INDEX OF POSTS

MEDIA, COMMUNICATIONS, ENTERTAINMENT: as of 1/1/2025

Who Owns the Media "The past two decades have witnessed the number of major corporations that dominate television, movies, music, …OLD LINKS
https://greedwatch.blogspot.com/2007/07/who-owns-media-past-two-decades-have.html
Jul 8, 2007
label: Media Summary

COMCAST: NBC Universal (80% owned by General Electric, 20% owned by Vivendi Universal of France ), (from http://www.freepress.net/ownership/char...

https://greedwatch.blogspot.com/2007/10/what-general-electric-owns-from-httpwww.html
Oct 8, 2007
label: General Electric, NBC/Universal

TIME-WARNER OWNS: Content: TV, Radio and Filmed Cable Systems, #2 in USA ISP (AOL) Magazines Books Games 1 radio station...
https://greedwatch.blogspot.com/2007/10/what-time-warner-owns-tv-network-wb.html
Oct 8, 2007
label: Time-Warner

WALT DISNEY COMPANY OWNS: (FROM http://www.freepress.net/ownership/chart.php ) TV: The ABC Television Network: ABC Entertainment,...
https://greedwatch.blogspot.com/2007/10/what-walt-disney-company-owns-from.html
Oct 8, 2007
label: Walt Disney Company

VIVENDI-UNIVERSAL OWNS: (FROM http://www.freepress.net/ownership/chart.php ) Music: 50 U.S. and International record labels: Barclay...
https://greedwatch.blogspot.com/2007/10/what-vivendi-universal-owns-from.html
Oct 8, 2007
label: Vivendi-Universal

MURDOCH: NEWS CORPORATION (RUPERT MURDOCH) OWNS: (FROM http://www.freepress.net/ownership/chart.php ) TV: Cable channels: Fox...
https://greedwatch.blogspot.com/2007/10/what-news-corporation-rupert-murdoch.html
Oct 8, 2007
label: News Corporation-Fox/Rupert Murdoch

BERTELSMANN OWNS: (FROM http://www.freepress.net/ownership/chart.php ) Magazine, Gruner+Jahr: owns more than 285 print titles, includ...
https://greedwatch.blogspot.com/2007/10/what-bertelsmann-owns-from-httpwww.html
Oct 8, 2007
label: Bertelsmann

PARAMOUNT GLOBAL: CBS-VIACOM OWNS: (FROM http://www.freepress.net/ownership/chart.php ) (technically, two separate companies but with the same owner)...
https://greedwatch.blogspot.com/2007/10/what-cbs-viacom-owns-from-httpwww.html
Oct 8, 2007
label: CBS-Viacom

IHM: Clear Channel Agrees to Sell Television Station Group to Providence Equity Partners; 56 stations. https://greedwatch.blogspot.com/2007/10/clear-channel-agrees-to-sell-television.html
Oct 8, 2007
label: Clear Channel

Matrix of Big USA Media Monopolies DOES NOT ENLARGE WHEN CLICKED ON
https://greedwatch.blogspot.com/2007/10/blog-post.html
Oct 11, 2007
Media Summary

LIBERTY Media Group SOURCE: http://www.libertymedia.com/ir/asset_list.htm also cross-checked with wikipedia and http:...
https://greedwatch.blogspot.com/2007/10/companies-owned-by-liberty-media-group.html
Oct 17, 2007
label: Liberty Media

IAC: Liberty Media-Controlled Interactive Corp. to be split up into 5 new pieces; was split in two in 2005 Interactive Corp. once o...to spin off Ticketmaster, HSN and others
https://greedwatch.blogspot.com/2007/11/1162007-liberty-media-controlled.html
Nov 6, 2007
label: Liberty Media

VERTICAL MONOPOLIES: Are the corporate suits ruining TV Network control and media consolidation are wringing the creativity out of entertainment. …In the mid 1990's, there were 40 indy producers of USA TV shows. In 1995, the FCC abolished the Fin/Syn rules, letting broadcasters own shows. Now there are zero independent show producers.
https://greedwatch.blogspot.com/2007/11/are-corporate-suits-ruining-tv-network.html
Nov 7, 2007
label: Media Summary

MURDOCH: British Government Investigating Murdoch Media holdings; Murdoch wants British Sky News to be more like rightwing Fox …
https://greedwatch.blogspot.com/2007/11/british-government-investigating.html
Nov 25, 2007
label: News Corporation-Fox/Rupert Murdoch

Murdoch Deals Some of his TV Empire to the Tribune Company 12-24-2007 BACKGROUND: Tribune is the major carrier of the CW ...
https://greedwatch.blogspot.com/2007/12/murdoch-deals-some-of-his-tv-empire-to.html
Dec 24, 2007
label: News Corporation-Fox/Rupert Murdoch, Tribune Company

TRIBUNE COMPANY: SUMMARY OF WHAT THEY OWN: 23 TV stations--Major carrier of the CW Network, which is owned by CBS and Time-Warner … ALL SOLD
https://greedwatch.blogspot.com/2007/12/tribune-company-summary-of-what-they.html
Dec 24, 2007
label: Tribune Company

Scam to get consumers to replace their DVD Collections Picks Up Steam (When they come up with some "high definition" writin... Format wars for DVDs may soon be irrelevant with streaming taking over https://greedwatch.blogspot.com/2008/01/scam-to-get-consumers-to-replace-their.html
Jan 5, 2008
label: Stop Consuming--Buy Nothing

Cartoon: Tired of Poll-Driven News Coverage of Elections, Instead of Issue-Driven News Coverage Lie to a Pollster.
https://greedwatch.blogspot.com/2008/01/tired-of-poll-driven-news-coverage-of.html
Jan 10, 2008

MILESTONES IN MEDIA MONOPOLISM: compiled by Rex Frankel, 1/19/2009 OVER THE LAST 20 YEARS, THE BIG 5 MEDIA CORPORATIONS BOUGHT UP THE M...Jan 19, 2009. History of big media cos purchases and divestitures
https://greedwatch.blogspot.com/2009/01/milestones-in-media-monopolism-compiled.html
label: CBS-Viacom, Media Summary, NBC/Universal, News Corporation-Fox/Rupert Murdoch, Time-Warner, Walt Disney Company

Like good dope dealers...May 13, 2009. TV and Film producers get around cable and satellite cos. By showing programs and films on the internet
https://greedwatch.blogspot.com/2009/05/like-good-dope-dealers.html
label: Monopoly Price Gouging, NBC/Universal, News Corporation-Fox/Rupert Murdoch, a la carte cable

Fox News--the choice of 1% of America...Oct 23, 2009
https://greedwatch.blogspot.com/2009/10/fox-stands-alone-against-massive.html
label: News Corporation-Fox/Rupert Murdoch, The Unfairly Picked-On Super Rich

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BROADCAST TV: Media Giants Say Anti-Monopoly Rules Governing the Public-Owned, but Corporate-Occupied Airwaves are Unfair...to Them. On broadcast TV station ownership limits. “We are deprived of reaching 65% of USA audience”. story is from 2001
https://greedwatch.blogspot.com/2007/12/boo-hoo.html
Dec 10, 2007,
label: Fairness Doctrine, Media Summary, The Unfairly Picked-On Super Rich

BROADCAST TV: Digital TV Changeover Really Just a Big Gift to the Broadcasters at the Expense of Consumers, Feb 18, 2009
https://greedwatch.blogspot.com/2009/02/is-digital-tv-changeover-really-just.html
label: the Digital TV Conversion Scam

