Republicans and Democrats You Suck, A PSA From The People That Are Really In Charge/ with poll to vote on who is ruining america

• Make Corporate Lobbying for Laws illegal.
• Make campaign contributions from Corporations illegal.
• Make separation of Corporation and State.
• Return the power of the Federal Reserve to the people of the United States (either direct ownership or via direct government contigent on a government that is actually beholden to the people of course)
• Revoke Corporate citizenship, they are not entitled to the bill of rights in anyway and must follow the laws of the land like all of us do.
• Revoke capital gains in the stock market all together. Stock will cost a fixed constant amount to purchase "earnings" of the company. QED 50 dollars buys me 5 dollars of earnings annually. If I want to sell, I sell my earnings at the constant rate. [Of course, that's dreaming because so many Pension funds, SS, Insurance profits, Bank profits, etc, etc are all dependent on stock prices going up at 8% per year, but one can dream right?]
• Eliminate international policies that encourage currencies to not appreciate, labor rates to remain the same, etc. Seriously, NAFTA has been going on decades now and citizens in Mexico are making no more money now than then? Same for China. 20 years of outrageous GDP growth and no new middle class? Bulls%$#t.
• Eliminate stock option pay for CEOs (that goes in concert with cap gains)
• Adopt new tax code by progressive rates. No refunds, no rebates, no excemptions, no tax credits. If you make X you pay Y rate, that is it.

What I'm talking about are true free markets in the economic policy. Realize that Wallstreet is not a free market and most mega corps certainly would never operate in a free market.

The systems that Corporations operate around are subject to extreme displacement of capital, corruption of all sorts, and inequality that matches that of slavery.

nicey

Make Corporate Lobbying for Laws illegal.

So you are saying that if a law is being proposed that negatively impacts an industry without any real reason, then you want to make it illegal for a company to provide input? And you want to create jobs?

Make campaign contributions from Corporations illegal.

I have no problem with that, I take the attitude, if you can't vote, you can't contribute

Make separation of Corporation and State.

Not even sure what this means. I am an owner (1 of 3) of a company, and we have nothing to do with the state.

Return the power of the Federal Reserve to the people of the United States (either direct ownership or via direct government contigent on a government that is actually beholden to the people of course)

Not even sure what you intend to accomplish with this, but the current makeup of the reserve board is 1/3 banking, 1/3 government (the people), 1/3 non bank industry. More details please.

Revoke Corporate citizenship, they are not entitled to the bill of rights in anyway and must follow the laws of the land like all of us do.

Not even sure what you hope to accomplish. If you remove virtual personhood (which is what companies have), then companies can no longer exist at all. Again, you want to create jobs?

Revoke capital gains in the stock market all together. Stock will cost a fixed constant amount to purchase "earnings" of the company. QED 50 dollars buys me 5 dollars of earnings annually. If I want to sell, I sell my earnings at the constant rate. [Of course, that's dreaming because so many Pension funds, SS, Insurance profits, Bank profits, etc, etc are all dependent on stock prices going up at 8% per year, but one can dream right?]

That is called a bond, they exist. Only bond holders don't get equity in a company, they are debt. A simple course in the financial markets (or even reading up about it on wikipedia) will help explain this. As far as equity is concerned, how can you say that 50 dollars will buy you anything. If the company loses money in a given year, then how do you get paid.

Eliminate international policies that encourage currencies to not appreciate, labor rates to remain the same, etc.
Seriously, NAFTA has been going on decades now and citizens in Mexico are making no more money now than then? Same for China. 20 years of outrageous GDP growth and no new middle class? Bulls%$#t.

China's middle class has been growing by leaps and bounds, not sure where you are getting that information. The issue in Mexico isn't NAFTA (which is a do nothing trade agreement, nothing good, nothing bad), it is that the people that control the money are the traditional nepotic family structures that ran the country when it was a colony of spain.

Eliminate stock option pay for CEOs (that goes in concert with cap gains)

Stock pay came into being because congress limited actual pay. Take the limit on actual pay off and the stock pay will go down. The one incentive for stock pay however is that it does encourage that the executive work to improve the price of the company (this can be good or bad depending on whether the methods use are short term or longer term decisions).

