Springfield IL Ready to Hand Over $300 Million in tax breaks to CME, CBOE, Sears. these co's threatened to leave IL #illinoisIsBroke #p2 #tcot

from http://chicagoist.com/2011/12/12/springfield_ready_to_hand_over_300.php

The Illinois legislature has apparently reached an agreement on the CME/CBOE/Sears tax breaks, the Tribune reports. The Illinois House Revenue Committee endorsed a new package this morning, which is expected to move to the House floor this afternoon.

The breaks in the package will cost an estimated $218 million per year, and with the breaks for individual workers included, could jump up to $350 million, Rep. John Bradley (D-Marion) said. Sears will receive tax credits worth $15 million annually for the next decade as well as a break on property taxes for the next 15 years, which would save them $125 million. The tax code for financial exchanges will be revised so that only 27.54 percent of electronic trades will be taxable, giving an estimated $85 million to CME and CBOE. The deal also includes $3.5 million in breaks to downstate company Champion Laboratories, Inc.

The deal also includes an increase in the earned income tax credit for low and middle income workers and families as well as a raise of $50 in the personal tax exemption on state income taxes.

If the deal passes, it will be a victory for big business in Illinois, who have been essentially holding the state hostage by threatening to move out of state unless they receive big tax breaks. Business Week reports Illinois Chamber of Commerce president Doug Whitley said "In January, the Illinois General Assembly overreached and sent a message of anti-business signals. This is a positive message that says, 'We hear you.'" Positive indeed, for any business wishing to demand a state billions of dollars in the hole give them a tax break. As Kent Redfield, a political scientist at University of Illinois points out, "…it opens the door to the next business and the next business and the next business. It makes good political sense but it's not sound financial policy."

Anti-Muslim Hate Group Previously Targeted Modern Family And Degrassi For Gay Characters

here http://thinkprogress.org/lgbt/2011/12/12/387882/targeting-muslims-florida-hate-group/

Gingrich’s Tax Plan Would Give Millionaires A $600,000 Tax Cut #p2 #tcot

The latest 2012 GOP presidential frontrunner, Newt Gingrich, has, like Texas Gov. Rick Perry (R-TX) before him, released a plan to overhaul the U.S. tax code by giving taxpayers the option of paying a single, flat, income tax rate, as opposed to using today's progressive tax code. In fact, Gingrich goes a bit further than Perry,setting his flat rate at 15 percent, as opposed to Perry's 20 percent.

Gingrich claims that his plan will "allow Americans the freedom to choose to file their taxes on a postcard, saving hundreds of billions in unnecessary costs each year." However, according to an analysis by the Tax Policy Center, the plan will also achieve another of Gingrich's ends — giving millionaires a tax cut of more than $600,000 per year:

Gingrich's plan would create an optional 15 percent flat tax with a per-person deduction of $12,000. He would drop the corporate tax rate to 12.5 percent from 35 percent, allow businesses to write off capital expenses and eliminate taxes on capital gains and estates, according to his website.

People earning more than $1 million a year would receive an average tax cut of $613,689 in 2015, compared with what they pay now. That change would boost their after-tax income by 28.7 percent and put their average tax rate at 11.9 percent.

Under the plan, half of the entire benefit goes to the richest 1 percent of taxpayers. The richest 0.1 percent of the country will receive a tax cut worth nearly $2 million each and every year. These tax cuts are in addition to what the wealthy are already receiving from their disproportionate share of the Bush tax cuts.

