Octafish
Octafish's JournalBorn on Third Base: What the Forbes 400 Really Says About Economic Equality & Opportunity in America
Remember, America! It's NOT Class Warfare
when the Rich conduct operations.
A press release that was brought to my attention:
Born on Third Base: What the Forbes 400 Really Says About Economic Equality & Opportunity in America
EXCERPT...
Forbes claims that their list of the 400 richest Americans is “the definitive scorecard of wealth in America,” but the Forbes 400 does not tell the whole story.
Forbes understates the impacts of birthright and family privilege.
• Roughly 40% of the 2011 list received a significant advantage by inheriting a sizeable asset from a spouse or family member.
• More than 20% received sufficient wealth to make the list from their inheritance alone.
Forbes ignores the other side of the coin — that the opportunity to build wealth is not equally shared.
• The net worth of the Forbes 400 grew fifteen-fold between the launch of the list in 1982 and 2011, while wealth stagnated for the average U.S. household.
• The racial wealth divide is starkly apparent from the overwhelming whiteness of the list. The 2011 Forbes 400 had only one African American member.
• Women accounted for just 10% of the 2011 list, and of the women on the list nearly 90% inherited their fortunes.
Tax policy is tilted in favor of the wealthy members of the Forbes 400 list.
• Tax rates on capital gains have been slashed, which especially benefits members of the Forbes list. The richest 0.1% receive half of all net increases in capital gains.
• Drastic cuts to the federal estate tax passed in the Bush tax cuts and the 2010 Obama tax deal allow the Forbes 400 to pass on more of their massive fortunes to their heirs, contributing to the growth of inequality and entrenching a class of super-wealthy heirs.
CONTINUED...
http://faireconomy.org/press_room/2012/report_says_forbes_400_misleads_about_wealth_and_opportunity
Link to The Report.
I'm so old, I remember when Economic Justice was on the tee vee. Of course, that was back in the decade when JFK ran on a campaign of "Peace and Prosperity for All."
Hey, Joe Scarborough! Arrest Is Made In Case of Human Remains at Florida Storage Unit
Does Mika know about Lori Klausutis?
Spotlight on Joe Scarborough: Arrest Is Made In Case of Human Remains at Florida Storage Unit
Legal Schnauzer
MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 10, 2012
A former medical examiner has been arrested on charges related to the discovery late last month of human remains at a storage unit in Pensacola, Florida.
Michael Berkland faces a felony charge of improper storage of hazardous waste, a misdemeanor charge of nuisance injurious to public health, and driving with a suspended license.
We have yet to see any references in the mainstream press to the fact that Berkland essentially closed the books on an investigation into the death of Lori Klausutis, who was found dead in summer 2001 in the office of then U.S. Representative Joe Scarborough. Now the host of MSNBC's Morning Joe, Scarborough largely has escaped scrutiny in the Klausutis case since Berkland ruled her death an accident, stemming from a cardiac arrhythmia that caused her to fall and strike her head on a desk.
Scarborough has strong ties to Alabama. He is a graduate of the University of Alabama and is close to former GOP Governor Bob Riley and his son, Homewood attorney Rob Riley.
CONTINUED...
http://legalschnauzer.blogspot.com/2012/09/spotlight-on-joe-scarborough-arrest-is.html
Bob Riley is part of Karl Rove's Alabama [s]mafia[/s] working group that helped railroad Gov. Siegelman.
Of course it's a rumor.
When has a member of the Bush family ever lied to the people of the United States of America?
Paraguay is nice.
One of my most favorite of subjects...
...almost got a master's degree in it.
Three Things Every American Should Know About Corporate McPravda
The professional communication class is led by liars, some are very well paid liars. Conversely, there is no money in telling the truth these days. That is most tragic news for democracy.
Thank you, red dog 1! Here's background on why we should give a damn about Gov. Siegelman...
Siegelman Prosecution Has Roots in Iran-Contra ScandalCross Posted at Legal Schnauzer
The roots of the Don Siegelman prosecution can be traced to the Iran-Contra scandal and the assassination of a federal judge in the 1980s, according to a new report from a Washington, D.C.-based investigative journalist.
The Siegelman case also has connections to a lawsuit styled Avirgan v. Hull, which was dismissed in curious fashion--an action that might have been a forerunner to the rampant judicial corruption we see today, especially in the Deep South.
Siegelman trial judge Mark Fuller long has been involved in efforts to cover up massive CIA drug- and gun-smuggling operations that are tied, in part, to Iran-Contra, according to the Wayne Madsen Report (WMR). Fuller also has been involved in a cover up involving the 1989 mail-bomb assassination of federal judge Robert S. Vance in Birmingham.
How did Fuller become connected to such nefarious activities? His hometown of Enterprise, Alabama, is home to a prime airfield that has been used in the smuggling operations, Madsen reports.