Adopt new tax code by progressive rates. No refunds, no rebates, no excemptions, no tax credits. If you make X you pay Y rate, that is it.

The tax code already has progressive rates, however from a company view point, if you take away my ability to deduct the cost of new equipment, I won't invest in my company and therefore I won't care about the longer term viability of my company. THAT is a huge part of what is wrong with our economy right now. We have had 30 years of companies here not investing in the company, just drawing out income for as long as they can, then they dump the jobs to china and walk away with the profits. Is the system messed up, yes, but removing the ability to have deductions is not the answer. Simplifying, yes, I would agree with that, but you still don't get rid of the biggest issue, and that is transfer pricing. Removing deductions doesn't correct the problem of shifting profits by using transfer pricing.

MJ, right on the mark. Why is it that foreign countries have tariffs on all US products which increases their costs while we allow their products into this country duty free? The free trade agreements we entered into foolishly putting us at a global disadvantage have to be re addressed starting with the repeal of NAFTA.

mightyj,

sorry, took me a while to grok that comment.

I am not really sure what to think of that. The reality is that we aren't being flooded by foreigners, we are being flooded by our own business people who are taking advantage of the 'slave' labor. I almost look at it as something similar to transfer pricing where every thing I can think of to fix the problem creates more problems than it solves.

Where I see a problem with the 'slave labor' is, exactly what is the appropriate level for each country, how long does it take to make that determination and how often does it get updated for each product/country etc...

While I am not against the concept, I just have a hard time trying to figure out how it could be implemented.

You're most welcome and kind.

:)

Good job with your article.

Guess I haven't bumped into you until today, mightyj a.k.a. JJ. ☋

I'll still have to pass on voting in the second poll, because I lay the blame for corporatism squarely on both major political parties. Republicans, Democrats, megacorps—to me, they're the three-piece puzzle that explains our fall down the economic rabbit hole. Meanwhile, Americans keep themselves divided on bitter political debates that hardly matter any more, so far gone are we.

I voted for your article to help move it up. It's the second poll that I couldn't vote in because it doesn't offer my choice.

Haha...I didn't know you wanted that distinction!

mightyj,

You are welcome.

I think it is important to note that most of our elected leaders are normally people who are either in business themselves or financed by businesses which is why it took unions to get rights for the US workforce in the first place.

How many "ordinary" people are ever elected to national office?

Henry Ford paid above average wages, and reaped the benefits of skilled workers with low turnover...which I imagine was his major concern. I google Henry just to read what his outlook on business was...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Ford

Henry Ford was a pioneer of "welfare capitalism" designed to improve the lot of his workers and especially to reduce the heavy turnover that had many departments hiring 300 men per year to fill 100 slots. Efficiency meant hiring and keeping the best workers.^[23]

When Ford started the 40-hour work week and a minimum wage he was criticized by other industrialists and by Wall Street. He proved, however, that paying people more would enable Ford workers to afford the cars they were producing and be good for the economy. Ford explained the change in part of the "Wages" chapter of My Life and Work.^[27] He labeled the increased compensation as profit-sharing rather than wages.

The profit-sharing was offered to employees who had worked at the company for six months or more, and, importantly, conducted their lives in a manner of which Ford's "Social Department" approved. They frowned on heavy drinking, gambling, and what might today be called "deadbeat dads". The Social Department used 50 investigators, plus support staff, to maintain employee standards; a large percentage of workers were able to qualify for this "profit-sharing."

Ford's incursion into his employees' private lives was highly controversial, and he soon backed off from the most intrusive aspects;....

Ford was adamantly against labor unions.

To forestall union activity Ford promoted Harry Bennett, a former Navy boxer, to head the Service Department. Bennett employed various intimidation tactics to squash union organizing.^[30] The most famous incident, in 1937, was a bloody brawl between company security men and organizers that became known as The Battle of the Overpass.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Ford

Minimum wages..........

