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February 12th, 2014

2/12/2014

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Regarding Ruppersberger and Fort Meade policy:

Here we go down the rabbit hole with Alice in Wonderland as MR NSA HIMSELF.....MR. PRIVATIZE ALL MILITARY AND END PUBLIC MILITARY FACILITIES TO THE DETRIMENT OF ALL MILITARY PERSONNEL......cries foul over legislation designed to protect American civil liberties and end DEATH TO AMERICA chanting as the NSA and Wall Street enrage the world with its illegal activities that undermine sovereignty including the US.  Nothing makes the US more prone to attack from enemies than the actions of Wall Street and their NSA!

Here we are with republicans being the protector of US Constitutional rights and public justice. Meanwhile, it is MD neo-liberals making the Ft Meade NSA central. Remember, it was George Bush and neo-liberals who started this and are the face of the hedge funds running it. So, this is a neo-con/neo-liberal problem.

DO NOT ALLOW REPUBLICANS SHOUT THAT DEMOCRATS ARE THE PROBLEM.....NEO-LIBERALS ARE NOT DEMOCRATS!



BREAKING: Maryland Legislators Move To Kill NSA Headquarters
benswann.com
ANNAPOLIS, Md., February 10, 2014-- It's lights our for the National Security Agency (NSA). State lawmakers in Maryland have filed...


____________________________________

As Dutch Ruppersberger knows the US lost trillions of dollars over just a few decades to defense industry fraud, billions each year.  Much of it is used to bribe, used to promote fraudulent development abroad, to buy alliances that later fall apart and amount to nothing.  Profiteering in the defense industry is rampant and it is public malfeasance and duplicity when politicians charged with serving the public allow all of this to happen without public justice.  What Ruppersberger supports is an NSA run by Wall Street and not a system designed to oversee Wall Street and stop the fleecing of American taxpayers with defense industry fraud.

Dutch doesn't want to stop there.....he wants to privatize all that is public support of Veterans at bases like Fort Meade and reduce the Veteran's Administration to private corporate non-profits with no oversight and known not to be doing the business of aiding Vets.  

NOTICE ALL THE CHARITY ORGANIZATIONS CREATED TO BEG FOR MONEY FOR VETERANS?  THAT IS WHAT RUPPERSBERGER HAS WORKED TO DO FOR VETERANS BY PRIVATIZING ALL PUBLIC SERVICES FOR VETS!  WHAT A GUY!!!!!!!

But wait, Dutch is fighting against cuts to veterans benefits you say!!!  Recovering defense industry fraud would pay off much of the national debt and remove this fake deficit and debt!  DO YOU HEAR DUTCH SHOUTING FOR THIS??????  No, Dutch is busy passing laws that allow the US military to expand its mercenary military to non-citizens overseas because we have to protect US global corporate interests while these corporations are fleecing Americans and ignoring all Rule of Law.  HOW DOES RUPPERSBERGER KEEP GETTING RE-ELECTED YOU SAY!  

RUN AND VOTE FOR LABOR AND JUSTICE IN ALL PRIMARIES TO SHAKE THE NEO-LIBERAL BUGS FROM THE RUG!!!!!

 Do you know that Manning downloaded and gave to Wikileaks defense industry data on just these defense industry expenditures just so international investigative journalists could do the research that shows where all this defense industry fraud is and where it is going?  See why Manning was tried as aiding the enemy------WHO ARE OBVIOUSLY YOU AND I!




Encyclopedia of White-Collar & Corporate Crime


Lawrence M. Salinger, Ph.D.

Pub. date: 2005 | Online Pub. Date: September 15, 2007 | DOI:http://dx.doi.org/10.4135/9781412914260 | Print ISBN: 9780761930044 | Online ISBN: 9781412914260 | Publisher:SAGE Publications, Inc.

Defense Industry Fraud

John Walsh Ph.D.

THE DEFENSE INDUSTRY comprises the development, production and sale of weapons and weapons-support systems. In some cases, components or substances that are not themselves weapons may be classified as being part of the defense industry if it is believed that they may be used in the creation of weapons. The defense industry is characterized by oligopolistic conditions, in which a small number of large firms compete for a small number of orders from governments. Success in the industry relies upon, to a considerable extent, economies of scale from research and development departments, large-scale production facilities and good network contacts with relevant government officials, both domestically and internationally. Many overseas sales are characterized by corruption and bribery and Transparency International has listed defense, along with the public works and construction industry, as being the sectors in which bribery is most rife. The very high value of products also provides an incentive ...

________________________________________________
There's Bernie Sanders shouting loudly to use defense industry fraud to pay down the national debt.  The trillions recovered from a few decades of fraud would end all cuts to public services and programs tied to the military.  

As Bernie says......IT IS THE PRIVATIZATION OF PUBLIC MILITARY WORK THAT MAKES GOVERNMENT COFFERS FEEDING TROUGHS FOR CORPORATE FRAUD!  You won't hear Dutch shouting this!




Lawmakers push Defense fraud, waste report to influence supercommittee cuts

By John T. Bennett - 10/23/11 06:53 PM EDT  The Hill Blog

Liberal lawmakers will soon send the congressional deficit panel the details of a Pentagon report that shows defense firms over the last decade ripped off the military to the tune of $1.1 trillion, Democratic sources told The Hill.

Pro-military lawmakers from both parties have warned the supercommittee to avoid Pentagon spending cuts beyond the $350 billion ordered by the August debt deal.

But several Senate Democrats want the panel to keep in mind that dollars sent to the Pentagon are often lost to fraud and waste, even as some conservatives raise the possibility of retroactively exempting the Pentagon from the $600 billion cut that will be triggered if the supercommittee fails.


Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) last week highlighted what he called a “shocking” internal Pentagon report that concluded defense companies defrauded the military by $1.1 trillion.

“The ugly truth is that virtually all of the major defense contractors in this country for years have been engaged in systemic fraudulent behavior, while receiving hundreds of billions of dollars of taxpayer money,” Sanders said in a statement. “With the country running a nearly $15 trillion national debt, my goal is to provide as much transparency as possible about what is happening with taxpayer money.”

More than $250 million “went to 54 contractors convicted of hard-core criminal fraud in the same period,” Sanders said, summarizing tables included with the DoD report. “Of that total, $33 million was paid to companies after they were convicted of crimes.”

The Pentagon revealed defense behemoth Lockheed Martin paid $10.5 million in 2008 to settle fraud charges related to the Titan IV rocket program. Northrop Grumman paid $62 million three years prior to settle allegations it was involved in a fraud scheme.

And the list of contractors linked to waste goes on, the DoD tables show, ranging from the other largest defense firms to smaller companies.

Yet most continued to receive massive contracts.

And that does not sit well with Sanders and several other liberal lawmakers, Democratic sources say.

Sanders “believes numbers like these are very relevant for the supercommittee when some are talking about cutting social programs,” an aide to the Vermont liberal told The Hill on Friday.

“The supercommittee also should see the extent to which these companies committed fraud on behalf of the government,” the Sanders aide said. “We will get this to the supercommittee, at least at the staff level.”

Another Democratic aide said his boss intends to highlight the DoD fraud report as the special panel ramps up its search for $1.5 trillion in federal cuts. It must finish its work by Nov. 23 or automatic triggers will be enacted, including $600 billion in cuts to security spending.

“As debate goes forward, I’m sure you’ll see a number of Democrats on the left use that report and others like it. There’s a movement on the right to go back and exempt defense spending from the trigger if the supercommittee fails,” the Democratic aide said Friday. “That’s going to be unacceptable to [liberals who are] likely to use reports like this as proof that there is room to cut Defense spending without harming security.”

The Aerospace Industries Association, a leading defense industrial lobbying organization, declined to comment on the report.

But one prominent defense analyst and industry consultant blasted the Pentagon’s findings.

“Sen. Sanders is correct in stating the report is shocking — it's shockingly wrong. The report confuses isolated cases of wrongdoing with the dominant culture in the defense industry, which is the most heavily regulated and audited industry in the nation,” said Loren Thompson of the Lexington Institute.

“Critics of Defense spending like Sen. Sanders routinely make sweeping allegations of malfeasance in military contracting while ignoring far worse behavior in major entitlement programs like Medicaid,” he said.

What’s more, the yearly waste within the military largely comes from “decisions by legislators and policymakers that disburse funds to unnecessary projects” and mandate “superfluous tests, reports and contracting procedures,” Thompson told The Hill. “That's where the real waste occurs in military contracting, but Sen. Sanders would prefer to focus on the handful of cases of malfeasance that more closely match his ideological leanings.”

But one government watchdog group called the findings “mind-boggling.”

“The amount of money given to these companies is staggering, but what is really mind-boggling is the willingness of the DoD to provide additional taxpayer dollars to the same bad actors again and again,” Scott Amey, general counsel for the Project on Government Oversight (POGO) said in a Friday statement.

“Despite the report’s findings, the DoD’s over-reliance on contractors may hinder reform,” Amey said. “Taxpayers are unlikely to see any changes until DoD holds contractors more accountable, especially those defrauding the government.”

______________________________________
George Bush sent trillions in profit to all of Cheney's Halliburton and hedge funds became Blackwater USA as our public troops were ghettoized with the super-sized wages these private military contractors paid private employees with the same US taxpayer money.  The intent was to move the best public troops over to private contractors as the public military structures were dismantled.  On came Obama and Hillary who as neo-liberals placed this process on steroids with the movement of troops and war to Afghanistan.  Now, government watchdogs say that over 70% of US military is private contractors and the fraud and corruption is rampant.  US private military behave so illegally that nations do not want them in their countries.  Human rights abuse is systemic.

What we are seeing in the build-up of the US police state is the coming home of these private military contractors and employees to become city and state police.  We in Baltimore know what this police state will look like.  Police here act with impunity here just as they do overseas.  SEE WHY PEOPLE AROUND THE WORLD ARE SHOUTING 'DEATH TO AMERICA"?

DO YOU HEAR MARYLAND POLS TALKING ABOUT THIS?????  THEY ARE NEO-LIBERALS WORKING FOR WEALTH AND PROFITS!



Christian Science Monitor
Opinion

A lesson from Iraq war: How to outsource war to private contractors

During the Iraq war, private defense contractors providing security and support outnumbered troops on the ground at points. Contractors can enhance US military capacity but also entail risks. US experience with private security contractors holds several key lessons.

By Molly Dunigan / March 19, 2013

A helicopter owned by Blackwater USA, a private security contractor, flies over central Baghdad, Iraq, Feb. 7, 2007. Op-ed contributor Molly Dunigan says 'the United States must protect its interests and ensure that the contractors it employs are carefully vetted and well trained. It should also continue to work toward a commonly accepted means of holding contractors accountable for their behavior.'

Ten years after it began, the Iraq war might best be remembered as America’s most privatized military engagement to date, with contractors hired by the Pentagon actually outnumbering troops on the ground at various points.

This might come as a surprise to many, since the sheer number of contractors used in Iraq was often overshadowed by events. By 2008, the US Department of Defense employed 155,826 private contractors in Iraq – and 152,275 troops. This degree of privatization is unprecedented in modern warfare.

One of the most important lessons of the Iraq war is that this military privatization is likely to continue in future conflicts. This could be a good thing, as contractors can enhance US military capacity. But any large-scale use of private military contractors also entails risks. Recent US experience with private security contractors, in particular, holds several critical lessons for the future.

OPINION: After US withdrawal from Iraq, a tallying of the balance sheet

Of course, private contractors are not new to war zones. They supported all the major US conflicts of the late 20th century, including in Vietnam, the Balkans, and Operation Desert Storm in Iraq. But in these cases, they mainly provided logistical and base support.

Now, the US military has developed a growing dependence on private contractors – and for a wide range of functions traditionally handled by military personnel. The Army spent roughly $815 million ($163 million per year, or about $200 million per year in 2012 dollars) to employ contractors under its Logistics Civil Augmentation Program between 1992 and 1997. But between 2001 and 2010, that expenditure grew to nearly $5 billion per year. Of course, this latter cost coincides with US involvement in Afghanistan as well as Iraq.

A more pertinent question – and what truly sets the Iraq war apart – concerns the role of these private civilian contractors. Throughout the war, the majority (61 percent) of contracted jobs continued to be base-support functions. The next-largest group (18 percent) of Department of Defense contractors were security contractors. They provided security services, such as guarding installations, protecting convoys, or acting as bodyguards.

Moreover, this outsourcing trend continued in Afghanistan, where there were 94,413 contractors in 2010, compared with 91,600 US troops.

Military outsourcing in this vein developed as a result of an increased supply of private military services combined with increased demand. The boom in supply was borne out of larger privatization trends in both the US and Britain in the 1980s and 1990s, which spread over into the military arena. The increased demand was due to the strains that the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan placed on the US military.

___________________________________
As I wrote before....Maryland was sighted as having the worse VA services with a failing grade for the Baltimore VA center because all of it has been privatized to private non-profits taking the taxpayer money under the guise of running programs that VETs will tell you are not happening.  Indeed, talk was to get rid of the VA building itself.  THAT'S DUTCH FOR YOU.....WORKING FOR DEFENSE INDUSTRY AND CORPORATE PROFITS AT THE EXPENSE OF THE CITIZENS WHO VOTE FOR HIM!!!

SHAKE THE NEO-LIBERAL BUGS FROM THE RUG BY RUNNING AND VOTING FOR LABOR AND JUSTICE IN ALL PRIMARIES!



    
Friday, January 28th, 2011 | Posted by Dale R. Suiter


VA / Privatization = Loss for Vets

Don't give up on these guys!
New folks in the House of Representatives say they are looking to “cut spending” and reduce the size of government. There is a movement to repeal the Affordable Care Act.

There is mention to of privatizing some government health care services. What’s all this mean for Vets?

If you love what Halliburton did for the trrops, yuo’ll love what privatization will do for veterans.

October 15, 2010 (rushlimbaugh.com) then candidate Sharron Angle was critical of Senator Reid. Senator Reid reportedly said: “She (Ms. Angle) wants to privatize the Veterans Administration.” Mr. Linbaugh continues: “What’s wrong with privatizing the VA…? Somebody tell me where its working. Somebody tell me where anything the federal government is running is working… Privatize the Veterans Administration.!”

Including the military:
1. 10th mountain Division – great outfit
2. 1 Bn 119th FA MIARNG – excellent – well trained cannoneers
3. United States Marine Corp (especially 3/9 and 1/3)*
4. United States Air Force
5. United States Army
6. United States Coast Guard
7. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
8. Departments of Motor Vehicles in 50 states and all the territories
9. Local, state and federal judicial systems – that due process item we kinda like and wanna keep
10. Open meeting acts around the country

Privatization come with a heavy price tag. Many traditional military mainenance and support roles have been privatized. Many line grunts report few hot meals “… at the front …” (O.K. no hot food up front is as old as warfare). Military units are challgenged to repair and maintain vehicles, equipment, aircraft and weapons systems. (In one case – an Army 88M’s Dad – sent his son a needed tool kit so he and his truck partner could repair the trucks they were assigned to. Also as old as the history of warfare. Key point is the troops could not get the support they needed in theater.)

FACT SHEET
GAO Issues Report on Hlliburton Troops Support Contract In Iraq (Minority Staff Committe On Government Reform U.S. House of Representatives Juy 21, 2004)

This GAO report documented serious shortfalls with the government contract with Halliburton. Problems included:
* Planning for troops delayed until “Afther the Fall of Baghadad.”
* Planning for Support Services “Ineffective”
* Halliburton’s uncontrolled costs (Halliburton costs grew from $5.8 billion to $8.6 billion between September 2003 and January 2004.)

The report “higlights a pattern of contractor management problems. Including:
* Inadequate cost control
* Difficulties meeting schedules – Halliburton did not provide some services required, including “water production”
* Inadequate control over purchases
* Inadequate control over subcontractors

The report notes too inadequate control and oversight of Halliburton as follows: “… essentially military officials do not understand their role … regarding their roles and responsibilities.”

Dana Hedgpath, Washington Post (3011098) wrote: “KBR Faulted on Water Provided to Soldiers”. The article includes: “U.S. Soldiers at a military base in Iraq … provided with … untested water for … two years by KBR … and may have suffered health problems … KBR inappropriately distributed chlorinated wastewater to 5,000 U.S. troops at Camp Q-West … north of Baghdad… KBR disagreed with the report.”

Many Vets depend on the VA. Privatizing it will turn Vets worlds upside down. One thing our government can not do well is track massive contracts with private industry and contractors. There many examples of troops running into wall after wall after wall trying to get day to day military tasks completed – and being frustrated with civilians who do not respond to the military. The so called reduction of the military dating from the 1990′s is a myth. The funds and tasks have been redirected into private industry – at a loss to the military and increased danger to our troops. Privatization of the VA would be another disaster.

Regards

Dale R. Suiter

* Corp as in Marine Corp – the Corp is pronounced – core – folks. Often mispronounced by those who have not had the honor of Marine Corp service.

Note: Author does not support or approve of the Affordable Care Act. It is (my opinion) of something the government can not do well. Read the act and determine for yourself the many implications for the VA.
________________________________________

This is what neo-liberals have reduced all public services to....charity.  Rather than have Medicare and Medicaid or VET health programs.....we will see if corporations and other will donate to charities for even more tax write-offs rather than simply pay taxes!

DUTCH------I DO NOT HEAR YOU SHOUTING AGAINST ALL OF THIS....BUT YOU LOVE YOUR NSA COMPLEX DON'T YOU?????



Veterans Charities Ratings


The American Institute of Philanthropy recently released a report rating various veterans charities on how well they support the causes they were created to support.

We were surprised at some of the ratings in this report; not at others. Before you donate your hard-earned dollars to any charitable organization, check it out to see how much of its revenues actually go to support its charitable purpose, and how much goes to administrative expenses, salaries, and fundraising. You may be surprised!

Letter grades were based largely on the charities' fundraising costs and the percentage of money raised that was spent on its charitable activities.

The charities that received failing grades are in red type.

The charities that received grades of A or better are in bold blue type.

Here are the December 2007 veterans charities ratings, by the AIP:


Veterans Charities Ratings

Air Force Aid Society (A+)

American Ex-Prisoners of War Service Foundation (F)

American Veterans Coalition (F)

American Veterans Relief Foundation (F)

AMVETS National Service Foundation (F)

Armed Services YMCA of the USA (A-)

Army Emergency Relief (A+)

Blinded Veterans Association (D)

Coalition to Support America's Heroes (F)

Disabled American Veterans (D)

Disabled Veterans Association (F)
Notice the similarity of the name to Disabled American Veterans

Fisher House Foundation (A+)

Freedom Alliance (F)

Help Hospitalized Veterans/Coalition to Salute America's Heroes (F)

Intrepid Fallen Heroes Fund (A+)

Military Order of the Purple Heart Service Foundation (F)

National Military Family Association (A)

National Veterans Services Fund (F)

National Vietnam Veterans Committee (D)

Navy-Marine Corps Relief Society (A+)

NCOA National Defense Foundation (F)

Paralyzed Veterans of America (F)

Soldiers' Angels (D)

United Spinal Association's Wounded Warrior Project (D)*
     * See update on Wounded Warrior Project

USO (United Service Organization) (C+)

Veterans of Foreign Wars and Foundation (C-)

Veterans of the Vietnam War & the Veterans Coalition (D)

Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund (D)

VietNow National Headquarters (F)

World War II Veterans Committee (D)


Read the complete AIP veterans charity watchdog report and veterans charities ratings.

Do you have questions about specific veterans charities?

First, check the list of veterans charities reviewed by Military-Money-Matters.com. If the charity you're interested in is not listed there, then check the references listed below the stars & stripes bar to look up information.

If you can't find the answer to your question in any of those sources, ask your questions about specific veterans charities. For ease of answering your questions, please make a separate submission for each different charity you wish to inquire about, and make the title of your submission the name of the charity. Thanks.

0 Comments

October 01st, 2013

10/1/2013

0 Comments

 
PLEASE STOP ALLOWING THESE CORPORATE POLS AND MEDIA HIDE THE FACT THAT TENS OF TRILLIONS OF DOLLARS IN CORPORATE FRAUD AND TAX EVASION NEED TO COME BACK AND OUR GOVERNMENT COFFERS WILL BE FLUSH WITH MONEY.


Wonder why Congress would allow the US to be taken from first world to third world on about $150,000 salary plus health benefits?  Below you see why.  These pols are getting super-sized pay-to-play in a system that allows anyone to pay someone else through these offshore accounts.  DOES THAT SOUND LIKE GOOD PUBLIC INTEREST, DEMOCRATIC LAW?  Yet, your neo-liberal here in Maryland is all for this banking system.  We are fortunate to have International Journalists working with Wikileaks-like sites to locate lots of this money and to whom it is attached and we will pull together cases to claw this back.  We need to have a candidate that will connect the US to the International Criminal Courts so this massive fraud can be handled like the Holocaust looting.  These journalists are using the same structures to hunt and identify wealth according to country carted to these offshore accounts.

"According to the CBC, there was a massive leak of 'files containing information on over 120,000 offshore entities — including shell corporations and legal structures known as trusts — involving people in over 170 countries. The leak amounts to 260 gigabytes of data, or 162 times larger than the U.S. State Department cables published by WikiLeaks in 2010...In many cases, the leaked documents expose insider details of how agents would incorporate companies in Caribbean and South Pacific micro-states on behalf of wealthy clients, then assign front people called "nominees" to serve, on paper, as directors and shareholders for the corporations — disguising the companies' true owners.' Makes a good read and there are some good interactive components. Perhaps Slashdot readers can figure out how the source of the leak, the D.C.-based International Consortium of Investigative Journalists got their hands on this data."

The good news is that the American people can and will get this money back as we organize and reverse this corporate hold on government by getting rid of neo-liberals and rebuild the democratic party.
  Just think how much money Obama and neo-liberals could have brought back to government coffers and now, they are play-acting that there is a crisis around every corner to hide why they are dismantling the US public sector!

The first thing a neo-liberal supermajority in 2008 did was to protect the wealth inequity by massive corporate fraud. The next thing....make it easier to hide and/or keep the massive wealth the few now have. The estate tax and other legislation from the Depression era designed to keep a few from amassing this huge wealth we have today are being dismantled by neo-liberals. ALL OF MARYLAND DEMOCRATS ARE NEO-LIBERALS.

You see that the top states working hard to hide wealth are democratic leaders-----HARRY REID OF NEVADA AND JOE BIDEN OF DELAWARE. You know, those blue-collar kind of guys! WAKE UP AND RUN AND VOTE FOR LABOR AND JUSTICE!


America’s Most Wealth Friendly States Continue to Bid for Your Clients’ Trust Business

Posted by Jerry Cooper, Contributor - on January 15th, 2010

State legislatures are still enacting trust law enhancements to provide greater protection for your client’s wealth.

As more wealthy families cross borders to protect assets, they choose to set up personal trusts in states other than their own to take advantage of favorable trust laws.

According to recent data, 72 percent of U.S. households with more than $1 million in investment assets use trusts as a key component to their estate planning.  

The main reasons to cross borders are: 

• Some states don’t tax assets held in a trust, while distributions might be taxable in your home state. 

• Trust codes in some states seek to protect assets from lawsuits and creditors. 

• Some states allow “dynasty trusts” which permit future generations to avoid estate taxes.

Over the last few years a growing number of states have revised their trust codes to add features that provide for creditor protection, low or no state income tax and ability to establish a dynasty trust which allows for assets to pass to heirs for generations to come. 

Nevada recently revised its trust code to provide for directed trusts.  Directed trust statutes provide for an ability for the trustee to appoint an investment advisor to manage assets within the trust.  This provides for low trustee fees and minimal trustee liability and provides flexibility to the investment manager ultimately benefiting the client.

Steven J. Oshins, an estate planning attorney and author of several trust laws in Nevada says, “Nevada’s new directed trust statute is critical to high net worth investors.” He adds, “Nevada now offers everything Delaware offers and more because of the combination of its 365-year dynasty trust law, two-year statute of limitations on self settled asset protection trusts and no taxation.” 


Alaska revised its trust code to make it more difficult for divorcing spouses to grab trust assets.   State trust laws vary widely and clients should compare jurisdictions for features that best fits their needs.  Some of the most important trust features include whether or not a state has income tax.  

When setting up a trust arrangement having a trust in a state that has no income tax has a definite economic financial impact on your client’s family.  Therefore, no state income tax is amongst the most important. 

Dynasty trusts are important beginning next year when estate taxes resume at a 55 percent tax rate.  The general rule is the longer the period of time that the trust can exist the better it is.  

Other factors include the number of trust providers or independent trust companies in the state which is an indication of whether a trust center is beneficial to a client and the time zone from New York. 

