Best part? It isn't going to be a one-time thing. And corporations are already sitting on huge amounts of money. But no jobs, because "uncertainty".

Why not just be a congressman then?

The ONLY way to stop this shiat is to take power away from these animals. SMALLER GOVERNMENT is the ONLY WAY.

mainsail: But no jobs, because "uncertainty".

Brave risk-taking entrepreneurial job-creators that demand absolute economic security and certainty.

mainsail: "uncertainty"

Risk? You mean that integral part of capitalism?

right, then, that's the small-talk out the way. down to business:

Making money is easy when you have access to privileged information and insider trading laws don't apply to you.

YouFarkingIdiot: The ONLY way to stop this shiat is to take power away from these animals. SMALLER GOVERNMENT is the ONLY WAY.

Exactly what I was going to say.
Not a partisan issue - whether the money goes to solar companies for the left, or oil companies for the right, the solution is to just take the money away. Government should not be feeding these companies money. Our money.

YouFarkingIdiot: The ONLY way to stop this shiat is to take power away from these animals. SMALLER GOVERNMENT is the ONLY WAY.

Actually the only real way of stopping it involves bludgoning of key members of the business infrastructure.

Satan's Cheese Cancer: mainsail: "uncertainty"

Risk? You mean that integral part of capitalism?

I think the irony is that the corporates have been making gains in the market. Many companies claiming it are also off-shoring as much as possible to cheaper labor markets any job they can. And they don't care. They are growing their riches... why should they care? The still employed middle class (as usual) will bear the brunt of the taxes.

This really, really, isn't news. Corporations have been buying politicians for decades. There are so many different ways of legally buying politicians these days that it's hard to keep track. (Lobbyist strategies, campaign donations, charity donations, secondary employment, etc.)

I honestly would be surprised if they found a politician who wasn't more interested in their contributors than the public they represent.

vpb: YouFarkingIdiot: The ONLY way to stop this shiat is to take power away from these animals. SMALLER GOVERNMENT is the ONLY WAY.

Yes, just let corporations take the governments place, that will save them the trouble of buying congressmen.

Corporations benefit from a large government. They're the ones who get the contracts, favorable laws and regulations, handouts, etc. They get a very generous ROI for their bribes.

Corporations, government, and especially banks are all a part of the great con, and each one's power benefits the others at the expense of the people.

Mumbler: Whether the money goes to solar companies for the left, or oil companies for the right, the solution is to just take the money away. Government should not be feeding these companies money. Our money.

See, the thing is, when they take tax revenue out of the system, they don't take it from solar and oil. They take it from healthcare, infrastructure and schools. As long as this system is organized this way, corporate subsidies will be the last thing to go.

The solution isn't to make government smaller, but to make bribery illegal. I say we start by raising taxes on lobbying organizations and financial institutions. We can use the money to defray the cost of enforcement in both finance and politics.

/NEEDS MOAR REGULATION

heard this piece this morning, i was expecting it to be a much smaller number. corporations are people too...

Team America, Fark Yeah!

YouFarkingIdiot: The ONLY way to stop this shiat is to take power away from these animals. SMALLER GOVERNMENT is the ONLY WAY.

The only way to stop it is to stop allowing "donations." Call them bribes like they are, make them illegal, and make a law that any media outlet must run a certain number of ads for free. A

Politicians are not for sale. They're for rent......

YouFarkingIdiot: The ONLY way to stop this shiat is to take power away from these animals. SMALLER GOVERNMENT is the ONLY WAY.

Okay, I think I agree with the first part of your post, but I'm a little unclear as to whether you are referencing the politicians, the lobbyists, or both. I can also agree that our federal government has become unnecessarily bloated. However, I don't see how just making the government "smaller" will in any way make it less corrupt. You can cut funding, cut departments, cut employees, but at the end of the day, as long as lobbyists have carte blanche to buy congress through gifts, contributions, future job offers, etc., the corrupting is going to continue. Congress is not likely to willingly give up its gravy train, and the lobbyists aren't likely to willingly give up unfettered access to the seats of power. As long as enough money can buy virtually any law one desires, the American people will never have a voice.

Anyone can make a poster, radio speach or youtube vid. If you can't afford that, maybe you made some bad decisions with your money or don't know anyone with a cellphone and can't find the library.