Where does Siegelman fit into this picture, and how did he become the target of a bogus prosecution that was driven by the Bush family and their affiliates? Siegelman was our state's attorney general from 1987 to 1991, and WMR reports that he became aware of Fuller's ties to Doss Aviation and the use of south Alabama airfields for suspicious flights to Central and South America. To make Siegelman even more of a target, he and Robert Vance had once been law partners--and Siegelman considered Vance to be one of his primary mentors.
CONTINUED...
http://open.salon.com/blog/rogershuler/2012/08/14/siegelman_prosecution_has_roots_in_iran-contra_scandal
PS: Hope DUers and all readers can see why Gov. Siegelman matters so much to our country and deserves the support of ALL Americans. Why more Democrats don't stand up on his behalf is almost a mystery.
I wonder where this story leads, Ari?
Know your BFEE: GW Bush Covers Up His Lying America Into War
Excellent question, AnotherMcIntosh.
100-percent of DUers surveyed agree:
Gov. Don Siegelman got a raw deal.
Here's a hint: Warmongers walk. Peaceniks pay.
My guess why so few know the story:
Wanna know why Media ignore war criminals? CIA calls the shots.
Thank you, no_hypocrisy. It's on the monitor now...
Amy Goodman is one of the few real reporters around anymore.
Scott Horton has carried a lot of water on this story, too:
http://www.harpers.org/subjects/DonSiegelman
The Legal Schnauzer also (and lost his job because of it):
http://legalschnauzer.blogspot.com/2012/09/karl-rove-acts-like-jackass-to-don.html
Thank you for caring about Justice, no_hypocrisy! Mighty democratic sentiment.
On the Siegelman Scandal, Rove Offers a Very Suspicious Non-Denial Denial
—By David Corn
Mother Jones, Mon May. 26, 2008 8:42 AM PDT
On Sunday, Karl Rove gave students of spin a prime example of a non-denial denial. He was a guest on ABC News' This Week and after discussing the presidential campaign, he was asked by host George Stephanopoulos about the Don Siegelman controversy. Siegelman is the former Democratic Alabama governor who was convicted and imprisoned for corruption and who charges that the Justice Department prosecution against him was part of a secret campaign mounted by Rove and other Republicans. Last week, the House judiciary committee subpoenaed Rove in connection with the Siegelman case and the firings of U.S. attorneys.
EXCERPT...
t's pretty damn obvious: Rove would not say, "I did not contact the Justice Department about the Siegelman case." Confronted with this simple question, he first said that others supposedly on that particular phone call have denied the call took place. Pressed by Stephanopoulos, he then twice said that he learned about the Siegelman investigation and indictment from newspaper reports.
Why would Rove not state that he had not contacted the Justice Department and egged it on to prosecute Siegelman? Two explanations come to mind. (A) He did do something like that. Or, (B) he doesn't remember whether he made such a call but he knows it's the type of call he might have made. So rather than plainly deny he contacted the Justice Department, Rove parries the question with a shifty formulation. Stephanopoulos did call him on this, noting Rove was not actually denying the accusation. [font color="red"]But Stephanopoulos was too polite to say, "Excuse me, Mr. Rove, this is BS. Did you or did you not communicate with the Justice Department at all about the Siegelman matter at any time?"[/font color] No doubt, though, the House judiciary committee's investigators paid close attention to how Rove handled the question, and his non-answer ought to motivate them to dig further.
SOURCE: http://www.motherjones.com/mojo/2008/05/siegelman-scandal-rove-offers-very-suspicious-non-denial-denial
The congressional investigators, for some reason, must not have been motivated.
Gov. Don Siegelman returns to prison today. Meanwhile, the real crooks run free.
Siegelman made the mistake of being an honest Democrat in an age of warmongers. The scum of the earth "money trumps peace" crowd.
The Pork Barrel World of Judge Mark Fuller
by Scott Horton
Harpers
EXCERPT...
The recusal motion rested upon details about Fuller’s personal business interests. On February 22, 2007, defense attorneys obtained information that Judge Fuller held a controlling 43.75% interest in government contractor Doss Aviation, Inc. After investigating these claims for over a month, the attorneys filed a motion for Fuller’s recusal on April 18, 2007. The motion stated that Fuller’s total stake in Doss Aviation was worth between $1-5 million, and that Fuller’s income from his stock for 2004 was between $100,001 and $1 million dollars.
In other words, Judge Fuller likely made more from his business income, derived from U.S. Government contracts, than as a judge. Fuller is shown on one filing as President of the principal business, Doss Aviation, and his address is shown as One Church Street, Montgomery, Alabama, the address of the Frank M. Johnson Federal Courthouse, in which his chambers are located.
CONTINUED...
http://www.harpers.org/archive/2007/08/hbc-90000762
Doss Aviation is huge. And it's still just the tip of the dirty BFEE iceberg.
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