But going out of state for a trust may not always make financial sense, especially for smaller trust accounts. Since the most favorable jurisdictions might be in states where you don’t know an individual trustee, you might need to hire a corporate trustee, which can cost about between ½ of 1 % to 1% or less of trust assets per year, depending on the size of the trust.

Moving an existing trust may also involve additional fees and may require court approval, depending on how the trust was originally drafted and state law. 

With great states spread around the country, one important factor to consider when seeking a home for a trust is the avoidance of state income taxes. Trust experts say one of the first factors to look for when examining where to set up a trust is whether the assets are subject to state taxes. 

The idea is to let trust investments grow for as long as possible free of state taxes, which can save significant sums of money, especially in high-tax states such as New York and California. (Beneficiaries, however, may be taxed on distributions, depending on whether their home state has an income tax.) Alaska, Delaware, Florida, Nevada, South Dakota, and Wyoming are attractive because they don’t impose any taxes on trust assets. 

The following chart, the Best States for Trusts gives you a thumbnail view of which states are best.  It is divided into three tiers Tier 1 being the best, Tier 2 being good and Tier 3 being marginal.  Given that Alaska, Delaware, Nevada, South Dakota are in Tier 1 they are probably your best choices for trust business.

 States bidding for trust business often will not tax those assets they are betting on increased economic activity which will bring other prosperity to the state such as job creation, corporate tax revenue collected from trust companies, corporate tax assessments from the trust companies.  

It is for this reason that state legislatures continue to sharpen their pencils and enact new laws designed to attract wealthy baby boomers and their parents’ estates for future generations.  Trust accounts have been an important port of the investment landscape.  

For wealth management organizations advisors can gain additional income and provide more value to their service by bundling trust services within investment management.  Last year several advisory firms launched their own trust companies in order to be better positioned to provide these services. 

This includes Wealth Advisors Trust Company and Dominion Trust Company in South Dakota, both new launches targeting wealthy clients from a wealth-friendly trust state.  This trend was featured in an Investment News Article last summer, More Advisory Firms Expected to Start Trust Companies.

Trusts can be created for a variety of other purposes including avoiding probate, passing on a family home to heirs, protecting money from creditors, caring for disabled child or even providing for a pet after one dies. Trusts continue to grow in popularity thanks to the aging population and more aggressive trust marketing by financial firms and the concerns about maximizing trusts’ growth performance. 

Asset protection trusts have gained in popularity as marketing vehicles for advisors over the last several years with Alaska, Delaware, Nevada and South Dakota being the most popular jurisdictions.  Doctors, business executives and other professionals have become increasingly interested in these trusts, advisors say. With these you transfer assets into a trust run by an independent trustee who can give your client distributions from time to time.  These trusts if set up properly are in most cases able to keep the assets of the trust out of reach of creditors.



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If you notice, the three banks handling the most offshore accounts and wealth are the same 3 most guilty of the massive financial frauds of last decade with almost no penalty and lots of flooding of Fed money at the time of the crash.

We know much of the money is-----we only need Rule of Law reinstated to get it.  As the US Congress fights over the IRS tax scandal regarding political non-profits rage, the IRS is being defunded more and more so tax recovery does not happen.

THIS IS A NEO-LIBERAL ADMINISTRATION AND NOT ONE WORD FROM CONGRESS AS TO THESE TRILLIONS OF DOLLARS OF TAX EVASION.


'The three private banks handling the most assets offshore are UBS, Credit Suisse and Goldman Sachs'


22 July 2012 Last updated at 12:20 ET

Tax havens: Super-rich 'hiding' at least $21tn


A global super-rich elite had at least $21 trillion (£13tn) hidden in secret tax havens by the end of 2010, according to a major study.

The figure is equivalent to the size of the US and Japanese economies combined.

The Price of Offshore Revisited was written by James Henry, a former chief economist at the consultancy McKinsey, for the Tax Justice Network.

Tax expert and UK government adviser John Whiting said he was sceptical that the amount hidden was so large.

Mr Whiting, tax policy director at the Chartered Institute of Taxation, said: "There clearly are some significant amounts hidden away, but if it really is that size what is being done with it all?"

Mr Henry said his $21tn is actually a conservative figure and the true scale could be $32tn. A trillion is 1,000 billion.

Mr Henry used data from the Bank of International Settlements, International Monetary Fund, World Bank, and national governments.

His study deals only with financial wealth deposited in bank and investment accounts, and not other assets such as property and yachts.

The report comes amid growing public and political concern about tax avoidance and evasion. Some authorities, including in Germany, have even paid for information on alleged tax evaders stolen from banks.

The group that commissioned the report, Tax Justice Network, campaigns against tax havens.

Mr Henry said that the super-rich move money around the globe through an "industrious bevy of professional enablers in private banking, legal, accounting and investment industries.

"The lost tax revenues implied by our estimates is huge. It is large enough to make a significant difference to the finances of many countries.

"From another angle, this study is really good news. The world has just located a huge pile of financial wealth that might be called upon to contribute to the solution of our most pressing global problems," he said.

'Huge black hole' James Henry says his $21tn figure is a conservative estimate

The report highlights the impact on the balance sheets of 139 developing countries of money held in tax havens that is put beyond the reach of local tax authorities.

Mr Henry estimates that since the 1970s, the richest citizens of these 139 countries had amassed $7.3tn to $9.3tn of "unrecorded offshore wealth" by 2010.

Private wealth held offshore represents "a huge black hole in the world economy," Mr Henry said.

Mr Whiting, though, urged caution. "I cannot disprove the figures at all, but they do seem staggering. If the suggestion is that such amounts are actively hidden and never accessed, that seems odd - not least in terms of what the tax authorities are doing. In fact, the US, UK and German authorities are doing a lot."

He also pointed out that if tax havens were stuffed with such sizeable amounts, "you would expect the havens to be more conspicuously wealthy than they are".

Other findings in Mr Henry's report include:

  • At the end of 2010, the 50 leading private banks alone collectively managed more than $12.1tn in cross-border invested assets for private clients
  • The three private banks handling the most assets offshore are UBS, Credit Suisse and Goldman Sachs
  • Less than 100,000 people worldwide own about $9.8tn of the wealth held offshore.
Mr Henry told the BBC that it was difficult to detail hidden assets in some individual countries, including the UK, because of restrictions on getting access to data.

A spokesman for the Treasury said great strides were being made in cracking down on people hiding assets.

He said that in 2011-12 HM Revenue & Customs' High Net Worth Unit secured £200m in additional tax through its compliance work with the very wealthy.

He said that agreements reached with Liechtenstein and Switzerland will bring in £3bn and between £4bn and £7bn respectively.





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Top Offshore Banking Locations for Enhanced Privacy and Protection

Emma Mackenzie | 7 Nov 2012 |

Offshore bank accounts are commonly misrepresented as a financial tool for the ultra wealthy. In reality, most individuals can establish offshore bank accounts that benefit from low minimum deposits, tax-free savings, increased privacy, and asset protection. Depending on your citizenship, your financial objectives, and your banking needs, the most appropriate jurisdiction in which you should select to set up an offshore account will vary.

Besides being an effective investment and tax friendly vehicle, an offshore bank account offers numerous advantages to account holders. Not only can individuals make use of offshore accounts to diversify their investment portfolios, but also they can benefit from tax savings, high interest rates, legal protection, and financial stability. However, knowing which jurisdiction to establish your account in is key to achieving your financial goals. Many countries require personal presence for the opening of an account, while other locations may require substantial deposits. Upon deciding on your primary banking goals, you can then ascertain the most suitable jurisdiction to bank with.

Here we provide the top five locations that offer unparalleled banking privacy to account holders.

#1 Seychelles The Seychelles is a renowned jurisdiction for the opening of offshore bank accounts; individuals can achieve asset protection in a financially stable and secure climate whilst enjoying 100% anonymity and heightened account privacy. One of the most favored aspects of the Seychelles as an offshore banking destination is that the jurisdiction’s governmental authorities have no direct access to bank information without a court order. In addition, there is no personal presence required to open a Seychelles offshore account.

Seychelles is favored not only for its high levels of privacy and banking protection, but also for its tax friendly climate; the country has 13 double tax treaties including Cyprus, Barbados, UAE and China. Further to this, the Tax Information Exchange Agreement (TIEA) is signed only with the Netherlands, making the Seychelles an excellent choice for individuals seeking tax and privacy benefits.

Additional features:

  • Online banking access
  • International wire transfer payments
  • 1-2 days to open account
  • Available banking currencies include but are not limited to USD, EUR, GBP and CAD
Individuals should note that the initial minimum deposit required is US $100,000.

#2 Cyprus Although Cyprus is an EU member state and thus operates in accordance with the EU Savings Tax Directive 2005, information regarding interest paid to legal entities including trusts and foundations are not subject to the directive and as such, cannot be passed over to tax authorities. In addition, Cyprus authorities cannot obtain any financial or banking information regarding an account holder without a court order.

Cyprus bank accounts boast 100% anonymity and no personal presence is required to open an account.

Additional features:

  • No initial minimum deposit is required
  • No minimum balance is required
  • Tax friendly jurisdiction with double tax treaties with 45 countries
  • Access to online banking
  • International wire transfer payments
  •  Banking currencies include USD, EUR, GBP and CAD
#3 Belize For individuals whose primary concern is banking privacy, Belize reigns as one of the best bank account choices. Not only is banking secrecy ‘strictly enforced by law’, but personal presence is not a requirement for opening an account. Authorities cannot access any bank information about an account holder without a court order, which can only bse obtained with good reason i.e. evidence that funds are a result of a crime.

Belize offshore bank accounts have a credible reputation as a safe financial vehicle for asset protection and wealth management purposes. Banking institutions, which provide offshore accounts, are regulated by the Belize Central Bank in accordance with:

  • The Banks and Financial Institutions Act 1995
  • The Introduction of the Offshore Banking Act 1996
  • The Money Laundering (prevention) Act 1996
Additional features:

  • International bank cards
  • Savings and time deposit accounts
  • Exempt from local taxes or exchange control restrictions
  • Accounts can be in any major currency including USD, EUR, CAD
  • Account can be opened in 1-2 working days
  • Access to online banking and bank cards
Account holders should note that a minimum initial deposit of US $1,000 is required, and a minimum balance of US $1,000 must be maintained at all times.

#4 Singapore Singapore’s domestic tax law favors offshore bank account holders in that the government of Singapore cannot access banking information on the account holders, information on investment gains, and bank-deposit interest activity under domestic tax law. Account holders therefore enjoy advanced levels of privacy and banking secrecy, as the government cannot pass over any financial information to the tax authorities of the account holder’s country of domicile.

As one of the world’s largest offshore financial centers, Singapore is widely regarded for its continued commitment to asset protection and banking privacy through the enforcement of strict secrecy regimes. One way of furthering your banking privacy is to open an offshore Singapore account under the name of a foreign entity such as a trust, foundation, or corporation. In doing this, certain situations may allow account holders to be exempt from reporting requirements on their personal assets.

Additional features:

  • Accounts can be opened in any major currencies including SGD, USD, EUR and AUD
  • Singapore remains a top financial center for stability and secure monetary controls
  • Lowest tax rates in Asia
  • Accounts can be held in gold
  • Access to online banking
  • International wire transfer payments
  • ATM bank card with worldwide acceptance
  • Quick set up (usually 1-2 business days)
Personal presence may be required in Singapore in order to open an offshore bank account (effective September 1st 2011).

#5 Dubai Dubai offers exceptional levels of anonymity and privacy for bank account holders. With banking secrecy at the forefront of Dubai’s banking institutions’ priorities, account holders can rest assured that their assets will be protected to the highest of levels. Dubai’s privacy policy regarding offshore bank account activity is highly regarded by investors on a global scale.

Additional features:

  • Online banking is available to all account holders, enabling transactions to be performed internationally
  • Choice of either corporate or private bank account to suit your needs
  • No fund transfer restrictions
  • No tax on interest, investment income, inheritance, exchange controls and capital gains
  • Dubai is a reliable and stable financial center with no tax exchange agreements with any countries
  • Flexible banking system
  • Dubai’s legislation favors the confidentiality and privacy of investors and account holders
Preservation of banking privacy Banking privacy cannot be taken for granted, and with ongoing agreements for banking and tax transparency in place, countries across the globe are facing difficulties in maintaining their reputation as a financial center for banking secrecy, stability and financial security.

Due to the European Union Tax Savings Directive 2005 – known informally as the automatic exchange of information – all EU countries are now restricted in the level of financial privacy they can guarantee to offshore investors. This has subsequently catapulted the popularity of banking in offshore locations, particularly in the Caribbean and Asia. Other agreements such as the Tax Information Exchange Agreement (TIEA) also adversely affect the financial privacy of individuals banking in countries member to the TIEA.

The future of offshore banking confidentiality Nevertheless, maximum banking privacy can still be achieved, legally, professionally and quickly by opening an account in one of the abovementioned locations. Not only will account holders enjoy anonymity, banking privacy and financial confidentiality with respect to their banking activities, but in many cases, they have the opportunity to open an account under the name of a corporation to achieve 100% anonymity and confidentiality.


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August 05th, 2013

8/5/2013

0 Comments

 
HI E VERYONE! 

I WANT TO TAKE TODAY TO LOOK AT THE NEWS AT ALL LEVELS AND SHOUT OUT TO GET OUT AND FIGHT THIS TAKEOVER OF THE PEOPLE'S ABILITY TO CONTROL PUBLIC POLICY AND HOLD CORPORATIONS ACCOUNTABLE.





Undocumented workers in Maryland and Baltimore work under some of the most repressive conditions of wage theft and workplace abuse.....all labor laws unenforced and fear of being reported as undocumented if they shout out too loudly about what is happening to them every day in Maryland and especially in Baltimore.  This is a neo-liberal state doing this to the poor and disenfranchised.  Obama and O'Malley are neo-liberals and this Immigration Bill is market-based....meaning it is completely about how to maximize corporate profits on the backs of labor.

The convoluted path to citizenship that is immerging will not be attainable by most immigrants...only those coming in on high-end VISAs will be able to reach this citizenship goal for the most part.  Meanwhile people from developing worlds will flood an economy with 25% unemployment and domestic grads from STEM among the unemployed.

Why are they doing this?  Global markets need foreign workers to work as Americans overseas.  Third world workers are used to working for sweat shop wages and having no Rule of Law protecting them....that is the reason for this Immigration Bill.  EXPLOITATION OF LABOR.

Why would anyone encourage the President to circumvent the 3 branch check on Executive power to inact this law?  Well, TPP basically ends the Constitution and these democratic institutions so why not get started say these people!



President holds trump card on immigration Obama can expand Deferred Action without congressional approval — and should do so if Congress fails to act

By Nelson Peacock 6:00 a.m. EDT, August 5, 2013  Baltimore Sun

President Barack Obama is tantalizingly close to passing comprehensive immigration reform, a legacy achievement. The Senate has provided a bipartisan bill, and the House is working on reform. The key issues are border security and a legal pathway to citizenship for the estimated 11 million who are here illegally.

The political reasons for the House to negotiate a deal are many. A recent Gallup poll showed that 87 percent of Americans support comprehensive reform that includes a pathway to citizenship. Moreover, growing numbers of Latino voters in key states turned out in historic numbers for Mr. Obama in last year's election, which strongly suggests that, in the long run, Republicans need to address this constituency or continue to lose votes.

However, Speaker John A. Boehner, the Republicans' point man in the House, doesn't have the luxury of operating in the long term. The conservative bloc of House Republicans is digging in against reform that includes a pathway to citizenship, and with what promises to be a bloody spending fight with Democrats looming, the speaker needs to strengthen his position with his conference.

It's no wonder the speaker has instructed his committee chairmen to send up smaller, incremental bills for consideration, with a final decision on the path forward to come this fall.

Regardless of what Mr. Boehner and the committee chairmen come up with, most of the millions of unauthorized immigrants here now will almost surely stay, because it is expensive and time-consuming to deport them. The immigration enforcement system is currently funded to deport roughly 400,000 immigrants a year, funding that's unlikely to increase in difficult budgetary times, and it can take years to get many cases in front of immigration judges.

In part for those reasons, the Department of Homeland Security does not treat all deportations equally. In recent years, the agency has expanded its use of prosecutorial discretion in immigration enforcement, focusing on recent border crossings and public safety threats. Today, deportations of immigrants with strong connections to the U.S. are unlikely.

Indeed, prosecutorial discretion is a guiding principle of this administration's immigration enforcement policy. With it, the administration has moved immigration enforcement from an ad hoc system in which individuals are removed indiscriminately to one that prioritizes criminals, recent border crossers and fugitives. In 2012, 96 percent of all removals were based on these priorities. Opponents of the policy call it amnesty, but with limited resources, it's obvious why an agency charged with protecting the homeland is focusing its deportation efforts on national security and public safety.

For Mr. Obama, expanding prosecutorial discretion in deportations has been good policy and politics. It might just be the trump card he needs to bring House Republicans to the negotiating table.

Last summer, Department of Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano announced the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals policy, which established the first program in which a subset of those here illegally could come forward and register with the government. If you were brought here as a child, are currently in school or the military and have no criminal record, you can get protection from deportation and you can petition for work authorization.

This program, aimed at so-called Dreamers, triggered a wave of enthusiasm in the Latino community, and many political analysts believe it helped the president weather 50 percent disapproval ratings last summer and win a historic 75 percent of the Latino vote in November. Nearly 520,000 people have received relief under this program since it was announced.

Now the president should turn again to this playbook and expand the program to other sympathetic categories of immigrants, such as those with a longtime presence in the United States or those with U.S.-citizen family members. The legal parameters and operational protocols have been established, and because this program, like the original Deferred Action program, would be funded from immigrants' fees, it would not require a congressional appropriation. An expanded Deferred Action program could be up and running within weeks.

Of course, those committed to defeating reform would trot out the tired criticism that the president doesn't enforce the laws on the books. They conveniently forget that both parties share the blame for the current system, and they ignore the record-low estimates of border crossing attempts and the record-high number of deportations. (A recent Pew Hispanic Center analysis found net migration from Mexico has fallen to zero in recent years.) Nothing the administration does would change their minds.

It is a near-certainty that expansion of prosecutorial discretion will occur if the House defeats all reform efforts or the House and Senate can't reach an agreement. Perhaps the president can force negotiations by reminding critics that, in the absence of real reform, a president — any party's president — still has to govern. For Mr. Boehner and the House GOP, the alternative to negotiating would be expanding "amnesty" without any of the security and business enhancements that the Republicans want and the nation desperately needs.

If the president acts boldly, he might be able to wrest a bill from Congress that could establish his legacy and, more important, secure the real immigration policy changes this country needs.

Nelson Peacock is a vice president with Cornerstone Government Affairs in Washington and the former assistant secretary for legislative affairs at the Department of Homeland Security. This article originally appeared in the Los Angeles Times.


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Do you know that one of the biggest issues for student loan holders is that the Department of Education is now run by credit collection agencies..Wall Street on steroids .. as they work to force people to get out of default and then manipulate the fees so as to send people back into default.  Each time you are brought out of default these Wall Street credit collection agencies tack as much as $3,000 to these student loans making these bills skyrocket.  It is worst than pay day loans.  THIS IS THE DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION FOLKS!

We all know that the unemployment caused by massive corporate fraud has sent many student loan holders into this situation.  So paying higher interest is just the tip of the iceberg.  Neo-liberals like Clinton and Obama..and all Congressional leaders have allowed Rule of Law be suspended and the public is being preyed upon from all sectors. That is the problem.

The solution is to first stop outsourcing public agencies.  Rebuild white collar criminal agencies and bring back all of the for-profit education fraud..at a trillion dollars and climbing if these student loan frauds are added.  Then, pour all that fraud recovered back into public education and financial aid that is low interest and awarded for sound reasons as was the policies before the Dept of Education was privatized..just like Freddie and the FHA.  Good public agencies ruined by privatizing!



Congress reaches student loan deal that lowers rates for borrowers But new formula can bring higher rates later

By Eileen Ambrose, The Baltimore Sun 10:37 p.m. EDT, August 2, 2013

With the start of classes just weeks away, Maryland financial aid directors sighed with relief that Congress has finally reached an agreement on student loan interest rates that will lower costs for borrowers this academic year.

"We have been getting calls from students," said Zhanna Goltser, director of financial aid at Notre Dame of Maryland University in Baltimore. "It's great that it will save money for students who are borrowing now."

"Now" is the key word. Under a new formula created by lawmakers, the rate on certain federal loans could go up significantly in a few years.

A gridlocked Congress failed to meet a July 1 deadline on expiring rates, resulting in the interest on new subsidized Stafford loans doubling to 6.8 percent. Subsidized means that Uncle Sam pays the interest on the loan while the borrower is in college.

But under bipartisan legislation that passed its final congressional hurdle last week, the rate for all Stafford loans as well as PLUS loans used by parents and graduate students will be tied to the market. Given today's low interest rates, students and parents will enjoy reduced interest rates for the time being.

"It's an interest rate increase masqueraded as a decrease," warned Mark Kantrowitz, publisher of Edvisors.com, a network of websites on college admissions and financial aid.

As the economy continues to improve and interest rates rise, families in a few years could be paying substantially more to borrow from the government, he said.

Under the legislation, the interest rate on Stafford and PLUS loans will be a combination of the yield on a 10-year Treasury note and a flat rate, depending on the type of loan. Congress also added caps to limit how high rates can go.

The rate on Stafford loans for undergraduates will be the yield on the 10-year Treasury plus 2.05 percent, not to exceed 8.25 percent. Interest on Stafford loans for graduate students will be the Treasury yield plus 3.6 percent, but no more than 9.5 percent. The PLUS loan rate will be the Treasury yield plus 4.6 percent, with a cap of 10.5 percent.

Each year, the rate for new loans will go up and down with the Treasury yield. But once a loan is taken out, the interest rate is fixed for the entire term.

The president is expected to sign the bill. The legislation is retroactive, so the formula will be in effect for loans made since July. The new rates for this year will be 3.86 percent for undergraduate Stafford loans, 5.41 percent for graduate Stafford loans and 6.41 percent for PLUS loans, aid officials said.

That is significantly less than borrowers would be paying if a deal hadn't been brokered. Without the legislation, the rate would have been 6.8 percent on all Stafford loans and 7.9 percent for PLUS loans.

"Families will be happier with this tied to the market just like any other [loan] they would have taken out," said Dana Kennedy, director of financial aid at St. John's College in Annapolis. And this way, students and parents will know each year what the interest rate will be, rather than waiting for an act of Congress, she added.

Some parents recently advised their children not to sign loan papers until Congress decided on a rate, Kennedy added. They feared that borrowers could be locked into a higher rate by signing early, though lawmakers were expected to make the rates retroactive to July 1.

"We're pleased that students are going to see some relief this current school year," said Tom McDermott, director of student financial services at the Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore.

Still, the caps are on the "high side," said McDermott, who hopes Congress will revisit the issue.

McDermott said he's concerned that if federal loan rates climb significantly, students and families might switch to private loans that do not offer the same protections and benefits as the government. And some aid experts predict that higher rates are ahead.

"We don't see it as a cause for celebration," said Lauren Asher, president of The Institute for College Access & Success in California. "The cost to families over the 10 years would be more than if Congress did nothing."

The legislation is projected to generate $715 million in added revenue for the government over the next decade as rates rise, Asher said. And that's on top of the $184 billion profit the loan program was already expected to see over that time, she said.

Asher predicts that parents will be paying more than the current 7.9 percent on PLUS loans by 2016, and undergraduates will borrow at a rate higher than today's 6.8 percent on Stafford loans by 2017.


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This commenter is absolutely right but at the same time he does not identify the problem with this troop drawndown; we have more private military contractors then civilian troops and it is only civilian troops coming home!  Obama states he is bringing the troops home; he is not telling us that during his term he and Hillary have placed the privatization of the US military on steroids and that 'bringing the troops home' means primarily those civilian troops.  Who needs them when you are going with drone attacks/special forces assaults in undeclared war all over the world!

Think that is going to send jihadists into overdrive?  You betcha.  The threat to embassies and US citizens all around the world is just the beginning as the fight against naked capitalism taking over Muslim societies heats up.

Jihadists aren't the only ones against these policies.  EVERY SINGLE PERSON IN THE US AND EUROPE ARE AGAINST THEM AS WELL! Maybe not the few thousand of the world's 1% promoting these policies.  Why do Americans not shout loudly as they are in Europe and around the world against this criminal, corrupt, and crippling foreign policy?  We have Greenspan/Clinton/Bush people filling all media outlets with propaganda that makes N Korea's Great Leader and his media look downright democratic.  Food filling the grocery stores of North Korea/drones not killing innocent people...same thing!



Bring the troops home from Afghanistan — and everywhere else


With the recent commemoration of the 60th anniversary of the end of the Korean War, isn't it about time to think about a troop withdrawal plan? And by the way, VE Day was 68 years ago, so why do we still have troops in Europe?