SweetSaws: Why not just be a congressman then?

Because laws and oversight apply to congressmen.

Chaotic_June: This really, really, isn't news. Corporations have been buying politicians for decades. There are so many different ways of legally buying politicians these days that it's hard to keep track. (Lobbyist strategies, campaign donations, charity donations, secondary employment, etc.)

I honestly would be surprised if they found a politician who wasn't more interested in their contributors than the public they represent.

I would have put Anthony Weiner on the list of people that could give fark-all about who donated to him if he saw them between him and a rant-worthy cause. But since he took a picture of his dick and did something legal (although admittedly weird and stupid), he had to be put down immediately. Never mind how many Republicans are caught having sex in public restrooms or stealing from election funds. An actual, honest-to-god liberal in congress showed a dirty is to a legal adult in the interwebs.

I have to point to 2 major flaws in this article.

1. The sample size is one.

2. The alternative to the bill is that these companies will spend the money in the country they make it in and the US gets nothing.

Yeah we have the best congress money can buy, but this article isn't very well thought through.

imontheinternet: Corporations, government, and especially banks are all a part of the great con, and each one's power benefits the others at the expense of the people.

+∞

Sheila_McSly: The solution isn't to make government smaller, but to make bribery illegal.

Bribery is illegal. This is just the way humans work.

part of the problem: Politicians are not for sale. They're for rent......

However, trailers are for sale or rent.

kenadak: 2. The alternative to the bill is that these companies will spend the money in the country they make it in and the US gets nothing.

that was only the alternative in pleasantville.
what happened was they brought the money in at a lower tax rate than usual and are simply holding it without providing the jobs the bill was for.
and one of the Boobiesers was right, can't wait to see it happen all over again too.

mod3072: Okay, I think I agree with the first part of your post, but I'm a little unclear as to whether you are referencing the politicians, the lobbyists, or both. I can also agree that our federal government has become unnecessarily bloated. However, I don't see how just making the government "smaller" will in any way make it less corrupt. You can cut funding, cut departments, cut employees, but at the end of the day, as long as lobbyists have carte blanche to buy congress through gifts, contributions, future job offers, etc., the corrupting is going to continue. Congress is not likely to willingly give up its gravy train, and the lobbyists aren't likely to willingly give up unfettered access to the seats of power. As long as enough money can buy virtually any law one desires, the American people will never have a voice.

Politicians. If politicians didn't have the ability to steal our money and throw it at banks, corporations and eventually themselves, there would be no lobbyists. The bigger the government, the more money and power the politicians have. Which means more money and power to corrupt the system, to reward themselves and their friends, and to screw over the public. I don't think you can fully take away corruption in any government. The only thing you can do is to limit that corruption by limiting power and money.

One of the hidden profit areas of owning a congressman is selling his brain when he dies. Congressman brain sells on the black market for forty or fifty grand an ounce.

It sounds like a lot, but you've got to kill like six of them to get an ounce of brains.

So where's the part in which the politicians say "no" to the money thrown at them by corporations and lobbyists?


/oh, wait...
//never mind...

DarnoKonrad: Brave risk-taking entrepreneurial job-creators that demand absolute economic security and certainty.

You chortle, but they're actually the only people creating jobs right now. Actual, honest-to-god entrepreneurs are hiring people in their upstart little companies while huge corporations continue laying people off, outsourcing positions, and raking in huge profits while sitting on huge piles of inert cash.

But god help us, if you try to cut their tax breaks to get some of that unused money out of them or suggest that maybe they shouldn't get special incentives to do what they should be doing anyway they'll just pack up their ball and go home and you'll be Real Sorry Then.

/ good, get the fark off the court and let people who actually want to play have a shot
// if the only jobs you're creating are minimum wage slaves schlepping your huge wheelbarrows of bonus money back to your mansion you're not really a Job Creator

watch out for the rainmaker

I am Jacks complete lack of surprise.

