Tuesday, November 27, 2012

Burn Baby Burn video

Rev. Edward Pinkney demonstrates that NAACP is not worth it. Members should burn their membership cards. NAACP claims to be an organization which supports African-Americans, but it does nothing of the kind. It is willingly controlled by corporate money. People who have asked for assistance from the NAACP are left in the cold.

Sunday, November 25, 2012

No Applause for Ben Jealous


Ben Jealous was chosen to be NAACP president in 2008 only after long and contentious debate, and other finalists were prevented from speaking.  Rev. Pinkney's comments follow this May 17, 2008 article.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

35-year-old chosen to lead NAACP
(CNN) -- The NAACP has chosen Ben Jealous as its new president after a contentious debate that lasted long into the night, members of its board of directors said Saturday.
Jealous, 35, will be the youngest president in the NAACP's 99-year history, The Associated Press reported.
When the 34-21 vote was announced, "no one clapped or celebrated," one board member said after the meeting in Baltimore, Maryland.
Jealous was the only finalist presented by the search committee to the full board for consideration. Some board members wanted to hear from two others whom the search committee identified as finalists, but Jealous' supporters prevented it, sources said.
Jealous steps into a challenging role.
"There are a small number of groups to whom all black people in this country owe a debt of gratitude, and the NAACP is one of them," Jealous told AP before the vote. "There is work that is undone ... the need continues and our children continue to be at great risk in this country."
Sources said Jealous, a former newspaper editor and director of an Amnesty International division, was the only finalist for the post of president, vacant for more than a year. He was the primary choice of board Chairman Julian Bond, sources said.
He replaces Bruce Gordon, a retired Verizon executive who quit in March 2007, citing friction with Bond and the group's 64-member board. Gordon said he was also unhappy with the direction of the NAACP, the nation's oldest and largest civil rights organization.
Jealous is president of the California-based Rosenberg Foundation, and before that he directed the U.S. human rights program for Amnesty International.
In the mid-1990s, Jealous was the managing editor of the Jackson Advocate, the oldest black newspaper in Mississippi. He was later the executive director of the National Newspaper Publishers Association, a federation of more than 200 black community papers.
Jealous began his career as an organizer with the NAACP Legal Defense Fund,working on health care issues, the NAACP said.
Jealous, a native of California, is a graduate of Columbia University and Oxford University, where he was a Rhodes Scholar, the NAACP said.
He told AP that many in his generation have a false sense of progress in racial equality.  "Those of us who are 45 and younger were told, 'The struggle has been won. Go out and flourish. Don't worry about the movement,"' he told AP.

Rev. Pinkney's comments:  
Ben Jealous has unfortunately tarnished the already fragile reputation of the NAACP by allowing his work for the US president and the corporations to override the interest of the African-American people. The NAACP is a sell-out and out of touch with the black community.  
 
Corruption rolls on!  We are asking 200,000 members to burn their membership cards.  Burn Baby Burn!
So far, 2,677 memberships cards have been burned. 
 
The NAACP Image Awards are on February 1, 2013 in 
Los Angles, California.  We the people will be there to protest.
 