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LIVE ENTERTAINMENT: Ticketmaster charges: A concert killer After paying a 30% to 40% premium ove r the face value of a ticket, some concert goers have had enou...
https://greedwatch.blogspot.com/2007/11/ticketmaster-charges-concert-killer.html
Nov 12, 2007
label: Monopoly Price Gouging

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NEWSPAPERS:

NEWSPAPERS: CALIFORNIA DAILY NEWSPAPERS 117 total --45 out of 117 are owned by MediaNews Group -Only in L.A and the Bay Area...
https://greedwatch.blogspot.com/2007/10/ownership-of-california-daily.html
Oct 9, 2007
Label: Newspaper monopolization in California

NEWSPAPERS: Time to start paying...May 26, 2009. Get readers addicted, then jack up prices
https://greedwatch.blogspot.com/2009/05/time-to-start-paying.html
label: Newspaper monopolization in California

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PHONES:

PHONES: Apple Computer and AT&T Tie Down I-Phone Buyers; Hackers Undo Problem; Apple Sends "Updates" to Wreck the Untied Phones Surpri...I-Phone buyers required to buy service from AT&T
https://greedwatch.blogspot.com/2007/10/apple-computer-and-at-tie-down-i-phone.html
Oct 25, 2007
label: AT+T

PHONES: Text message charges soar. It's the communication method of choice these days, but texting two-liners can totally add up. Charges even for spam.
https://greedwatch.blogspot.com/2007/11/omg-text-message-charges-soar-its.html
Nov 12, 2007
label: Monopoly Price Gouging

PHONES: AT&T: Buying Back its Monopoly. AT&T is the U.S.’s dominant phone company. Despite the 1983 breakup of AT&T’s monopoly b...
https://greedwatch.blogspot.com/2007/11/at-buying-back-its-monopoly-at-is-u.html
Nov 26, 2007
label: AT+T

PHONES: Watch Out for Sky-High Cell Phone Bills from Internet-Connected Phones! Cell Phone Bills that Truly Roam 1/7/2009 L.A. Times Jan 8, 2009 High roaming rates when traveling out of USA
https://greedwatch.blogspot.com/2009/01/watch-out-for-sky-high-cell-phone-bills.html
label: Monopoly Price Gouging

PHONES: Text-Messaging record, Two Men May Finally Get a Life... Slaves to their cell phone company rack up a $26,000 bill in 1 mo...Apr 22, 2009
https://greedwatch.blogspot.com/2009/04/after-setting-record-for-text-messaging.html
label: Stop Consuming--Buy Nothing

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RADIO:

RADIO: Right-Wing Radio Talk Show Business --analysis by Rex Frankel. A report by a progressive media watch group relea... What percentage of big radio station owners airtime is liberal vs conservative.
https://greedwatch.blogspot.com/2007/10/what-companies-dominate-right-wing.html
Oct 8, 2007
label: Fairness Doctrine, Right-Wing Radio

RADIO: Clear Channel is in Trouble.... (next to Fox, the biggest media backer of the Bush regime) Clear Channe...Mar 26, 2008 Radio biz is stagnant
https://greedwatch.blogspot.com/2008/03/overvalued-and-generally-evil-clear.html
label: Clear Channel

Giving “Choice” to a Captive Audience is bad for media behemoths: The USA ’s Biggest Radio monopolies are selling off stations, B...Aug 2, 2008 CBS and Clear Channel selling non essential radio stations
https://greedwatch.blogspot.com/2008/08/giving-choice-to-captive-audience-is.html
label: CBS-Viacom, Clear Channel

"LA radio: two companies own nine of the top 11 stations..."
Apr 22, 2011
https://greedwatch.blogspot.com/2011/04/what-it-comes-down-to-is-that-two.html
Labels: CBS-Viacom, Clear Channel, Media Summary, Right-Wing Radio

IheartMedia: RADIO: Mitt Who (Bain Capital, Clear Channel radio is in trouble) Jun 22, 2013
https://greedwatch.blogspot.com/2013/06/mitt-who.html
Labels: Clear Channel, Right-Wing Radio

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CABLE:

CABLE a la carte still isn't on menu. .. Bundling vs a la carte
https://greedwatch.blogspot.com/2007/11/excuses.html .
Nov 26, 2007
label: a la carte cable

CABLE: smaller Cable owners group says it opposes bundling. From Bloomberg News January 5, 2008. A group representing 1,100 smaller … Bundling is when producers insist cable customers take low rated channels in exchange for getting highly sought channels
https://greedwatch.blogspot.com/2008/01/cable-group-says-it-opposes-bundling.html
Jan 5, 2008
label: Monopoly Price Gouging, a la carte cable

CABLE System Operators Have Fought Consumer Choice (aka A la carte) Cable, Consumers are taking their dollars elsewhere. In Response...Feb 18, 2009. Media corps sell off non-essential businesses
https://greedwatch.blogspot.com/2009/02/while-cable-system-operators-have.html
label: Media Summary, a la carte cable

CABLE Industry Fires Back Against Viewer Choice Feb 27, 2009 ??????
https://greedwatch.blogspot.com/2009/02/cable-industry-fires-back-against.html
label: Monopoly Price Gouging, a la carte cable

CABLE Customers Sue over Mandatory Sports Channel fees -- Jun 21, 2013
https://greedwatch.blogspot.com/2013/06/cable-customers-sue-over-mandatory.html
Label: a la carte cable

CABLE: You Can't Beat 'em If You Can't Join 'em (Cable Monopolies v Municipal internet providers)
Sep 1, 2014
https://greedwatch.blogspot.com/2014/09/you-cant-beat-em-if-you-cant-join-em.html
label: Monopoly Price Gouging

CABLE: Media Monopolists Want to Tighten their Grip --Sep 8, 2014
Comcast is buying Time Warner Cable, would get 19 of top 20 cable markets. Net neutrality.
https://greedwatch.blogspot.com/2014/09/media-monopolists-want-to-tighten-their.html
labels: Monopoly Price Gouging, a la carte cable

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OIL, ENERGY, CARS. TRAINS:

A GUIDE TO WHO OWNS THE OIL INDUSTRY: (not advertising, just a fact!) http://www.oilwatchdog.org http://www.ol...
https://greedwatch.blogspot.com/2007/07/guide-to-who-owns-oil-industry-not.html
Jul 8, 2007
label: Oil Company Greed

It's About Time—oil profits drop
https://greedwatch.blogspot.com/2007/10/its-about-time.html
Oct 11, 2007
label: Oil Company Greed

U.S. Automakers Smell the Winds of Change. Will Builders of Gas Hogs and SUVs Change their Products or just to whom they send politica...
https://greedwatch.blogspot.com/2007/11/u.html
Nov 30, 2007
label: er...bribery

Note: While we'll never get a handle on global warming and smog as long as we continue to be tied to cars and oil as the main way...
https://greedwatch.blogspot.com/2008/01/valero-steps-on-gas-in-state-companys.html
Jan 8, 2008
label: Oil Company Greed

Think Oil Companies Put their Huge Profits into Finding New Supplies of Oil, Think Again: Where Big Oil's profits go By John Porret...Jul 22, 2008
https://greedwatch.blogspot.com/2008/07/blog-post_22.html
label: Oil Company Greed

Moron-Math Used to Claim Exxon-Mobil is Overtaxed 8/18/2008 When oil-industry propagandists try to fool the public into showing sympat... Aug 18, 2008
https://greedwatch.blogspot.com/2008/08/moron-math-used-to-claim-exxon-mobil-is.html
label: Oil Company Greed

HOW THE 5 BIG OIL COMPANIES GOT SO BIG: 1/19/2009 compiled by Rex Frankel British Petroleum (major brand name in USA is ARCO): compet...Jan 19, 2009
https://greedwatch.blogspot.com/2009/01/how-5-big-oil-companies-got-so-big.html
label: Oil Company Greed