Let's leave Europe to the Europeans, Korea to the Koreans, Iraq to the Iraqis and Afghanistan to the Afghans.

Dave Reich, Perry Hall

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Below you see a private non-profit called CREDO.  It is a business who sets itself up as a public interest company B-Corp/501-C4 so it gets tax breaks.  I join their petition signing protests myself as they ask for your name, address, and email in exchange for petitioning an issue.....WE ARE THE PROGRESSIVE CORPORATION HELPING CITIZENS AGAINST CORPORATE OVERREACH.  I have shouted that most of these 'progressive' organizations are simply getting your personal information to use for marketing and now we see they are using the money to support political candidates who are neo-liberal and corrupt......not labor and justice candidates.  Whether MoveOn or Credo......many of these pundits/organizations are neo-liberals in liberal disguise.

LIBERALS LIKE MCGOVERN WORKED TO HOLD CORPORATIONS ACCOUNTABLE AND ADVANCE WORKERS/PEOPLE'S RIGHTS.  NEO-LIBERALS DO THE OPPOSITE...THEY WORK FOR WEALTH AND PROFIT AGAINST LABOR AND JUSTICE.

We may need to use these groups because they currently have the power of voice....but do not believe all that they tell you!


Comment on the article below:

IF MUDCAT IS WORKING FOR A GREAT BIG FAT CRIMINAL OF A CORPORATE POL LIKE GANSLER IN MARYLAND ......CREDO IS A NEO-LIBERAL, NOT A LIBERAL ORGANIZATION!



Maryland Attorney General Doug Gansler has hired a new campaign manager, about a month before he plans to formally announce his campaign for governor. Matthew "Mudcat" Arnold said in an interview Friday he got the job this week. (Source:NBC.com) Here is why this is a good thing. "Mudcat" sounds like he knows how to play my game. Trash me all you want but I got criminal charges against politicians
.



Liberal super PAC: Calling Republicans racist more effective than criticizing policy

1:08 AM 09/14/2012 inShare1 3 Alex PappasPolitical Reporter

A top official at a liberal super PAC with the goal of eradicating tea partiers from Congress is telling activists that it’s more effective to label Republicans as racists than criticize their policies.

According to an audio recording obtained by The Daily Caller, Matthew “Mudcat” Arnold, the national campaign manager of the liberal CREDO super PAC, told a gathering of supporters in Aurora, Colo., on Sept. 8 that they’ve realized “policy did not move voters.”

He used Iowa Republican Rep. Steve King as an example.

“When we said that Steve King … is pro-life and believes in cutting Social Security and voted for the Ryan budget, no one cared,” Arnold said. “When we said Steve King’s a racist, Steve King believes that immigrants ought to be put in electric fences, people moved.”

“When you talk about the substance of a man’s character, people respond,” Arnold continued. “Believe it or not, that is not something politicians knew.”

CREDO super PAC, which did not immediately return a request for comment from The Daily Caller on Thursday, bills itself as a “political committee working to defeat ten of the most odious tea party members of Congress.”

Arnold made the comments while discussing the organization’s campaign against Colorado Republican Rep. Mike Coffman. The event at BJ’s Restaurant and Brewhouse was billed as a gathering for “CREDO members and local activists to discuss our campaign to defeat Mike Coffman.”

Democratic candidate Joe Miklosi is challenging Coffman. Republicans reacted to Arnold’s comments by pouncing on Miklosi.


“The irony of this is that Miklosi repeatedly tries to paint Coffman as a radical, but he’s got a far, far left-wing group of crazies supporting him and helping his campaign,” said a Republican strategist familiar with the campaign. “Miklosi is masquerading as a moderate, but you can tell a lot about somebody by the company they keep.”

The super PAC’s strategy of trying to smear Republicans is evident with the nicknames they’ve given to the 10 members they are targeting this year: Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann is “Queen of Crazy,” Florida Rep. Allen West is “Beyond Crazy,” Illinois Rep. Joe Walsh is “America’s Most Offensive Congressman,” and Iowa Rep. Steve King is “Paranoid Bigot.”

“We want to stop people who have hijacked our community, who have hijacked the national platform and who are advocating policies and saying things in public that embarrass us,” Arnold said.




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Judicial watch is a conservative group but the concerns as regards the suspension of Rule of Law and dismantling of our democratic system of checks and balances is real.  All of these manipulated showdowns in Congress that lead to concessions killing all Americans is deliberate.  Remember, the democrats had all 3 branches of government and a supermajority and failed to address all policy that now sits in gridlock doing nothing

“Obama’s unilateral actions are undermining our constitutional republic in ways that we have not seen, at least in recent American history,” Fitton said.



Opinion Judicial Watch head: Obama likes to play ‘catch me if you can’

By Ginni Thomas 9:23 PM 08/04/2013 inShare1 1


Tom Fitton’s organization Judicial Watch is a useful ally of citizens who want a conservative government watchdog monitoring an out-of-control government. Judicial Watch, incorporated in 1994, is a non-profit group that presses Republicans and Democrats alike on transparency, accountability and integrity in government.

Fitton and company worked with then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on ethics reform legislation and have filed over 100 lawsuits against the Obama administration to battle the stonewalling and corruption they find rampant in big government.

“Obama’s unilateral actions are undermining our constitutional republic in ways that we have not seen, at least in recent American history,” Fitton said. “We still have a Congress. We still have a judiciary that has the ability to reign in the government when it chooses, assuming the law allows, but Obama has taken on unilateral actions that have not been checked.”

Fitton says the Obama “way” is “catch me if you can.”

In this interview, Fitton discusses the scandals President Obama is now calling “phony” — Fast and Furious, Benghazi, IRS targeting, Solyndra and NSA surveillance. Fitton is not buying the dodge. He seeks facts, documents and proof.

Critical of congressional oversight that is not consistent or thorough, Fitton instead encourages citizen activism. He believes citizens often do not understand the tools available for them to hold local, state and federal officials accountable.

Fitton’s book, “The Corruption Chronicles,” details the scandals of Presidents Clinton, Bush and Obama. The organization has also produced a movie, “The District of Corruption,” on AXS TV and this fall on HDNet Movies.


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Do you know that all of what tax revenue generated from these Enterprise Zones are fenced into those communities...they do not help greater Baltimore. Tax base from Greater Baltimore is used to not only subsidize these Enterprise Zones now, but revenue is frozen into the future...ergo....paying Rain taxes, privatizing trash collection, crumbling schools and parks. It is not better to build on toxic land than allow it to simply be a green space....that is the Sustainable policy solution. Building a huge complex on toxic land when we know that global warming will raise the sea level as much as 10 inches in just a few decades means the public will be called to build sea walls to protect this complex and compromise the toxic containment, All for more poverty jobs that we all know are filled with wage theft and workplace abuse.

The development plan for a city filled with working class people would have been the real Enterprise Zone....one that builds small businesses with regional business owners so the grassroots would grow and create health communities. What we have is a handing off .....many will say a looting of our public assets in order to enrich a few and create more wealth inequity-style development. Please do not allow these 1% decide that the global corporations will control all business and consumption because this is what these policies move forward!



Baltimore Brew Stirring up News and Views in Baltimore Maryland
Monday, August, 5th, 2013 5


First it was a faint murmur of unease. Now it’s become a clamor for answers.

The $107 million tax increment subsidy proposed for Harbor Point is stirring up a normally somolent citizenry, which has been socked with rising water bills and cutbacks in fire protection and youth rec centers.

The latest evidence comes from a special meeting called for this Tuesday by the Fell’s Point Residents Association to revisit its endorsement of the luxury waterfront development and proposed regional headquarters of Exelon Corp.

The group had previously voted “not to oppose” the conceptual plan for Harbor Point, “but that was before many specific issues that need significant further discussion came to light,” Arthur Perschetz, association president, told The Brew in an interview today.

Too Much Public Subsidy

“The biggest concern by residents is that the city is dedicating hundreds of millions of dollars for a project that is basically a private development,” Perschetz said.

“Yes, it will produce some jobs,” he continued, “but it isn’t going to start paying anything back to the city [in the form of property taxes] until 2025. That’s what people are feeling – there’s too much subsidy for a site that the city itself says is one of the best locations on the East Coast.”

The group has invited Marco Greenberg, vice president for developer Michael Beatty, and Ronald Kreitner, director of Westside Renaissance, to “explain their viewpoints and answer our questions,” according to Perschetz.

Kreitner, a former director of the Maryland Office of Planning, is associated with Baltimore Orioles owner Peter G. Angelos, who has signaled his opposition to the Harbor Point plan.

Greenberg has been a senior executive at both Struever Bros, Eccles & Rouse and John Paterakis’ H&S Properties Development, who jointly held a ground lease at Harbor Point before they were reportedly bought out by the Beatty group.

“Gold-Plated” Parks?

The use of $59.1 million to finance parks at the site – and an additional $21.6 million for a waterfront promenade – has stuck in the craw of association members, Perschetz said, especially when the city spends so little to improve existing public spaces and its major parks are in disrepair.

The group’s membership will take a fresh vote on Harbor Point on Tuesday – and a rejection could have a direct impact on the evolving political calculus of the project.

Considered a “shoo-in” when proposed two months ago by Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake, the $107 million TIF subsidy has been vigorously questioned by Carl Stokes, chairman of the City Council’s Taxation, Finance and Economic Development Committee.

Record crowds attended two hearings before Stokes committee last month.

They included members of the Campaign for Fair Development, associated with the United Workers union, and residents from Perkins Homes, who accused the city of using their low-income demographics to secure a state “EZ” (Enterprise Zone) designation for Harbor Point that give the developer $88 million in tax breaks.

Earlier this week, a petition drive opposing the subsidies began circulating on the Internet.

Perkins Homes residents question tax subsidies to Harbor Point at a July 10 City Hall hearing. (Photo by Mark Reutter)

Councilman James B. Kraft, whose 1st District includes Fells Point and Harbor Point, says his support of the TIF subsidy – on top of the “EZ” tax break – is based on neighborhood support of the project. He publicly promised last month to vote on the project’s financing package according to the wishes of the community.

That vote may come as early as August 12.

Mayor Rawlings-Blake and City Council President Bernard C. “Jack” Young want to get the financing bill out of Stokes committee this week (a working session of the committee is set for 5 p.m. Wednesday in the City Council chambers).

TIF Needed ASAP

The Beatty group is under enormous pressure to secure the TIF package before the end of September, when his group is set to purchase the capped portion of the 27-acre site from Honeywell International, the present owner.

The Allied Chemical works was closed in 1985 in part because of its extensive pollution of the Inner Harbor. (Photo by John Horn)

The Harbor Point site was used as a chromium-ore reduction factory for more than a century.

It was closed by Allied Chemical in 1985 after environmental regulators determined that 62 pounds of cancer-causing chromium waste were being dumped into the harbor every day.

The site underwent a decade-long remediation to contain the chemical wastes buried under the factory. Allied first constructed a stone embankment around the three sides of the site that bordered on the harbor.

A three-foot-wide soil-bentonite hydraulic barrier was then extended more than 70 feet deep between the land and water, and a plastic-and-clay cap laid on top of the ground to seal off the contaminants.

Without TIF funds to finance the “public” portion of the development – which will be elevated on fill above the cap –  the $1 billion project cannot move forward, according to Beatty.

Will Exelon Walk?

Exelon Corp. is the only announced tenant for the complex, projected to take 12 years to finish and create more than 3 million square feet of new office, retail and residential space.

There is growing worry in the developer’s camp that Exelon might back out of its commitment to the site if the City Council does not approve the TIF legislation in the very near future.

If that did happen, the company wouldn’t walk far.

Under a February 2012 agreement with the Maryland Public Service Commission that permitted its acquisition of Constellation Energy, Exelon pledged to build a new headquarters building in downtown Baltimore.










0 Comments

June 07th, 2013

6/7/2013

0 Comments

 
Baltimore has a public media outlet in WYPR that is simply corporate run commercial media and they get taxpayer money to support this as public media.  We need to shout out against the capture of media that we need to speak in the public interest and not give us disinformation by Wall Street.

Last time I wanted to show how Third Way are giving all public assets to corporate profit and I wanted to do that a little today.  Looking at local to national policy the public is under siege by corporate powers.  A headline on MSNBC .....a neo-liberal political station....said that having big banks isn't a bad thing and that financial reform is going just fine.  REALLY???? 



Regarding Basu's airline ticket fee -palooza:

Do you know why corporations shifted to the fee for service that is modeled on doctor's services a few decades ago? So banks, airlines, car rentals, etc have a basic price plan and then all of the fees for additional services that drive consumers crazy used to add billions in profit and a maximized market value. It all has to do we the corporate tax loophole. Here is a clip out of Connecticut's tax law that gives a good view of the benefit of 'unbundled services':


Connecticut Sales and Use Taxes on Services, Taxable Services

Douglas A. Joseph, CPA
Partner

Tony J. Switajewski, CPA
Partner


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

With all of the exclusions under business management services, there is a wealth of planning opportunities available. A general principle of Connecticut sales and use taxation is that if a combination of taxable and nontaxable property and/or services are bundled together into one service, the taxable component will cause the entire service to be taxable. To avoid this costly and unfair result, the strategy is to unbundle the taxable and nontaxable service components. Ideally, there would be separate service contracts and separate invoices produced. Secondarily, one contract and one invoice which clearly identify taxable and nontaxable services and associated fees, may be utilized. In either instance, the service provider will need to keep detailed time records or other means of valuing the relative components so as to stand up to DRS audit scrutiny.

So, you see that it is tax law written deliberately to allow for zero taxes on unbundled services which spurs all of these copious and hidden fees. An airline is almost doubling its gains when it charges individual fees but is only paying taxes on the base ticket charge. The same deal exists for banks. States have differing standards for fees, but you see the value. A democratic supermajority would have ended this madness of fees on consumers when they controlled government in 2009, but Third Way corporate democrats have control of the democratic party and they work for wealth and profit so THEY LIKE LAWS THAT GIVE BUSINESSES AN OUT ON TAXES. Think about how much of our economy is service based and how much business is written off because of this law!

Whether S corporation, B corporation, or this service fee scheme every avenue of corporate tax is being written off. When businesses with property were left with property tax bills corporate pols invented these business tax credits and government owed partnerships that eliminate even that tax. THESE TAX LOOPHOLES ARE HAPPENING ONLY IN THOSE GOVERNMENT HATING RED STATES....THEY ARE HAPPENING IN THIRD WAY CORPORATE DEMOCRATIC STATES LIKE MARYLAND AND THIS IS WHY THE TAXES ON THE MIDLE/LOWER CLASS ARE GROWING TO UNREASONABLE LEVELS. It is not because the state is protecting and serving its citizens!



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 This is classic Baltimore for you....Carl Stokes created an uproar when he sought to reverse a court order that held Ticketmaster fees as too large. Stokes wanted to pass a law protecting those large fees. The outrage was so loud that he is now being cast as wanting to hold Ticketmaster accountable....but look at his cap positions....he is going to allow low cost events by charged 15% while high cost events will only see 5%. Now, who attends events over $150? That's right....yet again the middle/lower class is the money-maker. GET RID OF THIRD WAY CORPORATE AND WEALTH DEMOCRATS....




Ticketmaster Service Charges to Face Regulation in Baltimore

Updated: Thursday, June 6 2013, 10:35 PM EDT

Huge service fees that Ticketmaster and other ticket sellers add could soon be reduced for Baltimore events. A Maryland bill has been introduced to stop companies from charging what one council member calls outrageous fees. Currently, Ticketmaster can charge users an extra 25 to 80 percent extra in service fees. Currently, there is not much users can do to avoid the fee, unless they are willing to go to court but that could be changing. On Thursday night at the 8x10 in Federal Hill, people are getting ready for the soulful sounds of The Cris Jacobs Band. But concert-goers were not ready for the $7.90 service fee that Ticketmaster charged on a $12.00 ticket. Councilman Carl Stokes agrees with Ticketmaster customers who feel that the service charges are outrageous. As a result, he has recently introduced the Consumer Protection Bill. The bill would cap surcharges: tickets $50.00 or less could only face an extra charge of 15%, and ticket $150.00 or more t would face a charger no greater than 5%. The bill would also update a law from 1948, which recently helped a Baltimore man win a lawsuit against Ticketmaster. He claimed he was being ripped off by the company’s excessive fees. If the bill passes, the law would force ticketing agencies to clearly show the full price of the ticket upfront.


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Montgomery County is one of the wealthiest in the country and has plenty of money to support all social programs.....this is why we know that this sequestration is Third Way corporate democrats along with republicans....CAN YOU IMAGE THE KINDS OF PEOPLE THAT WOULD ALLOW SOCIAL SAFETY NETS BE DISMANTLED IN ORDER TO PROTECT MASSIVE WEALTH?

Remember, these people in power got super-rich by lying, cheating, and stealing.....THEY ARE SOCIOPATHS who intend to squeeze all of us dry!!

Sequester stalls Meals on Wheels programs

By Robert Samuels, Published: May 31

For almost 30 years, First United Methodist Church of Hyattsville has delivered 10 meals a week to homebound seniors who live nearby. But with the sequester leading to a reduction of federal funds next month, the church’s skeletal staff has come to a sad conclusion.

“We’re just going to have to close,’’ said Deanna Lesche, the treasurer for the church’s Meals on Wheels program. Its program used to receive $1,200 each quarter; it will now receive only $1,100 all year. That’s not even enough to pay the cook.

About 37 percent of Americans now say they've felt the sequester's impact. We took a look at who's actually being affected so far.

The sequester will cut 33,000 work-study jobs for college students this fall, and my daughter's among those affected.

Across the country, Meals on Wheels programs are slashing staff, reducing the number of meals delivered or shutting down. The programs receive money through the Older Americans Act, which is filtered through state governments, which divvy up the funds to local agencies based on factors such as size and levels of poverty.

Programs typically provide two hand-delivered meals a day; some make lunches for senior and community centers.

“These meals save me from doing so much work,” said Bruce Campbell, 81, a retired food-service manager and Hyattsville Meals on Wheels client who walks on a prosthetic leg. “Without it, I don’t know. I guess I’d cook for myself.”

Hyattsville’s service isn’t one of the multimillion dollar senior nutrition programs that put on lavish fundraisers. It is run by a 63-year-old church secretary and serves about a dozen clients, some of whom struggle to pay the $2.50 charge per meal. It illustrates the far-reaching consequences of the government impasse on Capitol Hill.

According to March 1 estimates, the sequester will result in a 5 percent decrease in Meals on Wheels programs in Maryland, Virginia and the District. Those cuts are slightly below the national average of 5.6 percent. Wealthier, urban areas fare better.

The cuts in the three jurisdictions threaten nearly 75,000 seniors, according to the Meals on Wheels Association of America. Officials in Montgomery County eliminated an empty position to fund programs until November, while officials in Fairfax County and the District have committed to use their coffers to make up for the loss.

“If this wasn’t happening, we could have used that money for more services,” said Sally White, executive director of Iona Senior Services, which delivers meals to seniors in Northwest Washington. “But you have to make do with what you have.”

Programs that feed seniors were suffering even before the sequester. Federal funding has flat-lined for years, while costs for food and gas have increased, said Jill Feasley, who directs the Meals on Wheels program in Takoma Park. It’s not unusual for programs to have waiting lists.

The organizations have found themselves trying to reimagine how they fund themselves. Meals on Wheels of Central Maryland, which serves 1,300 clients in Baltimore, Howard, Anne Arundel and Montgomery counties and Baltimore city, has reduced its staff by 5 percent and will deliver food one day less a week.

Other programs have considered serving only frozen meals, Feasley said. Some might hold fundraisers.



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Maryland should note that its two Third Way corporate democrats Cardin and Mikulski voted for the cuts....and the voted for all the $3 trillion in corporate tax breaks and these huge farm subsidies.....'WE HAD TO DO IT TO SAVE THE SNAP PROGRAM'!  they say. 

NO, YOU HAD A SUPERMAJORITY IN 2009 THAT ALLOWED YOU TO FULLY FUND FOOD STAMPS FOR 10 YEARS

THIRD WAY CORPORATE DEMOCRATS ARE WORKING AS HARD AS REPUBLICANS TO END ALL WAR ON POVERTY AND NEW DEAL PROGRAMS

Shame on the 28 Democratic senators who voted to cut food stamps!

The Senate voted down an amendment restore $4.1 billion in food stamp cuts.  Only 26 senators voted “yes.”

But we can’t blame obstructionist Republicans. Twenty-eight Democrats joined with Republicans to defeat this amendment. If this stands, 500,000 low-income households will lose benefits.

Food Stamps are already being cut as the federal stimulus dries up, and these proposed new cuts—from both parties—will only make it worse.  

Please join Social Security Works and Campaign for America's Future by signing our petition to these 28 Senate Democrats, demanding they put low-income families ahead of corporate welfare—and to oppose draconian cuts to food stamps.

Dear Sens. Baucus, Bennet, Cardin, Carper, Coons, Donnelly, Durbin, Feinstein, Franken, Hagan, Harkin, Heinrich, Heitkamp, Johnson, Kaine, Klobuchar, Landrieu, Manchin, McCaskill, Mikulski, Nelson, Pryor, Rockefeller, Shaheen, Stabenow, Tester, Mark Udall and Warner:

Please put low-income families who rely on food stamps ahead of corporate welfare, and vote against draconian cuts to such needed benefits!



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I thank Michael Greenberger for presenting this loss of privacy in a balanced way.....making it clear that while these actions may be legal with these new set of Patriot Act laws....it is policy that has yet to have open national discussion and that has broad and for many deep negative connotation. Do we really believe that a government that no one trusts is just looking at numbers and will come back for a warrant when more information is wanted? Of course not. I like that Congress is more worried about whether their personal information is being mined as well!

WHAT WE ARE NOT HEARING IS WHO THE US GOVERNMENT SEES AS TERRORISTS THESE DAYS.  President Obama actually said that America has some pretty crazy characters these days.  What we have are large sectors of America hating having a government that is criminal, corrupt, and corporate.  Whether it is right wing militia groups or left wing anti-war and oppression groups with their civil disobedience....these anti-government sentiments are Obama's fault and they are legitimate concerns from citizens used to living in a first world, democratic society.  So, we are watching a nun who breaks into a drone facility and spray paints anti-war graffiti is now a terrorist.  It may be illegal, but these things were always considered civil disobedience.  It includes Occupy as the FBI has been recording their member's every move.  It includes Code Pink who were crazy enough to use a national media event to shout out in protest.  It includes bloggers like me who use the words Wall Street and criminal....Eric Holder and treason in the same sentence!

Sure, there are sleeper cells of jihadists....white separatists who are getting violent....black groups forming to fight extreme oppression.  THESE ARE SYMPTOMS OF A FAILED AND CAPTURED GOVERNMENT SYSTEM.  THE ANSWER LIES IN CORRECTING THE GOVERNMENT, NOT MAKING CITIZENS THE CRIMINALS!!


Report: Government getting phone records Counterterrorism expert: Verizon not only company exposed

UPDATED 6:53 AM EDT Jun 07, 2013  Baltimore Sun

  • Phone record collection stirs fervent debate Frightening government overreach or valuable law enforcement tool?

    That's the question politicians in Washington, and millions of citizens around the United States, asked Thursday thanks to a jolting report suggesting the government has been collectin...

    More
News that the government is secretly collecting phone records of Verizon customers has people asking many questions, and it raises the debate on which is more important, personal privacy or public safety?

Maryland counterterrorism expert Michael Greenberger said Verizon is the only company exposed, but he suspects all the major phone carriers are giving this kind of information to the government. But the reason behind it might make it OK in the eyes of some Americans.

"Now that it's public, this is a shock to the system," Greenberger said.

Greenberger said the government is not collecting information on the substance of the call, but looking at the actual numbers and the duration of the calls.

"What you can reason from that is there are numbers they have that they associate with terrorists and they want to see who is talking to whom. For example, I am calling a terrorist organization and speaking on the phone for a long period of time -- that would give them cause to look more carefully at my activities," Greenberger said.

He said the Obama administration followed the proper legal channels by getting approval from a judge in the secret foreign intelligence surveillance court set up by Congress. But the news is tough for many Americans to take, even if they have nothing to hide.

"This sort of undercuts the thesis of living in a free society that you don't have people looking over who you're calling -- even if they're not listening to what you're saying. There'll be a lot of discussion about this; it will have to be digested," Greenberger said.

He said now that the secret operation is public, it may become ineffective. 

"Now that it's public, a lot of terrorist organizations may say to themselves, "We have to stop talking on the phone,'" Greenberger said.


