Masters of the Universe category archive

Jim Hightower.

The sucklers at the public teat aren’t who you think they are.

You can’t make this stuff up. (Actually, these days, you could, but you don’t have to.)

Via Raw Story.

Play it now! Get gamed!

What is it?

It’s Robber Barons v. 2.0.

Via Job’s Anger.

In an stunning example of “if you don’t let people talk about it then it must not be happening,” a coal waste company sued a citizens group for slander because they complained about the ever-present effects of the dust blanketing their community from the ash pit.

Just follow the link.

You can’t make this stuff up.

Reporter shows how easily a shell company can be created in Delaware.

Via C&L, which also provides more detail.

At the Bangor Daily News, Steven Barken wonders what would happen if Monopoly imitated the American economic system. For example . . .

If Monopoly were more like real life, here’s what would happen.

Let’s assume there are five players, and instead of each player receiving $1,500 at the start, the $7,500 they share to begin the game is instead allocated according to the distribution of wealth among Americans. In this scenario, the wealthiest player, Player A, would begin with about $6,668, because the top fifth of Americans hold about 89 percent of the nation’s wealth. Based on the proportion of wealth held by the next fifth of Americans, Player B would begin with $705. Meanwhile, Player C, representing the middle fifth of Americans, would begin with $195, while Player D would begin with $15. Finally, Player E, representing the bottom fifth of Americans, would begin the game $90 in debt.

Follow the link to see how the game plays out.

Just read it.

Sing it, Steve Wynn!

The 74-year-old billionaire then tried to break it down for investors.

“Or to put it in a more colloquial way, rich people only like being around rich people, nobody likes being around poor people — especially poor people,” he said.

Thom talks with Dr. Richard Wolff about what the “Panama Papers” say about the antics of the plutocracy.

BadTux has a theory as to why so few Americans were named in the Panama Papers.

Here’s the gist; follow the link for the full discussion:

. . . the United States is already an offshore tax haven. There’s no reason for our rich people to send their money overseas — because they’ve already purchased so many tax breaks here in the United States that they’re already taxed less than they’d be in most of those so-called “tax havens”.

Image via Job’s Anger.

. . . but good news.

The largest pharmaceuticals merger in history, between Pfizer and Allergan, has been abandoned after the US government took fresh steps to clamp down on tax avoidance deals.

The $160bn (£113bn) deal, announced in November, was thrown into doubt following the move by the US Treasury on Monday to make so-called tax inversion deals, by which corporations relocate their headquarters to countries with a lower tax rate, less financially appealing.

They have money.

Headline:

Judge says $1,820 repayment on $200 loan ‘unconscionable’

Frank Clemente discusses how multinational corporations dodge their taxes by expatriating themselves. A nugget:

Pfizer — maker of Lipitor, Lyrica, Viagra and many other prescription drugs — wants to turn its back on America by claiming to be an Irish company through an offshore merger, giving it access to Ireland’s low tax rates. The change would be only on paper. The company would still be run from the United States, enjoying all the benefits of being based in America — such as our taxpayer-supported roads, public colleges and patent protections — without paying its part to support them.