We’ve lived so long under the spell of hierarchy—from god-kings to feudal lords to party bosses—that only recently have we awakened to see not only that “regular” citizens have the capacity for self-governance, but that without their engagement our huge global crises cannot be addressed. The changes needed for human society simply to survive, let alone thrive, are so profound that the only way we will move toward them is if we ourselves, regular citizens, feel meaningful ownership of solutions through direct engagement. Our problems are too big, interrelated, and pervasive to yield to directives from on high.
—Frances Moore Lappé, excerpt from Time for Progressives to Grow Up

Thursday, October 21, 2010

Google 2.4% Rate Shows How $60 Billion Lost to Tax Loopholes

by Jesse Drucker from Bloomberg News

In a time when all levels of governments are facing deficits, laying off workers, slashing public spending and welfare, the multi-national corporations are finding ways to not pay taxes. Learn the tax evasion techniques--all legal--of these corporations which often had originally benefited from government financial assistance. 

What is the Obama administration's response? More study.
While the administration “remains concerned” about potential abuses, officials decided “to defer consideration of how to reform those rules until they can be studied more broadly,” said Sandra Salstrom, a Treasury spokeswoman.