Economy and Business
I Coulda Been a Hedge Fund Manager
When I was in high school, I had a guidance counselor named Mrs. Cameron. She was a sweet woman, gentle of manner, soft of voice. She ruined my life.
Now Foreign Corporations are Citizens Too
Having decreed that corporations have a free speech “right ” to spend unlimited sums from their massive corporate treasuries to elect or defeat candidates in our elections, the Supreme Court’s five-man corporatist majority has opened a colossal can of worms. One of those worrisome squigglies is this question: Does the Court’s newly fabricated political right extend to foreign corporations?
Greed in the Suites Gets a New Yardstick
During the Great Depression, a pay package for the top executive at National City Bank–the Wall Street giant we know today as Citigroup–scandalized the nation. It clocked in at more than $1 million, sparking an angry Congress to make corporations disclose their top executive salaries. Today, CEOs regularly rake in more than $20 million a year. But another landmark leap on executive pay disclosure could be around the corner. Congress may shortly shine the brightest light yet on executive pay excess, thanks to a simple little amendment introduced by Senator Bob Menendez (D-NJ).
Tax Policy: Maybe It’s Time to Start Over
Some serious and high-minded rich people calling themselves “Wealth for the Common Good” think they might ought to pay higher taxes. Not only themselves of course, but all upper-income Americans as well. Got bucks? Pony up! As you might expect, this feeling is not rampant among the prosperous set, so it is good for their personal safety that the “Wealthers” cannot be readily identified by hair color, tattoos, or other insignia.
Which Mitch Do You Believe?
Mitch-the-the-prairie-populist is publicly pretending to be fighting Wall Street, while Mitch-the-bankers’-buddy is privately shaking them down for campaign cash in exchange for being on their team. Who could be cynical about that?
Wall Street’s Back Pockets
The Other 95 Percent
The next time you read about another tea party protest convened to decry the tax bogeyman, log on to “The Other 95%” website (http://theother95.com).
Injustice Served
Bradley Birkenfeld, who is serving time in a Pennsylvania federal prison for his role in Swiss-bank tax evasion schemes that he exposed, is now petitioning President Obama for clemency. He submitted his clemency application on tax day, arguing that he has worked with federal officials to expose thousands of tax cheats. As Jesselyn Radack explained in her recent OtherWords op-ed, rewarding Birkenfeld’s information, which led to $780 million recovery for our treasury, with a three-plus year prison sentence simply discourages would-be whistleblowers.
Keep Grant on the $50 Bill
There’s yet another movement afoot to put Ronald Reagan’s face on the $50 bill, replacing that of Ulysses S. Grant. A number of Republicans in Congress have been beating the drums in support of the idea.
Corporate Murder
A mass murder has taken place in an American workplace, taking 29 lives. The authorities know who did it, so shouldn’t that person be made to pay for this heinous crime?