MONOPOLIZATION OF THE WORLD'S CAR INDUSTRY compiled by Rex Frankel, 1/19/2009 THE BIG 3 USA CAR MAKERS: General Motors, sells und...Jan 19, 2009
https://greedwatch.blogspot.com/2009/01/monopolization-of-worlds-car-industry.html
label: Car monopolies

THE BIG-4 RAILROAD MONOPOLIES: compiled by Rex Frankel, 1/19/2009 thanks to wikipedia.org and oligopolywatch.com for helpful data 4 Com...
Jan 19, 2009
https://greedwatch.blogspot.com/2009/01/big-4-railroad-monopolies-compiled-by.html
label: Railroad monopolies

In a bad economy, Oil companies still profit ...Mar 4, 2009
https://greedwatch.blogspot.com/2009/03/in-bad-economy-oil-companies-still.html
label: Oil Company Greed

Good News, and More Good News Feb 27, 2010. Fuel cell unveiled. GM to shut down Hummer.
https://greedwatch.blogspot.com/2010/02/good-news-and-more-good-news.html
label: Car monopolies, Oil Company Greed

The Mass Sell-Off of Car Lines by USA Car Companies is near complete Coming after massive hikes in gas prices by the oil monopolies, Ameri...Jun 4, 2010 DRAFT NO LINK

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HEALTH INDUSTRY:

Exposing the Right-Wing's Lies about Health insurance reform Aug 19, 2009
https://greedwatch.blogspot.com/2009/08/exposing-right-wings-lies-about-health.html
label: Health Care v. Wealth Care

My Cure for Health Reform Fears... cartoons Aug 27, 2009
https://greedwatch.blogspot.com/2009/08/my-cure-for-health-reform-fears.html
label: Health Care v. Wealth Care

The USA is already the biggest health insurance company--and the private insurance companies still thrive! Feb 4, 2010
https://greedwatch.blogspot.com/2010/02/usa-is-already-biggest-health-insurance.html
label: Health Care v. Wealth Care

ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha , it's about freaking time! cartoon Mar 25, 2010
https://greedwatch.blogspot.com/2010/03/ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-its-about.html

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FOOD, APPLIANCES, FINANCE, AEROSPACE

Could No One See this Coming? – BANKS COLLAPSE Dec 7, 2008
https://greedwatch.blogspot.com/2008/12/could-no-one-see-this-coming.html

WHO MAKES ALL THE APPLIANCES, HARDWARE AND TOOLS compiled by Rex Frankel, 1/19/2009 THE BIG 3 APPLIANCE MAKERS: In recent years, Ameri...
https://greedwatch.blogspot.com/2009/01/who-makes-all-appliances-hardware-and.html Jan 19, 2009
label: Appliances-Hardware-Tools

HOW THE 4 SUPER-BANKS GOT SO BIG... compiled by Rex Frankel, 1/19/2009 BANK OF AMERICA: 4800 branches, 15,000 ATM’s Bought...Jan 19, 2009
https://greedwatch.blogspot.com/2009/01/how-4-super-banks-got-so-big.html
label: Banking Monopolies

Aerospace and Defense Contractors...Jan 19, 2009
https://greedwatch.blogspot.com/2009/01/st1behaviorurlieooui-style-definitions.html
label: Aerospace and Defense Contractors

THE TEN BIGGEST FOOD PROCESSORS ON YOUR SUPERMARKET SHELVES Sept 27, 2016
https://greedwatch.blogspot.com/2016/09/the-ten-biggest-food-processors-on-your.html

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THE GAP BETWEEN RICH AND POOR:

The Rich are Getting Really Rich, Really Fast
https://greedwatch.blogspot.com/2007/11/rich-getting-richer-faster-new-studies.html
Jul 9, 2007

Gap between rich, poor seen growing. Income disparity reaches highest since 1920s, paper reports, with recent Wall Street boom partly to blam...
https://greedwatch.blogspot.com/2007/10/gap-between-rich-poor-seen-growing.html
Oct 12, 2007
label: rich-poor gap

Rich getting richer faster. New studies spotlight a growing gap between top and bottom. The divide is widest in Arizona, narrowest in W...
https://greedwatch.blogspot.com/2007/11/rich-getting-richer-faster-new-studies.html
Nov 26, 2007
label: rich-poor gap

How Much Would ...Oct 17, 2008, 6”
https://greedwatch.blogspot.com/2008/10/how-much-would-you-pay-in-taxes-october.html

Noblesse Oblige my ass! CARTOON Oct 26, 2008. On the wealth gap
https://greedwatch.blogspot.com/2008/10/welfare-for-greedy-warfare-for-needy.html
label: The Unfairly Picked-On Super Rich, rich-poor gap

Tax Rates Fell by a Third for the 400 Richest Americans, Whose Average Income Doubled to $263 million a Year Under George Bush's Presi...Jan 31, 2009
https://greedwatch.blogspot.com/2009/01/tax-rates-fell-by-third-for-400-richest.html
label: rich-poor gap

Concern over "class warfare" depends on which class you're in.... Mar 4, 2009. By Michael Hiltzik
https://greedwatch.blogspot.com/2009/03/concern-over-class-warfare-depends-on.html
label: The Unfairly Picked-On Super Rich rich-poor gap

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ASSORTED:

Uncooperative Consumers Screw Up Corporate Innovation...on line bill paying, Story from 2001.
https://greedwatch.blogspot.com/2006/09/uncooperative-consumers-screw-up.html
Jul 20, 2011

THE OTHER MONOPOLIES: FOOD, MONEY, BOMBS, DRUGS AND LAND WHO OWNS THE FOOD AND CONSUMER PRODUCTS MONOPOLIES: http://www.oligopolywatch.com/s...FIX LINKS, CANT BE FOUND ON ARCHIVE.ORG, 6”
https://greedwatch.blogspot.com/2007/07/other-monopolies-food-money-bombs-drugs.html
Jul 8, 2007

A Guide to Corporate Ownership of Everything SUMMARY: the mega-monopoly corporations that control most major industries in America also fun... VARIOUS ITEMS, LONG.
https://greedwatch.blogspot.com/2007/07/guide-to-corporate-ownership-of_09.html
Jul 9, 2007

Twisted Irony...by George Will
https://greedwatch.blogspot.com/2007/10/twisted-irony.html
Oct 11, 2007
label: The Unfairly Picked-On Super Rich

6/28/2005 Big contributors to GOP reap big post-election rewards....campaign cash
https://greedwatch.blogspot.com/2007/11/6282005-big-contributors-to-gop-reap.html
Nov 26, 2007. LONG
label: er...bribery, political campaign spending

MAKE BUY NOTHING DAY EVERY DAY! A Guide to Corporate Ownership of Everything SUMMARY: the mega-monopoly corporations that control mos... LONG
https://greedwatch.blogspot.com/2007/11/make-buy-nothing-day-every-day-guide-to.html
Nov 26, 2007
label: Stop Consuming--Buy Nothing

Biggest Wastes Of Space: They are famous simply for being famous ... Time magazine took a look at who are the biggest wastes of space of 2007...Bimbos who get rich and famous. 5”
https://greedwatch.blogspot.com/2007/11/biggest-wastes-of-space-they-are-famous.html
Nov 30, 2007
label: The Unfairly Picked-On Super Rich

The Britney Industrial Complex By Richard Cohen, Washington Post. How stupidity is profitable. 8”
https://greedwatch.blogspot.com/2008/01/britney-industrial-complex-by-richard.html
Jan 22, 2008
label: The Unfairly Picked-On Super Rich

