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Anonymous said:
You mental midgets actually get your news fom Russell Brand? 'Nough said... no further explanation needed.
Click to expand...

and you get yours from FoxNews, USA Today, CNN, NBC, and the rest of the corporate-controlled media...

in the spirit of a corporate-controlled media, here's one from the New Yorker, owned by Conde Nast, owned by Advance Publications, i.e. Newhouse family:

"From the Dept. of Academics Confirming Something You Already Suspected comes a new study concluding that rich people and organizations representing business interests have a powerful grip on U.S. government policy. After examining differences in public opinion across income groups on a wide variety of issues, the political scientists Martin Gilens, of Princeton, and Benjamin Page, of Northwestern, found that the preferences of rich people had a much bigger impact on subsequent policy decisions than the views of middle-income and poor Americans. Indeed, the opinions of lower-income groups, and the interest groups that represent them, appear to have little or no independent impact on policy.

“Our analyses suggest that majorities of the American public actually have little influence over the policies our government adopts,” Gilens and Page write:


Americans do enjoy many features central to democratic governance, such as regular elections, freedom of speech and association, and a widespread (if still contested) franchise. But we believe that if policymaking is dominated by powerful business organizations and a small number of affluent Americans, then America’s claims to being a democratic society are seriously threatened."
http://www.newyorker.com/news/john-cassidy/is-america-an-oligarchy



__________________

''We're an empire now, and when we act, we create our own reality. And while you're studying that reality -- judiciously, as you will -- we'll act again, creating other new realities, which you can study too, and that's how things will sort out. We're history's actors . . . and you, all of you, will be left to just study what we do.''
 




"found that the preferences of rich people had a much bigger impact on subsequent policy decisions than the views of middle-income and poor Americans. Indeed, the opinions of lower-income groups, and the interest groups that represent them, appear to have little or no independent impact on policy."

If not poor Americans, who does the vast expansion of welfare, unemployment benefits and foodstamps represent? And if only the rich people impact policy decisions, why do the top 10 percent pay about 70 percent of the tax burden? And why do over 40 percent of Americans pay no federal income taxes?

The rich need to do a much better job representing their interests.... especially those rich New Yorker guys!
 




Anonymous said:
"found that the preferences of rich people had a much bigger impact on subsequent policy decisions than the views of middle-income and poor Americans. Indeed, the opinions of lower-income groups, and the interest groups that represent them, appear to have little or no independent impact on policy."

If not poor Americans, who does the vast expansion of welfare, unemployment benefits and foodstamps represent? And if only the rich people impact policy decisions, why do the top 10 percent pay about 70 percent of the tax burden? And why do over 40 percent of Americans pay no federal income taxes?

The rich need to do a much better job representing their interests.... especially those rich New Yorker guys!
Click to expand...

easy answer to your question:

look into the corporations that benefit from government contracts for supplying the goods and services delivered via the welfare infrastructure.
 
























Anonymous said:
the federal reserve and other banking/credit institutions

the military industrial complex

walmart


that more specific for ya?
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Next... A primary role of government is defense of the nation. According to the Department of Defense, defense spending represents only about 4% of GDP... not too bad for achieving a primary goal of government.
 




Anonymous said:
So let's start with the famous lib WalMart myth....
Read and educate yourself.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/timwors...rt-the-waltons-and-7-8-billion-in-tax-breaks/
Click to expand...

thanks for sharing an opinion piece that conveniently defends the image of walmart. i expected nothing less from you.

this doesn't change the reality that walmart's business model is dependent on the siphoning of nearly $8bn us taxpayer funds (yes, legally! and why is that?) to bridge the gap between walmart's paltry wages and a "living wage".

i understand the argument from the walton family, who have a fetish for being the creeps with the top game score of ~ 150 billion points. american consumers benefit from affordable (crap) products (produced in china), and they should pay for that via transfer payments to the workers who are on the distribution/retail side of the value chain.

this is one of the high costs of low price:

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLD7435486CB91AA7E

(please watch that documentary, as i've read your puff piece)

besides paying most of its workers below living wages, here are some more facts:

Walmart is one of the "biggest and fastest growing" climate polluters in the nation, say experts at the Institute for Local Self Reliance. Since 2005, the year the company launched its “sustainability” campaign, Walmart’s self-reported greenhouse gas emissions have grown 14%.[8]

