Mitt Romney's tax dodges, Part IV

No tax dodge would be complete without the Cayman Islands, and you can bet Mitt Romney took advantage of it!

Rolling Stone brings us the eight ways Mitt Romney avoids paying his fair share of taxes. Here we bring you Part IV:

Cayman Cash

Romney has nearly $30 million stashed in at least a dozen Bain funds in the Cayman Islands, where, as one filing boasts, investments are free from "income, estate, transfer, sales, or other Cayman Islands taxes."

But because some of those funds are directly invested in U.S. companies, they likely disclose their investors to the IRS, making them unattractive to tax cheats. So Bain also raises capital for its deals by selling shares in "feeder funds" – intermediary entities that invest in Bain's official funds, but don't have to make disclosures to the IRS. "If you want to cheat, they've rolled out the red carpet for you," says Wilkins.

Has Romney paid all his taxes on the shady funds? Only he and the IRS know for sure. But even if Romney never cheated personally, the feeder funds he appears to have invested in cater to tax criminals, making it easier for him and his Bain partners to raise capital and rake in big management fees.

Romney is profiting from one form of tax evasion in the Caymans: equity swaps. Under this racket run by top Wall Street banks, American firms pay out their profits – tax-free – to investment funds based in the Caymans. According to a Senate investigation, the purpose of these complex instruments is "to dodge payment of U.S. taxes on U.S. stock dividends." Romney has more than $1.25 million invested in four funds that profit from equity swaps – including two managed by Goldman Sachs.

Read the whole thing here. And thanks to Rolling Stone!

Desperate people make better serfs

So says the Naked Capitalist. She's explaining why 80 CEOs signed on to a lobbying campaign to cut Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid. Reports The Hill,

The group, which now includes the heads of major companies like General Electric, Microsoft, Dow Chemical and Goldman Sachs, plans to embark on a multi-million advertising campaign to press its case. 

It is nothing new for big business to air its opinion on Washington policymaking. Countless letters from dozens of industry groups typically flood Capitol Hill inboxes. 

But this new effort marks an increased push that is driven in part by dissipated trust in Washington after last summer’s debt limit standoff. 

The group said Thursday it had raised over $35 million in six weeks from private donations, and was eyeing potential ad buys as well as setting up local chapters to push the cause. 

And here's a reason to be very alarmed:

The CEOs also said they planned to make their case to their employees — six million in all — hoping in turn they would carry the message back to their lawmakers.

The Wall Street Journal's Felix Salmon ridicules their argument that cuts are needed to shrink the deficit.

There are lots of serious threats out there to the economic well-being and security of the United States, and the national debt is simply not one of them. Nor is it growing. The chart on the right, from Rex Nutting, shows what’s actually going on: total US debt to GDP was rising alarmingly until the crisis, but it has been falling impressively since then. In fact, this is the first time in over half a century that US debt to GDP has been going down rather than up.

Salmon accuses the CEOs of being the real threat to the well-being and security of the United States:

Money is cheaper now than it has been in living memory: the markets are telling corporate America that they are more than willing to fund investments at unbelievably low rates. And yet the CEOs are saying no. That’s a serious threat to the economic well-being of the United States: it’s companies are refusing to invest for the future, even when the markets are begging them to.

Brace yourself for the lame-duck session.  

Mitt Romney, economic traitor (video)

Here's a tough new ad about Mitt Romney's company sending jobs to China. And taking down the American flag while the U.S. workers trained their Chinese replacements!

Teamster doctor running for Congress from Calif.

We're paying close attention to 19 political candidates who are Teamsters, used to be Teamsters or are close Teamster friends. Between now and Nov. 6, we'll be presenting one candidate a day to you, courtesy of Teamster Magazine. Read about other Teamster candidates here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here and here.

California podiatrist Dr. Lee Rogers, an affiliate Teamsters member through the California Teamsters Public Affairs Council, is running for U.S. Congress in California’s 25th District.

Rogers is challenging Republican Rep. Buck McKeon, a longtime anti-worker congressman who has fought against organized labor and the Labor Department.

“The middle class is suffering while we’re giving away billions in subsidies to profitable companies,” Rogers said. “Let’s focus our tax dollars here at home and protect working families.”

Rogers has been endorsed by the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor. He specializes in podiatry and limb salvage at Valley Presbyterian Hospital in Van Nuys. He co-founded and directed the Amputation Prevention Center in the hospital, and has published more than a hundred scientific papers, articles and book chapters on health policy.

Rogers said in his first 100 days he would oppose Republican plans to gut Medicare, co-sponsor a constitutional amendment to overturn the U.S. Supreme Court decision regarding Citizens United, introduce legislation to ban x-ray scanners on humans for non-medical purposes and establish a yearly conference of local California leaders to establish legislative priorities.

He and his wife Susan live in Simi Valley with their two daughters.

CEOs threaten workers over Obama votes

CEOs are pushing the U.S. toward totalitarianism as they instruct their employees to vote for Mitt Romney. One CEO even forced his employees to stand behind Romney for a photo op in front of an Ohio coal mine -- without pay.