(Untitled) USA map cartoon. Anti war WON'T ENLARGE, 2”
https://greedwatch.blogspot.com/2008/03/blog-post.html Mar 24, 2008

"Only after the last tree has been cut down, only after the last river has been poisoned, only after the last fish has been caught, onl...
https://greedwatch.blogspot.com/2008/04/only-after-last-tree-has-been-cut-down.html
Apr 21, 2008 LINKS NEED TO BE FIXED, 6”

(Untitled) Feigned Outrage cartoon Oct 8, 2008, 2”
https://greedwatch.blogspot.com/2008/10/blog-post.html

CORPORATE CONSOLIDATION: 2001-2008
THE AFTERMATH OF THE BUSH YEARS—THE END OF CAPITALISM AS WE KNEW IT By Rex Frankel, 1/19/2009, the last day of George Bush’s term in off...
https://greedwatch.blogspot.com/2009/01/aftermath-of-bush-yearsthe-end-of_4101.html
Jan 19, 2009

Where were the Fiscally Conservative Republican/Conservatives that are Foaming at the Mouth Over Obama's Economy Fix; only care about deficits when a Dem is Prez. 3”
https://greedwatch.blogspot.com/2009/02/where-were-fiscally-conservative.html
Feb 18, 2009

BUY IT NOW!!! THE NEW IMPROVED 2009 MODEL PIECE OF CRAP! Feb 20, 2009
https://greedwatch.blogspot.com/2009/02/buy-it-now-new-improved-2009-model.html
label: Stop Consuming--Buy Nothing. ONION VIDEO LINK NOT WORKING, SEARCH ONION SITE

Which "Losers" Should the Government Bail Out "Do We want to subsidize the loser's mortgages "
Mar 26, 2009 LINK to Daily Show NOT WORKING
https://greedwatch.blogspot.com/2009/03/which-losers-should-government-bail-out.html
label: The Unfairly Picked-On Super Rich

The Middle Class Fights Back , cartoon Mar 29, 2009, against corporate attacks
https://greedwatch.blogspot.com/2009/03/middle-class-fights-back.html
label: The Unfairly Picked-On Super Rich

English as a second language for the looney-right, 2 cartoons Nov 2, 2009. Language/propaganda
https://greedwatch.blogspot.com/2009/11/english-as-second-language-for-looney.html
label: The Unfairly Picked-On Super Rich

The "heavy hand of government" is often that of the public interest, yelling "Stop Thief!" cartoon
Feb 14, 2010, 6%
https://greedwatch.blogspot.com/2010/02/heavy-hand-of-government-is-often-that.html

Mass Firings Lead to Economic Boom--for big corporations...Mar 24, 2010
https://greedwatch.blogspot.com/2010/03/mass-firings-lead-to-economic-boom-for.html
label: The Unfairly Picked-On Super Rich

Crybaby Bullies Need your help! or at least your cash....donate now.....Apr 14, 2010
On Dennis Prager's whining COMMENT, 4”
https://greedwatch.blogspot.com/2010/04/crybaby-bullies-need-your-help-or-at.html
label: The Unfairly Picked-On Super Rich

A message to the Tea Party: Nov 10, 2010, by Mark Murford, SF Chronicle....LONG
https://greedwatch.blogspot.com/2010/11/message-to-tea-party.html
label: The Unfairly Picked-On Super Rich

What really happened in last week's election: Nov 11, 2010. DINO's lost, 2”
https://greedwatch.blogspot.com/2010/11/what-really-happened-in-last-weeks.html

Republicans start sounding like "socialists" --Jan 11, 2012, Romney likes firing people, 4”
https://greedwatch.blogspot.com/2012/01/republicans-start-sounding-like.html
Label: The Unfairly Picked-On Super Rich, rich-poor gap

CARTOON: And this is why the rich shouldn't pay 3% more in taxes --Jan 24, 2012
Romney pays less tax rate than Obama, 6%
https://greedwatch.blogspot.com/2012/01/and-this-is-why-rich-shouldnt-pay-3.html
Label: The Unfairly Picked-On Super Rich

!!!!!!!!!!!! 2 cartoons Jul 14, 2012, jail for corporate criminals
https://greedwatch.blogspot.com/2012/07/blog-post.html

Hi, friends, For those that wonder why no posts lately.. Jun 1, 2013, still in law school
https://greedwatch.blogspot.com/2013/06/hi-friends-for-those-that-wonder-why-no.html
OLD LINK, 2”

Uncooperative Consumers Screw Up Corporate Innovation

"but the problem is, those people don't want to pay for it.''


Online billing, an idea that looked like a winner, has held its own but has
not caught on in a big way.

Bob Tedeschi.  New York Times
June 4, 2001.  p. C.8
Copyright New York Times Company

AMONG all the half-baked Internet ideas that made it onto investors' plates in
recent years, online billing was one of the few that seemed to offer some real
nourishment.

Here, after all, was a technology that promised to save time and money for
consumers and the companies that bill them, while giving a potentially valuable
new service to banks and online portals like Yahoo and MSN. And it created a
business opportunity for new types of e-commerce companies like Checkfree,
Spectrum and Transpoint, which provided the portals and bank sites a way to let
customers view and pay multiple bills.

That was the theory, at least. But the so-called e-billing category is still
mainly a frog, waiting for consumers to kiss it and turn it into something
charming.

According to the Gartner Group, the technology consulting firm, only about
three million of the nation's estimated 130 million Internet users use the
Internet to pay any of their bills -- and most of those customers still receive
the billing statement on paper through the mail. A far smaller number, about
100,000, actually go to a single Web site to view their incoming bills and
electronically pay them, according to Gartner.

Already, Transpoint, which was backed by Microsoft, First Data and Citibank, is
a thing of the past, having been swallowed up by Checkfree last August for
about $1.3 billion. And Spectrum is still rolling out its services. In light of
such underwhelming activity, some analysts are beginning to question the basic
logic behind the business plans of the e-billing companies.

''Things aren't necessarily bleak for online bill payment,'' said Susan Landry,
research director at Gartner. ''But it may be rather bleak for companies
looking to make a business out of this. The way things are structured right
now, it's a losing proposition.''

Ms. Landry said that while Checkfree and other so-called online bill
consolidators must charge for their services, the banks and online portals that
pay the consolidators cannot necessarily pass on those costs to consumers.
Consumers are loath to pay an extra fee for the privilege of seeing and paying
their bills, Ms. Landry and other analysts said, no matter how convenient it
may be to do so online.

As a result, banks and portals have offered the service, but have not yet
advertised it widely. ''Banks don't want to charge their best customers for
this, because they don't want to risk losing them,'' said David Easthope, an
analyst with the investment bank Friedman, Billings, Ramsey. ''They end up
charging people who aren't their best customers $5 a month, but the problem is,
those people don't want to pay for it.''

Yahoo, which was the first portal to offer online bill payment, in late 1999,
does not charge customers for the service, hoping instead to make money from
advertising and from luring users to its paid financial services. So Yahoo,
which would not disclose how many people use the feature, absorbs the fees
charged by Checkfree.

Without discussing the specifics of the Yahoo arrangement, a Checkfree
spokesman said the company's fees typically included a $75,000 set-up charge,
plus a monthly fee of about $4 per subscriber. Another Checkfree customer,
Microsoft's MSN, charges users nothing for the first three bills they pay;
beyond that, the fee is $6 a month.

Ms. Landry said that she expected most consumers to choose not to view and pay
all of their bills at one site, and opt instead to go to each biller's site
directly. And in a few years, technology may enable a consumer to set up a
software ''agent'' that will assemble ''all the information on who you pay, how
you pay them and when, and will romp around the Internet on your behalf,'' Ms.
Landry predicted. ''Why would you need a consolidator when you had that?'' she
added.

