{"id":12016,"date":"2014-01-14T00:50:33","date_gmt":"2014-01-14T08:50:33","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/?p=12016"},"modified":"2014-01-14T00:50:34","modified_gmt":"2014-01-14T08:50:34","slug":"open-thread1142013","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/2014\/01\/14\/open-thread1142013\/","title":{"rendered":"Open Thread–1\/14\/2013"},"content":{"rendered":"

I\u2019m writing for tomorrow and am sad to report That I still feel so horrid, that I dozed during the Broncos game.<\/font><\/p>\n

Jig Zone Puzzle<\/strong>:<\/font><\/p>\n

Today’s took me 4:36 (average 5:47).  To do it, click here<\/a>.  How did you do?<\/font><\/p>\n

Short Takes<\/strong>:<\/font><\/p>\n

From Alternet<\/a>: <\/font><\/p>\n

A recent  New York Times<\/a> article by economist Laurence J. Kotlikoff suggested that we "Abolish the Corporate Income Tax." His case for doing so, he explains, "requires constructing a large-scale computer simulation model of the United States economy as it interacts over time with other nations’ economies." The computer determined that the tax cut would be "self-financing to a significant extent." <\/p>\n

Big business hints at serious  consequences<\/a> if we don’t comply with this lower tax demand. But abolishing the corporate income tax is not likely to reverse the long history of harmful corporate behavior. There are several good reasons why. <\/p>\n

1. Corporations Have a Proven Record of Spending Tax Breaks on Themselves<\/strong><\/p>\n

The evidence comes from 2004, when a "repatriation holiday" allowed corporations to bring their profits home at a much-reduced tax rate. But they used over  90% of the money<\/a> to "enrich shareholders and executives"<\/a> by paying dividends and  buying back their own stock<\/a>. At the same time, they  cut jobs and research spending<\/a>. A Senate subcommittee called the whole affair a  "failed tax policy"<\/a> that shouldn’t be repeated. <\/p>\n

The increasing level of stock buybacks epitomizes the transition from corporate responsibility to corporate self-indulgence. Stock buybacks are a means by which major corporations seek to  manipulate<\/a> the market prices of their own shares, thereby enriching executives with plentiful stock options. The buyback surge is dramatic.  In 1981<\/a>, 292 major corporations spent less than 3 percent of their combined net income on buybacks, but by 2007 the very same 292 corporations were spending over 82 percent of their net income repurchasing their own stock.<\/p>\n

This is just one of four major reasons why corporate tax rates should be increased, not decreased. Click through for the other three.<\/font><\/p>\n

From McClatchy DC<\/a>: <\/font>Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell, frustrated in recent weeks as Democrats have wielded unusual power, Monday urged more dialogue and cooperation–"simple give and take," he called it.<\/p>\n

RepubliSpeak Dictionary<\/strong> – Simple Give and Take<\/em>: Democrats simply give. Republicans simply take.<\/font><\/p>\n

From Think Progress<\/a>: <\/font>The Office of the Inspector General at the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) has opened<\/a> a federal investigation into whether New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) improperly used Hurricane Sandy relief funds to produce commercials starring himself and his family ahead of his re-election campaign. Auditors will examine how the Christie administration used $25 million set aside for \u201ca marketing campaign to promote the Jersey Shore and encourage tourism,\u201d focusing on the bidding process to award a $4.7 million to a politically connected firm that cast Christie and his family in the Sandy ads, while \u201ca comparable firm proposed billing the state $2.5 million for similar work\u201d but did not include Christie in the commercials<\/strong>. <\/p>\n

The ads produced by the company, MWW, attracted significant criticism. The New Jersey Star Ledger accused<\/a> Christie of siphoning off \u201cmoney that was intended for victims of Sandy to promote himself in a series of TV ads,\u201d and described the move as \u201coffensive\u201d and a \u201d new low.\u201d\u2026 [emphasis added<\/em>] <\/p>\n