Friday, 07 June 2013 14:35

As the New York Times (NYT) Blasts Obama/Bush Surveillance State Tactics, Maybe Elites Will Become Concerned

MARK KARLIN, EDITOR OF BUZZFLASH AT TRUTHOUT

The Natonal Security Agency (NSA) in Maryland.In a withering June 6 editorial entitled "President Obama’s Dragnet," the New York Times editorial board lacerated the White House for its intrusive surveillance state tactics:

The administration has now lost all credibility on this issue. Mr. Obama is proving the truism that the executive branch will use any power it is given and very likely abuse it. That is one reason we have long argued that the Patriot Act, enacted in the heat of fear after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks by members of Congress who mostly had not even read it, was reckless in its assignment of unnecessary and overbroad surveillance powers.

Based on an article in The Guardian published Wednesday night, we now know that the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the National Security Agency used the Patriot Act to obtain a secret warrant to compel Verizon’s business services division to turn over data on every single call that went through its system. We know that this particular order was a routine extension of surveillance that has been going on for years, and it seems very likely that it extends beyond Verizon’s business division. There is every reason to believe the federal government has been collecting every bit of information about every American’s phone calls except the words actually exchanged in those calls.

Articles in The Washington Post and The Guardian described a process by which the N.S.A. is also able to capture Internet communications directly from the servers of nine leading American companies. The articles raised questions about whether the N.S.A. separated foreign communications from domestic ones.

Despite insulting platitudes (as the NYT calls them) from the Obama administration defending the massive invasion of privacy ("Intelligence Chief Says Massive Data Collection Is No Big Deal, But Reporting It Is" -- Forbes), the NYT's fierce condemnation of, in essence, sweeping data collection may finally wake some elites in the US up to the dangers of the enabling -- euphemistically named -- "Patriot Act."

Indeed, the NYT concludes its damning editorial with a shot at the "Patriot Act" itself: "Stunning use of the act shows, once again, why it needs to be sharply curtailed if not repealed."

Glenn Greenwald, who has been focused like a laser for years on constitutional abuses by the Bush and Obama administrations, wrote a column in The Guardian on May 4 that details wider government collection of private data than the public is even aware of. This, according to one former counter-terrorism expert who appeared on CNN, may include the large-scale recording of telephone conversations by the National Secuity Agency (NSA). This is technologically possible through advancement in broad information gathering capabilities within the NSA and other agencies.

There is even a government agency, the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO), that most Americans have never heard of whose sole purpose is satellite surveillance and intelligence data gathering.  According to the NRO website,

The NRO has been intertwined with innovation since its inception. Formed in response to the Soviet launch of Sputnik, the NRO was secretly created on September 6, 1961 with the purpose of overseeing “all satellite and overflight reconnaissance projects whether overt or covert.” The existence of the organization is no longer classified today, but we’re still pressing to perform the functions necessary to keep American citizens safe. As the NRO mission states, we are relentlessly working to foster “Innovative Overhead Intelligence Systems for National Security.”

The slogan of the NRO is "Supra et Ultra" – above and beyond – which also can be translated to "out of reach," which is just what has become of those in the government through four administrations who have expanded domestic spying far, far beyond its constitutionally permitted limits.








0 Comments

March 19th, 2013

3/19/2013

0 Comments

 
THANKS FOR YOUR PATIENCE WHEN A WEEK DAY KEEPS ME FROM MY COMPUTER!!!

SIMPLY RUN AND VOTE FOR LABOR AND JUSTICE AND WE CAN AND WILL TURN THIS AROUND.  IF YOUR ORGANIZATION IS NOT DOING THIS.......THAT LEADERSHIP IS NOT WORKING FOR YOU AND ME!!!!!

I want to end for now my discussion of Zeitgeist and Sustainability as building new social order that seeks to keep most people in poverty and living with no social safety nets.  Your Third Way corporate democrat intends to make all that is public private and maximize wealth at the top.....THAT IS THEIR CAUCUS PRINCIPLE.


Below you see how energy and greening tax credits have filled corporate balance sheets and they all show as profits not cost in development.  Remember, the public universities are now where all research and development is done for corporations and they are all supported by the taxpayer and students. These tax breaks are pure profit!!  Add to that the level of fraud and you see why corporations are richer than any time in human history.  Clinton and Obama are the ones to thank because they ran and took the democratic party away from the people and worked for these corporate profits!!!

We know that s-corporations are set up to allow the shareholders to bear the burden of business taxation and that these shareholders are not paying a cent in taxation for the most part.  The b- corporation is geared to do the same thing only with a claim to be environmental/justice oriented while doing it.  That is not happening as well.  I received a message from National Insurance Company that they were now a corporate sponsor of Human Rights Watch.  In Baltimore, land of human rights violations, not one word is said of police brutality, incarceration, and wage poverty.  It fights only for gay rights and environment......THE O'MALLEY/OBAMA.....THIRD WAY AGENDA.  These are great justice issues only neither have anything to do with real human suffering. 

WE ARE WATCHING DEATH AND SUFFERING IGNORED FOR LESS PRESSING ISSUES.  DO YOU HEAR OF AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL?  THEY HAVE BEEN BANISHED FROM AMERICAN PRESS BECAUSE THEY RANK THE US AS TOPS IN HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATORS.  THEY ARE A REAL HUMAN RIGHTS ORGANIZATION!!!

The point is this:  Human Rights Watch is a DAVOS 1% Organization that simply ignores most human rights issues created by the 1% and captures this policy.  It doesn't really work for historical and deadly justice issues.  So, you have an insurance agency like National Insurance partnering with this 'human rights' organization and immediately it is a b-corporation getting tax write-offs for its charitable work.  THESE B-CORPORATIONS ARE SIMPLY FUNNELING MONEY AS DONATIONS TO ORGANIZATIONS THAT CAPTURE THE POLICY ISSUE THAT PROTECTS PEOPLE FROM THE ABUSES CREATED BY THE COUNTRIES SUPPORTED BY THE US.

It is not a good policy to allow b-corporations to write-off taxes when we know fraud and corruption is rife.  It will simply be abused.





Human Rights Watch

United States and the CIA

Strong criticism against Human Rights Watch was caused by the Organization's declarations in favour of CIA illegal actions of Extraordinary rendition towards suspected terrorists. CIA Secret Rendition Policy Backed by Human Rights Groups? “Human Rights Watch and, apparently, other human rights groups signed off on renditions in talks with the Obama administration, saying publicly that there is "a legitimate place" for the practice.


Selection bias

The Times accuses HRW of "imbalance" since it ignores many human rights abusing regimes while covering other zones of conflict "intensely", notably Israel. It issued 5 lengthy reports on Israel in one 14 month period, whereas in 20 years it has issued only 4 reports on the conflict in Kashmir, despite the fact that there have been 80,000 conflict-related deaths in Kashmir and the fact that "torture and extrajudicial murder have taken place on a vast scale."[31] It issued no report on post-election violence and repression in Iran. One source[who?] told The Times, "Iran is just not a bad guy that they are interested in highlighting. Their hearts are not in it. Let’s face it, the thing that really excites them is Israel.” [28] The Times also accuses HRW of failing to report on human rights abuses of Arabs when "perpetrators are fellow Arabs."[28]

Nick Cohen, writing in The Spectator in February 2013, says that both "Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch look with horror on those who speak out about murder, mutilation and oppression if the murderers, mutilators and oppressors do not fit into their script."[32]


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Imagine that a startup in greening has the designation of B corporation....it gets both the tax breaks in doing business and then it gets tax breaks for simply being.  One top of that most times the 'cause' for which it works is not really met.



B Corp and a Benefit Corporation are Not Created Equal


By Jonathan Mariano | September 8th, 2011


Corporation is a non-profit certification from B-Lab, a company that supports the legal structure Benefit Corporation

B Corp is just short hand for a Benefit Corporation, right? Not quite. Although there are similarities between the two in name, and in spirit, there is a crucial difference. B Corp is a certification and a Benefit Corp is a legal entity. Let me explain.

The Confusion Between B Corp and Benefit Corporations
First off, let’s talk about the confusion. If we look at the description of a B Corp and a Benefit Corporation, both are extremely similar.

“Certified B Corporations are a new type of corporation which uses the power of business to solve social and environmental problems.” – B Corp

“Benefit Corporations are a new class of corporation that are required to create a material positive impact on society and the environment and to meet higher standards of accountability and transparency.” – Benefit Corporation.

Confusing? Yes. Both seek to benefit society and the environment. So then what is the difference?

B Corp – The Certification
B Corp is a certification offered by a non-governmental organization named B Lab. (I know, alphabet soup confusion!) There is no state legislative mandate or structure, per se.

Rather, companies wishing to become a Certified B Corp fill out an Impact Assessment. A company not only has to meet certain social and environmental criteria, but provide support documents to become fully certified. Furthermore, company bylaws must eventually be amended to include stakeholder interests. The change in bylaws will make the company strikingly similar to a Benefit Corporation in corporate structure.

Benefit Corporation – A State Legal Entity
A Benefit Corp is a state government legal corporate structure. It is a way to legally structure a company like an LLC, S-Corp, or C-Corp. Benefit Corporation status will allow companies to embed their sustainable principals into their DNA. In some ways, this is just a more straighfortward version of what B Lab is trying to do with the B Corp certification.

The California Legislature recently passed legislation to allow companies incorporated in the state to be Benefit Corporations. The nuances of the bill may differ from state to state in order to accommodate each states unique legal structure.

Yet, the heart of the the Benefit Corporation is the same across the board. Rather than a corporation focusing on just profit for the shareholders, a Benefit Corporation is required to focus on the public benefit (hence the name Benefit Corporation.)

Only five states have the Benefit Corporation as an option when incorporation in that state: Hawaii, VIrginia, Maryland, Vermont, New Jersey. Six more states are in the process of making it part of their states corporate legal system: Colorado, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, California, and Michigan.

On a side note, just to clear up even more confusion, B Lab, creator of the B Corp certification also advocates for such legislation.

B Corp or Benefit Corporation?
Now that we have cleared up the difference between B Corp and Benefit Corporations, can a company be both a B Corp and a Benefit Corp? The answer is yes, granted you meet the requirements of certification and incorporate in a state that has a Benefit Corp entity.

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New, for those who don't know Delaware's record for corporate protection, from 0% taxation to judicial courts that try national cases and always seem to fall in favor of that business.  There is the perk of Delaware being the national capital in dynasty accounts that create shell corporations and accounts to hide wealth.......WHAT CORPORATE STATE WOULDN'T WANT THAT DESIGNATION?

WAIT.......MARYLAND SAYS LET'S USE FAKE SOCIAL AGENDAS AS A SELLING POINT!!!!!

Almost all of what is happening is designated health, environment, and arts.


Maryland in line to become B corporations pioneer New type of company would be organized around social agenda

by Douglas Tallman | Staff Writer  

 ANNAPOLIS — Maryland is poised to become the first state in the nation to recognize a new classification of corporation that puts social welfare issues on the same footing as profits.

"For these companies, it makes sense and it's consistent with the brand we're trying to establish in Maryland," said Del. Brian J. Feldman (D-Dist. 15) of Potomac on Saturday.

Feldman sponsored House legislation that would have the state recognize so-called B corporations — "B" for benefit — in which for-profit companies have environmental, public health or arts objectives integrated into their charters.

"The B corporation legislation builds into the DNA of the company public purposes along with private purposes," said Sen. Jamie B. Raskin, the Senate sponsor of the legislation.

The bill passed the House, 135-5, on Monday. The Senate version passed, 44-0.

Del. H. Wayne Norman, a lawyer who has set up charitable entities, was one of five Republicans to vote against the legislation.

"I don't see any necessity for the B corporation. I'm happy with my no vote, my red vote," said Norman (R-Dist. 35A) of Bel Air. "I just didn't see the need to change a long-standing law."

Companies could become B corporations after a two-thirds vote of their shareholders. The companies would have to report to a third party its efforts to live up to its social agenda, similar to how companies report financial data to Moody's Investors Service.

The legislation also gives a B corporation's directors some protection if shareholders sue because the company's public-service goals conflict with the stockholders' fiduciary interest.

But Feldman and Raskin say that more than the legal protections, the legislation offers corporations a chance to brand themselves as community-minded businesses.

The B corporation benefits from being able to tell people they have organized not only to raise shareholder value but also to advance the environment and enhance a particular community, said Raskin (D-Dist. 20) of Takoma Park.

"I think that Maryland can become the Delaware of B corporations," he said. "We could be the magnet for companies that want to organize in this way."

A Web site set up for the issue says 285 companies have organized themselves as B corporations by altering their own charters or bylaws, but Raskin said they are B corporations in name only.

"None of them are recognized that way as a matter of state statute," he said.

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The amount of money corporations are making in tax fraud is enormous.......only outdone by the profits from outright business fraud and it could only happen with your Third Way corporate democrat at all levels of government.  Maryland is ground zero for these corporate pols running as democrats!!!!

RUN AND VOTE FOR LABOR AND JUSTICE!!!!!!!



Tax lobbyists help businesses reap windfalls While Congress fights over ways to cut spending and the deficit, generous breaks for corporations pass with little notice

By Christopher Rowland |  Globe Staff     March 17, 2013

Pete Marovich for The Boston Globe

Tax breaks won by the Washington lobbying industry, centered on the K Street corridor, show how cheap it is, relatively speaking, to buy political influence.



WASHINGTON — Lobbying for special tax treatment produced a spectacular return for Whirlpool Corp., courtesy of Congress and those who pay the bills, the American taxpayers.

By investing just $1.8 million over two years in payments for Washington lobbyists, Whirlpool secured the renewal of lucrative energy tax credits for making high-efficiency appliances that it estimates will be worth a combined $120 million for 2012 and 2013. Such breaks have helped the company keep its total tax expenses below zero in recent years.

The return on that lobbying investment: about 6,700 percent.

These are the sort of returns that have attracted growing swarms of corporate tax lobbyists to the Capitol over the last decade — the sorts of payoffs typically reserved for gamblers and gold miners. Even as Congress says it is digging for every penny of savings, lobbyists are anything but sequestered; they are ratcheting up their efforts to protect and even increase their clients’ tax breaks.

‘It’s not about tax policy, it’s about benefiting the political class and the well-connected and the well-heeled in this country,’ Said Senator Tom Coburn of oklahoma.

The Senate approved tax benefits for Whirlpool and a host of other corporations early on New Year’s Day, a couple of hours after the ball dropped over Times Square and champagne corks began popping. A smorgasbord of 43 business and energy tax breaks, collectively worth $67 billion this year, was packed into the emergency tax legislation that avoided the so-called “fiscal cliff.’’



Whirlpool officials said the tax breaks help the company retain jobs, but in recent years, it has closed refrigerator manufacturing plants in Indiana (above) and Arkansas.

In the days that followed, the tax handouts for business were barely mentioned as President Obama and members of Congress hailed the broader effects of the dramatic legislation, which prevented income tax increases on the middle class and raised top marginal tax rates for the wealthy.

Yet the generous breaks awarded to narrow sectors of the American business community are just as symptomatic of Washington dysfunction as the serial budget crises that have gripped the capital since 2011. Leaders of both parties have repeatedly declared their intention to make the corporate income tax code fairer by lowering rates and ending special breaks, while intense lobbying, ideological divides, and unending political fights on Capitol Hill block most progress.

The result: sweeping bipartisan tax reform of the sort negotiated in 1986 by Republican President Ronald Reagan and Democratic House Speaker Thomas P. “Tip’’ O’Neill Jr. is rated a long shot once again this year. In fact, the most visible signs of cross-party cooperation on corporate taxes are among regional groups of lawmakers who team up, out of parochial interest, to maintain special treatment for businesses in their home states.

In the absence of meaningful change, corporations like Whirlpool continue to pursue the exponential returns available from tax lobbying. The number of companies disclosing lobbying activity on tax issues rose 56 percent to 1,868 in 2012, up from 1,200 in 1998, according to data collected by the nonpartisan Center for Responsive Politics.

Whirlpool had plenty of company on New Year’s, including multinational corporations with offshore investment earnings, Hollywood companies that shoot films in the United States, railroads that invest in track maintenance, sellers of energy produced by windmills and solar panels, and producers of electric motorcycles.

Their special treatment is a fraction of a broader constellation of what the federal Joint Committee on Taxation estimates will be $154 billion in special corporate tax breaks in 2013, contained in 135 individual provisions of the tax code.

Watchdogs and tax analysts denounce these favors as a hidden form of spending that amounts to corporate welfare. In essence, these “tax expenditures’’ are no different than mailing subsidy checks directly to companies to pad their bottom lines.

Congress reduced the number of tax breaks in 1986 as part of the broader reform package. The breaks steadily crept back, particularly in the last decade, as lawmakers heeded requests from advocacy groups and business lobbyists to lower taxes as a way of subsidizing particular industries.


Howard Carruth of Arkansas, a machine maintenance worker, lost his job with Whirlpool last year. He said Congress made a mistake giving tax breaks to the company.


“There’s a justification and rationale for virtually every one of these. They have their intellectual advocates, and they have their political advocates, and that’s how they get in the law,’’ said Lawrence F. O’Brien III, an influential lobbyist and a top campaign fund-raiser for Senate Democrats who represents financial industry clients and other interests.

Whirlpool has a powerful Michigan delegation behind it, including key committee chairmen of tax-writing and energy committees in the House. In response to questions from the Globe, the company said its special tax breaks led it to save “hundreds’’ of American jobs from the effects of the recession.

“Energy tax credits required that Whirlpool Corporation make significant investments in tooling and manufacturing to build highly energy-efficient products,’’ Jeff Noel, Whirlpool’s corporate vice president of communication, said in an e-mail. “If you look at our 101-year history, we have definitely paid our fair share of US federal income taxes.’’

But its federal income taxes have been minimal in recent years, thanks in large part to tax credits and deferrals, according to public filings. Its total income taxes — including foreign, federal, and state — were negative-$436 million in 2011, negative-$64 million in 2010, and negative-$61 million in 2009. It carries forward federal credits as “deferred tax assets’’ that it can use to lower future tax bills.

The renewed tax breaks granted by Congress in January, which were retroactive to the beginning of 2012, will not be recorded until Whirlpool pays its 2013 taxes. Because of the absence of that tax credit, and because of greater earnings and changes in foreign taxes, the company estimated its total 2012 tax expenses will be $133 million.

Whirlpool did not provide a specific number of jobs retained. The benefits were not sufficient to protect Whirlpool’s employees at a refrigerator manufacturing plant in Arkansas. Last summer, the company laid off more than 800 hourly workers, closed the factory, and moved manufacturing of those refrigerators to Mexico. It was part of an overall reduction of 5,000 in its workforce announced in 2011 in North America and Europe.

Congress “made a big mistake,’’ by authorizing hundreds of millions of dollars in tax credits for Whirlpool based on arguments that the company would retain domestic jobs, said Howard Carruth, a machine maintenance worker and union official who began work at the plant in 1969 and lost his job last year when the plant closed.

“They really hurt the economy around here,’’ he said. “I blame the corporate greed.’’  NOT THE POLITICIANS GIVING THEM ALL OF THESE BREAKS?

The closing also transformed Carruth from loyal to embittered customer: “We bought Whirlpool for our own house, for family and friends. If one of those goes out in my house right now, it will not be replaced by Whirlpool.’’

Many companies would probably pay much higher taxes — including Whirlpool — if Congress eliminated special breaks and lowered the income tax rate to 25 percent from the current 35 percent.  THIS IS NOT TRUE!!!!!  CAN YOU EVEN IMAGINE THAT LOWERING THE RATE WILL CAUSE THESE BUSINESSES TO PAY MORE?  IT IS RIDICULOUS!!!

An extra benefit of winning government subsidies through the tax code: Recipients remain immune from spending cuts like the automatic “sequester’’ imposed on March 1.

Called the “tax extenders,’’ 43 credits, deferrals, and exceptions for general business and energy firms were lumped into the fiscal cliff legislation. The returns on lobbying investments companies realized when the Senate passed its fiscal cliff bill helps explain why Washington tax lobbyists remain in demand:


■ Multinational companies and banks, including General Electric, Citigroup, and Ford Motor Co., with investment earnings from overseas accounts won tax breaks collectively worth $11 billion — a return on their two-year lobbying investment of at least 8,200 percent, according to a Globe analysis of lobbying reports.

■ Hollywood production companies received a $430 million tax benefit for filming within the United States. As a result, companies like Walt Disney Co., Viacom, Sony, and Time Warner — with the help of the Motion Picture Association of America, chaired by former Connecticut senator Christopher J. Dodd — realized a return on their lobbying investment of about 860 percent.

■ Railroads lobbied on a broad array of issues, a portion of which yielded $331 million for two years’ worth of track maintenance tax credits. Return on investment: at least 260 percent.

■ Even at the low end of the economic scale the returns can be large. Two West Coast companies that manufacture electric motorcycles — Brammo Inc. of Oregon, and Zero Motorcycle Inc. of California — reported combined lobbying expenditures of $200,000 in 2011 and 2012. They won tax subsidies payable to the consumers who buy their products worth an estimated $7 million. The electric motorcycle market stands to receive a return on that investment of up to 3,500 percent.

Like each of the industries that won special treatment in the Jan. 1 “extenders’’ corporate tax measure, the electric motorcycle lobby argued that tax breaks would protect or create jobs. Electric motorcycle manufacturers only employ hundreds of workers now, said Jay Friedland, Zero Motorcycles vice president, but could employ thousands in the future.

“There are definitely provisions in the extenders that people scratch their heads at, but if your goal is to build a replacement for the pure oil economy, this is the kind of industry you want to make an investment on,’’ he said.

Measuring the rewards for lobbying on individual tax provisions is by nature imprecise, especially for large corporations that weigh in on dozens of issues. Companies file blanket disclosure reports that do not break down their lobbying expenditures by individual issue.

Publicly traded companies like Whirlpool with narrower lobbying agendas, and who publish their annual tax credit benefits in shareholder disclosure reports, are easier to track.

In addition to seeking tax breaks, corporate lobbyists also seek to protect favorable elements that are already baked into US tax policy. Private equity firms, for instance, fight each year to defend the tax treatment of “carried interest’’ payments for investment managers. Those payments are treated as a capital gain by the Internal Revenue Service, and thus taxed at a much lower rate, 20 percent in 2013, than the top income-tax rate of 39.6 percent.

The best-known example of a millionaire benefiting from “carried interest’’ tax treatment was Mitt Romney, the 2012 Republican presidential nominee, who reduced his individual tax rate to below 15 percent by applying the provision to his extensive Bain Capital profits.

The publicity surrounding Romney’s tax returns fueled an onslaught by critics. The private equity industry’s trade group and the nation’s largest firms spent close to $28 million on lobbying in 2011 and 2012, according to public records. So far, they have won — a benefit that the Obama administration has estimated is worth at least $1 billion over two years. The return on investment for maintaining the status quo on the carried-interest tax rate over two years was at least 3,500 percent.

The returns show how cheap it is, relatively speaking, to buy political influence.

“It’s an end run around policy, and that makes it very efficient,’’ said Raquel Meyer Alexander, a professor at Washington and Lee University in Virginia who has examined the investment returns on lobbying. “Firms that sit on the sidelines are going to lose out. Everyone else has lawyered up, lobbied up.’’

Critics lament that fiscal combat between Republicans and Democrats is preventing serious reform of the business tax code.

“What we’re doing is running a Soviet-style, five-year industrial plan for those industries that are clever enough in their lobbying to ask all of us to subsidize their business profits,’
’ said Edward D. Kleinbard, a former chief of staff at the Joint Committee on Taxation and now a law professor at the University of Southern California.

“These are perfect examples of Congress putting its thumb on the scale of the free market,’’ he said. “I’ll be damned if I know why I should be subsidizing Whirlpool.’’

Congress has the opportunity every two years to stop doling out a good portion of these favors. A peculiarity of many special tax breaks is that Congress places “sunset’’ provisions on them.

Some observers say passing temporary tax breaks gives lawmakers an ongoing source of campaign funds — from companies that are constantly trying to curry favor to get their tax credits renewed. Others say it’s because making these tax rates permanent would require a 10-year accounting method — a step that would show how much each provision is truly costing taxpayers.

Whatever the reason, Congress has made many of them quasi-permanent, by simply extending them again and again.

“It’s the same cowardice that Congress has on everything. They don’t want to be truthful about what they are doing,’’ said Senator Tom Coburn, an Oklahoma Republican and persistent critic of government waste and special deals in the tax code.

Coburn voted against the raft of “extenders’’ when they were previewed and approved by the Senate Finance Committee at a hearing in August 2012. He offered amendments to strip individual tax breaks out of the package — including the high-efficiency appliance tax credit for Whirlpool and GE — but they were shot down by the majority Democrats on the committee, led by chairman Max Baucus, of Montana.

