Politics Plus

OGIM!  I don’t have much going on today, but the fiscal cliff dominates political news, so a lot of research bore scant results.  I’m current with replies.  Tomorrow appears routine.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 3:45 (average 4:51).  To do it, click here.  How did you do?

Religious Ecstasy:

In the process, the Broncos clinched the AFC West.

Short Takes:

From MoveOn: A Message For President Obama From The Late President Kennedy

I see he had his own trouble with InsaniTEA.

From NY Times: Mr. Obama, scarred by failed negotiations in his first term and emboldened by a clear if close election to a second, has emerged as a different kind of negotiator in the past week or two, sticking to the liberal line and frustrating Republicans on the other side of the bargaining table.

Disciplined and unyielding, he argues for raising taxes on the wealthy while offering nothing new to rein in spending and overhaul entitlement programs beyond what was on the table last year. Until Republicans offer their own new plan, Mr. Obama will not alter his.

In his first term he did offer plans heavy with compromise, and every time he did, Republicans came back with new demands even more unreasonable that what they had originally said they wanted. If they are frustrated that Obama has learned not to play that game, good.

From McClatchy DC: Egypt’s highest court indefinitely postponed a highly anticipated ruling Sunday, leaving the nation’s upcoming referendum on the new constitution in a state of uncertainty and putting off for now a direct confrontation with President Mohammed Morsi over his claim of judicial immunity.

The judges of the Supreme Constitutional Court claimed that they could not convene because pro-Morsi demonstrators who’d gathered in front of the court’s building had threatened them and blocked their entry.

Morsi has effectively locked the judges out of the court, while allocating more powers to himself than those abused by Mubarak. This does not bode well for the future of Egypt.

Cartoon:

Greedy corporations and their means of evading that taxes they own, have become more exposed in the public eye, because Republican efforts to represent them, during the last election.  As a result, the 99% have been calling for an end to corporate welfare, which we pay mostly in the form of tax breaks.  Here is the latest corporate scheme to avoid paying their taxes.

Amid the tumult over looming tax hikes and spending cuts, a massive change to the corporate tax code is quietly gathering steam.

U.S. multinationals have spent years pushing for a change to the tax code that would eliminate taxes on business profits overseas, just as these firms are banking their futures on growth abroad.

Now, with the debate over the country’s fiscal future in the spotlight, executives, lobbyists and some on Capitol Hill are latching onto the “fiscal cliff” as a potential springboard for their cause.

To the companies, no other tax issue matters more.

They say U.S. multinationals face a disadvantage against overseas competitors because, unlike practices in many other developed countries, the Internal Revenue Service collects taxes on foreign income when it is brought back into the United States. These companies argue that if the tax were eliminated, they would be more likely to bring their overseas earnings back to the United States. It is estimated that U.S. multinationals are holding $1.7 trillion in earnings abroad, largely to avoid being taxed at a 35 percent rate.

“At least it will be here and not circulating in other countries,” said Erskine Bowles, co-chair of a White House commission that was tasked with addressing the country’s debt and a supporter of eliminating taxes on foreign profits.

Some tax experts warn, however, that such a change could radically alter how companies behave and have broad implications for the economy. Without the right safeguards, they say, eliminating taxes on foreign profits and switching to what is known as a “territorial” system would blow a hole in tax revenue, give multinationals more leeway to exploit tax havens and drive jobs overseas… [emphasis added]

Inserted from <Washington Post>

You can be sure that such a move would result in an immediate shift of production from the US to foreign countries, taking millions of jobs in the process, so corporations could take advantage of the new loophole.

A far more sensible solution is to stop deferring tax on overseas income, until the funds are brought back to the US.  The argument against this solution is that US corporations would be double taxed on the same profit, first by a foreign government and then by the US.  That argument is valid, but there is an easy fix.  Give the corporations tax credits for income taxes paid to foreign governments.  That makes the total tax the corporations pay the same, regardless of where the profit is made.  It would also eliminate the incentive for corporations to offshore jobs in order to defer paying taxes.  In addition, we should create an incentive for shifting operations back to the US by providing tax breaks for companies who repatriate jobs they have already relocated overseas.

In an attempt to demonstrate that they are not the racists their policies in recent years have made them out to be, House Republicans passed an immigration reform measure yesterday.  It was a nice try, but sadly, the effect of the measure would actually decrease the number of Black and Latino immigrants allowed into the US.

The House on Friday approved legislation aimed at providing more visas to foreign nationals with advanced degrees from U.S. universities.

Members approved the STEM Jobs Act by a 245-139 vote. While most Democrats opposed the bill, 27 of them joined Republicans in support of the measure, just a little less than the 30 Democrats who voted for it earlier this year.

The bill creates a new category of visas for foreign students with science, technology, engineering or math (STEM) degrees. Republicans said the bill would reorient the visa program toward people who can stay in the United States and help create jobs.

"Our commitment to foreign STEM graduates is a commitment to American job creation," Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.) said.

"For each person we welcome to America with one of these high degrees, we create jobs, net jobs," said Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.). "We create opportunity for expansion of the kinds of businesses that in fact Americans are prepared to work in, but often we do not have enough engineers, scientists or math professionals."

House passage sends the bill to the Senate, which is unlikely to consider it at all given broad Democratic opposition. In either case, the White House has already said it opposes the bill and would rather work on broader immigration reform that covers other issues, including the creation of a pathway toward citizenship for illegal immigrants that have been in the country for years.

Democrats used debate time Thursday and Friday to argue that while they support a STEM visa program, they do not want one at the cost of eliminating the Diversity Visa program, as the STEM Jobs Act would do. The Diversity Visa program gives countries with low rates of emigration to the United States access to 55,000 visas, and Democrats said many of those visas are being used by African countries… [emphasis added]

Inserted from <The Hill>

Frankly, I think that STEM Visas are an excellent idea, but consider eliminating Diversity visas counterproductive.  Many of the fiscal problems confronting our nation come from the aging of America.  Fewer young workers will be paying Social Security and Medicare premiums, while more seniors will be drawing the benefits they earned with a lifetime of contributions from them.  Low population growth in the US reduces demand for goods and services.  Allowing more younger workers into the US will expand the entitlement  base, and their spending will stimulate the economy.  It should be seen as a win-win for everyone.

Chris Hayes discussed immigration reform with Ezra Klein and Victoria DeFrancesco Soto.

Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

What then is the Republican motivation for eliminating diversity visas?  It can only be that, in keeping with their announced fear of white people no longer being the majority, they’re dreaming of more white visas.