In 1912, Massachusetts organized a commission to recommend non-compulsory minimum wages for women and children. Within eight years, at least thirteen U.S. states and the District of Columbia would pass minimum wage laws.^[2] The Lochner era United States Supreme Court consistently invalidated compulsory minimum wage laws. Such laws, said the court, were unconstitutional for interfering with the ability of employers to freely negotiate appropriate wage contracts with employees.^[3]

The first attempt at establishing a national minimum wage came in 1933, when a $0.25 per hour standard was set as part of the National Industrial Recovery Act. However, in the 1935 court case Schechter Poultry Corp. v. United States (295 U.S. 495), the United States Supreme Court declared the act unconstitutional, and the minimum wage was abolished.

The minimum wage was re-established in the United States in 1938 (pursuant to the Fair Labor Standards Act), once again at $0.25 per hour ($3.77 in 2009 dollars). It had its highest purchasing value ever in 1968, when it was $1.60 per hour ($9.76 in 2009 dollars). From January 1981 to April 1990, the minimum wage was frozen at $3.35 per hour, then a record-setting wage freeze. From September 1, 1997 through July 23, 2007 - a period of nearly ten years - the federal minimum wage remained constant at $5.15 per hour, breaking the old record.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minimum_wage_in_the_United_States

No one can really live on minimum wage unless they are living with someone else who is footing the majority of the bills.

Henry almost disbanded his company rather than negotiate with unions...it was only his wife's threat of leaving him that made Henry recognize the UAW.

Henry is a much more interesting character than I ever dreamed....and evidently the US government had plans to replace him either directly or indirectly during WWII.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Ford

Ford went literally overnight from the most stubborn holdout among automakers to the one with the most favorable UAW contract terms. The contract was signed in June 1941.

.....

Before Ford, and under optimal conditions, the aviation industry could produce one Consolidated Aircraft B-24 Bomber a day at an aircraft plant. Ford showed the world how to produce one B-24 an hour at a peak of 600 per month in 24-hour shifts.

......

Henry Ford opposed war, which he thought was a waste of time.^[35][36][37] Ford became highly critical of those who he felt financed war, and he seemed to do whatever he could to stop them. He felt time was better spent making things.^{[citation needed]}

......when the U.S. entered the war in 1917, Ford took part and made considerable profits from the sale of munitions.

..........

Ford and Adolf Hitler admired each other's achievements.^[40] Adolf Hitler kept a life-size portrait of Ford next to his desk.^[40] "I regard Henry Ford as my inspiration," Hitler told a Detroit News reporter two years before becoming the Chancellor of Germany in 1933.^[40] In July 1938, four months after the German annexation of Austria, Ford was awarded the Grand Cross of the German Eagle, the highest medal awarded by Nazi Germany to foreigners.^[40]

Ford disliked the administration of President Franklin D. Roosevelt and did not approve of U.S. involvement in the war. Therefore, from 1939 to 1943, the War Production Board's dealings with the Ford Motor Company were with others in the organization, such as Edsel Ford and Charles Sorensen, much more than with Ford. After Pearl Harbor, Ford initially refused to convert his factories to war work.^[41] During this time, Ford did not stop his executives from cooperating with Washington, but he himself did not get deeply involved. He watched, focusing on his own pet side projects, as the work progressed.^[42] After Edsel Ford's passing, Henry Ford resumed control of the company in 1943.

After years of the Great Depression, labor strife, and New Deal, he suspected people in Washington were conspiring to wrest the company from his control.^[43] Ironically, his paranoia was trending toward self-fulfilling prophesy, as his attitude inspired background chatter in Washington about how to undermine his control of the company, whether by wartime government fiat or by instigating some sort of coup among executives and directors.^[44] In 1945,"with the company teetering on the brink of bankruptcy,"^[45] Edsel's widow led an ouster and installed her son, Henry Ford II, as president.^[46]

...............

n 1918, Ford's closest aide and private secretary, Ernest G. Liebold, purchased an obscure weekly newspaper, The Dearborn Independent for Ford. The Independent ran for eight years, from 1920 until 1927, during which Liebold was editor. The newspaper published "Protocols of the Learned Elders of Zion," which was discredited by The Times of London as a forgery during the Independent's publishing run. The American Jewish Historical Society described the ideas presented in the magazine as "anti-immigrant, anti-labor, anti-liquor, and anti-Semitic." In February 1921, the New York World published an interview with Ford, in which he said "The only statement I care to make about the Protocols is that they fit in with what is going on." During this period, Ford emerged as "a respected spokesman for right-wing extremism and religious prejudice," reaching around 700,000 readers through his newspaper.^[47]

