10 Facts About Corporate Taxes That Will Make Your Blood Boil

As the rest of us fill out our federal tax returns this year, we can all take great comfort in the fact that many of the largest corporations in the United States are not paying any federal taxes at all.  Over the past couple of decades, multinational corporations have become incredibly skilled at avoiding taxes.  It has become routine for big companies to shift profitable operations to divisions in other countries where tax rates are lower.  It has also become routine for big companies to set up “sham headquarters” in tax havens around the world.  Many U.S. corporations have even renounced their status as American companies in order to avoid paying taxes.  All of this has had a dramatic impact on the income of the federal government.  Corporate taxes now account for less than 7 percent of all federal revenue.  Back in the 1950s they accounted for about 30 percent of all federal revenue.  Meanwhile, the 35 percent corporate tax rate in the United States is chasing companies (and the accompanying good jobs) out of the United States at a blinding pace.  In a world where big corporations will go to any lengths to “game the system”, this is absolutely devastating our economy. (Read More...)

Glenn Beck And The Federal Reserve

Last Friday, Glenn Beck did an entire show on the Federal Reserve.  It had been a highly publicized show and many people were wondering how Beck was going to handle the subject.  Well, to his credit, the show actually contained a lot of truth and it was definitely anti-Federal Reserve.  Was the show perfect and 100% accurate?  No, not by a long shot.  But for a big name personality like Glenn Beck on a big cable network like Fox News to do an hour long show on why the Federal Reserve is bad is a very big deal.  Many of us in the alternative media have spent a lot of time bashing the mainstream media (and rightly so), but when someone does something right, we should applaud them for it.  The Federal Reserve was the topic for the entire show, and Beck and his guests discussed the creation of money, debt, the history of banking and the current financial problems of the United States.  Glenn Beck even had G. Edward Griffin on the show.  That was huge.  There is not usually much on the mainstream news worth getting excited about, but in this case Glenn Beck’s show on the Federal Reserve was a very good step forward, and hopefully more mainstream news programs will begin to feel comfortable with taking an honest look at the Federal Reserve. (Read More...)

Radioactive Cesium With A Half-Life Of Approximately 30 Years Is Being Released At About 60 Percent Of Chernobyl Levels

Why does it seem as though the nuclear crisis in Japan just keeps getting worse with each passing day?  TEPCO has announced that extremely radioactive water is now leaking from reactors 1, 2, and 3 at their damaged nuclear complex.  On Thursday, three workers stepped into water in reactor 3 that contained 10,000 times the normal amount of radiation.  Two of the workers experienced significant radiation burns and all three were sent to the hospital.  Authorities have also announced that it is very likely that the containment vessel in reactor 3 has been breached.  That is extremely alarming because reactor 3 is the one that uses plutonium-uranium mixed oxide fuel (“MOX fuel”).  So is plutonium being released into the surrounding environment?  That would be absolutely catastrophic.  But what we know is happening already is quite catastrophic.  According to a recent NewScientist article, radioactive iodine-131 is being released at 73% of the level that it was being released at during the Chernobyl disaster.  But iodine-131 only has a half-life of about 8 days.  According to that same article, radioactive cesium-137 is being released at 60% of the level that it was being released at during the Chernobyl disaster.  Cesium-137 has a half-life of approximately 30 years.  That means that all of this cesium is going to be with us for a very, very long time. (Read More...)

Gold And Silver Are Thriving While The U.S. Dollar Is Dying

Have you heard the news?  Gold hit another new record high on Thursday.  It reached $1447.40 before settling back a bit.  Most people responded to that news with a yawn.  Why?  Well, because it is happening so frequently these days.  It seems like the price of gold is constantly setting a new record.  Silver likewise is thriving.  The price of an ounce of silver briefly hit $38.13 on Thursday.  That was the highest price for silver in 31 years.  But most people also responded to that news with a yawn.  Why?  Well, because the price of silver always seems to be going higher these days.  Meanwhile, the U.S. dollar is struggling.  The ICE Dollar Index fell to 75.340 earlier this week.  That was the lowest it has been since December 2009.  Even at a time when the sovereign debt crisis in Europe is flaring up again and there is tremendous instability all over the world the U.S. dollar still can’t find much traction.  In fact, many are convinced that the U.S. dollar is on the verge of another major fall.  So what in the world is causing all of this? (Read More...)