For more information contact:
Rev. Edward Pinkney
269-925-0001

 
Pinkney to Pinkney radio show
Every Sunday, 5pm EST
Call in number: 347-994-3644
 

Friday, November 23, 2012

NAACP IS A SELL OUT


California NAACP Sells Out to Big Ag on Genetically Modified Foods

When black leadership gets its legitimacy from the oppressed, but its funding from the oppressor, this is what we get. We call it the Black Misleadership Class. And why was Davey D the only black media figure we heard even asking the question? Is this the Obama phenomenon trickling down --- we don't dare question our black “representatives” because.... because.... well.... why?
California NAACP Sells Out to Big Ag on Genetically Modified Foods
A Black Agenda Radio commentary by BAR ,managing editor Bruce A. Dixon
We at Black Agenda Report have been pointing out a long time now that what used to be black and Latino civil rights and civic advocacy organizations have turned a corner and become mouthpieces for their corporate funders.
We called out the National Coalition on Black Civic Participation in 2006, and the National Conference of Black State Legislators in 2007, along with Bobby Rush and other members of the Congressional Black Caucus for siding with AT&T, Verizon and their telecom industry benefactors over their communities who need cheap and ubiquitous broadband. By 2008 we added the Urban League and NAACP to the list, along with Al Sharpton and his National Action Network for joining the corporate crusade to first cripple, then privatize public education. In 2009 and 2010 we've pointed to the Southern Christian Leadership Conference's receipt of millions in donations funneled through execs at Georgia Power as its reason for not opposing the placement of leaky nuclear reactors in poor, mostly black Georgia town where most families already have a case or two of cancer.
The list of betrayals of these kinds of outfits of their supposed constituents to their funders is routine and nearly endless. But in California the state NAACP reached a new low in putting the profits of its donors over its supposed responsibilities to the people.
With very little money to spend, local activists succeeded in placing a measure on the California ballot this Tuesday which would have required all genetically modified foods, with a few key exceptions, to be labeled as such. Most of the industrialized world already has laws and regulations like this, which is why much of the stuff on US supermarket shelves cannot be sold in Europe or Japan or even many places in South America. The people in these places call much of what we see in stores every day “frankenfood”. They may be on to something.
Genetically modifications of foodstuffs have never been about increasing yield or enhancing nutrition. They are purely about expanding profits. Genetically modified seeds can be patented and farmers charged yearly royalties for seed they used to save and plant for free each year. They require lots of profitable herbicides and pesticides – in fact some of the genetic modifications make the plants produce their own herbicides and pesticides, which of course we eventually consume.
It's not a subject discussed much in media and not a place where Big Agriculture wants to go. So what do the swells at places like Monsanto do? The same as the nuclear industry, the telecom industry and the people who want to privatize education. They dropped a big check on the California NAACP, and sure enough that august body took a stand against California's Proposition 37.
Never mind that black children are more likely than anyone else to suffer from juvenile onset diabetes, and that studies in other countries have shown clear links between GMO foods and diabetes in children. The so-called leadership model of the modern civil rights organization in this post civil rights era is to front itself as the representative of and obtain its moral legitimacy from the oppressed, but take its funding and its orders from the oppressors. That's why we call them the black misleadership class.
For Black Agenda Radio I'm Bruce Dixon. Find us on the web atwww.blackagendareport.com.
Bruce A. Dixon is managing editor at Black Agenda Report. He lives and works in Marietta GA, and is a state committee member of the Georgia Green Party. Contact him via this site's contact page or at bruce.dixon(at)blackagendareport.com.
http://blackagendareport.com/content/california-naacp-sells-out-big-ag-genetically-modified-foods

Sunday, November 18, 2012

Ten reasons why Joseph L. Harris, Emergency Financial Manager, should be immediately terminated (Revised Version)

Further details will be discussed at the November 19, 2012 Benton Harbor City Commission meeting. 
10.  Inaccurate & deceitful communications: Mr. Harris has repeatedly proclaimed in public meetings, to the media, to elected leaders and staff, and to state officials that the City of Benton Harbor had a “Balanced Budget & Cash Surplus."  The 2011 Audit recently revealed that the city actually had a budget deficit of approximately $565,000 dollars under Mr. Harris’ leadership in 2011.  Meanwhile city contractors and/or vendors are not being paid in a timely fashion.  Mr. Harris has either (A) intentionally deceived the citizens and stake holders or (B) his ignorance regarding the true fiscal condition of the city confirms his incompetence.

9.  City sued due to non-payment: Mr. Harris negotiated and executed a very poor contract with Benton Township without input or conversation with city executive senior staff, elected leaders, or key community stake holders and/or customers.  The contract (A) forfeited in excess of three hundred thousand dollars of receivables due to the City of Benton Harbor from Benton Township while (B) agreeing to make monthly payments to the township that are not fiscally cost prohibitive based upon water revenues.  Mr. Harris signed this agreement and accepted a settlement of approximately $300,000 dollars for a debt owed of more than $700,000.  He denied the monies were owed, then agreed to a meeting with Benton Township officials to discuss the matter and at that meeting it was disclosed that Mr. Harris had settled the matter for less than fifty cents on a dollar.  It was also disclosed that he accepted and deposited a check from Benton Township that he did not remember.  All of this occurred while the he failed to increase the water rates in a timely manner as required according to the City’s State Bond Agreement.  Benton Township is now suing for the unpaid portion of this terribly suspect contract.