Along with the Protocols, anti-Jewish articles published by The Dearborn Independent also were released in the early 1920s as a set of four bound volumes, in a non-Ford publication in Weimar Republic Germany cumulatively titled The International Jew, the World's Foremost Problem. Vincent Curcio wrote of these publications that "they were widely distributed and had great influence, particularly in Nazi Germany, where no less a personage than Adolf Hitler read and admired them." Hitler, fascinated with automobiles, hung Ford's picture on his wall; Ford is the only American mentioned in Mein Kampf. Steven Watts wrote that Hitler "revered" Ford, proclaiming that "I shall do my best to put his theories into practice in Germany, and modeling the Volkswagen, the people's car, on the model T."^[48]

mightyj,

Actually, I learned a lot about Henry just today because I was interested in understanding why he paid above average wages in a time when there was no minimum wage and very few, if any, worker's rights.....and also because of what Ford has done and continues to do to the workers in their factories in Mexico.

.............................................

Ford has maintained a presence in Mexico since 1925. In David C. Kortens book, When Corporations Rule the World, he told of how in 1987 Ford Motor Company tore up its Mexican union contract, fired 3,400 workers, and cut the already low wages by 45 percent. When Ford workers rallied around dissident labor leaders, gunmen hired by the official government-dominated union shot workers at random.

http://www.speroforum.com/a/19522/Maquiladora-slavery-in-Mexico

from 2008....

""The pressure has not been to raise the Mexican wages up, it's been to push the U.S. wages down," Ben Davis, the director of the AFL-CIO Solidarity office in Mexico City tells The Detroit News. True dat. "Mexican auto unions are taking a cue from U.S. labor leaders by offering two-tier hiring systems and salary cuts that bring already low wages down to near-Chinese levels." Taking a cue? Or, dare I say it, taking pay-offs? "Wage concessions were apparently key to convincing Ford Motor Co. to direct many of the 4,500 new jobs involved in building Fiestas to the Ford plant in Cuautitlan. Union leaders at the plant told the Associated Press they had agreed to cut wages for new hires to about half of the current wage of $4.50 per hour." $2.25 an hour? Yes. Under NAFTA, Mexico is only obliged to pay workers the national minimum wage: $5 a day. ""We need to be more competitive," said Ford union leader Juan Jose Sosa Arreola. "That's the truth. That's a reality." Once again, the truth hurts. Oh, and five Ford execs banked $60m last year. And Bill Ford's deferred millions await the fruit of Mexican labor.

http://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/the-pressure-has-not-been-to-raise-the-mexican-wages-up-its-been-to-push-the-us-wages-down/

mightyj,

Actually, I learned a lot about Henry just today because I was interested in understanding why he paid above average wages in a time when there was no minimum wage and very few, if any, worker's rights.....and also because of what Ford has done and continues to do to the workers in their factories in Mexico.

.............................................

Ford has maintained a presence in Mexico since 1925. In David C. Kortens book, When Corporations Rule the World, he told of how in 1987 Ford Motor Company tore up its Mexican union contract, fired 3,400 workers, and cut the already low wages by 45 percent. When Ford workers rallied around dissident labor leaders, gunmen hired by the official government-dominated union shot workers at random.

http://www.speroforum.com/a/19522/Maquiladora-slavery-in-Mexico

from 2008....

""The pressure has not been to raise the Mexican wages up, it's been to push the U.S. wages down," Ben Davis, the director of the AFL-CIO Solidarity office in Mexico City tells The Detroit News. True dat. "Mexican auto unions are taking a cue from U.S. labor leaders by offering two-tier hiring systems and salary cuts that bring already low wages down to near-Chinese levels." Taking a cue? Or, dare I say it, taking pay-offs? "Wage concessions were apparently key to convincing Ford Motor Co. to direct many of the 4,500 new jobs involved in building Fiestas to the Ford plant in Cuautitlan. Union leaders at the plant told the Associated Press they had agreed to cut wages for new hires to about half of the current wage of $4.50 per hour." $2.25 an hour? Yes. Under NAFTA, Mexico is only obliged to pay workers the national minimum wage: $5 a day. ""We need to be more competitive," said Ford union leader Juan Jose Sosa Arreola. "That's the truth. That's a reality." Once again, the truth hurts. Oh, and five Ford execs banked $60m last year. And Bill Ford's deferred millions await the fruit of Mexican labor.

http://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/the-pressure-has-not-been-to-raise-the-mexican-wages-up-its-been-to-push-the-us-wages-down/

mightyj,

Actually, I learned a lot about Henry just today because I was interested in understanding why he paid above average wages in a time when there was no minimum wage and very few, if any, worker's rights.....and also because of what Ford has done and continues to do to the workers in their factories in Mexico.

