement the current inequitable structure of the global economy by enacting three sweeping investor protection treaties (Trans Pacific Partnership [TPP], Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership [TTIP], and the Trade in Services Agreement [TISA]). Together these treaties would make it almost impossible for any political authority in any nation to enforce serious protections for workers, communities, or the environment. 

Trump's Tax Plan is Good For - Well, Donald Trump

After weeks of worrying traditional anti-tax Republicans with talk of a crackdown on the rich, experts across the political spectrum say Trump’s plan looks like a windfall for the wealthiest of the wealthy and for big corporations. 

Benjy Sarlin

MSNBC

September 28, 2015

Trump’s tax proposal: Buyer beware!

Donald Trump’s position on winning is clear: He’s for it. So it’s perhaps not surprising that Trump himself looks like the biggest winner in his tax plan, which includes a number of changes that would slash taxes for himself, his company, and the children who stand to inherit his fortune.

“I fight like hell to pay as little as possible,” Trump said at his press conference announcing the plan on Monday. “Can I say that? I’m not a politician. I fight like hell always because it’s an expense.”

After weeks of worrying traditional anti-tax Republicans with talk of a crackdown on the rich, experts across the political spectrum say Trump’s plan looks like a windfall for the wealthiest of the wealthy and for big corporations. The top tax rate for individuals would be reduced to 25% from 39.6%, the top corporate tax rate would be cut by more than half to 15% from 35%, and the estate tax – which only applies to inheritances over $5.4 million – would be eliminated entirely. In addition, Trump would eliminate a 3.8% surcharge on capital gains taxes for wealthy investors created to finance the Affordable Care Act, which provides subsidies to lower and middle income Americans to buy insurance. All of these changes would likely benefit people like Trump and businesses like his own in a major way.

Getting to the Point with Senator Elizabeth Warren

Economic Justice and Black Lives Matter