Simple Q:

[enders-shadow.livejournal.com]

http://labornotes.org/2012/02/chicago-occupation-challenges-corporate-school-agenda

This isn't terribly big news. But it does show that an occupation of space can lead to a positive result.

To be fair, I felt occupation was a silly tactic back in early September 2011. I've come around sense then.

Have you? Does this article mean anything to you? Does it make you think that maybe occupying spaces is a tactic that gets results?

Why a Corporate Tax Rate at All?

[badlydrawnjeff.livejournal.com]

Today, President Obama unveiled his latest plan to reform the corporate tax structure. I'm not too curious about the community's thoughts on this overall since I'm fairly sure we all know where we all sit on Obama making good/bad choices here, but I do have a more general question:

Why have a corporate tax rate at all?

I'd like to think we all agree on these basic points:

a) The corporate tax rate is not really paid by the corporation or business in question. Taxes are simply another cost that is levied on a company, a cost recouped through fewer services, lower wages/employment, higher prices, or some combination therein. It's not an issue of "fair share," really, since we're all paying it.

b) Our corporate tax rate is comparatively high when stacked up against other nations. We're #1 in the OECD at 35%. Canada, directly to our north, is at 15%. And that's without factoring in the corporate tax rates of individual states. Whether you think this matters much is up to you.

c) We only tax profits, and that's proper: If a company doesn't make a profit, it's not paying that tax rate. It's one reason why many corporations don't end up having a tax obligation.

d) We offer a lot of tax credits and opportunities to lower the effective rate: From green energy tax credits to employment credits, even profitable companies are able to reduce their effective rate to zero - or lower.

e) Corporate taxes account for a fairly small amount of overall receipts: Well under $250b in 2010.

So the question I pose is this - if you're in favor of a corporate tax at all, why? Is it worth it given what we all know and agree on? Is the value of getting $220b in revenue from the corporations worth it?

Activism works

[blue-mangos.livejournal.com]

In the recent post here regarding the proposed trans-vaginal ultrasound bill in Virginia it was commented to me that being outraged over this bill would not work. That those in opposition needed to focus instead on the unconstitutionality of the law. My reply was that given it was not a law yet both could be done. That if enough people spoke out it could stop the bill and stop other states in the future from attempting such a bill.

And it worked.

After multiple woman's groups from across America, including one spearheaded by Virginia Planned Parenthood which gathered more that 30,000 signatures and a silent protest at the Virginia Capitol of over 1000 people, both the Virginia Governor and the bill's sponsor released statements confirming the bill will not be going forward as planned, instead the policy will be to perform the traditional abdominal ultrasound and offer the woman the opportunity to view it if she so chooses.


( would it be considered trolling if I said suck it Virginia Republicans? )

In the realm of revolutions

[nairiporter.livejournal.com]

Some people are hurrying to bemoan the Arab revolution as a failed attempt already. Maybe they were hoping that the Middle East would be looking like the West by now. But let us not forget how things developed in East Europe and let's try to make a parallel with what is happening in the Middle East now. Is this the end of the revolution? In Tunisia and Egypt the elections were won by the Islamists, in Yemen the old president Saleh still has a lot of influence via his clan, and al-Assad is still clinging to power through the old oppressive methods. So has the counter-revolution successfully suffocated the Arab spring?

As much as these sceptical statements are understandable, they reflect only one side of the Arab reality. This scepticism is fueled by the observation that the emerging "new order" in North Africa does not match the desires of the West that the East could become like a new version of Europe or North America, if even a remote one. But this is just too unrealistic to expect. Many people in the West obviously still do not fully understand that Islam as a religion and even more as a culture should not be viewed as a subject of Western preaching and attempts to shaped it in the West's likeness, because it is ready to react by vigorously defending its own identity and specifics against any meddling from unwelcome outside factors.

( Read more... )