.............................................

Ford has maintained a presence in Mexico since 1925. In David C. Kortens book, When Corporations Rule the World, he told of how in 1987 Ford Motor Company tore up its Mexican union contract, fired 3,400 workers, and cut the already low wages by 45 percent. When Ford workers rallied around dissident labor leaders, gunmen hired by the official government-dominated union shot workers at random.

http://www.speroforum.com/a/19522/Maquiladora-slavery-in-Mexico

from 2008....

""The pressure has not been to raise the Mexican wages up, it's been to push the U.S. wages down," Ben Davis, the director of the AFL-CIO Solidarity office in Mexico City tells The Detroit News. True dat. "Mexican auto unions are taking a cue from U.S. labor leaders by offering two-tier hiring systems and salary cuts that bring already low wages down to near-Chinese levels." Taking a cue? Or, dare I say it, taking pay-offs? "Wage concessions were apparently key to convincing Ford Motor Co. to direct many of the 4,500 new jobs involved in building Fiestas to the Ford plant in Cuautitlan. Union leaders at the plant told the Associated Press they had agreed to cut wages for new hires to about half of the current wage of $4.50 per hour." $2.25 an hour? Yes. Under NAFTA, Mexico is only obliged to pay workers the national minimum wage: $5 a day. ""We need to be more competitive," said Ford union leader Juan Jose Sosa Arreola. "That's the truth. That's a reality." Once again, the truth hurts. Oh, and five Ford execs banked $60m last year. And Bill Ford's deferred millions await the fruit of Mexican labor.

http://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/the-pressure-has-not-been-to-raise-the-mexican-wages-up-its-been-to-push-the-us-wages-down/

mightyj,

Actually, I learned a lot about Henry just today because I was interested in understanding why he paid above average wages in a time when there was no minimum wage and very few, if any, worker's rights.....and also because of what Ford has done and continues to do to the workers in their factories in Mexico.

.............................................

Ford has maintained a presence in Mexico since 1925. In David C. Kortens book, When Corporations Rule the World, he told of how in 1987 Ford Motor Company tore up its Mexican union contract, fired 3,400 workers, and cut the already low wages by 45 percent. When Ford workers rallied around dissident labor leaders, gunmen hired by the official government-dominated union shot workers at random.

http://www.speroforum.com/a/19522/Maquiladora-slavery-in-Mexico

from 2008....

""The pressure has not been to raise the Mexican wages up, it's been to push the U.S. wages down," Ben Davis, the director of the AFL-CIO Solidarity office in Mexico City tells The Detroit News. True dat. "Mexican auto unions are taking a cue from U.S. labor leaders by offering two-tier hiring systems and salary cuts that bring already low wages down to near-Chinese levels." Taking a cue? Or, dare I say it, taking pay-offs? "Wage concessions were apparently key to convincing Ford Motor Co. to direct many of the 4,500 new jobs involved in building Fiestas to the Ford plant in Cuautitlan. Union leaders at the plant told the Associated Press they had agreed to cut wages for new%

mightyj,

Actually, I learned a lot about Henry just today because I was interested in understanding why he paid above average wages in a time when there was no minimum wage and very few, if any, worker's rights.....and also because of what Ford has done and continues to do to the workers in their factories in Mexico.

.............................................

Ford has maintained a presence in Mexico since 1925. In David C. Kortens book, When Corporations Rule the World, he told of how in 1987 Ford Motor Company tore up its Mexican union contract, fired 3,400 workers, and cut the already low wages by 45 percent. When Ford workers rallied around dissident labor leaders, gunmen hired by the official government-dominated union shot workers at random.

http://www.speroforum.com/a/19522/Maquiladora-slavery-in-Mexico

from 2008....