The end result of the plan would be millionaires paying a lower tax rate than middle-class families, as a millionaire would pay an 11.9 percent rate, while a family making $40,000-$50,000 would pay 12.7 percent.

rest http://thinkprogress.org/economy/2011/12/12/387889/gingrich-millionaire-tax-cut/

Newt Gingrich: Hospital divorce story is a lie, except that it isn't

here http://www.dailykos.com/story/2011/12/12/1044570/-Newt-Gingrich:-Hospital-divorce-story-is-a-lie,-except-that-it-isnt?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+dailykos%2Findex+%28Daily+Kos%29

US Chamber Gloats About Keystone XL Poison-Pill Lobbying Spree

here http://thinkprogress.org/green/2011/12/12/387945/us-chamber-gloats-about-keystone-xl-poison-pill-lobbying-spree/

Ron Paul accuses Gingrich of ‘selling access’ to D.C. in new ad

here http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2011/12/12/ron-paul-accuses-gingrich-of-selling-access-to-d-c-in-new-ad/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+TheRawStory+%28The+Raw+Story%29

Bigot Rick Perry's Gay-Baiting Ad Lauded by Anti-Gay Leaders

here http://www.rightwingwatch.org/content/rick-perrys-gay-baiting-ad-lauded-anti-gay-leaders

2011 Sets U.S. Record for Wet/Dry Extremes, Wettest Year in Philadelphia’s 2-Century Record, Wettest December Day in DC

here http://thinkprogress.org/romm/2011/12/12/387811/2011-sets-us-record-for-wet-dry-extremes-wettest-philadelphia-wettest-december-day-in-dc/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+climateprogress%2FlCrX+%28Climate+Progress%29

Michele Bachmann Appalled by 8 Year-Old’s Gay Mom (Video) #p2 #tcot @gop

here http://www.deathandtaxesmag.com/166127/michele-bachmann-appalled-by-8-year-olds-gay-mom-video/

@foxnews VIDEO: Muppets Movie ‘Brainwashing’ Children to Believe Oil Tycoons Are Bad, Says Fox News #p2 #tcot @andrewbreitbart

here http://campusprogress.org/articles/video_muppets_movie_brainwashing_children_to_believe_oil_tycoons_are_bad_sa/

Gates Foundation Grants ALEC A Hefty Sum For 'Education Reform' #p2 #tcot @andrewbreitbart

This is exactly why I've always been suspicious of Bill Gates' "philanthropy." Yes, I understand that he's done wonderful things in Africa, but the United States is where we live and there is a very real and lasting battle going on over the future of public education.

While union-busting is certainly one goal of the privatization monsters, profit is the primary goal. Education for profit is lucrative and alluring, especially to people with large sums of money parked and waiting for investment in big-profit items. So when Bill Gates claims to stand for education reform in this country, I place him squarely in the category of those who stand to profit from privatized education.

Now we have this grant from the Gates Foundation to ALEC, of all things. It isn't a small grant, by any stretch. $376,635 to be paid over a period of 22 months. That's about $17,000 per month dropping into the coffers of one of the most evil organizations in the country. The grant description reads as follows:

Purpose: to educate and engage its membership on more efficient state budget approaches to drive greater student outcomes, as well as educate them on beneficial ways to recruit, retain, evaluate and compensate effective teaching based upon merit and achievement

Wow, Michelle Rhee must be doing a happy dance right about now. I've tried to turn this around and imagine ways that this money could be used to counter the usual right-wing memes about the wonders of privatization, but I just can't seem to find any way to do that. I can only conclude that Mr. Gates and his fellow trustees fully embrace the notion of killing public education one state at a time.

Lee Fang wrote a tremendous article for The Nation a couple of weeks ago about online education and how profitable it is, at the expense of public education. In it, he describes a talk lobbyist Patricia Levesque gave to philanthropists. Among those listening were representatives from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. Among her suggestions:

Levesque noted that reform efforts had failed because the opposition had time to organize. Next year, Levesque advised, reformers should "spread" the unions thin "by playing offense" with decoy legislation. Levesque said she planned to sponsor a series of statewide reforms, like allowing taxpayer dollars to go to religious schools by overturning the so-called Blaine Amendment, "even if it doesn't pass…to keep them busy on that front." She also advised paycheck protection, a unionbusting scheme, as well as a state-provided insurance program to encourage teachers to leave the union and a transparency law to force teachers unions to show additional information to the public. Needling the labor unions with all these bills, Levesque said, allows certain charter bills to fly "under the radar."

