Relevant and even prescient commentary on news, politics and the economy.

More corporate First Amendment Rights?

Via Truthout comes this report from PR Watch: In a new lawsuit against the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), big energy extractors are pushing for carte blanche in their interactions with foreign governments, making it harder to track whether their deals are padding the coffers of dictators, warlords, or crony capitalists. The United States Chamber of […]

The dilemma of voting for president

Real News carries The Black Financial and Fraud Report with Bill Black,  reminds us this election has many issues that we need to remind politicians to tackle: And what did the—finally, the numbers that just came in in the New York Times article very recently that showed that—in the first year of recovery from the recession, which was […]

Another Court Strikes Down DOMA

by Linda Beale Another Court Strikes Down DOMA The Second Circuit ruled on Thursday on the estate tax case involving the legality of DOMA–Windsor v. United States (or in the long form–Windsor, executor of the Estate of Spyer, v. United States).  Readers may recall this as a case in which a group of members of […]

Ann Romney’s blind trust had a seeing-eye dog. … Was blind but now can see….

Solamere Capital—named after an exclusive neighborhood in Utah where the family had a vacation home—was incorporated in February of 2008, only weeks after the campaign ended. Its first office address was the Romney campaign headquarters in Boston’s North End. One of its first big commitments was $10 million from Ann Romney’s blind trust… According to […]

Romney’s Accountants Busted in New Tax Justice Network Study

by Kenneth Thomas Romney’s Accountants Busted in New Tax Justice Network Study When Mitt Romney released the second of his tax returns last month, he also gave us a summary of his 1990-2009 taxes prepared by his accounting firm, PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC). The whole point of that exercise, aside from trying to distract people from demanding […]

Is New York Times columnist Timothy Egan the only one who noticed THIS?

New York Times columnist Timothy Egan writes today: The Mitt Romney of the second debate, to use Mike Huckabee’s memorable phrase, “looks like the guy who fires you.” He exposed, once again, his biggest fault: that he has no idea what it’s like to be middle-class and struggling in 2012 America. To take just a […]

Romney’s "Binders full of women" comment

by Linda Beale Romney’s “Binders full of women” commenteditor’s note:  this is a political commentary and not a tax discussion. When Romney was asked what he could do about the inequity in women’s compensation, he didn’t answer the question.  He tried to turn it to his advantage by telling a story of how he ended […]

Romney’s Tax (Mis)Calculations:

by Linda Beale Romney’s Tax (Mis)Calculations: if your two and two don’t add to four, pretend the Laffer curve gives you more Anybody watching last night’s presidential debate surely became aware at some point that Romney’s so-called “plan” for economic growth is an empty shell based on the idea that he’s made money for himself […]