“It’s not about tax policy, it’s about benefiting the political class and the well-connected and the well-heeled in this country,’’ Coburn said in an interview. “We’re benefiting the politicians because they get credit for it. And we are benefiting those who can afford to have greater access than somebody else.’’

Whirlpool pursues its Capitol Hill agenda from an office suite it shares on the seventh floor of a building on Pennsylvania Avenue that is loaded with similar lobbying shops and sits just a few blocks from the Capitol. Across the street, lines of tourists wait to view the original Declaration of Independence and the Constitution at the National Archives.

Whirlpool and other appliance manufacturers won tax breaks for producing high-efficiency washing machines, dishwashers, and refrigerators in 2005, as part of a sweeping package of energy incentives approved by the Republican-controlled Congress.

But that victory was just the beginning of a prolonged effort. Whirlpool and other appliance manufacturers must perpetually work to win renewal of their credits every two years or so. In recent years, the company has spent around $1 million annually on lobbying, up from just $110,000 in 2005.

The fiscal cliff legislation represented the third time the appliance tax credits were included in a tax extenders bill.

Defending the credits has become easier, said a person who has participated in Whirlpool’s lobbying efforts. The extenders, this person explained, is an interlocking package of deals, each with a particular senator or representative demanding its inclusion.

“Some of it is the inherent stickiness of something that is already in the tax code,’’ said the person, who was not authorized to speak about Whirlpool’s efforts and requested anonymity. “If they open Pandora’s box and start taking things out, it’s politically very difficult.’’

The paradoxical posture of senators of both parties was on full display at the hearing last summer of the Senate Finance Committee to consider the most recent package of tax extenders. Some members lamented the system of doling out tax breaks, pledging to reform the corporate code, even as they defended individual items in the legislation and voted to approve it.

The senators said they wanted to provide stability and predictability for businesses that had come to rely on the temporary provisions to stay afloat and retain workers.

They did make an effort to trim the package: Some 20 provisions were left on the cutting room floor, according to data cited in committee. The panel ultimately approved the bill with a bipartisan, 19-to-5 majority.

Senator Debbie Stabenow, a Democrat from Michigan, went to bat for Whirlpool and other companies who she said are creating next-generation appliances that save water and electricity.

“We have one of those major world headquarters in Michigan — and it’s amazing what they are doing,’’ she said. “Right now, we are exporting product, not jobs,’’ she added, without mentioning Whirlpool’s Arkansas plant closure last year.

Former senator John F. Kerry, another member of the committee, said certain industry sectors need temporary tax subsidies. Oil and gas companies, Kerry explained, benefit from permanent tax breaks in the law, while the wind, solar, and other alternative energy interests are forced to come to Congress “hat in hand’’ every two years.

Coming “hat in hand’’ in this context means deploying teams of lobbyists, mostly former Capitol Hill aides. They left their government jobs with an understanding of the tax code and, working in the private sector, are able to leverage their political connections to gain access to congressional leaders and staff.

Among the busiest and most influential of these tax-lobbying teams is Capitol Tax Partners, a firm headed by Lindsay Hooper, and his partner, Jonathan Talisman. Hooper served as a tax counsel to a senior Republican on the Senate Finance Committee in the 1980s. Talisman held the post of assistant treasury secretary for tax policy during the Clinton administration. They did not respond to requests for comment.

Capitol Tax Partners lobbied on behalf of 48 companies in 2012, according to its mandatory disclosure reports. That client roster includes a bunch of companies that won tax breaks in the fiscal cliff bill: Whirlpool (energy-efficiency tax credits), State Street Bank (tax treatment of offshore investment income), and the Motion Picture Association of America (tax breaks for domestic film production), to name a few.

In Whirlpool’s case, Capitol Tax Partners and other boutique tax lobbyists helped the company win access to key lawmakers, said the person who has participated in the company’s lobbying efforts.

“There is a certain amount of door-opening and phone-call-answering quality of some of these firms that can be useful to make sure that you are getting your message to the right person at the right point in time,’’ the person said. “But on the substantive issues, these were done by the energy-efficiency advocacy groups and the companies themselves.’’

After the Senate Finance Committee approved the tax extenders package last summer, it remained uncertain when it would materialize on the Senate floor for a final vote. Insiders kept their eyes peeled as the rancorous debate over the fiscal cliff — whether taxes would rise on the middle class wealthy — drowned out any voices discussing corporate tax reform.

Nothing was certain, until majority Democrats rolled out their bill on New Year’s Eve. With tax increases for the rich included, it would raise $27 billion in new revenue in 2013. The Obama administration trumped that figure as helping to reduce the deficit
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March 15th, 2013

3/15/2013

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IF YOU DO NOT MAKE RULE OF LAW THE TOP ISSUE IN VOTING FOR A CANDIDATE YOU WILL SEE MORE AND MORE CORRUPTION AND CRIME TAKING BOTH GOVERNMENT MONEY AND OUR MONEY!!!!!!

THIS IS THIRD WORLD JUSTICE PEOPLE!!!!


DOES A MOVEMENT LIKE ZEITGEIST  PROMOTING ENVIRONMENTAL STEWARDSHIP REALLY ALLOW THE INDUSTRY PROMOTING IT TO REMAIN RIFE WITH FRAUD?


We all know sustainability is a good policy.  We all know we live at a time where corporate fraud is systemic and that this fraud is always rapped in the cloak of do-gooding.  Some good will come from this green movement but sadly most of the money is already going into the pockets of these same developers and investment bankers.  Anyone who looks for a new home may look at a 'green home' for value.  It costs more in many cases but you get the money returned in savings over years. Here is the problem.....the builder received all kinds of tax breaks and grant incentives to build green, from building supplies, to buying the land, to rehabbing homes in blighted neighborhoods where the property was literally given to them, to the very investment in building green.  EVERY SINGLE STEP IN THE GREEN PROCESS IS HEAVILY SUBSIDIZED AND THE END PRODUCT ALWAYS COSTS THE CONSUMER MORE.

Do you think a builder would build green without the incentives?  Most people who can afford to buy houses know buying green is good and want to buy green.  So why do you have to subsidize the industry in order to get them to build green?  YOU DON'T.....THEY JUST DO IT AS A GIVE-AWAY.  What about these new b-corporations that are businesses built on the policy of being green and getting to write it off their taxes.  If the new economy is all about greening do you need to give tax credits to companies simply for working on green issues?  NO, IT IS SIMPLY ANOTHER WAY TO END CORPORATE TAXATION.  The entire green industry is self-built to move massive amounts of public money through fraud to corporations.  SOUND FAMILIAR?

Below you will see some of what has been existing for years with no attempts by justice to staunch the crime.  Even the agency charged with monitoring and providing BEST PRACTICES in the Green Industry has been sited time and again for lack of oversight and duplicity in fraud.  This is LEEDS  Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design.  I have read for years how LEED buildings were found to be less than environmental and failing certification specs time and again.  It operates just like the financial regulators who worked with the banks to commit the fraud.


WE ARE ONCE AGAIN LOSING MOST OF THE PUBLIC MONEY INVESTED INTO WHAT SHOULD BE A GREAT PUBLIC POLICY TO FRAUD!!!!


THIS IS HAPPENING BECAUSE WE HAVE THIRD WAY CORPORATE POLITICIANS WORKING FOR CORPORATE WEALTH HEADING THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY.

RUN AND VOTE FOR LABOR AND JUSTICE CANDIDATES NEXT ELECTIONS!!!!!



Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design

From Wikipedia, (February 2013)

Receiving a Gold LEED rating in September 2011, the Empire State Building is the tallest and largest LEED certified building in the United States and Western Hemisphere.[1] The Gold and Platinum rating of David L. Lawrence Convention Center in Pittsburgh, is the first and only convention center in the world to have such certifications.[2] 1225 Connecticut Avenue in Washington, D.C., is the first redeveloped office building on the U.S. East Coast to receive LEED Platinum status.[3] Phipps Conservatory & Botanical Gardens in Pittsburgh has multiple LEED certifications, including the world's only Platinum-certified greenhouse[4] and a Platinum-certified and net-zero energy Center for Sustainable Landscapes.[5] The University of Texas at Dallas Student Services Building is the first academic building in Texas to receive LEED Platinum status.[6] Shearer's Foods plant in Massillon, Ohio is the first food manufacturing plant to receive LEED Platinum status.[7] Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) consists of a suite of rating systems for the design, construction and operation of high performance green buildings, homes and neighborhoods.

Developed by the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), and spearheaded by Robert K. Watson, Founding Chairman LEED Steering Committee from 1995 until 2006, LEED is intended to provide building owners and operators a concise framework for identifying and implementing practical and measurable green building design, construction, operations and maintenance solutions.

Since its inception in 1998, the U.S. Green Building Council[8] has grown to encompass more than 7,000 projects in the United States and 30 countries, covering over 1.501 billion square feet (140 km²) of development area.[9] The hallmark of LEED is that it is an open and transparent process where the technical criteria proposed by USGBC members are publicly reviewed for approval by the almost 20,000 member organizations that currently constitute the USGBC.

The Green Building Certification Institute (GBCI) was established by USGBC to provide a series of exams to allow individuals to become accredited for their knowledge of the LEED rating system. This is recognized through either the LEED Accredited Professional (LEED AP) or LEED Green Associate[10] (LEED Green Assoc.) designation. In 2011 GBCI named the organization's first class of LEED Fellows, the highest designation for LEED professionals. GBCI also provides third-party certification for projects pursuing LEED.

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We see fraud in how taxes are paid and grants and credits are requested.  We see fraud in builders selling homes as green when they aren't.  We see fraud in business start-ups that go nowhere and are found not to have a viable business plan.  We see securities fraud over green and corporate tax loopholes made just for phony-green.  THIS IS YET ANOTHER TRILLION DOLLAR INDUSTRY IN FRAUD ALL BY THE SAME PEOPLE ENRICHED FROM THE LAST FRAUDS THAT WENT UNACCOUNTED.


Green Product Fraud: Buyer Beware Real Estate News   |  Dec 3, 2008   |  By: Audie Chamberlain  |    Prev | Next

Going green is good for the planet and can be good for your pocket book too. However, beware of businesses ready to take advantage of your new Earth-centric enthusiasm. Green-washing describes this practice and Jim Walker describes the warning signs of a fraudulent green product. Having a hard time being festive and energy conscious? Cut back on your holiday electric bill with a green tip from Marti Boetthcher.

Beware of Green-washing
By Jim Walker III
“Despite the U.S. governments efforts to provide guidelines for green produce marketing, the practice of Greenwashing, or the falsely promoting or exaggerating the greenness of a product or service, is not unusual.  In making the determination as to the claim to be green, one can ask the following questions to help detect potential greenwashing situations.”


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ENVIRONMENTAL BUILDING NEWS

October 14, 2010

USGBC, LEED Targeted by Class-Action Suit            


Henry Gifford, whose lawyer filed a class-action lawsuit against USGBC, has been an outspoken LEED critic since 2008.

The U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) and its founders have been named as defendants in a class action lawsuit filed in federal court. Filed on behalf of mechanical systems designer Henry Gifford, owner of Gifford Fuel Saving, the lawsuit was stamped on October 8, 2010 at the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York. Among other allegations, the suit argues that USGBC is fraudulently misleading consumers and fraudulently misrepresenting energy performance of buildings certified under its LEED rating systems, and that LEED is harming the environment by leading consumers away from using proven energy-saving strategies. Alleged fraud and deceptive practices The suit alleges that USGBC’s claim that it verifies efficient design and construction is “false and intended to mislead the consumer and monopolize the market for energy-efficient building design.” To support this allegation Gifford relies heavily on his critique of a 2008 study from New Buildings Institute (NBI) and USGBC that is, to date, the most comprehensive look at the actual energy performance of buildings certified under LEED for New Construction and Major Renovations (LEED-NC). While the NBI study makes the case that LEED buildings are, on average, 25%–30% more efficient than the national average, Gifford published his own analysis in 2008 concluding that LEED buildings are, on average, 29% less efficient. A subsequent analysis of the NBI data by National Research Council Canada supported NBI’s findings, if not its methods. (Commentary questioning the respective statistical approaches of both the original study and Gifford’s analysis appears in this BuildingGreen.com blog post by Nadav Malin, president of EBN’s publisher BuildingGreen.) Using that study and USGBC’s promotion of it, the suit alleges fraud under the Sherman Anti-Trust Act, among other statutes. Gifford’s suit demands that USGBC cease deceptive practices and pay $100 million in compensation to victims, in addition to legal fees. Under the Lanham Act, the suit repeats the same concerns in alleging deceptive marketing and unfair competition. Other allegations include deceptive business practices and false advertising under New York State law, as well as wire fraud and unjust enrichment. Class-action suit By having his lawyer, Norah Hart of Treuhaft and Zakarin, file a class-action lawsuit, Gifford is not only claiming that he has been harmed by USGBC, but that he is one of a class of plaintiffs that have been harmed. According to the suit, those plaintiffs include owners who paid for LEED certification on false premises, professionals like Gifford whose livelihoods have allegedly been harmed by LEED, and taxpayers whose money has subsidized LEED buildings. The class action approach may be technically difficult to pursue in this case, says lawyer Shari Shapiro in an article on her green building law blog. Among other things, Shapiro notes that in a class action suit it is relevant whether, among other things, “the plaintiffs are enough alike so that their claims can be adjudicated together” and “whether the lead plaintiffs adequately represent members of the class.” Given the variety of plaintiffs Gifford is trying to represent, that may be hard, she says. Shapiro, assuming that Gifford has benefited from the green building wave, even questions whether Gifford has even been harmed, as he would have to be to take part in the lawsuit. However, Gifford told EBN that there’s no question about that. “Nobody hires me to fix their buildings,” he said. Though not an engineer, Gifford is respected in energy efficiency circles for his technical knowledge. He told EBN that he has lost out because owners are fixated on earning LEED points, and he doesn’t participate: “Unless you’re a LEED AP you're not going to get work.” That’s unfair, he claims, because while USGBC says that its product saves energy, it doesn’t. Gifford says that his services actually save energy, and he’s prepared to prove it by sharing energy bills from buildings he has worked on. Whether many other building professionals feel the way Gifford does, and whether they’re willing to go on the record, will be one aspect of this case to watch. Gifford indicated that the response so far has been mixed. As he told EBN, “Everybody has the same response: thank you, thank you… let me know how it goes.” Was there fraud? If the case does move ahead, Stephen Del Percio, a lawyer and author of the blog GreenRealEstateLaw.com, told EBN that it will be challenging to litigate. “You can’t prove fraud just by circumstantial evidence,” he said. Even if the NBI study is false, that may not be enough. “You have to intend to mislead people,” he said. Gifford told EBN that he doesn’t have evidence that anyone at USGBC tried to mislead the public, but if the suit proceeds the discovery process could, in theory, turn up emails or other communications that support Gifford’s case. USGBC performance initatives Gifford’s complaints focus on the 2008 study and how USGBC publicized it, but they don’t appear to account for other aspects of LEED. Gifford focuses on buildings certified under LEED for New Construction (LEED-NC), but the scope of LEED-NC and other LEED rating systems is clearly distinct. LEED for Existing Buildings, launched in 2004, looks at actual building performance, and in 2006, USGBC announced that buildings certified under LEED-NC would have the option of being enrolled at no charge in LEED for Existing Buildings. In 2007 USGBC launched LEED for Homes. While that system focuses on design and construction of new homes, it requires on-site verification including blower-door testing during construction, helping ensure that construction practices follow the design intent. Although this final piece may be too late for Gifford and the contentions of his lawsuit, in 2009 USGBC began requiring reporting of energy and water data for new buildings certified under the newer LEED 2009, and it set up infrastructure to invite sharing of information from all LEED-certified buildings (see “USGBC Expands Data Collection from LEED Buildings,” EBN Aug. 2010). Through this effort, the Building Performance Partnership, USGBC hopes to offer special help to LEED-certified buildings that are not living up to expected performance, according to Brendan Owens, P.E., vice president for LEED technical development at USGBC. Although USGBC has generally played down the possibility because it doesn’t want to discourage participation in LEED, and energy reporting, CEO Rick Fedrizzi has suggested that non-performing buildings may lose LEED certification in one form or another. Despite these efforts, Gifford complained to EBN that “the green label gives the designer, the developer, the contractor and the owner the right to hold a press conference staying that their building is energy-efficient, while the LEED system guarantees anonymity” when it comes to reporting actual energy use. Why sue? Asked by EBN why he was motivated to go to court, Gifford said, “I’m afraid that in a few years somebody really evil will publicize the fact that green buildings don't save energy and argue that the only solution [to resource constraints] is more guns to shoot at the people who have oil underneath their sand.” In other words, he says he's hoping to make the green building movement more honest so that it’s not embarrassed down the road. USGBC told EBN that it was reviewing the litigation and would respond in due course. In addition to USGBC, other named defendants are David Gottfried, a USGBC founder; Rob Watson, who helped start LEED in the 1990s while working for the Natural Resources Defense Council; and Rick Fedrizzi, a co-founder and currently CEO. Responding to EBN’s request for comment, Watson said, “I can’t comment on ongoing litigation except to say that USGBC is examining the complaint. USGBC has confidence in LEED and in our role in stimulating positive market change.” Michael Italiano, the only key USGBC founder not named as a defendant, told EBN that while he hadn’t reviewed the case, “To me it sounds frivolous and it doesn’t have much chance.” He noted, “LEED doesn't guarantee anything, and I think LEED gives people the tools to understand that.” Owners who want to verify performance can enroll in LEED for Existing Buildings, monitor their energy bills, and take other actions, he noted. A lawyer and currently CEO of Market Transformation to Sustainability, a nonprofit behind green standards, Italiano said that lawsuits targeting standards that have allegedly constrained trade typically focus on lack of a bona fide consensus process of standard-setting. In the case of LEED, he said, a broad array of stakeholders has been involved in writing and reviewing LEED standards. Russell Perry, FAIA, of SmithGroup, agreed that if anyone thinks LEED for New Construction guarantees higher energy performance, they have the wrong idea. “LEED-NC is saying that a building has been designed to meet a certain standard, but there are many variables that go into the actual performance, only one of which is design.” Perry also noted that LEED includes a broad array of topics, only one of which is energy. Referring to climate change and other environmental and health issues, Perry added, “I don’t think that this kind of distraction helps us move the ball down the field.” – Tristan Roberts

October 14, 2010

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JUST LOOK AT THE VARIETY OF TAX BREAKS AND GREENING INCENTIVES OFFERED JUST IN BALTIMORE.  THERE ARE STATE AND FEDERAL BREAKS AS WELL.  NOW, WE ALL KNOW THAT MARYLAND AND ESPECIALLY BALTIMORE HAS ABSOLUTELY KNOW OVERSIGHT ON ANY OF THIS AND WE KNOW THAT THE FEDERAL JUSTICE DEPARTMENT WILL TURN ITS HEAD AS WELL. 

BALTIMORE'S MAYOR HAS STATED THAT MAJOR GOVERNMENT RESTRUCTURING IS NEEDED BECAUSE THE  CITY IS CLOSE TO BANKRUPTCY YET THE GIVING NEVER ENDS AS REGARDS DEFRAUDING GOVERNMENT COFFERS!



ANNOUNCEMENT
REQUEST FOR APPLICATIONS
COMMUNITY ENERGY SAVERS GRANTS



Program Intent
The City of Baltimore has committed $1 million in Stimulus funds to a competitive grant program for community and
neighborhood organizations to reduce energy use. The Community Energy Savers Grant is designed to provide
community groups with technical assistance and financial resources needed to reduce energy use, either by their
organization or their target audience. These funds will further empower community and neighborhood organizations to
contribute to the goals of the Baltimore Sustainability Plan. Passed as City Council Ordinance in 2009, the Baltimore
Sustainability Plan (www.baltimoresustainability.org) outlines 29 goals, including a 15% reduction in energy use and
greenhouse gas emissions by 2015. We extend an invitation to eligible entities to apply for funds to help Baltimore
realize this vision for a sustainable future.
Eligible Entities
Community and neighborhood non-profit organizations are eligible to apply. Applicants must be a qualified 501(c)(3).
Eligible Uses
Three types of grants will be awarded.


Type 1 grants:
First, grants in the form of technical assistance will be awarded for applicants to conduct energy audits at their
facilities. The findings of these audits will help applicants prioritize energy saving upgrades and retrofits and can be
used as supporting documentation in subsequent grant applications for funds to implement such improvements. (If
your facility has not yet had an energy audit, applying for technical assistance grants may be a good first step.
Because there are three grant rounds, funds to implement improvements recommended in the energy audit can be
applied for in subsequent rounds.)


Type 2 grants:
Second, grants up to $50,000* will be awarded for applicants to implement recommended energy saving upgrades and
retrofits to their facilities and/or equipment. Results of a third-party energy audit and/or feasibility study including
analysis of projected energy savings must accompany proposals for upgrades or retrofits. Proposals for upgrades and
retrofits may include:
• Installation of insulation;
• Installation of efficient lighting,
• HVAC upgrades,
• High efficiency shower/faucet upgrades,
• Weather sealing,
• Purchase and installation of Energy Star appliances,
• Replacement of doors and windows, and
• Installation of solar powered, high efficiency appliances (this is different than renewable energy generation
devices such as photovoltaic panels).


Type 3 grants:
Third, grants of up to $50,000* will be awarded for applicants to conduct public education and outreach activities that
result in direct energy savings by their target audience. Proposals for public education and outreach activities may
include:
• Design and operation of energy efficiency and conservation programs,
• Identification of effective methods for achieving maximum participation and efficiency rates,
• Public education,
• Measurement and verification protocols, and
• Identification of energy efficient technologies.
* If your grant request is $25,000 or more, please explain how certified minority and women-owned business
enterprises will be involved in the execution of the project. A list of certified minority/women business enterprises can
be found at http://cityservices.baltimorecity.gov/mwboo. In some instances, based on the proposal, a waiver may be
granted because of the nature of specialty work, the lack of availability of MBE/WBEs to perform the work, etc. If a
proposer thinks that it is impossible to utilize MBE/WBEs, an explanation must be included to support that position. In
identifying firms in the directory, proposers may use some of the following words in the Service Description Box:
green, LEED, lighting, sustainability, energy, solar, HVAC, and environment.
Evaluation Criteria
Proposals will be evaluated based upon:


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IT SEEMS TO ME THAT IT WOULD BE EASIER FOR MARYLAND JUST TO DO A BLANKET END TO CORPORATE PROPERTY TAX AS ALL THESE WAYS BUSINESSES NOW AVOID PROPERTY TAXES GROWS BEYOND MANAGEMENT.  BUSINESS TAX BREAKS HAVE BECOME A COMPLEX FINANCIAL INSTRUMENT DESIGNED TO PROVIDE COVER FOR ILLICIT USE!!

A LEEDS INSPECTION?  REALLY?


Incentives for Going Green in Maryland: Property Tax Credits Dino C. La Fiandra
incentives_for_going_green_in_maryland_property_tax_credits_2.pdf February 10, 2009 By now, you know that there are many good reasons to consider building or operating your building to an environmentally friendly “green” standard like LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design).  The so-called “sustainability dividend,” also known as the “green premium,” is the economic benefit to the developer/owner/operator of building or operating to a green standard.  Depending on the level of green achieved, the construction costs for a green project may run as much as six percent greater than construction costs for a comparable non-green project, perhaps even more.  Although building or operating to a green standard may foster a sense of altruism and social responsibility, particularly in a difficult real estate market the increased construction costs of a green building must be outweighed by the sustainability dividend of the green asset in order to make the green building an economically feasible endeavor. 

Some of the natural consequences of greening that we typically discuss include lower energy costs, increased rental occupancy, increased rents, reduction in water consumption, and increased market value/sales price of the real estate, among other items.  Tax incentives for greening, however, are equally important in considering and maximizing the anticipated sustainability dividend of a proposed green project.  There are numerous types of tax incentives offered to promote sustainable development.  This article focuses on property tax credits available under state and local law.  Other tax incentives exist and will be discussed in future articles.

Property Tax Credits

One of the primary ways that state and local governments encourage sustainable development is through property tax credits.  In Maryland, property taxes are regulated largely at the state level; however, these regulations are implemented and administered by local county and city governments.  Under this regulatory framework, the state has authorized the counties to provide property tax credits for green buildings and energy conserving green devices.  Maryland Code, Tax-Property Article, § 9-242 permits property tax credits for “high performance buildings.”  Under that section, a high performance building is one that achieves a LEED Silver rating or higher or a comparable rating under another appropriate rating system.  Section 9-203 allows the counties to grant a property tax credit for “qualifying energy devices” including solar and geothermal energy devices, and other energy conserving devices.  Under each section, the State allows the counties to determine the amount of the tax credit, the duration of the credit, and other particulars of the local regulations that implement the tax credit.  In accordance with this authority, several Maryland counties have granted these property tax credits.