This particular talk was being given in the context of online education and the perceived value of permitting online charter schools, funded with public education dollars. Levesque's clients?

But Levesque wasn't delivering her hardball advice to her lobbying clients. She was giving it to a group of education philanthropists at a conference sponsored by notable charities like the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and the Michael and Susan Dell Foundation. Indeed, Levesque serves at the helm of two education charities, the Foundation for Excellence in Education, a national organization, and the Foundation for Florida's Future, a state-specific nonprofit, both of which are chaired by Jeb Bush. A press release from her national group says that it fights to "advance policies that will create a high quality digital learning environment."

Lee talked with K-12 News Network's Cynthia Liu and I on the MOMocrats podcast Wednesday. He had plenty to say about online charter initiatives and their impact on the educational system.

rest at http://crooksandliars.com/karoli/gates-foundation-grants-alec-hefty-sum-educ

@foxnews Fox Host Says Muppets Are Brainwashing Children; Follow the Money's Eric Bolling equates the new movie with anti-corporate propaganda.

here http://slatest.slate.com/posts/2011/12/05/fox_business_s_eric_boiling_dan_gainor_say_muppets_movie_is_anti_corporate_propaganda.html?from=rss/&wpisrc=newsletter_slatest

Racist Facebook Page Lands NYPD in Hot Water

here http://slatest.slate.com/posts/2011/12/06/cops_call_civilian_paradegoers_savages_and_animals_.html?from=rss/&wpisrc=newsletter_slatest

Young Boy Confronts Michele Bachmann on Camera "My mom is gay and she doesn’t need fixing."

here http://slatest.slate.com/posts/2011/12/06/elijah_michele_bachmann_8_year_old_boys_tells_gop_hopeful_that_his_mom_is_gay_and_doesn_t_need_fixing.html?from=rss/&wpisrc=newsletter_slatest

Putin's regime is starting to lose legitimacy among its core voters, particularly in large cities

YESTERDAY'S parliamentary poll in Russia was always going to be more a referendum on Vladimir Putin and the ruling United Russia party than a real election. The genuine opposition was barred from taking part long before polling day; television, which remains the main source of news and views for most of the country, has been working at full propaganda throttle; and governors and mayors across Russia were given specific targets for United Russia's voting figures and told to meet them.

Yet United Russia won just under 50% of the vote, down from 64% in 2007. It will enjoy a simple majority in parliament but no longer the two-thirds it needs to alter the constitution. Dmitry Medvedev, Russia's president, who was placed at the top of United Russia's electoral list, tried to put a brave face on the result. Boris Gryzlov, the speaker of parliament and United Russia's chairman, argued that the party put in a strong performance compared with other European ruling parties.

That smacked of desperation, given that Russia's voting procedure bears little resemblance to genuine elections. Most analysts say that the real lesson of yesterday's poll is that Mr Putin's regime is starting to lose legitimacy among its core voters, particularly in large cities. 

This explains the Kremlin's hysterical behaviour towards election monitors. The most important of these, Golos (Voice, or Vote), was harassed and smeared by one of Russia's main television channels after Mr Putin likened its observers, who receive foreign grants, to Judas. What irritated the authorities most, however, was an interactive map created by Golos that allowed people across Russia to report election abuses. On Saturday this earned Golos a $1,000 fine from a Moscow court. 

Yesterday various websites, including Golos's and that of LiveJournal, a popular social network, were brought down by massive cyber-attacks. Some were brought back online after polling closed; others remain down. But the authorities could do little to stop videos of ballot-box stuffing being posted on YouTube and Facebook.

The irony is that United Russia could probably have won 45% of the vote anyway (although not in Moscow and St Petersburg). Opinion pollsters say that across the country this kind of rigging rarely changes the outcome by much more than 5%. 

rest at http://www.economist.com/blogs/easternapproaches/2011/12/russias-election?utm_source=PolicyMic+Newsletter&utm_campaign=8ea418d328-New_Newsletter5_20_2011&utm_medium=email