""The pressure has not been to raise the Mexican wages up, it's been to push the U.S. wages down," Ben Davis, the director of the AFL-CIO Solidarity office in Mexico City tells The Detroit News. True dat. "Mexican auto unions are taking a cue from U.S. labor leaders by offering two-tier hiring systems and salary cuts that bring already low wages down to near-Chinese levels." Taking a cue? Or, dare I say it, taking pay-offs? "Wage concessions were apparently key to convincing Ford Motor Co. to direct many of the 4,500 new jobs involved in building Fiestas to the Ford plant in Cuautitlan. Union leaders at the plant told the Associated Press they had agreed to cut wages for new hires to about half of the current wage of $4.50 per hour." $2.25 an hour? Yes. Under NAFTA, Mexico is only obliged to pay workers the national minimum wage: $5 a day. ""We need to be more competitive," said Ford union leader Juan Jose Sosa Arreola. "That's the truth. That's a reality." Once again, the truth hurts. Oh, and five Ford execs banked $60m last year. And Bill Ford's deferred millions await the fruit of Mexican labor.

http://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/the-pressure-has-not-been-to-raise-the-mexican-wages-up-its-been-to-push-the-us-wages-down/

#14.1: And corporate America.... HUGE SMILE .....Loves you dearly...... JJ

Oh, dear. Oh, my! I think I want a divorce. I really don't love Cor Prit 'Mer'ca at all! Tell Cor Prit 'Mer'ca I want to divorce it. Thank you.

:-)

Deal JJ.....check out my articles too please and I promise to look for yours. And I also promise not to get my feelings hurt about the sexist thing.....I can take it! I've dished out a little myself so fair is fair!

He's dead.

Right on. Is there such a thing as reincarnation?

you deserve voted up! Great comment!

How about making your own pizza rolls, relentlesscomedy, and then you can have your pizza roll and eat it too.

And...they're fun to make. Tip: If you don't feel like making pizza dough, buy it in the refrigerated section of your grocery store. Then, get creative and fill the rolls with your favorite pizza toppings. Have a bite of that and I'll bet you'll never buy mass-produced pizza rolls again!

Will do.

I like making my own pizza rolls fresh ingredients and no preservatives yum yum :)

Good article JJ, it seems to get worse every year.

Fishermen are the only known method of getting carbon out of the ocean

I really like that!

Happy New Year , My Brother.

Wish I could be there!Celabrating Mothers B-day today

The old turkey is 80!

Happy birthday to your Mom bore-head! My mom turned 80 in October....God bless them!

Thank you, Elaine, and belated Happy Birthday to your Mom, too!

Happy New Year to you!

Happy New Year to you all.....

MJ...I'm assuming you know my fisherman comment was supposed to be "funny", the "all of the above", not so much.

Thanks, MJ! My Momma's Bday is today!!

:-)))

Happy Birthday to your Mom, notsojingo!

Thanks!!

Ironic that while Jefferson wrote so much about the dangers of federal government power, he also presided over the single largest expansion of federal government power that the US had experienced. (and has experienced from a relative perspective)

Gotta love that little piece of history.

I do hope you went to BOTH smithsonian's though. lol

One Corporate nation undah Gawd!

Just woke up, and my nv addiction forces me to have a looksee!

Gonna climb into the rack again in a few minutes!

Happy New Year Bro!

#25.5: 3 pounds of Maine lobster (Metinikis Island Shedders)

Damn! And I wasn't invited? [...pout pout...]

#49.7: If I make it to the next vine meet I will have to bring a big pan of it. (;

And it will be just my luck that I'll have had other plans and not be able to make it...

#25.9: Maybe it will be a barbecue near your town. (:

I can always hope so!

...yer da man JJ...'preciate da "plug". Speakin of "plug"...were you "fishin" fer me...tryin ta draw me in...?

FISH ON...!!!ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ.........

JJ...you know, ah do the same thing. I've got two or three that I've got a good start on, but they are too wordy right now and need to be tightened up. The basic ideas are there, but it "rambles" and it's not cleaned up and focused. Too many distractions right now to give them the time they need.