OWS

[Vrede too]

Petition to Congress:

"Tax Wall Street gambling and speculation and raise billions of dollars by imposing a financial transaction tax."

[Vrede too]

Tell Congress: Break up big tech

We urge you to use congressional power to break up big tech monopolies, such as Amazon, Google, and Facebook. We need to restructure big tech companies to function in a way that fosters, rather than harms, competition, is compatible with democracy, and ensures that no other company amasses this type of power again.

[Vrede too]

Tax the ultra-wealthy. Raise the estate tax.



Petition to Congress:

"Tax the ultra-wealthy few by passing the For the 99.8 Percent Act."

[Vrede too]

Justice Dept. ratchets up antitrust scrutiny of Big Tech

This can be a good thing, IF it's motivated by the public interest rather than Dolt .45's delicate ego, and IF it leads to real action. Hard to believe that POSPOTUS and Barr are finally doing something right. We lefties have long called for stronger antitrust law and more energetic application of it. The funny thing is that Faux Noise, Trumpettes and other Repugs would be shrieking "Socialism!" if Obama had done this.

[Vrede too]

Elizabeth Warren’s latest Wall Street enemy: private equity
The Massachusetts Democrat says she wants to stop “Wall Street looting.”

The firms can use all sorts of tricks to get rich even if the companies they buy fail. Once they buy a company, they transfer the responsibility for repaying the debt they took on to the company that they just bought. Because they control the company, they can transfer money to themselves by charging high “management” and “consulting” fees, issuing generous dividends, and selling off assets like real estate for short-term gain. And they slash costs, fire workers, and gut long-term investments to free up more money to pay themselves.

Tell Congress: Stop Wall Street looting

[Vrede too]

CEO compensation is up 1,000% from what it used to be. Worker pay? Not so much.

CEO compensation has increased by 1,007.5% over the past three decades while workers have seen their pay rise by about 12%, according to a new report by the Economic Policy Institute (EPI)....

According to the report, CEOs now make 278 times more than their workers. Comparatively, in 1965 a CEO was only making 20 times more.

The peak was in 2000, at the height of the tech bubble, when a CEO was making 368 times as much as the typical worker.

That number fell because of the stock market declines, which “led to a substantial paring back of CEO compensation,” the report stated.



The income gap is also reflected in overall wealth generation, where the richest tenth of American households own 70% of all the wealth, according to research by Deutsche Bank.

And despite being in a tight labor market, workers are still seeing slow wage growth — paltry in comparison to CEO pay.

“There's a lot of reasons why workers are not able to get increased wages,” Mishel explained. “And I think the main reason is that we've really destroyed collective bargaining system in this country. And so there's not an organized force, pushing for higher wages.” ...

[billy.pilgrim]

CEO compensation is up 1,000% from what it used to be. Worker pay? Not so much.

CEO compensation has increased by 1,007.5% over the past three decades while workers have seen their pay rise by about 12%, according to a new report by the Economic Policy Institute (EPI)....

According to the report, CEOs now make 278 times more than their workers. Comparatively, in 1965 a CEO was only making 20 times more.

The peak was in 2000, at the height of the tech bubble, when a CEO was making 368 times as much as the typical worker.

That number fell because of the stock market declines, which “led to a substantial paring back of CEO compensation,” the report stated.



The income gap is also reflected in overall wealth generation, where the richest tenth of American households own 70% of all the wealth, according to research by Deutsche Bank.

And despite being in a tight labor market, workers are still seeing slow wage growth — paltry in comparison to CEO pay.

“There's a lot of reasons why workers are not able to get increased wages,” Mishel explained. “And I think the main reason is that we've really destroyed collective bargaining system in this country. And so there's not an organized force, pushing for higher wages.” ...

And it all started going to shit with regan and the neut.
And it can't be fixed with Obama or Clinton types. It's going to take an FDR and some serious dirt on a few top repugs. Not prosecuting Bush and Walker for their dealings with the nazis helped return some of the wealth stolen from the middle class then. It will take something similar now.

[Vrede too]

Here's the actual report, and some other tidbits from it:

CEO compensation has grown 940% since 1978
Typical worker compensation has risen only 12% during that time

Summary

What this report finds: ... CEO compensation is very high relative to typical worker compensation (by a ratio of 278-to-1 or 221-to-1). In contrast, the CEO-to-typical-worker compensation ratio (options realized) was 20-to-1 in 1965 and 58-to-1 in 1989. CEOs are even making a lot more—about five times as much—as other earners in the top 0.1%....

Why it matters: Exorbitant CEO pay is a major contributor to rising inequality that we could safely do away with. CEOs are getting more because of their power to set pay, not because they are increasing productivity or possess specific, high-demand skills. This escalation of CEO compensation, and of executive compensation more generally, has fueled the growth of top 1.0% and top 0.1% incomes, leaving less of the fruits of economic growth for ordinary workers and widening the gap between very high earners and the bottom 90%. The economy would suffer no harm if CEOs were paid less (or taxed more).

