Economy and Business
Occupying the Koch Brothers’ Lobby
The gabillionaire Koch brothers feel entitled to occupy the people's elections, barging in with sacks full of corporate cash. So, how would the brothers feel if the people barged into their political affairs? To find out, a few citizens recently paid a visit to Koch...
When Corporate America Gets Too Big to Tax
Derailing the High-Speed Trading Bullet Train Before It Crashes Our Economy
On the afternoon of May 6, 2010, the Dow Jones Industrial Average suffered its fastest nosedive ever. Within minutes, a trillion dollars in wealth went "poof." What happened? What actually set it off remains in dispute. Yet we do know that high-frequency traders,...
Waiter, Am I Subsidizing Your Pay?
Late April doesn't just bring flocks of tourists to Washington. It's when hundreds of members of the National Restaurant Association — a.k.a. the "other NRA" — swarm Capitol Hill for two intensive days of lobbying. With a $65 million budget and over 52,000 members,...
When Congress Serves the Other NRA
Of High-Speed Fastballs and High-Speed Trades
The sweet-swinging Detroit Tigers infielder Miguel Cabrera may or may not turn out to be, by the time he retires, the best hitter in baseball history. But Cabrera already holds a historic distinction Just before the opening day of the 2014 baseball season, the...
Ryan’s Joke Is on Us
My guess is that Rep. Paul Ryan, the Republican Party's highly touted budget guru, doesn't have a very tight grip on the concept of irony. Otherwise, why would he choose April Fools' Day to release the latest version of what the GOP intends to do to federal programs...
Wall Street’s MIA Ethics
Let's review the rap sheet of Wall Street banks: defrauding investors, cheating homeowners, money laundering, rigging markets, tax evasion, credit card ripoffs… and so sickeningly much more. At last, though, some of the cops on the bank beat seem to be having...
Want to See Where Your Taxes Go?
Millions of Americans file their federal income tax returns by April 15 each year with no idea what the government actually does with all that money. This is surprising, considering that individuals are our nation’s primary bill payers. Income taxes paid by...
This Week in OtherWords: April 9, 2014
This week, we're running our annual OtherWords Tax Day special edition. Chuck Collins and Bob Lord explain how billionaires are bypassing the estate tax and what's wrong with that. Jim Hightower and cartoonist Khalil Bendib skewer Caterpillar Inc. for an offshore tax...