8.  Gross Fiduciary Negligence: Mr. Harris failed to exercise the City’s rights under the terms and conditions of the HUD 105 Business Development Loan program contract to collect the nearly $500,000 dollars in loan defaults accrued by three companies. Mr. Harris failed to take any legal remedy to collect the unpaid loans while agreeing to a settlement to pay the defaulted loan balances back to the federal government 100% plus interest and penalties.  As per the HUD contract Mr. Harris could have (A) sued the companies in default, (B) placed liens on the company’s property.  There were other legal remedies available under Michigan state law that Mr. Harris could have pursued, yet refused to.  Consequently because of Mr. Harris’ negligence these companies were able to liquidate and sale real property and other assets and keep 100% of the proceeds without repaying a single dollar to the City of Benton Harbor on what is still a pending outstanding obligation.  One of the companies sold property to Cornerstone Alliance for an amount sufficient to repay the City the outstanding 105 loan balance in full.

7.  Wasteful spending: Mr. Harris has unilaterally decided to squander limited city resources during this fiscal crisis on frivolous and unnecessary items such as (1) I love Benton Harbor souvenir cups and T-Shirts, (2) Ice Rinks, (3) Ice skates, (4) unused vehicles, (5) furniture, (6) remodeling, (7) playground equipment (8) water fountains, (9) excessive raises and salary increases, and much more.  All though Mr. Harris is required by law to provide financial reports regularly, City officials have been unable to secure any aging reports that substantiate or confirm the magnitude and/or depth of the wasteful spending and delinquent bill payment.  Mr. Harris' refusal to comply with Public Act 4 and provide the types of period and critical financial reports is completely unacceptable and a clear abuse of power.

6.  Negligent Management of NSP Grant Funding: Prior to Mr. Harris’ arrival the City was the recipient of a NSP grant of nearly $4 million dollars.  NSP was created to (A) clean up blighted neighborhoods, (B) stimulate local & minority small business contracting and (C) housing development and (D) create jobs under the HUD Section 3 program.  Mr. Harris abdicated, relinquished and/or forfeited the City’s moral and contract obligations to Harbor Shores, Cornerstone Alliance and/or Michigan Works.  These three entities are amongst the City’s wealthiest and most privileged people and/or companies in Benton Harbor and surely were not the type of people or organizations NSP was intended to help.  Mr. Harris placed the City grant in a “use it or lose it” situation regarding the NSP funding by failing to administer, implement and obligate the grant funds in a timely manner. Consequently, at the zero hour the decision was made to grant the funds to the wealthy and to complete Harbor Town and the Fire House developments both owned and managed by Corner Stone Alliance.  Neither project is expected to produce any meaningful sustainable jobs or any significant affordable housing for the City of Benton Harbor or it’s residents.

5.  The Closing of 200 Paw Paw (Carl Brown Economic Development Center): It is unconscionable that during the biggest economic boom the City of Benton Harbor has seen in 50 years the city economic development center and incubator is closed.  There were more than one dozen small, local, minority businesses prepared to lease 100% of the facility.  The city is able to provide Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funding to each small business sufficient to cover their annual budgeted rent requirements for the year, thus making the facility operationally and fiscally viable.  Therefore, the City had the ability to incubate businesses, create jobs, and sustain the operations of 200 Paw Paw 100% with city CDBG grant funding, yet Mr. Harris chose to close the facility.

4.  Failure to collaborate with elected leaders regarding the Community Benefits Package (CBP) grant funding: Not only has Mr. Harris failed to collaborate with the city commission, he has shirked in providing transparency and accountability. The entire process has become politically toxic. Mr. Harris' unilateral attitude has caused embarrassment to Whirlpool Corporation and the City of Benton Harbor.

3.  Political liability and antagonism: Mr. Harris is condescending and confrontational in his communication style which has alienated critical elected leaders, corporate leaders, tax payers and other key stake holders in Berrien County.  Mr. Harris has fueled a new era in Benton Harbor’s fiscal and cultural isolation.  The most recent evidence of his alienating and antagonist style is his refusal to participate in the Berrien County CEO monthly meetings.  This forum is not only a critical exchange of ideas and/or resources, it is an opportunity to mend the social fiber of local municipal governments.  Mr. Harris has caused the relationships with other municipal leaders and elected officials in Berrien County to become strained, divisive, and counterproductive. 