Others, though, are not ready to give up on the consolidators. ''It may be that
we see the customer base grow by 5 percent a year, and we never see a big
break-out year,'' said Mr. Easthope, of Friedman, Billings, Ramsey. ''But we
probably will see mass adoption.''

Investors seem to share that optimism. Checkfree's market value of $3.36
billion is nearly twice that of Travelocity, Ariba and Doubleclick, just to
name a few other types of e-commerce companies. Checkfree's shares closed at
$38.76 on Friday, well above their 52-week low near $24 in early April.

The billing consolidators and billers are not the only ones waiting for
customers to warm to the idea of clicking through their monthly statements.
Consider Billserv, which takes a billing company's paper bills and converts
them to a form that can be posted on a Web site. Billserv's clients, which
include Chevron, AT&T and dozens of other companies, send out 15 percent of the
20 billion bills produced in the United States each year, said Michael R. Long,
Billserv's chief executive.

BillServ receives 30 to 40 cents for every paper bill it posts on a Web site.
But so far, less than 2 percent of its clients' bills are handled this way.

''We're actually much farther along than I would've anticipated,'' Mr. Long
said. ''But we really would like to see those adoption rates kick in.''

Mr. Easthope, the Friedman, Billings analyst, predicted that the e-bills market
would benefit from -- among other forces -- increasing competition by Spectrum,
a consortium of banks including Wells Fargo, FleetBoston and J. P. Morgan
Chase. The competition could bring about better financial terms and product
features, he said, making it more attractive for billers to aggressively market
these services.

He said that at least one bank, Bank of America, planned to step up advertising
for its online billing feature. Bank of America and Checkfree said in April
that they would jointly commit $45 million over the next two years to advertise
online billing. Linda Mueller, a Bank of America spokeswoman, said the company
charged a typical customer about $6 a month for the service, which began
nationally in February.

Ms. Mueller would not say whether the company made or lost money on its
Checkfree service. But she contends that customers are willing to pay for it,
because the price equals the amount a consumer would spend on postage for about
18 checks.

But that math might not convince would-be customers. The average consumer
receives 12 to 18 bills a month, but only 275 billers are sending their bills
to Checkfree each month, said Peter Sinisgalli, Checkfree's president. That
means that the average consumer can receive only four or five bills today
electronically, Mr. Sinisgalli said, ''although our goal is to push that to 10
or more by the end of the year.''

Many utility companies, trash collectors and other companies, meanwhile, have
been somewhat slow to offer their bills online -- whether through their own Web
sites or through a site served by one of the consolidators. Ms. Landry, of the
Gartner Group, said of online billing, ''Billers hate it.'' Setting up an
online billing system is not only costly, she said, but can clutter the line of
communication a biller previously had with its customers.

But some billers are much more enthusiastic. George McGrath, senior vice
president of Norcal Waste Systems, a trash collection and recycling company
based in San Francisco, said he was ''truly excited'' about the company's
online billing system, even though just 28,000 of his 400,000 customers use it.

Mr. McGrath said his customers can view and pay their bills on Norcal's Web
site for no charge. In the future, he said, those customers will also be able
to do so on another Web site affiliated with Spectrum, although that might
entail a service charge. Mr. McGrath would not disclose how much the company
spent on the online billing system, but he said that online bill processing
cost half as much as traditional bill processing, given the expense of
printing, mailing and handling paper bills.

Mr. McGrath said customers had also responded favorably to a feature, rolled
out last month on his site, that automatically debits their checking accounts
when their bills come due, and then notifies them by e-mail. ''They're telling
us, 'We don't want to go into your site; just take the money and let us know
you're doing it,' '' Mr. McGrath said. ''So that's what we're giving them.''

___________________________________________________________________________

6/28/2005
Big contributors to GOP reap big post-election rewards
By Jim Drinkard, USA TODAY

WASHINGTON - Just six months into a new term for
President Bush and the Republican-controlled Congress,
some of their heaviest donors are scoring victories on
the legislative and regulatory fronts.
From rewrites of the laws governing bankruptcy and
class-action lawsuits to relief for oil, timber and
tobacco interests, GOP supporters who gave millions of
dollars last year are reaping decisions worth billions
from a Congress with more Republicans.

"Clearly, the election outcome has helped," says Bruce
Josten, executive vice president of the U.S. Chamber
of Commerce. "We are heading in the right direction. A
lot more has been done by this time in a new session
than usual."

While much public attention has been focused on Bush's
sputtering effort to sell an overhaul of Social
Security, legislation long sought by the GOP and its
business allies have been enacted with bipartisan
support. In February, Congress passed and Bush signed
a bill that sharply limits class-action lawsuits. The
savings will likely come to several billion dollars a
year, says Russ Sutter of Tillinghast-Towers Perrin,
an actuarial firm that studies tort costs.

The business sector that includes manufacturing and
retail was among top GOP donors last election cycle.
It directed three of every five political dollars to
Republicans--almost $121 million, according to the
non-partisan Center for Responsive Politics.

There was a similar partisan tilt in political giving
by the finance industry, which won passage in April of
a law making it harder to erase debts by declaring
bankruptcy. Credit card companies and banks sought the
change as a way to collect more debts.

The finance sector gave nearly $195 million to the GOP
in the 2004 elections. And 105 of Bush's 548 elite
fundraisers--those who raised $100,000 or more--were
from the world of finance, making it his biggest base
of top-dollar support, at $34 million.

"Many of the traditional business supporters are
really getting the agenda they wanted, and it seems to
be speeding up," says Larry Noble, director of the
Center for Responsive Politics, which studies the
impact of money on politics.

Still to come: Congress is pushing to complete an
energy bill. Business interests want limits on
liability for water contamination caused by MTBE, a
fuel additive designed to reduce auto emissions, and
oil companies seek to open the Arctic National
Wildlife Refuge to drilling. The Senate passed its
version Tuesday.

Bush supporters also have had good luck outside the
legislative arena:

--Justice Department lawyers this month abruptly
scaled back their request for a penalty in the
government's lawsuit against tobacco companies. Rather
than the 25-year, $130 billion smoking cessation
program their own expert had recommended, they are
asking for a $14 billion remedy. The tobacco industry
favored Republicans three-to-one over Democrats last
year, giving $2.7 million to the party and its
candidates.

The Justice Department's Office of Professional
Responsibility is looking into whether politics
influenced the decision.

--After Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman
William Donaldson resigned under fire from business
groups who complained about overzealous regulation,
Bush replaced him with someone with a pro-corporate
record: Rep. Christopher Cox, R-Calif.

"It's hard to imagine somebody with a more nakedly
deregulatory agenda," says William Lerach, a trial
lawyer who has brought shareholder lawsuits against
corporations accused of securities fraud. Securities
and investment firms gave $47.8 million to Republicans
last election.

--The administration last month reversed a ban on road
construction, timber harvesting, mining and energy
development on undeveloped national forest land. The
government also has expanded oil and gas development
on federal lands, including areas in New Mexico and
Wyoming.

Energy and natural resources interests gave $39.3
million to the GOP last year, three times the amount
given to Democrats.

THE TEN BIGGEST FOOD PROCESSORS ON YOUR SUPERMARKET SHELVES

CLICK ON THE GRAPHIC TO SEE THE FULL IMAGE

FOR FULL STORY:

https://food.good.is/articles/food-brands-owners

Media Monopolists Want to Tighten their Grip

Send emails in opposition to internet fast lane for the rich (and a slowdown for the rest of us) by Wednesday September 10th

To Comment on the proposed changes to the Internet rules:  GO TO http://apps.fcc.gov/ecfs/upload/display?z=428s7 TO SEND THEM A COMMENT

INSIST THAT THE INTERNET BE TREATED LIKE A PUBLIC UTILITY, WITH THE SAME PRICES AND ACCESS RIGHTS FOR ALL OF US

Editors note: great information in this story, but the newspaper editor's have added in some language to give the impression that it's all a "done deal" and that no one cares.