Baltimore County

Baltimore County provides a property tax credit for buildings that achieve certain LEED ratings.  The amount and duration of the property tax credit is based on whether the structure is commercial or residential, the LEED rating system pursuant to which the building is certified, and the level of certification within the rating system.  For commercial buildings, Baltimore County recognizes three of the LEED rating systems: LEED-NC (New Construction/Major Renovation), LEED-CS (Core & Shell), and LEED-EB (Existing Buildings).  Residential buildings must be rated under LEED-H (Homes) In order to qualify for a property tax credit, the commercial building must actually achieve a LEED rating of Silver or greater within one of the recognized rating systems. 

The following table identifies the amount and duration of the property tax credit for commercial buildings:

Baltimore County Property Tax Credits For High Performance Buildings

LEED Rating System         Duration of Tax Credit      Level Achieved      Property Tax Credit (as a percentage of the total property tax assessed) NC (New Construction)

There are certain requirements and limitations for these property tax credits.  Predictably, a building may not receive more than one tax credit.  The Director of Budget & Finance may terminate a property tax credit if he/she finds that the building has been altered so that it no longer complies with the rating system that was the basis for granting the tax credit.  Finally, the application of the property tax credit must be filed on or before June 1 immediately preceding the first taxable year for which the credit is sought.

Howard County

Howard County has adopted a property tax credit system similar to that of Baltimore County, although there are important differences.  As in Baltimore County, eligibility for the property tax credit for commercial “high performance buildings” is tied to actually achieving a LEED rating of Silver or greater in the LEED-NC, CS or EB rating systems.  However, in Howard County, the Director of Inspections, Licenses and Permits may adopt by regulation equivalent rating systems, thereby potentially expanding the sets of rating criteria that would qualify for the property tax credit.  Furthermore, Howard County provides a back-up property tax credit for LEED certified buildings that do not qualify for the high performance building property tax credit.  Finally, as discussed more fully below, Howard County provides property tax credits for green homes in a manner completely independent of LEED certification. 

The following table identifies the property tax credit for LEED-NC, CS, and EB buildings in Howard County, as well as for buildings meeting equivalent criteria as adopted by regulation.  Under Howard County’s regulatory framework, these high performance buildings will typically be non-residential or multi-family buildings.  Residential buildings are addressed separately.

Howard County Property Tax Credits For "High Performance Buildings"

LEED Rating System                 Duration of Tax Credit     Level Achieved       Property Tax Credit (as a percentage of the total property tax assessed) NC (New Construction) or
CS (Core & Shell)

As noted above, there is a “back-up” property tax credit available for green buildings that do not otherwise qualify for a property tax credit based on the high performance building criteria.  For these buildings, the property tax credit is based on the level of LEED certification achieved and is in an amount equal to a certain percentage of the eligible costs associated with the acquisition and installation of an energy conserving device that receives a credit (point) under a LEED rating system.  Under Howard County’s current regulatory framework, this property tax credit would benefit the owner of a building that is rated under a LEED rating system other than NC, CS or EB, or the owner of a building that receives a LEED certification, but does not achieve the Silver or higher level.  The following table identifies the particulars:

Howard County Property Tax Credits For "Green Building Energy Conservation Devices"

Leed Rating System       Duration of Tax Credit     Level Achieved     Property Tax Credit (as a percentage of the Eligible Costs* of the
Qualifying Energy Conservation Device/s**) Any 3 years Certified



* “Eligible Costs” are those costs incurred within the 36 months preceding the initial application for the property tax credit, and include the costs of device itself, as well as those for any necessary parts, components or accessories, and installation.
** “Qualifying energy conservation device” means an energy conservation device that receives a LEED credit, including but not limited to a solar energy or geothermal energy device, that is utilized by a structure that achieves any LEED certification, regardless of level.  A qualifying energy conservation device is one that is used to heat or cool the structure, generate electricity for use in the structure, or provide hot water for use in the structure.

Lastly, Howard County provides a property tax credit for green residential buildings regardless LEED rating system or level of certification, if any.  This property tax credit is similar to the property tax credit for qualifying energy conservation devices discussed in the preceding paragraph and table in that it is based on the eligible costs of a solar energy device or a geothermal energy device used within a residential structure.  Unlike the credit for qualifying energy conservation devices, it is limited to solar and geothermal energy conservation devices, it is not tied to LEED or any other rating system, and it is not based on achieving any level of certification.  Eligible costs are limited to those incurred within the 12 months prior to the application for the credit.  The property tax credit is equal to 50% of the eligible costs, not to exceed $5000 for a heating system or $1500 for a hot water system.

Montgomery County

Like Howard County, Montgomery County's property tax credit program provides a property tax credit based on the level of LEED certification achieved.  Other factors that come into consideration include the gross floor area of the building, whether the building is residential or commercial, and the LEED rating system (or equivalent system) that provides the basis for certification.  The following table provides the details:

Montgomery County Property Tax Credits For "High Performance Buildings"

Building Type                                                                   LEED Rating System (or equivalent)    Duration of Tax Credit     Level Achieved      Property Tax Credit (as a percentage of the total property tax assessed) Newly constructed or extensively remodeled
non-residential or multi-family residential building
with at least 10,000 sq ft of gross floor area NC or CS


Like Howard County, Montgomery County also provides a property tax credit for qualified energy conservation devices, although they approach it a bit differently.  Montgomery County allows a property tax credit equal to 50% of the eligible costs of a solar energy device or a geothermal energy device, not to exceed $5000 for a heating system or $1500 for a hot water system.  In addition, Montgomery County provides a property tax credit of up to $250 per fiscal year for energy conservation devices such as programmable thermostats, insulation, and caulking and weather stripping for doors and windows.

Conclusion

Particularly during these tumultuous times in the real estate market, developers of green buildings need every advantage available to them to enhance the economic viability of green projects.  Other aspects of the “sustainability dividend” may soften, or may simply not appear.  For example, in a depressed market, increased rents and occupancy rates as compared to those of non-green alternatives may not be sufficient to make a green project feasible.  Developers interested in green projects may find that the tax incentives discussed in this article move such projects toward feasibility.  As the green revolution continues to take hold, perhaps more Maryland counties will provide similar tax incentives for green projects.

Practice Categories  Green Building and Sustainability


Tax Incentives Make Sustainability More Rewarding


All too often, businesses launch sustainability initiatives for good financial reasons but overlook tax incentives that could make their decision even more advantageous. Authors Howard Wagner and Scott Tarney explain why and how businesses should review their sustainability initiatives to take full advantage of the many incentives now available at the federal, state, and local levels. Howard M. Wagner, CPA, Scott Tarney, Crowe Horwath LLP (4-28-2009)
 
"Going green" is no longer just a matter of improving a company's image or fostering good community relations. In many cases it's also a matter of good economic sense. Most top managers today recognize the significant financial and strategic benefits that come with managing operations in a way that minimizes long-term environmental impact.

For a variety of reasons - including cost savings, customer expectations, competitive advantage, and logistical considerations - more and more companies are devoting time and resources to the effort to reduce waste, restrict or clean up emissions, decrease energy consumption, increase recycling, and shift to alternative energy sources such as wind, solar, and biofuel.

If you are engaged in any program of this nature, there is a good chance your company is eligible to receive some type of incentive - probably several - from federal, state, or local governments. These incentives might take the form of property tax abatements, sales tax exemptions, income tax credits, discretionary grants, low-interest financing, or one or more of many other available incentive programs.

In many cases, companies are already undertaking these efforts for competitive or strategic reasons. As such, it simply makes sense for companies to structure such programs in a way that makes them eligible for any available incentives. The tax benefit, when combined with cost savings, competitive advantage, and the prestige of a green label, can help make sustainability more financially feasible.

Activities That Qualify for Incentives
What types of activities might be eligible for incentives? Literally hundreds of programs can qualify for advantageous tax treatment. Examples include:


•Installing pollution control equipment;


•Investing in energy-efficient buildings or components;


•Manufacturing products from recycled materials;

•Investing in systems to capture items from a company's waste stream for recycling or use by others;


•Undertaking environmental remediation activities;


•Adapting manufacturing or other processes to use alternate energy sources such as solar, wind, geothermal wind, and biomass; and


•Producing alternative fuels for vehicles or using alternative fuels to power a company's own fleet.

The types of incentives offered to encourage such activities represent just about every type of government sponsored tax benefit imaginable, including investment-, production-, or consumption-based income tax credits; accelerated depreciation for certain capital expenses; property tax reductions or abatements; and exemptions from state or local sales taxes for the purchase of relevant equipment or components. What's more, the virtually endless list of incentives is constantly changing as some expire and others are added.

Federal Incentives
At the federal level, many sustainability incentives are fairly well-publicized.
High-profile examples include fuel credits for producers, sellers, and users of alcohol-based or biodiesel fuels in vehicles. Tax credits related to energy-efficient building design and construction are also fairly well-known, at least within their industries and in certain geographic regions. Examples include tax credits for installing equipment that uses solar energy to generate electricity or to heat or cool a structure.

Businesses are also eligible for an immediate deduction of expenses attributable to qualified energy-saving improvements to certain commercial buildings. The requirements for such incentives are, necessarily, detailed and technical in nature, but compliance is usually well worth the effort. In many cases, cost- and energy-saving equipment that makes long-term economic sense can be even more beneficial simply if it meets the requirements of the various incentive programs.

The array of federal incentives continues to expand regularly. The most prominent example occurred when the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008 was expanded to incorporate an entire section named the Energy Improvement and Extension Act of 2008. This legislation, signed into law in early October 2008, extended several important incentives that were due to expire and introduced a new program to encourage the design and development of pollution control systems, alternative energy systems, and processes to capture excess energy from a manufacturing process.

The final legislation devotes nearly 150 pages of text to the extension, modification, and creation of new energy and emissions-related incentives. These range from tax credits for electricity produced from marine renewable resources, wind power, and geothermal heat pump systems to incentives for carbon dioxide sequestration, biodiesel and other alternative fuels, plug-in electric drive motor vehicles, idling reduction units for heavy trucks, alternative fuel vehicle-refueling facilities, energy-efficient commercial buildings and residences, and many more. The act also provides for accelerated depreciation for purchases of equipment used to collect, distribute, or recycle a variety of commodities.1•
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December 03rd, 2012

12/3/2012

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It is important to note as we spoke earlier that this health care reform places an emphasis on the underserved receiving their health care exposure at school clinics. This is about what Health Enterprise Zones with all the taxpayer money is promoting.  If we look now at which schools are getting these fully staffed clinics we will see that again, all of the taxpayer money and grants are developing the infrastructure in what will be the affluent neighborhoods leaving the underserved communities that should be the recipients of all of these funds for helping the poor in blighted communities with few resources.

WHY ARE INSTITUTIONS LIKE JOHNS HOPKINS WHO WERE BUILT ON PUBLIC MONEY DELIBERATELY WORKING AGAINST THE POOREST OF PEOPLE ON ALL ISSUES OF POVERTY?  THERE SEEMS TO BE NO SHAME IN THE DELIBERATE NEGLECT WHEN ONE IS FOCUSED ON A MASTER PLAN TO MAKE BALTIMORE A WORLD-CLASS CITY ON PAR WITH NEW YORK CITY AND SAN FRANCISCO.  WHO BENEFITS FROM THAT GOAL?  THAT'S RIGHT.......THE 1% OF MARYLAND.

As we see below it is not only the poor/working class schools that are being hijacked for job training that will lead primarily to poverty wage employment......these schools are seeded in future middle/affluent neighborhoods and will become anchored.  The difference will be, as the neighborhood gentrifies, the vocational training will become Advanced Placement.  IF THE MIDDLE-CLASS THINK THAT TRACKING THE POOR INTO POVERTY EMPLOYMENT WITH VERY LITTLE DEMOCRATIC EDUCATION IS FINE WITH THEM.....THEY HAD BETTER REALIZE THAT THESE 1% EXPECT THE SAME FOR ALL PUBLIC SCHOOLS.

THESE 1% ARE EVIL-DOERS......DO NOT ALLOW THEM TO HAND OUR PUBLIC SCHOOLS TO CORPORATIONS!!!!

We do not want to allow this slow progression towards privatization to continue.  It will if you do not:

VOTE YOUR INCUMBENT OUT OF OFFICE!!!!!!


From the Baltimore Health Dept site:
Locations Services are provided in 192 health suites serving 206 Baltimore City public schools. As of September 2011, the Baltimore City Health Department sponsors 11 School Based Health Centers. School-based locations are listed below.

BELOW  WE SEE THE SCHOOLS WITH THESE HEALTH CLINICS THAT GIVE A QUALITY APPROACH TO CARE FOR STUDENTS.  REMEMBER, 'ENTERPRISE ZONE' IN BALTIMORE MEANS ZONES GENTRIFYING THE POOR/WORKING CLASS OUT AND THE AFFLUENT INTO A COMMUNITY.  SO, IF THESE HEALTH CLINICS COME TO THESE AREAS, THEY KNOW THESE CLINICS WILL ULTIMATELY BE SERVICING AFFLUENT FAMILIES.  YET, THEY ARE ALL FUNDED WITH TAXPAYER AND EDUCATION FUNDING.  ANOTHER WAY OF SKEWING SCHOOL FUNDING AROUND THE NEIGHBORHOODS ACTUALLY NEEDING HEALTH CARE.  So, neighborhoods with schools remaining poor/working class for the foreseeable future look to be the ones having a health aid or so.


ENTERPRISE ZONE---EAST BALTIMORE
Patterson High School, #405

  • 100 Kane Street
  • Baltimore, Maryland 21224

ENTERPRISE ZONE -EAST BALTIMORE
Dunbar Senior High School, #414

  • 1400 Orleans Street
  • Baltimore, Maryland 21231

ENTERPRISE ZONE- FEDERAL HILL
Digital Harbor High, #416

  • 1100 Covington Street
  • Baltimore, Maryland 21230

ENTERPRISE ZONE----EAST BALTIMORE

Heritage High, #425 / Reach Middle/High School, #341

  • 2801 St. Lo Drive
  • Baltimore, Maryland 21213

ENTERPRISE ZONE---HARBOR WEST CHERRY HILL

Southside Academy, #181/ New Era Academy SBHC, #422

  • 2700 Seamon Avenue
  • Baltimore, Maryland 21225

ENTERPRISE ZONE----LEXINGTON MARKET

Baltimore Talent Development, #428 / Augustus Fells Savage, #430

  • 1500 Harlem Avenue
  • Baltimore, Maryland 21217


ENTERPRISE ZONE-----UPPER PARK HEIGHTS

KIPP: Ujima Village, #324 / M.A.T.H.S. Academies, #331

  • 4701 Greenspring Avenue
  • Baltimore, Maryland 21209


ENTERPRISE ZONE---INNER HARBOR

Baltimore Freedom Academy, #423

  • 1601 E. Lombard Street
  • Baltimore, Maryland 21231


SCHOOL FOR CHILDREN WITH DISABILITIES

William S. Baer School, #301

  • 2001 N. Warwick Avenue
  • Baltimore, Maryland 21216

ENTERPRISE ZONE---HARBOR WEST CHERRY HILL

Carter G. Woodson K-8, #160

  • 2501 Seabury Road
  • Baltimore, Maryland 21225


ENTERPRISE ZONE-----EAST BALTIMORE
City Springs School, #8

  • 100 South Caroline Street
  • Baltimore, Maryland 21231

_________________________________________________


CAREER AND VOCATIONAL SCHOOLS-------ALL SERVICING UNDERSERVED STUDENTS NOW.  AS NEIGHBORHOODS ARE GENTRIFIED THESE WILL BECOME MIDDLE/AFFLUENT VOCATIONAL TRACKS.   REMEMBER, ALONZO IS FROM NEW YORK AND IS WORKING FOR WALL STREET....BFF WITH MAYOR BLOOMBERG SO IT IS HIS MISSION TO MAKE THIS CORPORATE TRANSITION.  THE CREDIT BOND DEAL ALL TIES INTO THIS MISSION. 

BALTIMORE IS BUILDING A COMPLETE K-COLLEGE VOCATIONAL TRACK FOR ALL PUBLIC SCHOOLS.  THESE WILL BE SIMPLY BECOME ATTACHED TO CORPORATE INTERESTS IF LEFT UNCHECKED.

VOTE YOUR INCUMBENT OUT OF OFFICE!!!!!

Achievement Academy @ Harbor City High
Carver Vocational - Technical High SchoolDigital Harbor High SchoolDoris M. Johnson High SchoolEdmondson/Westside High SchoolExcel Academy @ Francis M. Wood HighForest Park High SchoolFrederick Douglass High SchoolFriendship Academy of Engineering and TechnologyFriendship Academy of Science and TechnologyHeritage High SchoolHomeland Security High SchoolInstitute of Business and EntrepreneurshipMaryland Academy of Technology and Health SciencesMergenthaler Vocational - Technical High SchoolThe National Academy Foundation High SchoolThe Reach Middle/High SchoolNorthwestern High SchoolPatterson High SchoolPaul Laurence Dunbar High SchoolReginald F. Lewis High SchoolSouthside AcademyVivien T. Thomas Medical Arts AcademyWestern High School


The Reach Middle/High school prepares students for careers in health care or construction.  Career specialties include nursing assistant, medical assisting, pharmacy technician, electrical, carpentry, heating ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) and construction management. 
_________________________________________________

BELOW IS THE MOST INSIDIOUS PROGRAM THAT CAN BE IMAGINED.  WHAT THESE PEOPLE ARE DOING IS IDENTIFYING PEOPLE  THAT WILL BECOME GLOBAL MIGRANTS, WORKING OVERSEAS IN VARIOUS CAPACITIES.  IT MAY BE AS PROFESSIONALS OR IT MAY BE AS LOW-WAGE MIGRANT LABOR.  THESE ARE THE 'NEW ECONOMY' PEOPLE WHO ARE PUSHING THIS CORPORATE AND GLOBAL ETHOS ON ALL PARTS OF OUR SOCIETY.  REMEMBER, THEY ARE ONLY 5% OF OUR SOCIETY AT BEST.....THE SHAREHOLDER CLASS.....YET WITH THEIR POWER AND MONEY ARE DOMINATING ALL PUBLIC POLICY.  THEY ARE DOING IT BECAUSE YOUR INCUMBENT IS WRITING THE LAWS THAT ALLOW THEM TO DO IT.

SO, YOU SEE BELOW THE USUAL EVIL-DOING CHARACTERS.....THE 'GIVING GROUP', A WALL STREET BANK, WELLS  FARGO, AND THIS ENTITY EVOKU WHICH IS SIMPLY A PRIVATE CORPORATE/GLOBAL NON-PROFIT NGO ALL WORKING TO TAKE AMERICAN FAMILIES OVERSEAS TO WORK.  WHAT SHADY CHARACTERS!!!!!

Featuring 8 Pavilions of
Developing an
Actualized Child!

Physical Health · Mental Health
Spiritual Health · Social Health
Educational Health · Career Health
Financial Health · Entrepreneurship
VOTER’S REGISTRATION

Welcome Charm City! Ever wonder what your
child could achieve if only he had equal access
to resources and key people who could help him
pursue a proven plan for success? Look no
more. EVOKU Actualized Global Leadership
Experience (EAGLE) offers an innovative
approach to removing barriers to progress for
and investing in our children that it will share
with the Baltimore community on October 6, 2012:
The EAGLE Youth Investment Festival. See you
there!
Saturday, October 6, 2012
Noon to 5:00pm
At Patterson Park
Behind the Pagoda

EVOKU.......Wells Fargo.....Private Non-profit Giving Circle.....



To learn more about EAGLE-Youth Leadership Development feel free to download our informational brochure.

Download "First and foremost, we are social entrepreneurs who work with socially conscientious organizations in need of the youth workforce we are readying to lead the world,"

La Tasha Sharif Vanzie, EVOKU and EAGLE founder


EVOKU - Organizational & Workforce Development


EVOKU is a workforce and organizational development consultancy firm specializing in organizational and workforce development for both profit and not for profit organizations that are ready to invest in the improvement of their greatest asset: their human capital.


Founded by La Tasha Sharif Vanzie, whose organizational and workforce development experience includes for profit, non profit and government sectors, EVOKU works primarily with organizations on the decline and that are in need of a boost to get back on track to sustainability.


The common denominator among most organizations is a combination of poor morale, thus reduced productivity and low employee retention rates. To effectuate a sustainable boost in most of these organizations, EVOKU implements programs that affect change in organizational structures and systems designed to propel a human driven business strategy.


At EVOKU we recognize an organization's greatest asset is the human asset. Therefore our focus is on helping organizations to build workforces that are galvanized into the cultural values and strategic direction of the organization. We provide customized organizational development strategies to ensure your organization's culture becomes the living mantra and brand identity of your staff. When the values and beliefs of your human capital are fully aligned with the values of your organization, you will achieve a synergy that evokes the kind of self-motivated workforce that drives sustainable and effective businesses.


By providing creative workforce and organizational development services to organizations experiencing profit-losing brain drain and attrition. We are the experts in professionalizing the workforce and thereby increasing productivity from entry level human capital assets to top management.


Please contact EVOKU for more information on our Organizational & Workforce Development Services.


EVOKU – Youth Workforce Development


EVOKU brings its considerable organizational and workforce development expertise to facilitate employment and career paths for youth workers and entry-level workers. We focus on working with small businesses and non-profit organizations to assist them in offering career growth opportunities to youth and entry-level workers. We have worked with national non-profit organizations to build their job readiness and welfare to work programs, developed job matching networks between mid-to-large companies offering career tracks to entry level job applicants and re-engineered organizational structures, business systems and information management system to synergize workflow.


For more information on EVOKU Youth Workforce Development services please contact us.


EAGLE (EVOKU Actualized Global Leadership Experience)


As a natural outgrowth of its work on behalf of today's youth, in 2010, EVOKU established EVOKU Actualized Global Leadership Experience (EAGLE), a not-for-profit youth leadership development organization serving the Baltimore/Washington D.C. metropolitan area.


Through EAGLE, young people from the Baltimore and Washington D.C. areas learn and implement the life skills that will assist them in becoming the next generation of solution-makers and professionals. The EAGLE curriculum and social entrepreneurial experience-driven youth leadership development program teaches young leaders from all economic stratum, how to address socioeconomic problems, give back to their communities, and become highly adaptable world citizens through the organization's world travel ventures.


EAGLE is currently recruiting new scholars for the 2011-2012 cohort.
To apply, please contact


REMEMBER, THESE GROUPS ARE APART OF THE PRIVATE NON-PROFITS AND MARYLAND NON-PROFITS THAT ALLOW CORPORATIONS AND THE RICH TO CIRCUMVENT THE CITY'S GENERAL FUNDS TO INVEST IN THESE SPECIAL INTEREST PROGRAMS ALL WHILE WRITING DONATIONS OFF AS CHARITABLE CONTRIBUTIONS.  IN LIEU OF PAYING CORPORATE TAX OR IN LIEU OF PAYING MASSIVE FRAUD PENALTIES (WELLS FARGO ET AL) THEY ARE SIMPLY SENDING THEIR MONEY TO THESE INDOCTRINATION PROGRAMS.

VOTE YOUR INCUMBENT OUT OF OFFICE.....THIS IS SIMPLY RIDICULOUS!!!!!

0 Comments

November 07th, 2012

11/7/2012

0 Comments

 
IT WAS FUNNY HEARING BEN CARDIN SPEAKING OF HIS REELECTION AND CLEAN CAMPAIGN.  HE SAID 'THE PUBLIC HAS TOLD US TO GET DOWN TO WORK AND COMPROMISE WITH REPUBLICANS'......HE IS A REPUBLICAN, MY GOODNESS.  EDUCATION REFORM IS REPUBLICAN, DOMESTIC AND FOREIGN POLICY IS REPUBLICAN, CORPORATE TAX AND PUBLIC PRIVATE PARTNERSHIPS ARE REPUBLICAN, AND THIS HEALTH CARE REFORM IS REPUBLICAN......

THE QUESTION IS......WHEN ARE MARYLAND'S POLS GOING TO BE DEMOCRATS!!!!



Whether you look at Enterprise Zones that turn out to look like the Finance Ministry in Brussels as with EBDI, Benefit Corps that give corporations the right to donate money with no transparency unlike the B corps they mimick, and now Health Enterprise Zones that pretend to build healthy community networks for the underserved as they marginalize future care for the poor and elderly.......ALL OF THESE POLICIES ARE AN ASSAULT ON THE MIDDLE/LOWER CLASS TO THE BENEFIT OF THE RICH.  BALTIMORE AND MARYLAND IS AWASH WITH THESE POLICIES BECAUSE WE FAIL TO:

VOTE OUR INCUMBENTS OUT OF OFFICE!