2.  Fiscal Failures: Mr. Harris has had a multitude of fiscal failures since his arrival to Benton Harbor.  The most recent and perhaps most significant was his failure to post the city tax mileages on the November 2011 ballot for resident vote and approval.  This error of omission will likely create an opportunity lost for the City of Benton Harbor in excess of a million dollars.
Mr. Harris is now attempting to illegally impose taxes on the resident of Benton Harbor because of his gross negligence.
Does an Emergency Manager have the authority to impose taxes?
Ans: No. Neither an Emergency Financial Manager, nor the Local Emergency Financial Assistance Loan Board, have the power to impose taxes, over and above those already authorized, without approval at an election of a majority of qualified electors voting on the question.
The EFM does not have the authority to impose a Special Assessment. This is a classic case of Taxation without representation. The people already voted NO to the mileage renewal. This is another colossal mistake being executed as a result of horrific management.

1.  Failure to prepare and/or train local elected leaders to competently manage Benton Harbor:

The number one reason Mr. Harris is clearly not the professional for the Emergency Financial Manager position is based upon his well-publicized and absolute refusal to work with the City’s elected officials.  How do you profess your desire to put the city back on solid fiscal ground and simultaneously refuse to work with the people tasked with sustaining the operations after your departure?  Mr. Harris has resorted to unprofessional insulting remarks to elected leaders and staff.  Engaging, training and supporting local elected leadership should be a mandatory responsibility of an EFM.  Bringing the local leadership to competency and consensus is on the City’s critical path to recovery.

Since Mr. Harris arrived in Benton Harbor the city operating deficit, list of unpaid payable and pension(s) plan deficits have increased significantly.    Elected leaders, citizens, and stake holders are all getting less information than they ever have received from the city finance department. The information that has been received has proven to be largely false and/or inaccurate.
Several lawsuits and unpaid vendors have now surfaced. The staff morale is at an all-time low. Staff competency and training is nearly non-existent.  Relationships with neighboring municipalities and corporate leaders have been severely strained.  Public procurements and new hires processes in city government under Mr. Harris’ leadership have consistently violated state and federal regulation.  Mr. Harris has manipulated public procurements and hiring by lowering standards and qualifications to justify his personal preferences and selections.  Many qualified applicants and candidates for Senior Executive Staff positions have been ignored and/or rejected due to Mr. Harris’ personal preferences.

If the officials in Lansing truly have Benton Harbor’s best interests at heart, they must remove Joe Harris immediately for negligence, false statements, federal & state procurement violations, increasing the budget deficit, failure to act on correcting the pension deficits, and default in duty.

Benton Harbor should return to the power of democratic self-rule, just as "free" people the world over experience government.  Benton Harbor has had enough of a governor-imposed, grossly incompetent dictator.

Respectively submitted,

Marcus Muhammad
Commissioner-at-Large
mmuhammad@thecityofbentonharbormi.gov

Friday, November 16, 2012

Joe Harris fails to put millage on August primary ballot


Harris ponders fix for shortfall

Seeks $1.2 million to save BH police department 

in wake of voters' rejection of millage renewals

Thursday, November 15, 2012    By Kate Genellie

[Comments throughout article in caps]
BENTON HARBOR - Benton Harbor's emergency financial manager is putting together a plan to address a shortfall resulting from voters' rejection last week of an operating millage for $1.2 million.
HARRIS NEVER INFORMED RESIDENTS ABOUT THE MILLAGE.  HE DIDN'T MAKE THE CASE, AND IS SURPRISED IT WAS REJECTED?  IF YOU WANT MONEY FROM PEOPLE WHO HAVE ALMOST NONE, YOU NEED TO REACH OUT.  INFORM.  HARRIS TALKS ALMOST EXCLUSIVELY TO WHIRLPOOL.
Emergency Manager Joseph Harris will speak at a press conference at 4 p.m. Monday at 200 Paw Paw in Benton Harbor. The public was mistakenly notified through a legal advertisement in The Herald-Palladium taken out by the city that a public hearing would be held at that time, Harris said.

Instead, he will talk to media representatives about the city's financial situation and hand out information to the public.  AGAIN, HARRIS REFUSES TO TALK TO THE PUBLIC.
HARRIS'S BIGGEST MISTAKE:  FAILING TO PUT THIS ON THE AUGUST BALLOT.   