Should Residents Of Tokyo Be Preparing For Massive Radiation Exposure? 12 Disturbing Facts To Consider

Does anyone really know what is going on at the Fukushima nuclear complex?  When problems at the facility first surfaced, authorities promised that no significant amounts of radiation would be released.  Then we were told that only those living within 20 kilometers of the complex needed to take precautions.  After that we were told that radiation was showing up in many different types of vegetables all over northern and central Japan but that it was not a major concern.  Now we are being told that the tap water in Tokyo is unsafe for infants to drink.  So what are they going to tell us next?  Should residents of Tokyo be preparing for massive radiation exposure from this disaster?  Tokyo is only 150 miles away from the damaged nuclear complex.  If a worst case scenario plays out, exactly what would that mean for the over 30 million people that live in and around Tokyo? (Read More...)

Money Trouble Ahead: 15 Indications That Bad Times Are About To Hit The U.S. Economy

2011 is shaping up to be a really bad year for the U.S. economy. There are all kinds of indications that big trouble is ahead. So far financial markets are weathering all of the chaos around the world fairly well, but just as there were huge flashing warning signs before the 2008 financial crisis there are also huge flashing warning signs now.  The price of oil is soaring, the U.S. housing market is experiencing huge problems, the cost of living in America recently hit a new record high and each week the globe seems to become even more unstable.  How much pounding can our fragile economic system take before it completely collapses?  As the price of oil goes even higher, it is going to cause economic growth to slow down and it is going to cause the prices of the things that we all buy at the stores to go up at the same time.  It is very likely that we are entering a period of “stagflation” similar to what we experienced in the 1970s.  This is going to cause a huge amount of money trouble for millions of American families.  Already there are vast numbers of American families that are barely making it every month.  Tens of millions of Americans are already receiving government assistance.  So what is going to happen when the next financial crash happens and we experience yet another major economic downturn? (Read More...)

Drowning In Debt

An ancient proverb that is oft-repeated even in our time is that you will always end up reaping what you sow.  Well, the U.S. government has been sowing seeds of debt for decades and our politicians have endlessly attempted to assure us that everything is going to be just fine.  Well, everything is not going to be just fine.  The truth is that the U.S. government is literally drowning in debt.  Right now, the total debt of the U.S. government is  $14,223,730,274,180.80.  It is a debt that is so large that it defies comprehension.  It is also a debt that is absolutely impossible to pay off under our current financial system.  Someday the weight of this debt will completely collapse our entire economy.  The only thing that is keeping that from happening already is our ability to borrow even more money. (Read More...)

27 Amazing Statistics About The Real Estate Crash That Never Seems To End: More Foreclosures, More Underwater Mortgages And More Home Price Declines

The real estate crash that never seems to end appears to be getting even worse.  Home prices continue to go down, the number of underwater mortgages is soaring and the number of foreclosures set an all-time record in 2010.  The peak of the housing market was in 2005 and the subprime mortgage crisis erupted in 2008.  Shouldn’t things be getting better by now?  How many years is this real estate crash going to go on for?  Home builders and those that work in the construction industry are deeply suffering because new home sales continue to hover around record lows.  Mortgage professionals are having a really hard time because very few people are seeking home loans and many of those that are seeking loans cannot get approved.  Real estate agents all over the country are pulling their hair out in frustration and large numbers of them have left the industry completely.  The United States has never had such a prolonged real estate slump in the post-World War 2 era.  Unfortunately, there are a whole lot of indications that the real estate crash is going to get even worse. (Read More...)