Bernie Sanders: A Scandal - Top Ten Tax Avoiders

And, even better, Bernie’s appearance on Real Time with Bill Maher -

Vermont is poised to have a Medicare for All health care system!

Ep. 208: April 1, 2011 - Overtime

1)      Exxon Mobil made $19 billion in profits in 2009.  Exxon not only paid no federal income taxes, it actually received a $156 million rebate from the IRS, according to its SEC filings.

2)      Bank of America received a $1.9 billion tax refund from the IRS last year, although it made $4.4 billion in profits and received a bailout from the Federal Reserve and the Treasury Department of nearly $1 trillion.

3)      Over the past five years, while General Electric made $26 billion in profits in the United States, it received a $4.1 billion refund from the IRS.

4)      Chevron received a $19 million refund from the IRS last year after it made $10 billion in profits in 2009.

5)      Boeing, which received a $30 billion contract from the Pentagon to build 179 airborne tankers, got a $124 million refund from the IRS last year.

6)      Valero Energy, the 25th largest company in America with $68 billion in sales last year received a $157 million tax refund check from the IRS and, over the past three years, it received a $134 million tax break from the oil and gas manufacturing tax deduction.

7)      Goldman Sachs in 2008 only paid 1.1 percent of its income in taxes even though it earned a profit of $2.3 billion and received an almost $800 billion from the Federal Reserve and U.S. Treasury Department.

8)      Citigroup last year made more than $4 billion in profits but paid no federal income taxes. It received a $2.5 trillion bailout from the Federal Reserve and U.S. Treasury.

9)      ConocoPhillips, the fifth largest oil company in the United States, made $16 billion in profits from 2007 through 2009, but received $451 million in tax breaks through the oil and gas manufacturing deduction.

10)  Over the past five years, Carnival Cruise Lines made more than $11 billion in profits, but its federal income tax rate during those years was just 1.1 percent.

1) Exxon Mobil made $19 billion in profits in 2009. Exxon not only paid no federal income taxes, it actually received a $156 million rebate from the IRS, according to its SEC filings.

2) Bank of America received a $1.9 billion tax refund from the IRS last year, although it made $4.4 billion in profits and received a bailout from the Federal Reserve and the Treasury Department of nearly $1 trillion.

3) Over the past five years, while General Electric made $26 billion in profits in the United States, it received a $4.1 billion refund from the IRS.

4) Chevron received a $19 million refund from the IRS last year after it made $10 billion in profits in 2009.

5) Boeing, which received a $30 billion contract from the Pentagon to build 179 airborne tankers, got a $124 million refund from the IRS last year.

6) Valero Energy, the 25th largest company in America with $68 billion in sales last year received a $157 million tax refund check from the IRS and, over the past three years, it received a $134 million tax break from the oil and gas manufacturing tax deduction.

7) Goldman Sachs in 2008 only paid 1.1 percent of its income in taxes even though it earned a profit of $2.3 billion and received an almost $800 billion from the Federal Reserve and U.S. Treasury Department.

8) Citigroup last year made more than $4 billion in profits but paid no federal income taxes. It received a $2.5 trillion bailout from the Federal Reserve and U.S. Treasury.

9) ConocoPhillips, the fifth largest oil company in the United States, made $16 billion in profits from 2007 through 2009, but received $451 million in tax breaks through the oil and gas manufacturing deduction.

10) Over the past five years, Carnival Cruise Lines made more than $11 billion in profits, but its federal income tax rate during those years was just 1.1 percent.

1) Exxon Mobil made $19 billion in profits in 2009. Exxon not only paid no federal income taxes, it actually received a $156 million rebate from the IRS, according to its SEC filings.

2) Bank of America received a $1.9 billion tax refund from the IRS last year, although it made $4.4 billion in profits and received a bailout from the Federal Reserve and the Treasury Department of nearly $1 trillion.

3) Over the past five years, while General Electric made $26 billion in profits in the United States, it received a $4.1 billion refund from the IRS.

4) Chevron received a $19 million refund from the IRS last year after it made $10 billion in profits in 2009.

5) Boeing, which received a $30 billion contract from the Pentagon to build 179 airborne tankers, got a $124 million refund from the IRS last year.

6) Valero Energy, the 25th largest company in America with $68 billion in sales last year received a $157 million tax refund check from the IRS and, over the past three years, it received a $134 million tax break from the oil and gas manufacturing tax deduction.

7) Goldman Sachs in 2008 only paid 1.1 percent of its income in taxes even though it earned a profit of $2.3 billion and received an almost $800 billion from the Federal Reserve and U.S. Treasury Department.

8) Citigroup last year made more than $4 billion in profits but paid no federal income taxes. It received a $2.5 trillion bailout from the Federal Reserve and U.S. Treasury.

9) ConocoPhillips, the fifth largest oil company in the United States, made $16 billion in profits from 2007 through 2009, but received $451 million in tax breaks through the oil and gas manufacturing deduction.

10) Over the past five years, Carnival Cruise Lines made more than $11 billion in profits, but its federal income tax rate during those years was just 1.1 percent.

1) Exxon Mobil made $19 billion in profits in 2009. Exxon not only paid no federal income taxes, it actually received a $156 million rebate from the IRS, according to its SEC filings.

2) Bank of America received a $1.9 billion tax refund from the IRS last year, although it made $4.4 billion in profits and received a bailout from the Federal Reserve and the Treasury Department of nearly $1 trillion.

3) Over the past five years, while General Electric made $26 billion in profits in the United States, it received a $4.1 billion refund from the IRS.