--------------------------------

http://www.dailybreeze.com/technology/20140907/net-neutrality-rules-could-cost-more-for-speedy-internet-service

By Rob Lowman, Los Angeles Daily News


9/8/2014--A major rule change in how companies provide Internet service to the public could fundamentally disrupt online life as we know it, impacting the flow of information, business competition, freedom of speech and everyone’s pocketbook for years to come ­— but no one seems all that concerned. (OH REALLY?)

Under the concept of net neutrality, now under review by the FCC, broadband Internet service providers would have to provide service without discrimination based on content. They also couldn’t impose elaborate tiered pricing systems under which companies like Google or Netflix, for example — and therefore their customers — would have to pay higher prices to get their content delivered at the fastest speeds. Others who don’t pay more would see delivery of their content deliberately slowed down.


If left alone, ISPs like Comcast or Verizon would be able to control speed on the Internet in the future, creating fast lanes for those willing to pay for it.

In the Federal Communication Commission’s first 60-day commentary period, barely 1 million people had registered their thoughts about it. In 2004, Janet Jackson’s less than a half-second nipple slip at the Super Bowl received some 1.4 million unsolicited comments.

The next commentary period runs through Wednesday.

Earlier this summer, FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler said in a speech that the commission is planning to promote more high-speed Internet service choices and protect competition for consumers.


“There is an inverse relationship between competition and the kind of broadband performance that consumers are increasingly demanding,” Wheeler said. “This is not tolerable.”


He cited Commerce Department statistics that an overwhelming majority of homes have no choice among providers. Wheeler also pointed to the long-distance market of the 1990s when users could switch from one carrier to another as an example of “a truly competitive telecommunications marketplace.”

Wheeler did not reveal what steps the FCC might take or what this might mean for the pending Comcast takeover of Time Warner Cable.


Earlier this year, a district court struck down the FCC’s 2010 order intending to prevent broadband ISPs from blocking or interfering with traffic on the Web. In May, the FCC voted 3-2 to open public debate on new rules meant to guarantee an open Internet but with some additional caveats. The new provisions are similar to the old in that they are meant to prevent cable companies from knowingly slowing down anyone’s data.

That should ensure all content running on the Internet is treated equally, except the new rules also allow for giant cable and Internet companies like Comcast, Time-Warner, AT&T and Verizon to create fast lanes for those who can pay.


Some companies are already doing so.

At the end of last year, Netflix subscribers complained of sluggish downloads as they waited for movies and shows like “House of Cards.” The streaming giant claimed Comcast, the country’s largest cable and broadband provider, was slowing download times.

Comcast denied the claims, and said a second party Netflix was using was slowing the downloads. It wanted the streaming company to go through them directly.

Though they complained publicly about having to do it, Netflix quickly signed a deal in February with Comcast to ensure faster speeds for its customers. It then went on to sign similar ones with Verizon and AT&T.


Ten days before the Netflix deal, Comcast made a $45 billion bid to buy Time Warner Cable. In an April letter to stockholders, Reed Hastings, the chief executive of Netflix, was still angry about the Comcast deal and came out in opposition to the merger, saying that the new company would “possess even more anti-competitive leverage to charge arbitrary interconnection tolls for access to their customers.”

Comcast countered with the statement: “There has been no company that has had a stronger commitment to openness of the Internet than Comcast.”


If Internet superhighways are created for a fee, it won’t be just Netflix, which recently hit 50 million subscribers, joining the fast lane. Other companies able to pay — Amazon, Google and Facebook — aren’t going to be left behind.

At risk are small or new businesses who won’t be able to pay superhighway speeds and consumers who will face a choice of how much they are willing to pay for speedy Internet access. At the time of the Netflix-Comcast deal, Tim Wu, the Columbia University professor who first coined the phrase net neutrality, likened it to water in the basement for the Internet industry. He told the New York Times, “I think it is going to be bad for consumers,” believing costs will likely be passed onto them. In Netflix’s case, the firm announced price hikes.


If the merger between Comcast and Time Warner occurs, the new company would have 19 of the country’s top 20 cable markets. Estimates say the mega-company would then control around 40 percent of the high-speed Internet market.

Some believe that ISPs —like Comcast — should be reclassified as a utility, and regulated like electricity. Comcast spent nearly a quarter of the 74-page document it submitted as comment to the FCC arguing against that.

The commission had once deemed ISPs as “information services,” like websites. But in the decision earlier this year the court said the FCC lacked authority to enforce its existing net neutrality rules because it hadn’t classified broadband providers as “telecommunications services.” That would make them more like telephone companies, who own their lines like ISPs but are required to lease them to other companies if a customer opts for another firm’s service.


The FCC still has the power under the 1996 Telecommunications Act to reclassify them, and that worries ISPs. AT&T and Verizon have also weighed in against the possibility in their comments to the FCC.

While everyone seems to argue for some form of net neutrality, the Internet Association, which represents about three dozen Web companies such as Google, Netflix and Amazon, opposes the idea of fast lanes. Such rules would undoubtedly cement charging more for higher speeds as a business practice.

“We are dedicated to protecting and preserving an open Internet,” the FCC’s Wheeler said before the vote in May. A former chief lobbyist for the cable industry who was appointed by President Obama, Wheeler cast the swing vote, joining the two Democratic commissioners in opening the rules to debate.


With so much of commerce dependent on the Internet, should we leave the pipes unregulated or in the hands of profit-motivated companies? Or does the solution lie somewhere in between?

Some argue that dividing content into those who can afford fast lanes — whether businesses or political PACs — is a threat to freedom. On the Internet, milliseconds are important. Most people usually don’t go deep into searches on the Web. If users are subtlety directed toward certain sites, eventually that could have an impact not only on what we buy but what we think. Without rules, ISPs can become gatekeepers. Comcast, which wants little regulation, argues in its comments to the FCC that it wouldn’t restrict access because it “would incur substantial subscriber losses and reputational harm.” Essentially, they say they won’t do it because it would cost them money.


Anyone following the news already knows there are privacy concerns to be addressed. There are also concerns about “search neutrality,” which is the idea that search results should be free of social, political, or financial agendas. Right now there is nothing in place to maintain “search neutrality.” If companies like Amazon and Google — who determine relevance in search results — join the fast lane, it’s likely to increase their influence.

Wu is so worried about it that he is running for the Democratic nomination for lieutenant governor of New York, hoping to help create legislation to keep such companies in check.


You can still weigh in on the “net neutrality” rules. The giant cable and Internet companies have already, plus they have Capitol Hill lobbyists. Comcast ranked fifth among all organizations in U.S. government lobbying spending last year, according to the Consumer Watchdog’s Privacy Project. Google, AT&T and Verizon are also among the top spenders.

To make a comment on any current matter before the FCC, go to www.fcc.gov/comments. 