According to the Journal of Commerce, Walmart was the largest importer of goods to the United States in 2013.[9] A report from the Economic Policy Institute estimated that Walmart's trade with China between 2001 and 2006 was responsible for the elimination of 200,000 U.S. jobs.[10]

Walmart spent $7.3 million on lobbying in 2013 alone. While this money was paid to influence a range of legislation, from lobbying against background checks for gun buyers to promoting corporate tax cuts, trade policy was among the issues Walmart lobbied on most aggressively.[54]

In fact, Walmart has lobbied to make it easier to push American jobs out of the country for years, playing a key role in in lobbying for Fast Track trade authority and NAFTA in the early 1990s,[42] as well as the World Trade Organization General Agreement on Trade in Services (which would allow them to establish stores in other WTO countries with little regard for local zoning laws),[55] China Free Trade, the Trans Pacific Partnership and other trade agreements. As one of the 600 industry advisers in the U.S. Trade Representatives Trade Advisory Committee System in 2014, a Walmart lobbyist has access to secret trade negotiating documents, including those for the Trans Pacific Partnership and the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership. Ms. Angela J. Marshall Hofmann from Walmart's International Corporate Affairs division is the Vice-Chair of the USTR advisory group called ITAC-5 (distribution services). [56]

From the 2000 election cycle through the 2012 cycle, the Walmart Political Action Committee and the company’s majority shareholders, the Walton family, spent nearly $17 million in federal elections.[59]

More than $11.6 million—69% of their contributions—went to Republican candidates and committees.[60]

Walmart uses corporate funds to contribute to candidates and ballot measure committees.[61] The company has been a major funder of the Republican State Leadership Committee (RSLC), the group behind the 2010 Republican takeover of state legislatures, giving over $1.5 million to the group since 2004.[62]

At the state level, Walmart has spent almost all of its political contributions on Republican candidates and committees as well as on ballot initiatives that help it build new stores or limit government regulation.[63] According to California Watch, Walmart has used the ballot initiative process to threaten costly special elections and circumvent environmental review in that state:

"The Arkansas-based retailer has hired paid signature gatherers to circulate petitions to build new superstores or repeal local restrictions on big-box stores. Once 15 percent of eligible voters sign the petitions, state election law puts cash-strapped cities in a bind: City councils must either approve the Wal-Mart-drafted measure without changes or put it to a special election. As local officials grapple with whether to spend tens of thousands or even millions of taxpayer dollars on such an election, Wal-Mart urges cities to approve the petition outright rather than send it to voters."[64]

In 2013, Walmart spent $7,260,000 on its lobbying efforts. With the help of 14 staff lobbyists and 14 outside lobbying firms, Walmart lobbied on dozens of issues at 13 federal agencies, as well as Congress and the White House.[70]

A top priority for the company has long been taxes, with issues ranging from corporate tax reform to online sales taxes.[71] The vast majority of Walmart’s 90 lobbyists are former Hill staffers. Additionally, five were former members of Congress.[72] The lobbying firms included Patton Boggs; Prime Policy Group; Sandler, Travis & Rosenberg; Mehlman Vogel Castagnetti; and Podesta Group.

Walmart is one of the "biggest and fastest growing" climate polluters in the nation, say experts. Since 2005, the year the company launched its “sustainability” campaign, Walmart’s self-reported greenhouse gas emissions have grown 14%.%.[93] Walmart's direct and indirect emissions now exceed those of many countries. This calculation does not include a number of sources of emissions, including those connected to ocean shipping of goods sold in Walmart stores.[94]

Compared to other large U.S. corporations, Walmart has been slow to shift to renewable power. It currently gets 4% of the electricity for its stores from wind or solar. In contrast, Kohl’s and Staples get 100% of their electricity from renewable sources, while Starbucks get 70% and McDonald’s gets 30%. Walmart’s use of renewable power decreased between 2012 and 2013.[94]

In 2007, the company set a goal of becoming packaging neutral by 2025.[95] After reducing packaging by 5%, the company declared the goal “not met” and ended the program in 2013.[96]

Although the company claimed to be neutral on 2014 proposals to raise the federal minimum wage, their lobbying disclosures indicate that the company has lobbied extensively on the topic.[73]

In May 2013, Walmart announced an initiative to “offer a job to any honorably discharged veteran within his or her first 12 months off active duty.”[104] The company clarified with the New York Times that they could not guarantee that these jobs would be full-time.[105] The company estimated that they would hire more than 100,000 veterans during the next five years,”[106] equivalent to 4 percent of the positions the company will need to fill in this timeframe.[107]