4) Chevron received a $19 million refund from the IRS last year after it made $10 billion in profits in 2009.

5) Boeing, which received a $30 billion contract from the Pentagon to build 179 airborne tankers, got a $124 million refund from the IRS last year.

6) Valero Energy, the 25th largest company in America with $68 billion in sales last year received a $157 million tax refund check from the IRS and, over the past three years, it received a $134 million tax break from the oil and gas manufacturing tax deduction.

7) Goldman Sachs in 2008 only paid 1.1 percent of its income in taxes even though it earned a profit of $2.3 billion and received an almost $800 billion from the Federal Reserve and U.S. Treasury Department.

8) Citigroup last year made more than $4 billion in profits but paid no federal income taxes. It received a $2.5 trillion bailout from the Federal Reserve and U.S. Treasury.

9) ConocoPhillips, the fifth largest oil company in the United States, made $16 billion in profits from 2007 through 2009, but received $451 million in tax breaks through the oil and gas manufacturing deduction.

10) Over the past five years, Carnival Cruise Lines made more than $11 billion in profits, but its federal income tax rate during those years was just 1.1 percent.

The HBO Bill Moyers/Bill Maher discussion continues

Well, I got an email from YouTube today suggesting that I may want to consider joining their program to ‘monetize’ my video - since it has been so WILDLY popular. Who know that would happen? Yes, there have been more than 400 comments between the four video segments I posted.

Are you listening, HBO?

People want to hear the message. Don’t put people like Moyers on and then restrict access to only the paying public. The Moyers interview is bigger than that, and you should be, too.  Furthermore, think of all the potential customers there are within these 400 who just might sign up for HBO.

Somebody brought up an excellent point the other day about posting these interviews on a blog. What’s the difference between that and clipping an article from a magazine or newspaper (in the digital virtual sense), posting it or quoting from it for discussion in a public forum?

So many of the comments on YouTube are so good, and thought provoking that I thought I’d post them again here.

Click to read more ...

HBO and YouTube censorship

I’m wowed by the response of very thoughtful ( except for one, at least ) commenters on my YouTube post of the three segments of the Bill Maher-Bill Moyers interview. People are getting pretty annoyed with HBO’s heavy handed treatment of Youtube posts - doing ‘take downs’ right and left. Most notable was the ‘take down’ of the Pete Seeger “This Land is Your Land” song during the Obama inaugural.

How lame

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Bill Moyers: the conscience of a country

NOTE: the link to the first video has gone, since the video was removed apparently, from youtube. I’m currently in process of downloading, processing and reuploading to youtube under First Amendment protection - for my readers right to know and be informed.

Stay tuned …. be patient …

Okay, it’s on … please send this link to as many folks as you can. It’s just that important! Thanks, for your patience and support.

This is one of the best interviews Bill Maher has ever done. Again, I wish Moyers had decided to run for office…

Moyers elegantly dissects how the Democratic party has, indeed, become the biggest impediment to reform in this country, and perhaps the most tragic player in it’s own demise.

You must watch this interview, and then make sure that all your friends and relatives watch it. Send them the links, please.

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'Critical Condition': The human toll of America's health disaster

We just got done watching, with dismay and anger, Bill Moyers Journal. This weeks show followed several American’s through an unbelievably heart wrenching journey through illness without benefit of health insurance.

At the end of the shows online content, there are a lot of personal stories by others who were as moved as we were.

This isn’t rocket science, and it isn’t really news that this health care system is fatally flawed. A few years back, I was contacted by the then CEO of a local hospital to serve on their cancer committee, since I’d been an outspoken critic of the lack of up to date care for breast cancer patients in my community.

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Bill Maher's New Rules: the truth about healthcare and profit

Keep listening … be patient. The ending is worth it.

What type of society do we have when it’s only the comedians that can tell the truth?

Bill Maher Interviews Michael Pollan about film, Food Inc.

Michael Pollan is one of today’s sharpest commentators answering the questions we should all be asking about where our food comes from, and the real price we’re paying for it in terms of our health and the health of the planet. I’m really looking forward to Food, Inc., in which Eric Schlosser ( Fast Food Nation) and Michael Pollan (The Omnivore’s Dilemma) both star.

A more serious discussion with Michael Pollan appeared last year on Bill Moyers Journal.

Update on Monday, June 1, 2009 at 11:13 by mavenandmeddler

HBO is kindly blocking all these videos …. hmmmm. So please go searching and let me know if you can find one that hasn’t been blocked.

Thanks, Early … but that one has been blocked, too.

Bill Maher interview with TARP administrator Elizabeth Warren

I was incredibly impressed with not only the thorough knowledge of her job that Elizabeth Warren demonstrated but the warm, funny accessibility she exudes - so very different from the Bush II years and institutionalized incompetence that was guaranteed to make agencies fail, and provide the self fulfilling prophecy that ‘guvmint cain’t do nothin’ right.”

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U. S. executed Japanese for waterboarding. Where does this leave us?

The following is from the St. Petersburg Times, Politifact - a truth checking service that was recently awarded the Pulitzer Prize:

“If the United States is in another conflict … and we have allowed that kind of torture to be inflicted upon people we hold captive, then there is nothing to prevent that enemy from also torturing American prisoners.”

McCain is referencing the Tokyo Trials, officially known as the International Military Tribunal for the Far East. After World War II, an international coalition convened to prosecute Japanese soldiers charged with torture. At the top of the list of techniques was water-based interrogation

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