You Can't Beat 'em If You Can't Join 'em

Cable Giants Try to Limit Cities' Internet Service

http://www.newser.com/story/193221/cable-giants-try-to-block-cities-internet-service.html

By Neal Colgrass, Newser Staff

Posted Aug 30, 2014

(Newser) – Municipalities, take note: US Telecom, a group representing cable giants like Time Warner and Comcast is pressing US officials to stop two cities from expanding high-speed Internet services, the Guardian reports.

http://www.theguardian.com/business/2014/aug/29/us-telecoms-fcc-block-high-speed-internet-chattanooga

Those cities—Chattanooga, TN, and Wilson, NC—are already providing unusually fast 1GB-per-second service to residents. Chattanooga's broadband helped trigger a tech boom, and Wilson's reached people who were complaining about the quality and cost of Time Warner service. Now each city wants to expand service into a wider area, the Wall Street Journal reports.

http://online.wsj.com/articles/telecom-industry-asks-fcc-not-to-push-municipal-broadband-1409358425

US Telecom's lobbyists are urging the FCC not to let cities work around laws designed to protect private broadband companies (20 states have such laws, the Verge notes).

http://www.theverge.com/2014/8/29/6084171/cable-companies-file-to-stop-municipal-broadband-expansion

US Telecom is also arguing in a blog (http://www.ustelecom.org/blog/fcc-has-no-standing-state-broadband-laws) that public broadband has "a mixed record, with numerous examples of failures"—and it's true that a group of Utah towns had to sell its service to Google for $1 after failing to make enough money. So, is municipal broadband anti-competitive? Cable companies say subsidies give cities an unfair leg up, while cities argue that they are improving competition in their areas. (On the lighter side, read about the Comcast "call from hell.")

Mitt Who?

Mitt Romney's favorite Radio Station Owner is in Trouble

This is probably beating a dead horse, (as who remembers Mitt Romney now?), but I just learned that Romney's corporate buyout firm Bain Capital owns the US's largest radio station chain, Clear Channel, which has been the subject of my ire for years.

Clear Channel owns and distributes on its stations shows by right-wing hotheads like Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity, and distributes Fox News in radio form. They're by far the largest of owner of radio stations in the USA and also are tops in Billboards. I've written a lot about their past antics here:
http://greedwatch.blogspot.com/search/label/Clear%20Channel
They have in recent years added liberal talk radio shows on some of their lower-rated outlets, so their reputation for being all right wingers has changed in recent years as they've realized that liberal talk sells ads, too.

As this column from my local paper says: "Bain Capitol, the majority owner following a 2008 buyout, must be mighty nervous right now. According to industry estimates and filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, Clear Channel has more than $16 billion of debt, declining revenues, declining cash flow, and a huge debt payment due relatively soon - with virtually no way to pay it.
This could be the beginning of the end for a company that, in my opinion, never deserved to exist."
from:  http://www.dailynews.com/entertainment/ci_22187319/radio-clear-channel-layoffs-hit-kost-kbig-kysr

Clear Channel is a prime beneficiary (and now a victim) of the US Congress's 1996 Telecommunications deregulation act, which allowed corporate monopolies to gobble up 8 or more radio stations in a market area, instead of the previous limit of 2. The law similarly allows ownership of 2 or more TV stations in a market when the previous limit was 1.

The problem for Clear Channel is they over-borrowed to bulk up on stations, computerized the formats and fired DJs and then faced the wrath of consumers who switched to ad-free ipods and other portable music players. That's when Romney's Bain Capital firm swooped in and bought the place at likely a bargain price. The firm has not recovered, though, and it lost over $400 million in 2012.
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2013/02/20/1188686/-Clear-Channel-Loses-424-Million-in-2012-StopRush-Rolls-On#

Not that Mitt is hurting due to this.

Cable Customers Sue over Mandatory Sports Channel fees

Cable Competitors No Help in Avoiding Mega Sports Channel Fees

for full story:
http://www.dailybreeze.com/ci_23508568/tom-hoffarth-courting-change-cable?

6/21/2013--It's become the $11 billion question is: How can Time Warner Cable get away with starting up its own Lakers-centric channel, then help fund the Dodgers with the launch of their own channel, with the end game eventually force Southern California TV viewers to foot the bill for the bulk of it without the option of opting out?
...The four plaintiffs -- from L.A., Long Beach, Orange County and Pasadena -- are all considered "non-sport fans" tired of footing the extra payments in their monthly bills for sports-centric channels, (their lawyer) Blecher insisted. They can't simply drop TWC and take a different option like DirecTV, Verizon Fios or AT&T U-verse because they also have hiked fees in response to agreeing to carry the TWC sports channels...

(Editor's note: No question, cable tv is a racket. This lawsuit is a great first step, and we need our government to force the TV delivery monopolies to offer "a la carte" cable. But in the meantime, there is an alternative: get internet-only, and pay for Netflix ($8 a month to get movies), watch TV with an antenna, go to comedycentral.com to watch the Daily Show and Colbert Report for free, etc. Or do without a tv totally--you'll live......Rex

Hi, friends,

For those that wonder why no posts lately....I enrolled in law school in 2009 and will be finished at the end of 2013. I am studying corporate monopoly law right now and hope to post some good stuff soon.

Anyway, here's a website I stumbled across that has a lot to combat corporate propaganda:
http://crywolfproject.org/

...Rex, the editor

!!!!!!!!!!!!

And this is why the rich shouldn't pay 3% more in taxes?

1/24/2012--L.A. Times...http://www.latimes.com/news/politics/la-pn-romney-releases-tax-returns-20120124,0,4945167.story

Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney and his wife Ann paid $3 million in federal taxes in 2010 on nearly $21.7 million of income derived from a vast array of investments, amounting to an effective tax rate of 13.9%, according returns released by his campaign Tuesday.

In addition, the Romneys expect to pay $3.2 million on $20.9 million of income for the 2011 tax year, for an effective rate of 15.4%.

That’s substantially lower than the top 35% marginal tax rate on wages and salaries -- and much lower than the rate paid by his political rivals. President Obama paid an effective tax rate of 26% in 2010, while former House Speaker Newt Gingrich paid a rate of 31.6%. Experts say Romney benefits from a tax code that allows investors to keep more of their income than wage earners, particularly investors in the rarefied world of private equity.

Even among his wealthy peers -- a cohort that particularly benefits from the lower capital gains rate -- Romney’s rate is below the average 18.5% effective tax rate paid by the richest 1%, according to the Tax Policy Center...

Republicans start sounding like "socialists"?

Romney "like(s) being able to fire people."

Other GOP contenders have a problem with that (not firing people, just telling the public that's what they want to do)

"Can't we get back to bashing Obama's pro-middle class policies?"

Full story: http://www.denverpost.com/littwin/ci_19707306

By Mike Littwin
The last thing anyone could have expected from the Republican presidential field here was a late-breaking shift to the left...

...Here's Gingrich, who has called Romney a looter, explaining to the press how a historian/not lobbyist sees the issue:
"Is capitalism really about the ability of a handful of rich people to manipulate the lives of thousands of other people and walk off with the money? Or is that, in fact ... a flawed system? So I do draw a distinction between looting a company, leaving behind broken families and broken neighborhoods and leaving behind a factory that should be there."

Rick Perry — who is polling at 1 percent in New Hampshire — is in South Carolina, where he's focusing on a company that he says was "looted" by Bain and adds that "getting rich off failure and sticking it to someone else is ... indefensible."

"If you're a victim of Bain Capital's downsizing," said Perry, who routinely calls Barack Obama a socialist, "it's the ultimate insult for Mitt Romney to come to South Carolina and tell you he feels your pain, because he caused it."

I know. You think the outrage may be forced — and a little late in the game. Everyone figured Romney's problem in the primaries would be Romneycare. But it turns out to be Bain Scare...

"What it comes down to is that two companies own nine of the top 11 stations in town..."

Clear Channel, CBS stations are dominant in the ratings in L.A.

