Even as the federal government executes major cutbacks, it’s giving huge subsidies in the form of tax breaks to industry, a fact legislators rarely acknowledge. The Boston Globe recently published a thorough and eye-popping report detailing the nature and extent of these breaks. A must-read.
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The biggest problems often seem less like problems and more like unavoidable features of reality – their permanence and ubiquity make them invisible. In her new book, Owning Our Future, Marjorie Kelly argues we now face a problem of this kind: ownership of corporations. We love this book.
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As shameful as the Citizens United decision is, we must confront the sobering reality that it is only the tip of the iceberg. A small ruling elite (often succinctly described as the 1%) have stolen control of the country, and they are ruling over us.
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Citizens United is two different but related things: a Political Action Committee (PAC) in Washington, D.C., and a Supreme Court case about election spending in which the aforementioned PAC was the plaintiff. Both lie at the center of a debate over the role corporations should play in society.
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The New York Times recently editorialized on the problem of fake drugs but failed to mention a core reason for the problem: a patent system that keeps drug prices beyond the reach of people who need them, even for drugs developed with taxpayer money.
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Texas is among many states subsidizing Amazon Corporation. State officials offered well over $250 million in tax exemptions — $100,000 per job created — to get about 2500 fulfillment center jobs. Then Amazon shut down the facility.
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