Under the federal Work Opportunity Tax Credit (WOTC), Walmart will receive up to $9,600 in tax credits per veteran employee.[108] [109] Walmart has hired PeopleScout, a recruitment process provider, to handle the screening of veteran applications.[110] The website that PeopleScout created for applicants to Walmart includes a mandatory 13-question section labeled WOTC Questionnaire. This questionnaire determines if Walmart will receive a tax credit for hiring the applicant and the potential value of the credit. Walmart is also a member of the WOTC Coalition, a national organization that lobbies for extension of the WOTC.[111]

The majority of Walmart associates (57%) are women.[113] The company has been the target of a significant number of lawsuits alleging gender discrimination - particularly around pay, promotions and safety accommodations at its stores.[114]

http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Walmart
 




So the Forbes article which destroys your world-view is a "puff piece"? Interesting, but your youtube leftist propaganda is totally credible. Bottom line, nobody has to work at WalMart and nobody is forced to shop there. You leftists can't stand success.

Companies paying the most in income taxes
5. Wal-Mart
• Income tax expense: $7.98 billion
• Earnings before taxes: $25.74 billion
• Revenue: $469.16 billion
• 1-year share price change: 21.87%
• Industry: Supermarkets

Wal-Mart Stores (WMT) is the largest company in the United States and the largest employer. Unlike some of the other companies on the highest taxpayer list, particularly the banks and oil companies, Wal-Mart is relatively young, founded in 1962. Since that time, expansion has outpaced traditional American retailers, such as Sears, Kmart and J.C. Penney, each of which has struggled as Wal-Mart has expanded. Wal-Mart's annual tax payment has been above $7 billion in each of its past five fiscal years. Wal-Mart's size has become something of a disadvantage because it is hard for the retailer to grow much faster than the economy in general. Recently, the company's U.S. same-store sales were up only 2.2% In a recent conversation with the media, Charles Holley Jr., Wal-Mart's chief financial officer, said "I don't think the economy's helping us."
 








Anonymous said:
So the Forbes article which destroys your world-view is a "puff piece"? Interesting, but your youtube leftist propaganda is totally credible. Bottom line, nobody has to work at WalMart and nobody is forced to shop there. You leftists can't stand success.

Companies paying the most in income taxes
5. Wal-Mart
• Income tax expense: $7.98 billion
• Earnings before taxes: $25.74 billion
• Revenue: $469.16 billion
• 1-year share price change: 21.87%
• Industry: Supermarkets

Wal-Mart Stores (WMT) is the largest company in the United States and the largest employer. Unlike some of the other companies on the highest taxpayer list, particularly the banks and oil companies, Wal-Mart is relatively young, founded in 1962. Since that time, expansion has outpaced traditional American retailers, such as Sears, Kmart and J.C. Penney, each of which has struggled as Wal-Mart has expanded. Wal-Mart's annual tax payment has been above $7 billion in each of its past five fiscal years. Wal-Mart's size has become something of a disadvantage because it is hard for the retailer to grow much faster than the economy in general. Recently, the company's U.S. same-store sales were up only 2.2% In a recent conversation with the media, Charles Holley Jr., Wal-Mart's chief financial officer, said "I don't think the economy's helping us."
Click to expand...


well Sourcewatch destroys your world-view / defense of megacorporation wal-mart, its track records ex-financials, government welfare handouts, and preferred input into policy-making at local and federal levels.
so, i guess we're even.
now what?
 




Anonymous said:
well Sourcewatch destroys your world-view / defense of megacorporation wal-mart, its track records ex-financials, government welfare handouts, and preferred input into policy-making at local and federal levels.
so, i guess we're even.
now what?
Click to expand...

Non-partisan and progressive..... Hmmmm.

The Center for Media and Democracy (CMD) is a non-partisan non-profit organization based in Madison, Wisconsin. CMD is a self-described "non-partisan progressive watchdog group," focused "on exposing corporate spin and government propaganda." CMD publishes PR Watch, SourceWatch, BanksterUSA, and ALECexposed.org. In April 2014, CMD merged with The Progressive, an American monthly magazine of politics, culture and progressivism.
 




Anonymous said:
well Sourcewatch destroys your world-view / defense of megacorporation wal-mart, its track records ex-financials, government welfare handouts, and preferred input into policy-making at local and federal levels.
so, i guess we're even.
now what?
Click to expand...

If money buys elections, explain Obama beating Romney genius?
 








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