"I'll be busy between now and Monday putting a plan together to address the city's crisis," Harris said.   HARRIS HAS SPENT MORE TIME CREATING CRISES AS E.M. THAN HE HAS AS PROBLEM-SOLVER AND PUBLIC SERVANT.

The plan could include levying a special assessment to make up for the lost money, he said.       HE DOES NOT HAVE THE AUTHORITY TO LEVY TAXES.

The city needed financial help even before the millage was struck down, Harris said, because the city owes $3 million in various obligations and about $5 million more to the city's underfunded pensions.    HARRIS HAS MISMANAGED BH.  HE PREVIOUSLY STATED "BH IS NO LONGER IN THE RED."   NOW THINGS ARE DIFFERENT?  WITH HARRIS, IT'S DIFFERENT EVERY WEEK.   

"Now we don't have what we had," Harris said.

On Election Day Benton Harbor voters struck down a 9.7499-mill renewal, with a 0.2501-mill increase to make up for Headlee Amendment rollbacks and restore the millage to 10 mills. The tax expired in December and was mistakenly left off the November 2011 ballot. That millage would have raised about $1.2 million when levied this year.  THE MISTAKE WAS MADE BY HARRIS (emphasis added.)

Voters also rejected a 2.0694-mill renewal that would have raised about $242,400 when levied in 2013.

This year the city has collected $1.2 million less in taxes than it collected last year. If the larger millage had been approved in November 2011, the city would have collected the money by now. It was the larger millage that Harris focused on in an interview Wednesday.

"It was no big deal that it was delayed," Harris said Wednesday, adding that he was able to rearrange the budget to accommodate the mistake. "The big deal is it was rejected."  HARRIS SAYS IT'S NO BIG DEAL BECAUSE HE IS THE ONE WHO MADE THE MISTAKE.  HE MAY HAVE DONE IT ON PURPOSE.  (SURE, IT'S EVERYBODY'S FAULT BUT HIS.)

Without the larger millage the city's winter tax revenues are minimal.

"There's nothing coming in," Harris said. "So we need to do something, we need to do something immediately."

Harris said he's working on a plan to levy a special assessment to make up for the failed larger millage.

Harris said he didn't want to offer many details on the plan because he is still discussing it with the city's attorney and assessor.  THIS IS ILLEGAL.

Special assessments are charges for a specific city improvement or service that are levied on the property owners whose properties benefit from that service, according to the Michigan Department of Treasury.

Harris said he's considering levying a special assessment on property owners to replace the lost $1.2 million from the larger millage, and the money would go toward the city's Public Safety Department.

If a city can't generate money to cover its costs, it has to cut, Harris said.  HARRIS HAS CUT EVERYTHING; HE HIRED HIS FRIENDS; THE CITY HALL IS MOSTLY WHITE NOW.

But in Benton Harbor, where every department has been reduced - often by half - "there is no place else to cut," Harris said.   THANKS TO HARRIS.

"We would have to eliminate the police department," he said. The Public Safety Department costs the city about $2 million per year.

If the department were eliminated, Berrien County would have to provide police coverage, Harris said.  THAT'S BEEN THE WP PLAN FROM THE START - HARRIS IS THE WHIRLPOOL TOADIE.

"We're just trying to keep our heads above water and pay our bills as they come due," Harris said. "It costs $6 million to run this city."

kgenellie@TheHP.com

http://www.heraldpalladium.com/news/localpage_1/harris-ponders-fix-for-shortfall/article_dae3ee45-3eda-5085-bb9b-c8ed0d56cd52.html

Thursday, November 15, 2012

Herald Palladium Lies Again

The HP reports here that 150 were in the audience for this important event.  In reality, at least 350 attended.  What a slap in the face to the organizers of the event.  


Psychological chains

The Rev. Wright: The burden lingers for black America 
By Kate Genellie Monday, Nov. 12, 2012
BENTON HARBOR - Black people in America are still in chains, but they are the chains of the mind, the Rev. Jeremiah Wright told an audience in Benton Harbor. Wright, who was President Barack Obama's pastor, spoke Saturday to about 150 gathered in the Crystal Star Square Entertainment and Conference Center.Wright, pastor emeritus of Trinity United Church of Christ in Chicago, married Barack and Michelle Obama and baptized their daughters. Obama cut ties to Wright in 2008 after Wright made a series of controversial comments. 