Let's be clear that when they say people are covered by health insurance they are failing to say that access will be severely cut.  It's like the push for people having college degrees at the same time they are making colleges into 'career-job training' programs.  These Maryland pols are lowering the quality of all public services in order to increase profitability.  Don't forget, corporations need the tax revenue you and I pay to subsidize their bottom lines.

Those thinking the poor can do without had better know that it is coming to the middle-class, just as these vocational charter schools replacing public education will.

Whether O'Malley, Brown, Rawlings-Blake and all the state and city pols.......they are all working to take your quality of life away so corporations can make more profits!  Do you hear them shouting against this usurp of health care?

Coordinating care with the goal of excellence and convenience is a good thing.  That is not what is happening.

Medicare recipients to get more coordinated care Federal health law program aims to bring better coordinated care to Medicare recipients
 
By
Meredith Cohn, The Baltimore Sun 3:38 p.m. EDT, July 9, 2012

Four
doctor groups across Maryland have been chosen by the federal Department of Health and Human Services for a program that aims to cut health costs and better coordinate care for Medicare recipients.

The program named 89 new groups in 40 states to become Accountable Care Organizations under the federal health care reform law. That brings the total already signed up for the voluntary program to 154, according to federal health officials.

The groups share in savings realized through the more coordinated care. Officials estimate the total savings to the federal Medicare program could be up to $940 million over four years.

There are 33 quality measures developed for the organizations related to care coordination, patient safety, preventive health services, patient experience and care for at-risk populations.

In Maryland, the doctor groups include: Accountable Care Coalition of Maryland LLC, located in Hollywood with 109 physicians; Greater Baltimore Health Alliance Physicians LLC, affiliated with Greater Baltimore Medical Center with 399 physicians; Maryland Accountable Care Organization of Eastern Shore LLC with 15 physicians; and Maryland Accountable Care Organization of Western MD LLC with 23 physicians.

Meredith.cohn@baltsun.com


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BELOW YOU NOTICE TWO THINGS:  MARYLAND HAS ASKED A TEAM OF PRIVATE PRACTICE HEALTH PROFESSIONALS TO FIND SAVINGS IN CARE FOR SENIORS AND IT SPEAKS TO FEE-FOR-SERVICE BENEFICIARIES...THAT YOU AND I.  SO, THE FEDERAL AND STATE GOVERNMENTS CUT MEDICARE SPENDING BY HUNDREDS OF BILLIONS AND THESE PROFESSIONALS ARE ASSIGNED TO FIGURE OUT HOW THEY WILL KEEP THEIR PROFITS WITH LESS MONEY COMING TO THEM. 

FEE-FOR-SERVICE WAS IDENTIFIED AS THE MAIN DRIVER OF HEALTH COSTS FOLLOWED BY FRAUD AND WASTE BY ALL GOVERNMENT ACCOUNTABILITY ORGANIZATIONS.  REFORMING HEALTH CARE WOULD HAVE BEEN ALL ABOUT ENDING THE PRACTICE OF FEE-FOR-SERVICE.  HERE IN MARYLAND, YOUR INCUMBENT HAS SAID 'WHAT? STOP THE INFLATED BILLS THAT MAKE DOCTORS WEALTHY?  NO WAY'.  WE'LL JUST CUT ACCESS AND INCREASE CO-PAYS AND DEDUCTIBLES!




Greater Baltimore Health Alliance Physicians LLC To Participate As A Medicare Shared Savings Program Accountable Care Organization
Kevin Parker   July 9, 2012 

Greater Baltimore Health Alliance Physicians, LLC, (GBHA), a subsidiary of GBMC HealthCare (parent company of Greater Baltimore Medical Center), announced it has been selected to participate in the Medicare Shared Savings Program (Shared Savings Program) Accountable Care Organization (ACO), a multifaceted new program sponsored by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS).

Through the Shared Savings Program, GBHA will work with CMS to provide Medicare fee-for-service beneficiaries with high quality service and care, while reducing the growth in Medicare expenditures through enhanced care coordination.


____________________________________________
I SPOKE WITH EVERYONE OF JUST ONE FRAUD I HAD SOMEONE SHARE WITH ME RECENTLY.....THE PRIMARY CARE DOCTOR THAT HAS ENTITLEMENT PATIENTS COME BACK EVERY 3 MONTHS TO MONITOR VITAMIN D AND CHOLESTEROL.  THIS ISN'T AN ISOLATED INCIDENT.  THIS WILL BE WIDESPREAD THROUGHOUT PRIVATE PRACTICE AND THESE CHAIN DIET/NUTRITION CLINICS AND IT ALREADY SHOWS YOU THAT THIS REFORM IS NOT ABOUT CONTAINING COSTS AS MUCH AS IT IS ABOUT PROFITS.  YOUR ABILITY TO ACCESS MEANINGFUL CARE LIKE HOSPITAL STAYS AND RECOVERY CENTERS WILL BE ERASED BY COST WHILE YOUR MEDICARE COVERS PRIMARY PUBLIC HEALTH CHECKUPS DONE BY NURSES AND MED STUDENTS.

THIS IS BEING DONE BECAUSE THE NUMBERS OF BABY BOOMERS AND THE EXPANSION OF MEDICAID WILL STRESS EXISTING HEALTH STAFFING AND FUNDS.  MY QUESTION IS THIS.....THERE WAS ADVOCACY DECADES AGO TO SEND STUDENTS TO MEDICAL SCHOOL FOR FREE.....JUST AS THEY DO ALL OVER THE WORLD......SO THAT THERE WOULD BE ENOUGH TO HANDLE THESE STAFFING PROBLEMS.   EVEN IF WE STARTED DOING THAT NOW....WE COULD HAVE A GOOD NUMBER OF DOCTORS IN A DECADE.  THAT, AND THE FRAUD/WASTE WOULD SOLVE THE PROBLEM.  THEY ARE NOT DOING EITHER.  PATIENTS ARE STILL TO BE SENT FOR BLOOD TESTS AND XRAYS ALL THE SAME BECAUSE TECHS DO THAT WORK......THAT IS OFTEN THE WASTE....IT'S JUST THE SURGERY OR TREATMENTS THAT ARE LOOKING TO BE LIMITED.  WHY NOT EDUCATE THE DOCTORS FOR FREE?  IT IS A HUGE MONEY-MAKER/FREE LABOR FOR HOSPITAL/MEDICAL SCHOOLS.

THIS IS BAD PUBLIC POLICY THAT IS PROFIT OVER PEOPLE!  YOUR MARYLAND INCUMBENT LIKES IT THAT WAY!

VOTE YOUR INCUMBENT OUT OF OFFICE!!!

Below our Harvard graduate State Health Commissioner is telling us how all this change is necessary in order to insure the poor.  THE POOR HAVE NOTHING TO DO WITH IT.  THEY ALREADY GET THIS KIND OF CARE!

LET THESE WALL STREET SUPPLIANTS KNOW THAT WE WILL REVERSE THESE REFORMS AS WE RID OURSELVES OF THESE INCUMBENTS!


Health care reform: Caring about costs, too Expanding health coverage won't be sustainable unless Maryland can reduce expenses by emphasizing primary care

By Joshua M. Sharfstein, Laura Herrera, and Charles Milligan 6:00 a.m. EDT, September 27, 2012

By establishing a health benefit exchange and expanding Medicaid coverage, Maryland is on a path to extend access to affordable health care to hundreds of thousands of individuals, families and small businesses. For our progress to be sustainable, however, the growth in health care spending must be slowed and brought into balance.

According to the Kaiser Family Foundation, health spending in 1999 averaged $3,993 per person in Maryland, about the national average. Over the next decade, however, Maryland's per capita spending rose 88 percent to $7,492 in 2009, outpacing national growth by more than $500 per person.

Greater spending on health care has led to substantial increases in the price of health insurance. A recent Commonwealth Fund study found that between 2003 and 2010, Maryland employers experienced more than a 50 percent increase in insurance premiums for family policies. To cope with rising costs, Maryland employers have shifted a larger share of monthly premiums to employees and increased the use of deductibles and copayments.

Over the last decade, health care spending has grown faster than Maryland's economy as a whole. This means that many families and companies are paying a greater percentage of their income each year for coverage. Rising costs also threaten access to care. As costs go up relative to income, more businesses decide not to offer coverage — and even when insurance is offered, more families elect not to pay the premiums and become uninsured.

Changing this trajectory is essential to Maryland's future. Families need more room to use their savings for education, retirement and other priorities; companies need relief from ever-increasing premiums to invest in such areas as training and research and development. Progress on costs is also critical for the state budget, which includes both Medicaid and the state employees' health care program.

A key root cause of high health care spending in Maryland — and across the country — is a lack of balance in our health care system. The system has provided ample reimbursement for high-tech care for complicated illness while underpaying for the primary and preventive care needed to support people in health and wellness.

Maryland's health care system has become known for providing high-quality care — but very often for conditions that could have been prevented in the first place. The RAND Corp. found that improved access to primary care could have avoided many hospital admissions in our state. The Commonwealth Fund has noted high rates of readmission to Maryland hospitals, indicating that there is considerable room for improvement in keeping patients stable after discharge.

To make progress, we will need to align the delivery and payment of health care to the goal of better outcomes; wherever possible, we must pay for the value of services, not their volume. While this shift has begun in Maryland, it must move further and faster.

A more effective and efficient health care system starts with primary care. Every Marylander should have an attentive primary care clinician who supports prevention and health and has the time and resources to help navigate through complex diagnoses and treatment. Effective primary care can reduce the number of hospital admissions for chronic illness by 25 percent or more.  WHAT THEY ARE SAYING IS THIS:  SENDING PEOPLE TO PRIMARY CARE IS THE CHEAPEST ROUTE FOR CARE....HOW DO WE MAKE IT SOUND LIKE A GREAT THING?  JUST AS TELLING THEM STUDENTS SITTING IN FRONT OF COMPUTERS ALL DAY IS GREAT EDUCATION.  SAME THING!

In recent years, primary care has been weakened by reimbursement systems that pay only for brief clinical office visits. Fortunately, new models of primary care called "medical homes" are emerging that support extra time and support for the chronically ill. The models include care teams with different types of health professionals playing important roles. Primary care practices that are medical homes can share in the savings when their patients are healthier at lower cost, with the remaining savings passed to Maryland families, businesses and taxpayers.

Such an approach has been pioneered on behalf of the state by the Maryland Health Care Commission; CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield has also implemented a promising medical home program. We will seek to build on these efforts so that all insurance companies can participate and all primary care clinicians and patients can benefit. To accelerate progress, we will use mapping technology to find "hot spots" of poor outcomes and high cost, allowing for targeting of outreach efforts and coordination with public health coalitions.

Change must also come to outpatient specialty care. As more patients face larger deductibles and co-payments, it is reasonable to expect that physician practices provide more understandable information about their cost and quality.
To support better outcomes at lower costs, specialists should wherever possible be paid for a package of services (such as all care related to a knee replacement) and not individual services (such as each office visit, surgery, and re-operation on the path to a knee replacement). Working with physicians, patients, businesses and others, the Maryland Health Care Commission will explore setting standards for transparency and identify areas for creating packages of services. Maryland's Health Quality and Cost Council is planning to work with experts in the private sector to identify medical interventions that provide an especially high value to Marylanders — and suggest ways to design insurance plans that enhance access to these interventions.

Maryland's unique hospital rate-setting system has taken some important steps toward paying for value in health care. A number of rural hospitals have opted out of traditional payment-by-admission, instead accepting a set budget in advance. This novel payment structure, a "global budget," creates significant incentives to invest in community care and prevention. Many other hospitals in Maryland receive enhanced funding for certain admissions — but no reimbursement if the patient returns with 30 days. These hospitals are developing a much stronger relationship with primary care clinicians, long-term care facilities, community mental health and substance abuse treatment providers, home health agencies, and others to help patients manage their illnesses. An important next step is for these payment innovations to generate significant savings for those paying for care.

There are also opportunities to better align hospital efforts with those of community physicians and with medical homes. As spending on hospital care slows down, hospital systems will naturally expand their efforts in lower cost-settings — further supporting better outcomes at lower cost. Many of our state's hospital systems are well into this transformation. Through a modernization of the rate-setting system, Maryland can generate even more momentum and provide a model for others to follow.

Maryland's strategic initiatives will not just address costs; they will also improve health. With aligned incentives, health care organizations will be able to make the most of our nation-leading health information exchange, which allows critical medical records to be accessible at multiple points of care. We will see more partnerships with schools, local health departments, employers, and others to keep Marylanders active, tobacco-free, eating healthier, and well-immunized. We will see greater collaboration to support the care and independence of individuals with mental illness and substance use disorders. We will also see broad participation in creative approaches such as Health Enterprise Zones, which are expected to employ community health workers and others to address key causes of unacceptable health disparities.

Rebalancing health care is as important as expanding coverage. Both paths lead to the same destination of a healthier Maryland.

Dr. Joshua M. Sharfstein is secretary of the Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene. His email is joshua.sharfstein@maryland.gov. Dr. Laura Herrera is the department's chief medical officer. Charles Milligan is the department's deputy secretary for health care financing at the Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene.

Copyright © 2012, The Baltimore Sun





0 Comments

October 05th, 2012

10/5/2012

0 Comments

 
I'M GOING TO LET CHRISTIANS HAVE IT!!!  MUSLIMS DON'T WANT THIS CASINO ECONOMY THAT IS NAKED CAPITALISM BECAUSE IT IS AGAINST THEIR RELIGIOUS BELIEFS.  HOW CAN AMERICA SURRENDER ITSELF TO PURE FINANCIAL HEDONISM THAT SCARS FAMILIES AND PREYS ON THE POOR AND CALL ITSELF CHRISTIAN?

WHERE ARE THE CHURCHES THAT CAN FIGHT HARD AGAINST MARRIAGE EQUALITY AND BE SILENT AS GAMBLING TAKES OVER OUR COMMUNITIES?

SHOUT OUT AGAINST THIS AND VOTE YOUR INCUMBENT OUT OF OFFICE!!

THERE IS TOO MUCH TOP DOWN FOLKS.......WE NEED TO BRING IT BACK TO THE COMMUNITIES!

PLEASE BE AWARE THAT WHAT POLITICIANS SAY AND WHAT IS TRUE IS ALWAYS AT ODDS.  THE LAST ARTICLE IS A COMMENT FROM A READER WHO TELLS US HOW A HEALTH CARE WORKER LAW THAT WILL COME INTO EFFECT WILL HAVE EXTREMELY BAD CONSEQUENCES BECAUSE IT APPEARS TO BE ONE OF THOSE THAT IF LEFT UNFUNDED WILL HURT NOT HELP.  DON'T LET THESE POLITICIANS GET AWAY WITH FALSE STATEMENTS!


Not Everyone In Spain Eager To Wager On EuroVegas
by Lauren Frayer  NPR Gustavo Cuevas/EPA/Landov October 5, 2012

Listen to the Story Morning Edition

Spaniards protest the construction of the EuroVegas gambling complex at Puerta del Sol in Madrid last month.

American billionaire, casino mogul and Republican donor Sheldon Adelson has a new project: a $35 billion gambling megacity in Europe. He has chosen debt-ridden Spain as the location for "EuroVegas," which is expected to bring up to 250,000 much-needed jobs.

But many Spaniards are divided over whether they want casinos in their backyard.

Adelson recently touched down in his private helicopter in the Madrid suburb of Alcorcon, where wind whips across empty lots and half-built apartment blocks. The area has been down on its luck since the housing collapse, and one-third of its residents are unemployed.

On this land, Adelson envisions a glittering gambling city, to rival Las Vegas — complete with 36,000 hotel rooms, 18,000 slot machines and three golf courses.

Unemployed residents like 28-year-old Ruben Alvarez say it's like a mirage in the desert — almost too good to be true.

"If it's true and they really bring 250,000 jobs here? Imagine that. Things would definitely improve here if people had work. It would let people breathe a sigh of relief," he says. "But we'll have to see if it's true."

Initial Euphoria Waning

Spanish politicians have been salivating over the jobs EuroVegas would bring. Madrid beat out Barcelona for the contract by offering concessions. Now some of the initial euphoria is waning, as Spaniards learn the terms of the deal.

Las Vegas Sands, Adelson's company, says it'll pay only 35 percent. Cash-strapped municipal authorities would somehow have to come up with the rest. Adelson's company is also asking for tax breaks and exemptions from local labor laws — to bring in foreign workers and allow smoking inside casinos, despite a nationwide ban.

In this economy, Spain doesn't exactly have much bargaining power. And some feel Adelson is taking advantage of that.

Carlos Ruiz is a retired engineer who volunteers with a group called "EuroVegas No."

"Taking into account the very bad situation of Spain, he's doing all kinds of blackmails," he says.

Ruiz worries that with Europe's highest jobless rate — 25 percent and double that for youth — Spain is willing to sell its soul for a few jobs. He says Spanish leaders have fallen for a get-rich-quick scheme.

"[A plan] that we think doesn't create good jobs, stable jobs, that harms the environment, that harms the social relations, that ignores civil rights, that brings wealth only to the investors, not to the rest of society," he says.

Tax Breaks For A Billionaire?


Madrid is thinking about taking out massive bank loans to finance its part of the deal. But Spanish banks just got a bailout from Europe.

"Citizens from the whole of Europe are lending money to Spanish banks because they are in a bad situation — hoping that someday these banks will start to give credit to small enterprises, to families, to people," Ruiz says. "But this money is going to go to Mr. Adelson, who is one of the richest men in the world. This is quite unfair."

Adelson would also get tax breaks for his investment. Economist Gonzalo Garland, at IE Business School in Madrid, says if the government is going to offer tax breaks to casinos — which could bring prostitution, drugs and the like — it needs to better explain that decision to the public.

"A lot of people might think gambling is something where you do want to charge lots of taxes rather than not," Garland says. "But I think it's very important to be careful to show that this would be an exception because of some other gains; the gains would be the tourists and all the money they'll be leaving."

Both Las Vegas Sands and Madrid's town hall failed to respond to repeated calls for interviews, perhaps because negotiations over EuroVegas are still under way.

Need For Other Sources Of Growth

Beyond any moral objections, Garland says construction is what got Spain into this economic mess in the first place. Madrid's suburbs are littered with empty buildings left over from the housing boom.

"I think it would be a big mistake for Spain to again try to rely on construction as a big engine of growth," Garland says. "What probably Spain needs is to look for other sources, and look for several — not just concentrate on one."

Subsidies for wind and solar energy — possible future engines of growth in Spain — were cut in the last round of austerity, right around the time Adelson came calling.

Back in Alcorcon, where the casinos are slated to be built, 28-year-old Ruben Alvarez kills time on a bench near town hall. He's been out of work nearly a year. He says he's not crazy about casinos, but that he'd jump at the chance to work at one, nonetheless.

"People are out on the street. Those lucky to have jobs are getting paid less and less. Every day things are getting worse," Alvarez says. "So with casinos coming, it's a good thing for the jobs, but it could also be dangerous for us — for the young people, if there's prostitution and gambling.

"It could be a bit of a temptation," he says. "Considering the situation we're in."

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EVERYONE KNOWS, JUST AS THE SPANISH CITIZEN INTERVIEWED ABOVE THAT THESE JOBS ARE NOT GOOD JOBS, THEY DO HIRE FROM OTHER THAN LOCAL WORKER POOLS. AND THEY TEND TO BE PART-TIME, ESPECIALLY THOSE PAYING THE MOST. O'MALLEY KNOWS AS WELL THAT HE BARELY MADE THE THORNTON EDUCATION GOAL FOR PUBLIC SCHOOLS AND THAT WAS WITH INTENSE PUBLIC PROTEST.  WHERE IS THE $800,000 THE ALGEBRA PROJECT IS IN COURT TRYING TO GET FOR BALTIMORE SCHOOL?  O'MALLEY SENDS THIS MONEY TO THE INNOVATION CENTERS/ONLINE COURSES AT UNIVERSITIES

AND IT DOES BRING MORAL HAZARD.  CASINOS REPRESENT A SOCIETY IN DECAY!

National Harbor Facilities The site has a convention center, six hotels, restaurants, shops, and condominiums.



O’Malley Denounces Anti-Gambling Ads As ‘Hogwash’
October 3, 2012 6:07 PM

Source: ABC News/ Wash Post 9/26-29 ANNAPOLIS, Md. (AP) --

Gov. Martin O’Malley on Wednesday fired back against television advertisements opposing the state’s proposed gambling expansion, contending the casino company behind them is simply trying to protect its large operation in West Virginia from losing Maryland gamblers.

“It’s a bunch of West Virginia casino hooey,” the governor said.

O’Malley, speaking to reporters outside the Maryland State House, took particular umbrage at the suggestion in the ads that additional gambling proceeds won’t go to education as set out in the proposal. The ads, paid for by Penn National Gaming Inc., suggest Maryland has reneged on funding promises in the past, and that voters shouldn’t be fooled.

But O’Malley, who has made education funding a top priority of his tenure, said it was “ludicrous” to suggest Maryland hasn’t been committed to funding education during his administration, which has made record investments in schools.

“It’s silly to engage in what ifs when you look at our history and you look at every budget I’ve ever submitted,” the governor said in a follow-up interview.

However, the governor conceded it’s not possible to say how the money will be used in perpetuity under future administrations.

“You know, what’s the guarantee that a house won’t fall on Mr. Carlino tomorrow,” O’Malley said, referring to Penn National’s chairman and chief executive officer, Peter Carlino.

Maryland is in the middle of an astonishing ad blitz from both sides of the gambling issue, which will be on the ballot in November.

So far, with more than a month before Election Day, Penn National has spent more than $18 million on its campaign against a casino in Prince George’s County. Supporters, including Las Vegas-based MGM Resorts International, have spent more than $14 million. Supporters tout the proposed gambling expansion as a big revenue raiser for the state that will generate thousands of jobs.

O’Malley called a special session in August, when lawmakers approved allowing table games like blackjack at Maryland casinos as well as a new casino site in Prince George’s County, where MGM wants to build a casino at National Harbor near the nation’s capital.

Penn National, which is based in Wyomissing, Pa., owns the Hollywood Casino at Charles Town Races in West Virginia, not far from the Maryland border. It also owns the Hollywood Casino in Perryville, which was Maryland’s first casino to open. It also owns Rosecroft Raceway in Maryland, which is in Prince George’s County.

(Copyright 2012 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

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WE ARE SEEING TWO LEADING GROWTH INDUSTRIES IN MARYLAND AS IS TRUE ACROSS THE COUNTRY.  ONE IS THE GAMING/TOURIST INDUSTRY AND THE OTHER IS THE PRIVATE NON-PROFIT.   THIS ARTICLE IS 2008, THE YEAR OF THE CRASH.  TODAY THE NUMBERS FOR THESE HAVE SKYROCKETED IN MARYLAND.  LOOK AT THE LAST ARTICLE TO SEE BALTIMORE'S BOARD OF ESTIMATES MEETING AGENDA TO SEE THEIR BUSINESS IS A LONG STRING OF PRIVATE NON-PROFITS FUNDED BY GIFTING ORGANIZATIONS AND CITY TAXES.

MANY OF THESE ARE NATIONAL CHAIN ORGANIZATIONS.  SOME ARE SPECIAL INTEREST.  NO ONE WILL SAY THEY ARE NOT HELPFUL.  THE PROBLEM IS THIS:

WE ARE SEEING LOCAL REC CENTERS AND SMALL COMMUNITY NON-PROFITS CLOSING BECAUSE THEY ARE BEING DEFUNDED.  THESE EMPLOY PEOPLE IN THE COMMUNITY WHO KNOW THE PEOPLE THEY ARE HELPING.  THE PEOPLE ARE HEADING THE PROGRAM THEMSELVES.

THESE NATIONAL PROGRAMS SUPPLANT THOSE BONDS THAT ARE CRITICAL IN AT-RISK COMMUNITIES ESPECIALLY AND COMMUNITIES IN GENERAL!!!!!  THIS IS HOW COMMUNITY LEADERS ARE MADE.

THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTORS OF THOSE NON-PROFITS WILL BE PAID WELL WHILE THOSE UNDER WILL SEE VERY LOW OR NO PAY.

Friday, July 4, 2008 Maryland job growth booms in nonprofits Sector accounts for almost 10 percent of all employment in state by Kevin James Shay | Staff Writer  Gazette.Net

Jobs in Maryland’s nonprofit sector increased almost three times faster than in the for-profit sector from 2005 to 2006, according to a Johns Hopkins University study released this week.