Oh, and on the other point about 'uncertainty', their certainly IS uncertainty as long as someone like Barack Obama is around. There's the uncertainty over whether or not executives will start being held accountable for their actions and no longer be able to reap huge bonuses for driving entire industries to the brink of disaster in the name of myopic, short-term gains. There's the uncertainty over whether or not they'll have to actually start treating their employees fairly and honestly for the work they do instead of sucking their life out of them for twenty years and then chucking the dead, empty husk aside to be replaced by a new drone. There's uncertainty over whether or not near-criminal back-scratching between investors, boards, and executives will be allowed to continue unabated so that wealth can continue to be consolidated through graft and back-room deals instead of honest work and advancement.

simplicimus: So, if corporations are people, and people are limited in how much they can contribute to a campaign...where was I going with this?

It doesn't matter where you were going with this because the Supreme Court thankfully reminded us all that money is speech and as long as you filter that money through unaccountable third party Super PACs you can "speak" as much as you want.

simplicimus: dripping with sarcasm: part of the problem: Politicians are not for sale. They're for rent......

However, trailers are for sale or rent.

Any rooms to let?

Sure as hell ain't 50 cents.

We need to fix campaign funding.
if people can win and retain office without kow tow'ing to the very lobbyists that will later come asking for favors, it might just be possible to turn this thing around.

The saddest part of all of this isn't that Congressmen are for sale -- that's to be expected.

The saddest part is that they are for sale for cheap.

mytdawg: simplicimus: dripping with sarcasm: part of the problem: Politicians are not for sale. They're for rent......

However, trailers are for sale or rent.

Any rooms to let?

Sure as hell ain't 50 cents.

Roger Miller reference thread....Awesome.

Sheila_McSly: The solution isn't to make government smaller, but to make bribery illegal.

Bribery is illegal. In New York, it's a felony on both the giver and receiver's part. No one has ever been prosecuted for it, though, because enforcement of the bribery statutes would cause our diseased, sclerotic system to crumble into foul-smelling dust.

Personally, I'd love to see the statutes revised to give them some teeth. For example:

"Whosoever shall give any thing of value to a public servant, or shall offer or agree to do so, upon an agreement or understanding that the public servant's vote, opinion, judgment, action, decision or exercise of discretion as a public servant will thereby be influenced, commits the crime of Bribery.

"Bribery is a capital offense; a person found guilty of Bribery by a Jury of natural persons [compare corporate persons], shall suffer death by public hanging.

"A public servant who solicits, accepts or agrees to accept any benefit or thing of value from another person upon an agreement or understanding that his vote, opinion, judgment, action, decision or exercise of discretion as a public servant will thereby be influenced, commits the crime of Public Corruption.

"It is no defense to a prosecution pursuant to the provisions of this article that the public servant did not have power or authority to perform the act or omission for which the alleged bribe, gratuity or reward was given.

"Public Corruption is a capital offense; a person found guilty of Public Corruption by a Jury of natural persons shall suffer death by hanging, drawing, and quartering. Former public servants may commute their own death sentences by making full restitution of the amount of the bribe to a charitable organization of the Jury's choice. In this case, the former public servant shall be imprisoned for life and put to hard labor, without the possibility of parole.

imontheinternet: Corporations, government, and especially banks are all a part of the great con, and each one's power benefits the others at the expense of the people.

Just want to add a qualifier.. I own a corporation with one employee.. myself. I may get a few extra tax breaks but I am not big enough to qualify in the group you're talking about. I can't afford even half of a congressman :(

Stop consenting.

Sheila_McSly: The solution isn't to make government smaller, but to make bribery illegal. I say we start by raising taxes on lobbying organizations and financial institutions. We can use the money to defray the cost of enforcement in both finance and politics.

You're right -- we need to hire an independent security firm to crack down on government corruption. So, let's get some bids, and... oh, by the way, my cousin runs a firm that would be perfect for this. I'm not saying we need to hire him, but he did make a sizable contribution to our campaign fund, so we should at least give him some consideration.

Trance750: SweetSaws: Why not just be a congressman then?

Because most of us don't want to sell our souls for money/power

Dont be silly, Congressmen dont have souls.

part of the problem: mytdawg: simplicimus: dripping with sarcasm: part of the problem: Politicians are not for sale. They're for rent......

However, trailers are for sale or rent.

Any rooms to let?

Sure as hell ain't 50 cents.

Roger Miller reference thread....Awesome.



"Oh man... You guys didn't sing King of the Road without me, did ya'?"