Wright spoke at local activist Edward Pinkney's Justice Freedom Fund dinner Saturday. The night featured speakers on racism, singers, musical groups and a Tae Kwon Do demonstration by local youths. "Physical enduring freedom and psychological freedom are as different as night and day," Wright said. With the culmination of the Civil Rights Movement in 1965, the chains came off African bodies, but the chains didn't come off their minds, Wright said. 

Wright spoke about how racism in America was built into its foundations. Before they formed a country, America's colonies were making laws pertaining to the African people in their midst, Wright said. The laws were based on the customs at the time, not on what was fair to people of color. "The laws were outright racist. All of them," Wright said. And so when America was built out of those colonies, with those laws, "how could you hope to have anything different?" Wright asked. 

When you bake a cake and include the flour, the butter and the eggs, but leave out the sugar, you can't just sprinkle it on after, Wright said. It still won't be a cake. That's what the Constitution's amendments are. "The amendments are only sugar," Wright said. Sugar that's sprinkled on and easily scraped off. That results in the legal doctrine of separate but equal, the Jim Crow laws, disparities in drug sentencing between black people and white people and disproportionate numbers of black men in America's prisons. 

"Justice is more than what is legal. Justice is equity," Wright said. Wright asked the people in the room to stand if they, or someone in their family, had lost their job, lost their house or knew someone in prison. When most of the room was standing, Wright said, "It is easier to be Moses than it is to be Nathan." Both spoke truth to power, but Moses spoke to the Pharaoh, a man of a different race, while Nathan spoke to King David, a man of the same race. Black people spoke up about America's problems under George W. Bush, Wright said, but they've been quiet under Obama. 

Wright urged them to not just celebrate in 2012, as people did in 2008, but to do more. "It's not the person, it's the policies that have you standing in this room tonight," Wright said.

Wednesday, November 14, 2012

More evidence of NAACP corruption

Wachovia, the fifth largest bank in the nation, donated 1 million dollars to the NAACP.
Wachovia has sponsored several NAACP events in order to control the organization.  As a bank known for racism, they don't want discrimination lawsuits filed against them.

The NAACP values corporations over members and rates them according to the size of their contributions.

The Athens-Clarke NAACP shocked many Athens, Georgia residents by endorsing the downtown Walmart in direct contradiction to the people.
The NAACP endorses a store that will degrade, demoralize, and financially ruin the community of Athens.  Residents feel the NAACP is the #1 enemy and major problem in the community.

It's as if the NAACP sees their role as slave master, denying civil and human rights to members.

In Michigan, the Whirlpool Corporation has taken over the willing NAACP.

Boycott Whirlpool Corporation and the NAACP.  

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Burn Baby Burn -  We burn our NAACP cards every Sunday on the Pinkney to Pinkney radio show at 
5:30 pm.  Former members now have burned 2,514 cards. We are asking 100,000 more to burn their NAACP cards.

On February 1, 2013 we the people will protest the NAACP Image Awards in Hollywood, CA.  Join us if you can.

For more information contact:
Rev. Edward Pinkney
269-925-0001

Pinkney to Pinkney 
Every Sunday at 5pm eastern time
blogtalkradio.com/revpinkney





Wednesday, November 07, 2012

BOYCOTT WHIRLPOOL - 'Whirlpool is one more case study in the case for corporate tax reform'

"...liberals keep writing loopholes. ...green energy subsidies [can now] erase [Whirlpool's] tax bill."

Whirlpool's effective tax rate is 0% - ONE OF THE WEALTHIEST, GREEDIEST CORPORATIONS IN HISTORY PAYS NO TAXES AND DESTROYS THE LIFE AND LIVES OF A TOWN.  This corp. steals whatever they possibly can from Benton Harbor.  The people of surrounding Berrien county do nothing.
The behavior of this behemoth, deadly, and destructive corp. is completely sanctioned by county residents.  

And one of the central players and heir to Whirlpool, Fred Upton, was just re-elected to congress.  


Tax Reform Exhibit A
March 2, 2011  Marketwatch.com     (STILL VERY RELEVANT)

Our liberal friends often complain that U.S. businesses pay too little in taxes, despite the world's second highest corporate tax rate. What they don't say is that one reason is because liberals keep writing loopholes. Consider how Whirlpool, the giant home appliance maker, has parlayed green energy subsidies to erase its tax bill.