And it all started going to shit with regan and the neut.
And it can't be fixed with Obama or Clinton types. It's going to take an FDR and some serious dirt on a few top repugs. Not prosecuting Bush and Walker for their dealings with the nazis helped return some of the wealth stolen from the middle class then. It will take something similar now.

Yep, lots of Dems in power over the 40 years. I'd add that we need a public that will force leaders to reverse course. It's not like FDR was a natural socialist.

How we can solve the problem: We need to enact policy solutions that would both reduce incentives for CEOs to extract economic concessions and limit their ability to do so. Such policies could include reinstating higher marginal income tax rates at the very top; setting corporate tax rates higher for firms that have higher ratios of CEO-to-worker compensation; establishing a luxury tax on compensation such that for every dollar in compensation over a set cap, a firm must pay a dollar in taxes; reforming corporate governance to give other stakeholders better tools to exercise countervailing power against CEOs’ pay demands; and allowing greater use of “say on pay,” which allows a firm’s shareholders to vote on top executives’ compensation.

In the no one should be surprised category:

It’s not trickling down
New data provides no evidence that the TCJA (Tax Cuts and Jobs Act) is working as its proponents claimed it would

Fat Cat Tax Cuts and No Jobs Act, FCTCNJA

[Vrede too]

Petition to the Department of Justice Antitrust Division:

"Block the CBS-Viacom merger."

Yeah, I know that antitrust and resisting media consolidation have been a joke since well before 45SHOLE. This is just one of those 'call them bastards' petitions.

[Vrede too]

Perhaps an old quip, but I don't remember seeing it before: Vulture Capitalist.

[O Really]

Perhaps an old quip, but I don't remember seeing it before: Vulture Capitalist.

Redundancy.

[Vrede too]

Perhaps an old quip, but I don't remember seeing it before: Vulture Capitalist.

Redundancy.

You can say that again.

[Vrede too]

Tell the FDIC: Block the BB&T/SunTrust merger

[O Really]

Tell the FDIC: Block the BB&T/SunTrust merger

Yeah, that would be nice, but not likely to happen. As a SunTrust customer for since it was little ol' local Florida Sun Bank back in the early 80's, one of the things I've liked about it is that it avoided the mega-merges. Picked up some other regional banks as it expanded, but still stayed Sun. I got a call a week or so ago from one of the bankers, just "checking in" to see if I had any issues or questions about the merger. I expressed my opinion, leaving no doubt in her mind about it. But it's too far down the line. Nobody is likely to toss in a monkey wrench.

I'd change, except that any other large bank is no better, some worse, and it really makes no sense for me to use a truly local bank. I very rarely need to go into a bank building, but I'm not willing to bet I'll be in a given place when I do need to. I looked into the online banks like Ally, but interestingly, they don't want to give you an account unless you have a verified physical residential address. Funny, the State of Florida accepts my virtual address, US government accepts it for taxes and passport renewal, but a virtual bank wants bricks and mortar.

[Vrede too]

Yeah, anything anti-corporate and pro-American out of the 45SHOLE admin* is unlikely.

... Funny, the State of Florida accepts my virtual address, US government accepts it for taxes and passport renewal, but a virtual bank wants bricks and mortar.

You still voting in Florida?

[O Really]

Yeah, anything anti-corporate and pro-American out of the 45SHOLE admin* is unlikely.

... Funny, the State of Florida accepts my virtual address, US government accepts it for taxes and passport renewal, but a virtual bank wants bricks and mortar.

You still voting in Florida?

Yes, but I don't bother with local elections. And I have no idea if they really count the mail-ins, but I do what I can.

[Vrede too]

You still voting in Florida?

Yes, but I don't bother with local elections. And I have no idea if they really count the mail-ins, but I do what I can.

F19, US House Republican Francis Rooney? Just wondering if I happen to see his name in the news.

[O Really]

You still voting in Florida?

Yes, but I don't bother with local elections. And I have no idea if they really count the mail-ins, but I do what I can.

F19, US House Republican Francis Rooney? Just wondering if I happen to see his name in the news.

My residence of record is in the 22nd.

[Vrede too]

My residence of record is in the 22nd.

Ted Deutch (D), that's better. Too supportive of Israel like so many Jews and Floridians, but otherwise okay.

[Vrede too]

CEOs made 287 times more money last year than their workers did
Companies have finally started reporting CEO-worker pay ratios. Now we know why they fought so hard to avoid it.

Ahead of Labor Day, Merkley Announces Legislation So Workers Gain, Not Just CEOs

Petition to Congress:

"Rein in inflated CEO pay and make sure workers receive their fair share. Pass Sen. Merkley's Fair Share for Workers Act."