Nonprofit employment in Maryland rose by 2.9 percent in 2006 — the most recent year for which data are available — to about 244,000, compared with an increase of 1.1 percent to 2.6 million in for-profit jobs, the study says. The growth in nonprofit employment in Maryland is fueled by industries that consistently add jobs, such as health care, education and social services, said Stephanie Lessans Geller, research project manager with the Center for Civil Society Studies within the Baltimore university’s Institute for Policy Studies and a co-author of the report.

‘‘It’s a long-term trend that has been occurring for the past six or seven years,” Geller said.

Nonprofit employment in Maryland grew by 20.5 percent from 1999 to 2006, far more than for-profit job growth of 7.1 percent. Nonprofit hospitals that include Johns Hopkins Hospital and Health System added 14,449 net jobs over the seven-year period.

Three of the four largest private employers in Maryland are nonprofits, according to figures compiled last year by the Maryland Department of Business and Economic Development. Those are Johns Hopkins University, MedStar Health and Johns Hopkins Health System.

Nonprofit organizations, which do not pay property taxes but whose employees pay income taxes, provided 9.6 percent of all jobs in Maryland in 2006, well above the national average of 7.2 percent and up from 7.2 percent in the state in 1998. State nonprofit payroll has increased from $6.1 billion in 1998 to $10.6 billion in 2006.

‘‘Nonprofit job growth is especially critical given the recent employment declines in other parts of the U.S. economy,” Lester M. Salamon, director of the Center for Civil Society Studies, said in a statement.

Doesn’t look atcurrent slowdown

The new study does not cover the current economic slowdown. In May, Maryland’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate ballooned to 4.0 percent from 3.5 percent in May 2007 — so far the largest year-over-year increase in 2008, according to U.S. Department of Labor figures.

But the state is still seeing overall job growth, as Maryland has added about 6,500 jobs since January, including 1,100 in May. Meanwhile, businesses across the nation have shed more than 300,000 jobs in 2008, and the national unemployment rate shot up to 5.5 percent in May from 4.5 percent a year ago.

Geller said she could not speculate on what has occurred in the nonprofit sector in Maryland the past year or so. But the latest federal figures showed job gains in Maryland in May in education and health services, which have many nonprofit employers. Losses mounted in the construction, manufacturing and finance sectors, typically dominated by for-profit companies.  IT IS NO MYSTERY.....HEALTH AND EDUCATION IS THE NEXT GLOBAL WORKFORCE AND THEY ARE USING THE TAXPAYER TO GROW THEIR INDUSTRY.....JUST LIKE DEFENSE AND SPACE INDUSTRIES. 

The average weekly wage for an employee of a 501(c)(3) organization was $627 in 2004, compared with $669 in the for-profit sector, according to Independent Sector, a Washington, D.C., nonprofit advocacy organization.

While nonprofit wages are generally lower than in the for-profit sector, in industries in which the two sectors converge such as health care and social services, studies have shown that nonprofit wages are actually higher than at the for-profit companies, Geller said.  THAT'S BECAUSE THEY PAY ONE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR WELL AND HAVE VISTAS AND VOLUNTEERS AS WORKERS. THE VISTAS ARE PAID BY TAXPAYERS.

In addition to hospitals and private universities, the nonprofit sector includes museums such as the National Aquarium in Baltimore, schools, clinics, day care centers, social service providers, symphonies, art galleries, theaters and environmental organizations.

Among state jurisdictions, Baltimore city had the most nonprofit employees in 2006 with some 84,400, followed by Montgomery County with about 39,900 and Baltimore County with about 34,400. Prince George’s County saw the largest percentage gain since 2005 among the state’s five biggest entities at 5.8 percent to about 14,400.
_____________________________________________________


MOUNT VERNON PLACE CONSERVANCY, INC. $50,000.00

DOWNTOWN BALTIMORE FAMILY ALLIANCE, INC. $20,000.00 (DBFA)

CHESAPEAKE SHAKESPEARE COMPANY, INC. $50,000.00

FRIENDS OF PATTERSON PARK, INC. $50,000.00

NUEVA VIDA, INC. $15,000.00

YOUNG AUDIENCES OF MARYLAND, INC. $40,000.00

DOWNTOWN SAILING CENTER, INC. $50,000.00

ARTS EVERY DAY, INC. $25,000.00

BOYS HOPE GIRLS HOPE OF BALTIMORE, $50,000.00

BLUE WATER BALTIMORE, INC. $25,000.00

MEALS ON WHEELS OF CENTRAL MARYLAND, $20,000.00

Choice Jobs Program, a non-profit entity

HEALTHY TEEN NETWORK, INC. $ 45,000.00
___________________________________________________

HERE IS A COMMENT FROM A READER ON HOW THESE BILLS BEING PASSED ARE MADE TO SOUND GOOD BUT HAVE THE INTENTION TO HARM.  ALL OF  GOVERNMENT MONEY IS GOING TO PAY FOR THE PLANNING OF PRIVATE HEALTH SYSTEMS WHILE THE PEOPLE ARE BEING UNDERMINED AT EVERY STEP!  ALL MARYLAND POLITICIANS PRAISED THIS HOME HEALTH WORKER BILL AS GOOD.....

Philip Bennett said:

I am writing this as a homecare worker of 36 years, not for any homecare agency.
The Federal Department of Labor (DOL) is proposing changes to the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA)to Domestic Service which, if put into effect, may seriously reduce the take-home pay of countless numbers of homecare workers such as I and make the lives of the people with disabilities we assist less manageable.
The changes would require the payment of minimum wage to homecare workers and mandate that homecare workers must receive time and a half pay for every hour over 40 hours per week of work done. Medicaid would bear most of the burden.
This sounds like it would be a major victory for me and my fellow homecare workers, right? But there's one big problem: where is the money to pay for this? If the law says we can't work without minimum wage or time and a half pay but the money's not there, then we won't be allowed to work those hours!
That means, instead of increasing our take-home pay, the proposal will slash all hours beyond 40 per week of our pay. For me, that's 416 hours and $4,742.40 per year I will lose.
My fellow workers who currently put in 84 hours per week will suffer a 44 hour loss -- over half their pay!
Healthcare insurance will also be harder to qualify for since it's based on the number of hours worked.
As a result, many workers will be forced to seek out second or third or forth jobs to make up the loss.
And, for the people we assist, their lives will be harder. They will either endure a reduction in homecare hours or will have to seek more workers. That means more poorly paid people in their homes with even less incentive to do a good job. Many people with disabilities have a hard enough time right now managing their assistants. The added strain will cause many to just give up and move into nursing homes.
Who benefits from this proposal? Certainly the nursing home industry. Also the homecare unions which will receive more dues-paying members even as all the members' average standard-of-living declines. Even the most poorly-paid worker in a closed shop is required to turn over at least $25.10 per month in union dues. That's a windfall for union coffers even as the average standard of living of the workers plummets.
What can we do? We can demand that, before this proposal is put into effect, funding for it be allocated and in place to begin payment immediately. Finding this money won't be easy. The federal government is 15 trillion dollars in debt (that's $15,000,000,000,000: a lot of zeros!) The states and municipalities aren't doing much better. But, until we are shown the money, this proposal is nothing but a shell game which promises a reward but leaves us worse off than before.
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October 03rd, 2012

10/3/2012

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I READ IN A FINANCIAL CHAT ROOM THAT WE OLD FOGEYS (BABY BOOMERS) ARE TOO OLD TO THINK STRAIGHT AND WON'T BE ABLE TO FIGHT LOSING ALL OF OUR RETIREMENT!!!


IT IS IMPORTANT TO SEE THAT POLITICIANS HAVE BEEN WORKING AGAINST PENSIONS IN FAVOR OF THE CORPORATIONS ALL ALONG.  ONE OF THE FIRST THINGS A SUPERMAJORITY OF DEMOCRATS ELECTED IN 2008 WOULD ADDRESS IS PENSION/ENTITLEMENT PROTECTION, EXCEPT WE HAVE A CORPORATE THIRD WAY LEADERSHIP, SO PENSIONS WERE LEFT TO DECLINE.  LIKE THE ARTICLE SHOWED YESTERDAY, THE PENSION BENEFIT GUARENTY CORPORATION (PBGC) ACTUALLY TOSSED THE PRIVATE SECTOR WORKER UNDER THE TRAIN BY MOVING FROM BONDS TO STOCKS. IT ISN'T ONLY THE 23% DROP IN ASSETS LOST THAT HURTS, IT IS THE LAW ATTACHED TO ERISA---THE LAW SUPPOSEDLY PROTECTING PENSIONS, THAT BASICALLY GUTTED THE PENSIONS.  REMEMBER, THE GOVERNMENT OPERATED PBGC
WAS CREATED TO TAKE PRIVATE PENSIONS SHED IN CORPORATE BANKRUPTCY.  ALL POLITICIANS NEEDED TO DO IS REMOVE THE ABILITY TO SHED PENSIONS IN BANKRUPTCY AND THERE WOULD BE NO NEED FOR THIS GOVERNMENT AGENCY.  YOU CAN SEE BELOW THAT PEOPLE WHOSE PENSIONS FELL INTO THIS GOVERNMENT AGENCY LOST MOST OF THAT PENSION'S VALUE....THIS AGENCY WAS MOSTLY WINDOW-DRESSING.

ALL THIS IS IMPORTANT BECAUSE:

1.  WE SEE WITH THIS ARRANGEMENT THE SAME THING WE SEE TODAY, ONLY ON STEROIDS.  THESE POLITICIANS ARE TURNING EVERY GOVERNMENT FUNCTION OVER TO THESE INDEPENDENT GOVERNMENT AGENCIES AND TIME AND AGAIN WE SEE THAT THE PUBLIC LOSES ALL CONTROL OVER OUTCOMES AND THE OUTCOMES ARE BAD FOR THE PUBLIC.

2.  THESE INDEPENDENT AGENCIES, LIKE PUBLIC-PRIVATE PARTNERSHIPS, ARE MADE EXEMPT FROM PUBLIC LAWSUITS AND PLACE THE TAXPAYER ON THE HOOK FOR ALL LOSSES...AND ARE ALWAYS FOUND TO HAVE NO OVERSIGHT......THINK FREDDIE MAC.  THE EMPLOYEES CAN GO WILD WITH NO CONSEQUENCE.

3.  WE HAVE NO IDEA OF WHAT IS HAPPENING IN SIMILAR INDEPENDENT AGENCIES LIKE THE SOCIAL SECURITY TRUST.  WE HAVE  POLITICIANS RAIDING AND DIVERTING FUNDS INTENDED FOR THE TRUST WITH NO LAWS PREVENTING THAT.


MY POINT IS THIS.  IF WE DO NOT STAND UP RIGHT NOW AND DEMAND AN END TO ALL THESE PRIVATE NON-PROFITS AND THESE INDEPENDENT AGENCIES OUR INCUMBENTS ARE UNLEASHING ON US, THE PEOPLE WILL HAVE ABDICATED ALL RIGHTS AS CITIZENS AND BABY BOOMERS WILL ENTER THEIR RETIREMENT YEARS HAVING BEEN TOTALLY ROBBED.

VOTE YOUR INCUMBENT OUT OF OFFICE!!!!!
 
DEMAND LAWS THAT REQUIRE PUBLIC AUDITS.  HERE IN BALTIMORE WE ARE ONLY NOW GETTING SOME AUDITS WHILE EVERY AGENCY SHOULD BE AUDITED......MAKE IT THE NEW GROWTH INDUSTRY!!!

DEMAND YOUR UNION LEADERS/BUSINESSES PROTECT PENSIONS WITH LAWS REQUIRING FULL FUNDING AND INVESTMENT OVERSIGHT.  CHANGE THE LANGUAGE OF PENSIONS FROM LIABILITY THAT CAN BE CHANGED AT WILL.

SHOUT FOR LAWS THAT SAY THESE PENSION/SOCIAL SECURITY TRUSTS ARE NOT SUBJECT TO RAIDING....THEY MUST BE LEFT UNTOUCHED.

WE KNOW THAT WE DO NOT HAVE A BUDGET DEFICIT WE HAVE A DEFICIT OF JUSTICE.  DO NOT ALLOW THESE POLITICIANS TO SPEAK OF CUTS WITHOUT MAKING THEM BRING BACK FRAUD AND RAISE CORPORATE TAX RATES!!!  IF YOUR INCUMBENT IS CALLING FOR CORPORATE TAX CUTS....AND MARYLAND'S ARE.....WHEN CORPORATIONS ARE ROLLING IN MONEY AND WE KNOW HIGHER TAXES DON'T MAKE THEM LESS COMPETITIVE......THEY ARE NOT WORKING FOR YOU AND ME.

WE SEE BELOW THAT THIS PENSION SCARE WAS USED BEFORE (1972) AND THEY USED THE SAME SCARE TACTICS TO ENACT ALL KINDS OF CHANGES THAT WORKED AGAINST THE PENSION SYSTEM.  THE PENSION SHORTFALL WAS THE SAME....UNFUNDED AND BAD INVESTMENT.



On September 12, 1972, NBC broadcast Pensions: The Broken Promise, an hour-long television special that showed millions of Americans the consequences of poorly funded pension plans and onerous vesting requirements. In the following years, Congress held a series of public hearings on pension issues and public support for pension reform grew significantly.





Freddie Mac, is a public government-sponsored enterprise (GSE)

The Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) is an independent agency of the United States government

 THIS PENSION LAW REMOVED STATE OVERSIGHT OF THESE PENSIONS AND TOOK AWAY PENSIONER'S ABILITY TO SUE FOR ACCESS TO HEALTH CARE.  YOUR INCUMBENT KNOWS THIS.

ERISA Section 514 preempts all state laws that relate to any employee benefit plan, with certain, enumerated exceptions. The most important exceptions — i.e. state laws that survive despite the fact that they may relate to an employee benefit plan — are state insurance, banking, or securities laws, generally applicable criminal laws, and domestic relations orders that meet ERISA's qualification requirements.

A major limitation is placed on the insurance exception, known as the "deemer clause", which essentially provides that state insurance law cannot operate on employer self-funded benefit plans. The Supreme Court has created another limitation on the insurance exception, in which even a law regulating insurance will be pre-empted if it purports to add a remedy to a participant or beneficiary in an employee benefit plan that ERISA did not explicitly provide.


It has been argued that in the case of health benefits, the effect of all of this may paradoxically have been to leave plan participants worse off than if ERISA had not been enacted.[8]

Many persons included among the some 47 million people presently without health care coverage in the United States are former ERISA "subscribers", insurance terminology for Plan beneficiaries, who have been denied benefits-usually on the ground that the prescribed care is not medically necessary or is "experimental"-or dropped from coverage, often because they have lost their jobs due to the very illness for which care was denied.[ci
_______________________________________________
JUST AS WITH ALL OF THESE PUBLIC-PRIVATE AGENCIES WE SEE TIME AND AGAIN NO ACCOUNTABILITY, NO OVERSIGHT.  WE WILL SEE MORE OF THAT WITH THESE NON-PROFITS THAT ARE PRIVATE AND ALLOW NO TRANSPARENCY.



Accountability

No guarantees at the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation Pension protection agency cited for audit failure, misleading Congress

By John Solomon 5:01 pm, May 3, 2010 Updated: 3:53 pm, August 12, 2011

Senate Aging Committee Chairman Herb Kohl says a Center for Public Integrity investigation that uncovered security, management and procurement weaknesses inside the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp. (PBGC) provides fresh evidence that lawmakers need to intervene to fix the federal corporation entrusted with protecting Americans' retirement funds. Inspector General Rebecca Anne Batts Geithner's threat to tap congressional retirement funds rings hollow By John Aloysius Farrell May 19, 2011 Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner notified members of Congress this week that, until they raise the federal debt limit, he would tap one of their retirement funds — known as the “G Fund”— to keep the government running.

Pension insurer criticized for switching investment strategies too frequently By Alexandra Duszak August 1, 2011 The Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC), a federal corporation insuring traditional pensions of more than 44 million American workers, has made too many changes to how it invests almost $80 billion in assets, according to the Government Accountability Of

Last November, the federal corporation charged with protecting Americans’ retirement funds issued an ominous public warning: the amount of pensions at risk inside failing companies had more than tripled during the recession.

The Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation’s announcement signaled it might need tens of billions of new dollars to rescue traditional pensions paid by U.S. firms whose economic collapse left them unable to meet their retirement obligations to workers.

At the same time, however, the federally chartered corporation was receiving some bad news of its own: for the first time it was going to flunk an independent audit of the way it manages its finances.

On Nov. 12, 2009, PBGC’s outside audit firm and the corporation’s own internal watchdog jointly informed the federal body it was being cited for a “material weakness” in its internal financial controls, the accounting equivalent of an F grade.

“PBGC did not have effective internal control over financial reporting (including safeguarding assets) and compliance with laws and regulations and its operations,” Inspector General Rebecca Anne Batts wrote in a letter that has escaped public attention despite their potential importance to taxpayers.

Americans may expect such adverse audit findings for corporate bad actors, but the finding is more unusual for a government agency, especially one charged with cleaning up failed companies’ messes and rescuing workers’ pensions.

A Center for Public Integrity review of hundreds of pages of memos, audits and internal reports shows the pension guaranty corporation has been unable to make several guarantees about its own work — in some cases directly misleading Congress and its inspector general into believing long-simmering problems were resolved.

Inspector General Rebecca Anne Batts“Providing false information to OIG or Congress can be a criminal violation,” an angry Sen. Charles Grassley of Iowa, the senior Republican on the Senate Finance Committee, warned in a letter March 31 that was provided to the Center. The letter chided the corporation for its “apparent dishonesty” in erroneously reporting it had implemented solutions to past problems.

Created in 1974, PBGC is essentially the government’s insurance program for retirees, protecting the pensions of approximately 44 million workers and retirees in more than 29,000 private defined benefit pension plans that promise a fixed monthly payment to retirees for life. When a covered company’s pension plan defaults, PBGC swoops in and protects workers’ retirements.

The corporation receives no tax dollars, and is funded instead by insurance premiums paid by pension plan operators, investments and assets it recovers from companies whose pension plans needed to be rescued.

A litany of problemsGetting its story straight with Congress is just one of PBGC’s problems.

Despite being the custodian of some of Americans’ most private data, PBGC suffers from such lax security that a contractor was able in 2008 to download the pension and Social Security numbers of 1,300 Americans to an unsecured electronic thumb drive that was then lost at an Ohio train station, according to documents and interviews.

The corporation also has been criticized for letting its contractors hire employees with inadequate experience or education, and has been cited repeatedly since 1997 for failing to create a unified financial management system to better safeguard its funds. It lacks the ability, for instance, to independently confirm the investment revenue figures reported by a contractor hired to engage in securities lending on its behalf, according to audit reports and interviews.

And its former chief executive was the subject of a year-long criminal investigation that ended in March with no criminal charges but a conclusion that his conduct raised “serious ethical concerns,” documents show.

“I am acutely aware that every dollar spent on a contractor who doesn’t provide the promised level of service or who doesn’t provide contract workers with the minimum qualifications needed to do the job is a dollar that is not available to pay the pension benefits of the workers that PBGC was created to protect,” Batts said in an interview.

Such systemic problems are equally concerning to lawmakers like Grassley and Democratic Sen. Herb Kohl of Wisconsin, the chairman of the Senate Aging Committee, particularly because the corporation’s own long-term financial outlook has worsened over the last few years.

Kohl, who is pressing for legislation to strengthen the PBGC’s oversight and governance, said the corporation’s “long-running problems …. should serve as a wake-up call to Congress.”

“Nearly one in six Americans relies on the PBGC to guarantee the pensions they’ve worked a lifetime for. The agency is far too important to let it operate without adequate oversight,” he said.



____________________________________________________
BELOW YOU'LL SEE A EUROPEAN PERSPECTIVE ON PENSION CUTS.  THEY FELT THIS 2 YEARS AGO.  REMEMBER, THIS FRAUD WAS DESIGNED TO FORCE COUNTRIES TO SHED SOCIAL PROGRAMS AS THE WEALTHY HAVE OTHER PLANS FOR THAT MONEY.  SEE HOW THEY PETITIONED TO REFERENDUM WHETHER THESE CUTS WOULD HAPPEN?  THE DIFFERENCE FOR AMERICANS IS THAT NOT ALL CITIZENS HAVE PENSIONS AND THEREFOR LESS LIKELY TO SUPPORT EFFORTS TO STOP CUTS.

FOR PUBLIC SECTOR EMPLOYEES THE EXPECTATION WAS THAT THESE PENSIONS WERE OBLIGATIONS AND THEY ARE NOW TREATED AS ARBITRARY.  GOING FORWARD WE WANT TO CHANGE THAT LANGUAGE IN CONTRACTS.

Feb 16, 2010 - 21:58 Public puzzled by campaign on pension cuts Opponents of the pension cuts run a high profile campaign (swissinfo) Related Stories
  • Pensions report cites "serious inequalities"
  • Finance crisis blows hole in pension funds
The nationwide ballot on planned pension cuts on March 7 is of key importance both to the business community and to trade unions - for different reasons. But less than three weeks ahead of the vote it is not clear to what extent campaigns by supporters and opponents have had an impact on the public perception despite a flood of propaganda material.


Voters will be asked to decide on the minimum conversion rate of the occupational pension scheme. The rate presently stands at about seven per cent and is to be reduced to 6.4 per cent by 2016 if the government and a majority of parliament have their way.

It means that employees will see benefits from the occupational pension scheme – the so called second pillar – reduced.

Under the current rate, a retired man with accumulated capital of SFr100,000 ($93,686) in the pension fund would receive SFr7,000 annually. The new rate would see payments drop to SFr6,400 a year.


" Voters can choose between security and insecurity. "
Didier Burkhalter, Interior Minister “Theft” However, trade unions, consumer groups and centre-left parties collected more than 200,000 signatures within three months – four times more than necessary - to challenge the decision to a referendum.

They argue the reduction is unnecessary and tantamount to “benefits theft” by the Business Federation and private insurance companies.

“Insurance managers want to siphon off as much money from the pension scheme as possible,” said Ruedi Rechsteiner of the centre-left Social Democrats.

The planned pension cuts would threaten “a dignified life” for the older generation, says the Unia trade union - one of the driving forces behind the referendum.

Consumer groups accused insurance companies of scaremongering and using inaccurate figures to prove that the accumulated capital is insufficient to cover for an ageing population.


Risks “The reduction of the conversion rate is necessary to guarantee the future of the pension scheme for the younger generation;” said Gerold Bührer, president of the Swiss Business Federation.

The Employers Association adds that failure to adapt the rate would leave pension funds no choice but to make risky investments to ensure the financial stability of the insurance scheme.

The government, alongside the main centre-right and rightwing parties, warned the country’s unique social security system and economic prosperity were at stake.

“Voters can choose between security and insecurity,” said Interior Minister Didier Burkhalter at the launch of the yes campaign in December.

The mandatory occupational pension benefits are part of the three-tier retirement system, including the state old age pension and individual savings made on a voluntary basis.


What's this?
  • Law on Occupational Benefits
Reputation The run-up to the vote on March 7 has been marked by an unusually early campaign launch, including posters and advertisements particularly by supporters of the pension cuts.

“It is an indication that the business community and centre-right parties consider it an important vote,” says Thomas Milic, political scientist at the universities of Bern and Zurich.

Pension fund consultant and journalist Werner C. Hug describes the vote as a “reputation issue” for supporters.

Trade unions for their part made it clear that they consider it a key element of their opposition to any plans to “undermine the achievements of the welfare state”.

In public perception the campaign is characterised by squabbling over administrative costs of pension funds, forecasts about mortality rates of pensioners and capital revenue as well as the high profile of trade unionist activists.


" Citizens no longer know who they can trust. "
Thomas Milic, political scientist Squabbling Hug regrets that insurance representatives are at the forefront of the campaign to convince voters. The move could backfire in the current political climate, he says.

“A purely technical matter has turned into an emotional issue about excessive manager salaries and greedy banks,” Hug warns.

As a result citizens are increasingly unwilling to use reason to decide on the issue, he suspects.

Political scientist Milic agrees that the flood of contradictory, largely mathematical information, could lead to irritation among the electorate.

“Citizens no longer know who they can trust,” he adds.


Poll It is estimated that supporters will spend about SFr10 million on the campaign, while the unions announced their budget was one tenth that amount. But they hope to make up for it with grassroot members setting up picket lines at public events, activists distributing leaflets, brochures and other campaigning.

Both sides have pledged to step up their efforts with more posters, newspaper ads and online games, including a pension calculator.

In the absence of the usual pre-vote data compiled by a leading polling institute on behalf of the Swiss Broadcasting Corporation, the unions commissioned their own survey.

It showed that opponents of pension cuts have a clear lead with 40 per cent against and 12 per cent in favour. But more than 40 per cent said they are either undecided or refused to answer.

Urs Geiser, swissinfo.ch

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    Cindy Walsh is a lifelong political activist and academic living in Baltimore, Maryland.

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