By Richard Wagoner, Posted: 04/21/2011, http://www.dailybreeze.com/ci_17902877

KIIS-FM (102.7) was Los Angeles radio's dominant force once again, based on the monthly Arbitron ratings released this week. While down a half point to 5.1, the station was still a half point better than KOST (103.5 FM) at 4.6.  With KFI's (640 AM) third-place 4.3 - its highest rating since at least November 2010 - owner Clear Channel had a 1-2-3 sweep. Add in 10th place KBIG (flat at 3.3), and the company had four of the top 10 stations in town - an amazing feat.

But wait: Though CBS didn't have quite the dominance as Clear Channel, it also controlled much of the top 10, with fourth-place KRTH's (101.1 FM) 4.2, a sixth-place tie between KNX (1070 AM) and KROQ (106.7 FM) at 3.5, and a 10th-place tie between Amp Radio (97.1 FM) and sister The Wave (94.7 FM) - matching Clear Channel's KBIG at 3.3.

What it comes down to is that two companies own nine of the top 11 stations in town.

In my opinion, that is market dominance that needs to be broken up. Last time something like that happened, the Federal Communications Commission broke up NBC and forced the launch of ABC, which later became one of America's premier networks...

What really happened in last week's election:

Democrats in name only (DINO's) Lost Out Big Last Week

excerpted from:
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=131093849&sc=17&f=1001

11/6/2010--The defeat of many Blue Dogs leaves white Southern Democrats without much of a voice — but the Progressive Caucus, which retained nearly all its members, will likely gain clout.

Congress shifted to the right with the elections of several Tea Party Republicans this week — but the rightward trend wasn't enough to save a number of conservative and centrist Democrats, who were defeated in the House in large numbers.

Especially hard-hit was the Blue Dog Coalition — only 23 of its 54 members were re-elected...

A message to the Tea Party:

Dear Tea Party: You will now get yours

By Mark Morford, SF Gate Columnist
SFGate November 10, 2010
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/g/a/2010/11/10/notes111010.DTL&ao=2#ixzz14tqkzPds


And now, hot on the heels of our recent letter to whiny young Democrats, a loving shout-out to all those moderates and independents, confused conservatives and hard-line Repubs who went just a little more than slightly insane this past election.

To all of you who either flip-flopped your wishy-washy ideals and switched your vote from bluish to reddish this past election because Obama and the lukewarm Dems failed to solve all world problems in 700 days, or because you got yourself so emotionally riled up/mentally watered down by the sexy caveman grunts of the Tea Party that you actually bought the BS line about being "mad as hell" about nothing even remotely coherent.

Here is your grand message: You are hereby wonderfully, thoroughly screwed.

FOR FULL STORY:

Crybaby Bullies Need your help! or at least your cash....donate now.....

 A Wealthy Whiner says: As you know, the Left is responsible for all the lack of joy in America today...

http://www.dennisprager.com/columns.aspx?g=803f0131-dff4-4ea1-8062-d54e41037811&url=the_left_squashes_lifes_little_pleasures

-----------------------------------------------------
This was in the April 14 issue of the Daily Breeze. I just had to respond:

Dear editor,

Really--the wealthy, influential and sadly, victimized radio host and newspaper columnist Dennis Praeger thinks "the Left has squashed life's little pleasures" by banning smoking, fireplaces and incandescent lightbulbs. (Of course, when reasonable restrictions were placed on these, it was with bi-partisan support, but Prager leaves this fact out) When you're living in a right-wing fear-based fantasy world, facts don't matter. You know, I don't recall the Left wrecking our economy and putting millions of Americans out of work. I don't recall the Left turning a federal treasury with a massive surplus into a massive tax-sucking hole while cutting taxes for the rich. I don't recall the Left refusing to enforce our laws for 8 years while Wall Street crooks paid themselves billions in bonuses for selling fraudulent "securities" and I don't recall the Left handing hundreds of billions to these same crooks when they wrecked their own companies. No. It was the poor victimized right wing billionaires who made this mess. They are the real enemy of
life's most important little pleasures--like a job with a living wage.

On the one hand, right wing TV and radio blowhards boast about how influential they are, how a majority of Americans agree with them, but at the same time, they complain about being victimized. When you're the rich influential majority, it is impossible to be victimized. The right wing are crybaby bullies, beating and cheating on the rest of us, then crying foul when we stand up to them. Boo hoo!

ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha , it's about freaking time!

Mass Firings Lead to Economic Boom--for big corporations...

The Solution for the recession: full un-employment!
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excepted from

http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-rich-companies24-2010mar24,0,395617.story


Big companies are awash in cash as economy picks up

Some experts say the strength of the largest firms will be key as the recovery strengthens. Others worry that the giants' clout has grown at workers' expense.

3-24-2010
By Tom Petruno

The brutal recession has left many American families, small businesses and state and local governments in financial ruin or teetering on the brink.

But it's a much different story for the nation's biggest companies. Many have emerged from the economy's harrowing downturn loaded with cash, thanks to deep cost-cutting that helped drive unemployment into double digits.

And although the banking crisis starved countless entrepreneurs for money last year, credit was never scarce for business titans.

Corporate America's robust finances have been a boon for the companies' stocks: On Tuesday, the blue-chip Dow Jones industrial average hit its highest level in nearly 18 months, surging 102.94 points, or 1%, to 10,888.83...

Good News, and More Good News

Apparently, a box the size of a refrigerator can generate all the electricity needs of 100 homes... A Hummer is about the size of 4 refrigerators...I see an opportunity here!!

The "heavy hand of government" is often that of the public interest, yelling "Stop Thief!"

"A criminal is a person with predatory instincts who has not sufficient capital to form a corporation"--Howard Scott

The USA is already the biggest health insurance company--and the private insurance companies still thrive!

To all those friends of the Health insurance industry in the U.S. Senate: government competition is no obstacle to massive insurance company profits.

One half of the US's health care industry is funded by a non-profit health insurance system: it's called the US government. We already have a massive "public" option and we still have a massively profitable private health insurance industry.

All the Democrats are seeking is a public "option" to insure the remaining 10% of Americans who don't have health insurance. This would mean the now-uninsured would have "preventive" care, and preventing illness is a lot less costly than the taxpayers having to pay to treat a full-blown illness. Either way, the uninsured are going to a government/taxpayer funded clinic or hospital once they get sick. Our tax dollars will pay for treatment no matter what. The public option is the only way that the total cost for care will be brought down. The private health insurers have never reduced their rates and have no incentive. Republicans always talk about saving the taxpayer's money. Whether the tax is paid to the government or to a private health insurance corporation, we all pay the cost of the massive profiteering by the health industry. Based on the way the Republican's bankrupted both our government and banks and Wall Street over the last 8 years, why does anyone see them as protectors of our money? I trust my government, which I can vote for or against, a lot more than unelected corporate monopolies.

---Rex Frankel
--------------------

2/4/2010--WASHINGTON (AP) -- Government is poised to become king of the hill in America's vast health care system, with or without President Barack Obama's planned redo, according to an economic report released Thursday. Federal and state programs will pay slightly more than half the tab for health care purchased in the United States by 2012, says the analysis by Medicare number crunchers published in the journal Health Affairs. That's even if Obama's health care overhaul wastes away in congressional limbo...

...The report estimated that in 2009, the United States spent $2.5 trillion for health care, with government programs - mainly Medicare and Medicaid - paying $1.2 trillion. Employer health insurance and various private sources covered the other $1.3 trillion. Even as the economy shrank because of the downturn, health care spending grew by 5.7 percent from 2008. Spending by government grew nearly three times faster than private spending, closing in to overtake it...

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_HEALTH_CARE_GOVERNMENT_ROLE?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2010-02-04-00-49-37

English as a second language for the looney-right