Until recently, such tactics were unthinkable in America. When Ukrainian business managers told employees how to vote, President George W. Bush rejected the election as illegitimate. When the Armenians made factory workers stand at incumbent's rallies, Bush criticized the elections as undemocratic.

Such intimidation used to be illegal in the United States. Then the Supreme Court, with its Citizens United ruling, decided it's okay. Now we're hearing a number of reports about CEOs threatening their employees into voting for Mitt Romney.

• Cintas CEO Scott Farmer emailed an anti-Obama screed to the company's 30,000 employees.
• Jack DeWitt, CEO of a company that's thriving under Obama (and even received government money), sent a newsletter to his employees telling them to vote for Romney.
• The Koch brothers (no surprise there) sent propaganda packets to 45,000 Georgia-Pacific employees, telling them their livelihoods could depend on the election and the company supports Romney.
• David Siegel, the billionaire founder and CEO of Florida-based Westgate Resorts, sent an email to his employees that included veiled threats to fire them if Romney lost. But he admits his company is doing better than ever ... under the Obama administration.
• Arthur Allen, ASG Software Solutions CEO, emailed workers hinting their jobs could be at stake if Obama wins.

University of Oregon professor Gordon Lafer, writing in The Hill, explains just how undemocratic this is:

An employee whose boss tells them hot to vote may still ignore this advice in the privacy of a voting booth. What they won’t do, however, is display a button or bumper sticker, write a letter to the editor, or be seen attending a rally of the opposing party. This strikes at the very heart of democracy. Elections are only “free and fair” if voters are free to speak out, write in, and publicly support the candidate of their choice, without fear for their livelihoods.

This principle is not only enshrined in international standards; it is a fundamental norm of American democracy. When the Founders set about designing the world’s first democracy, they were particularly concerned that employees might be subject to the undue influence of those who controlled their economic fate.

Be very, very disturbed.

Today's Teamster News 10.26.12

Can U.S. soldiers wear made-in-USA uniforms?  manufacture this   ...A bipartisan group of 52 Members of Congress have signed a letter to the Pentagon, requesting that the U.S. military issue uniforms made in America, not China...According to the letter, the Department of Defense has recently "started circumventing this policy by issuing cash allowances for soldiers to purchase their own training shoes..."
Let’s Jump off the Fiscal Cliff!  Slate   ...Powerful actors, including the executives of America’s largest banks, are deliberately trying to befuddle Americans about this issue. Their aim isn’t to advance the cause of fiscal responsibility: It’s to lower their own taxes and perhaps obtain substantial cuts in Social Security and Medicare and to try to do it by stealth during the lame duck session of Congress...
More People Eschew Jobless Benefits Than Scam System  Wall Street Journal   ...Some people scam the system to get jobless benefits they don’t deserve. But far more don’t claim the benefits for which they are eligible, according to research by economists working with the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis...
Rite-Hite owner warns employees of risks of voting Obama  Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel   ...Mike White, the chairman and owner of Rite-Hite, a major Milwaukee manufacturer of industrial equipment, wanted to be sure his employees understood what he feels is at stake in the presidential election...
Uniontown Hospital, Teamsters spar over contract negotiations  Herald Standard   .."we are disappointed that we have had 17 bargaining sessions with no successful results after two contracts offers have been voted down by the membership,” (Vito) Dragone Jr., secretary-treasurer of Teamsters 491 said...
Teamsters set up pickets at Allied Waste Service headquarters  Memphis Commercial Appeal   ...Several dozen sanitation workers picketed Allied Waste Services headquarters at 3840 Homewood for about an hour early Thursday morning to oppose what union leaders say are the company's plans to eliminate pensions...

NY Teamsters picket Canon for killing jobs, customer service

Our brothers and sisters at Teamsters Local 210 in New York City today protested Canon's decision to destroy local skilled repair technician jobs.

They leafleted at the PhotoPlus Expo in front of the Javits Center, telling attendees they'll have long waits for camera repairs. Canon is forcing its customers to send DSLR cameras to an out-of-state facility -- and eliminating repair technicians' jobs represented by Teamsters Local 210.

Customers have reason to be unhappy with the move. One customer called Canon's customer service "disastrously unreliable," according to the press release.

Another said it was "an expensive disappointment."

Until recently, New York photographers could drop off their Canon equipment at local repair shops and get quick, reliable service. Often they got same-day turnaround.

Nikon owners can still choose between 20 authorized repair shops across the country, including in New York City.

Teamsters Joint Council 16 President George Miranda said Canon practices a much higher standard of customer care in Japan.

Canon customers are free to choose between independent local service and Canon, according to their needs and convenience. This discrimination against American customers is unacceptable.

Miranda is also secretary-treasurer of Teamsters Local 210.

As Canon and Nikon square off in the Photo Expo and in the market place, growing numbers of photographers are signing an appeal to demand that Canon rescind its current repair policy and restore photographers’ access to authorized independent local repair service.