Whirlpool Corporation recorded $18 billion in global sales and $619 million of earnings in 2010 but won't pay anywhere near the U.S. statutory tax rate of 35% on those profits. Its effective tax rate will be 0%.

As Bloomberg first reported last week, Whirlpool has stockpiled more than $500 million in tax credits for making energy-saving "energy star" appliances—washers, dryers, refrigerators and so on. The firm gets a production tax credit of up to $200 per refrigerator, $75 per dishwasher, and $225 per washer and dryer. General Electric has also collected about $200 million of these credits.

Think of these energy efficiency tax carve-outs as a version of the earned income tax credit for corporate America. Except Whirlpool and GE aren't poor.

The deal gets sweeter. Those credits can be carried over from one year to the next for up to 20 years. Whirlpool is collecting so many credits that it may not have to pay a dime of corporate income tax for years. The lost revenue from GE and Whirlpool alone far exceeds the $78 million revenue "cost" over 10 years that Congress's Joint Committee on Taxation predicted for the credits.

These appliance credits are in addition to $300 million the feds gave to states as part of the 2009 stimulus to pay rebates to consumers for buying these same goods. So there's one subsidy to make the machines and another to buy them. The Department of Energy says these appliances save families money by reducing energy use by more than half. If that's true, why does the government have to bribe people to make these purchases?

Our point isn't to pick on Whirlpool, which employs 22,000 Americans and competes with tough foreign rivals like Korea's Samsung and LG. The company is maximizing returns to shareholders by cashing in on the loopholes that Congress writes.

Jill Saletta, Whirlpool's communications director, tells us that the energy tax credits "help support our continued focus on investing in high efficiency products going forward, which is good for our consumers, the economy, retention of U.S. jobs, and the environment." She adds that "remaining competitive in today's global marketplace is a top concern for Whirlpool Corporation. Taxes, administrative and other costs are higher in the U.S. than in some other countries."

That's for sure. But such favoritism makes the U.S. tax system even less competitive. Tax credits mean little or no liabilities for firms that win most-favored-tax status in Washington, but companies without the right lobbyists or friends in Congress pay a punitive 35% rate that even Europeans have long since abandoned.

Special favors like these also create a business constituency against tax reform that would benefit the overall economy. Whirlpool carries its $500 million of unused tax credits as an asset on its balance sheet, so cutting tax rates shrinks the book value of that asset. "This is why so many companies actually oppose lowering tax rates," says Scott Hodge, president of the Tax Foundation.

The White House claims to want to reduce corporate tax rates in a "revenue neutral way" by closing loopholes. Yet it's hard to take that commitment seriously when its new budget proposes to extend the green-credit windfall for another year. Whirlpool is one more case study in the case for corporate tax reform. 

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/tax-reform-exhibit-a-2011-03-02

Friday, November 02, 2012

Pinkney on Pacifica Radio


From: stradio <sojournertruthradio@gmail.com>
To: Rev Edward Pinkney <banco9342@sbcglobal.net>
Sent: Thursday, October 25, 2012 4:22 PM
Subject: Thanks

Dear Rev. Pinkney,
On behalf of Margaret Prescod and the KPFK "Sojourner Truth"  team, we would like to thank you for your participation in today's show, October 25, 2012.  We appreciate you taking the time to share your expertise with our listening audience. We look forward to having you on the Sojourner Truth show in the future.
 
We would very much appreciate you becoming our friend on facebook https://www.facebook.com/sojournertruthradio and following us on Twitter @sotrueradio. Of course feel free to share information about our show with your contacts.
 
To download and listen to today's program and share it, you can visit the KPFK online audio archive at or our online audio archived segments at http://bit.ly/VrC2Zu
 
Please let us know of any questions and/or suggestions you might have and continue to let us know about your work.
 
All the best,

Kevin Walker, ST team

--
"Sojourner Truth" Team: 818.985.2711 x212
Margaret Prescod Host/Producer "Sojourner Truth"
Tuesday to Friday 7-8 am Pacific Time
Pacifica Radio's KPFK 90.7FM SoCal. 

Listen live http://www.kpfk.org/

Listen anytime or subscribe to the podcast at:
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