Election 2012

Romney Team Spins of the Positives of Cayman Island Accounts

by Anne Landman — January 25, 2012 - 9:20am

Mitt Romney's 2010 tax returns show that in 2010, Romney and his wife, Ann, paid an effective tax rate of 13.9 percent on $21.6 million in income -- much lower than the 35 percent the country's top wage-earners pay -- and hold millions of dollars in multiple offshore accounts in the Cayman Islands, a notorious tax haven. The official spin is that the Cayman accounts provide no particular tax advantage, that they pay higher interest rates and help "attract foreign investors." Romney's campaign counsel, Ben Ginsburg, assured journalists that Romney was in full compliance with U.S. tax laws, and Brad Malt, who operates the Romneys' blind trust, said Romney's Cayman funds are fully taxable and reported to the IRS. That may be so, but Rebecca Wilkins, a tax policy expert with Citizens for Tax Justice, points out that the federal government loses about $100 billion a year to just such foreign tax havens. Wilkins affirmed that the primary advantage to investors of setting up funds in places like the Cayman Islands is to help people avoid taxes. Jack Blum, a Washington, D.C. attorney who specializes in offshore banking and tax enforcement, said offshore investment vehicles allow investors to "avoid a whole series of small traps in the tax code that ordinary people would face if they paid tax on an onshore basis."

Main Source: 
ABC NIghtline, January 18, 2012
News

Two Years After "Citizens United," Amending the Constitution is Essential

by Brendan Fischer — January 20, 2012 - 9:19am
  • Topics: Activism, Election 2012, Corporations, Democracy, Politics

    • January 21 marks the second anniversary of Citizens United v. F.E.C., where a narrow majority of the U.S. Supreme Court asserted that the Constitution prevents Congress from limiting the amount of money that can be spent influencing our elections. The Center for Media and Democracy is working with a constellation of groups in support of amending the Constitution to reverse the decision and address the distortion of the democratic process.

    News

    Events Marking Second Anniversary of "Citizens United"

    by PRW Staff — January 18, 2012 - 11:55am
  • Topics: Activism, Election 2012, Corporations, Democracy, Politics, U.S. Government

    • January 20 marks the second anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Court's disastrous decision in Citizens United v. F.E.C., where a narrow majority of the Court asserted that the Constitution prevents Congress from limiting the amount of money that can be spent influencing our elections. A series of events are planned this week to mobilize opposition to the decision and to generate support for a constitutional amendment to reverse it.

    News

    Mitt Romney's "Super" Friends Take Aim Through the "Restore Our Future" Super PAC

    by Lisa Graves — January 5, 2012 - 12:01am
  • Topics: Right Wing, Front Groups, Election 2012, Third Party Technique, Corporations, Democracy

    • Editor's note: This quick snapshot about who is behind the pro-Romney "Super" PAC is a summary of CMD's recent analysis of the problems with Super PACs.

    In the Iowa caucus race, the pro-Mitt Romney Super PAC called "Restore Our Future" massively outspent the candidate's official presidential campaign on advertising. The Restore Our Future PAC spent over $3 million in ads, primarily negative ads against Newt Gingrich, who was the target of more than 1,200 negative ad spots from this PAC and others in the span of about a month.

    Op-Ed

    The Real "Winner" in Iowa: New "Super" Front Groups That Are Super Corrupting Our Democracy Thanks to "Citizens United"

    by Lisa Graves — January 4, 2012 - 8:01am
  • Topics: Right Wing, Front Groups, Election 2012, Third Party Technique, Corporations, Democracy, Media, Public Relations

    • Contrary to most press accounts, there was a decisive winner in the Iowa caucuses last night, and it was neither Rick Santorum nor Mitt Romney. The "winner" was the so-called "Super" PACs (political action committees), the mutant front groups for political candidates that were "created" in the aftermath of the U.S. Supreme Court's 5-4 decision that unleashed corporations and billionaires to spend unlimited money influencing elections.

    News

    DOJ Rejects ALEC-Inspired Voter ID Bill in South Carolina

    by Brendan Fischer — December 23, 2011 - 7:04pm
  • Topics: ALEC Exposed, Election 2012, Democracy, Human Rights, Politics, Race / Ethnic Issues

    • The U.S. Department of Justice has rejected South Carolina's voter ID law, which was inspired by an American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) model, as discriminatory against people of color.

    News

    Color of Change Targets ALEC Corporations

    by Brendan Fischer — December 15, 2011 - 8:29am
  • Topics: Activism, ALEC Exposed, Election 2012, Corporations, Election Protection, Race / Ethnic Issues

    • Color of Change has launched a campaign encouraging corporations that rely on business from African-Americans to stop funding the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), which promotes voter ID legislation that suppresses the black vote.

    News

    Federal Court Strikes Down Wisconsin Fair Election Law

    by Brendan Fischer — December 14, 2011 - 8:44am
  • Topics: Election 2012, Corporations, Democracy, Election Protection, Politics

    • A federal appellate court has used the U.S. Supreme Court's Citizens United v. F.E.C. decision to strike down a Wisconsin law limiting how much a person can donate to "independent expenditure" political groups.

    News

    NAACP Denounces Role of ALEC in "Jim Crow, Esquire" Voting Laws

    by Brendan Fischer — December 9, 2011 - 3:34pm
  • Topics: ALEC Exposed, Election 2012, Election Protection, International, Politics, Race / Ethnic Issues

    • The NAACP is calling the wave of Voter ID laws passed in 2011 a "coordinated and comprehensive assault" on the right to vote for people of color and the poor, singling out the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) as the source of the outbreak. The organization is taking its case to the United Nations this week.

    Rev. William Barber, President of the NAACP North Carolina State Conference, says "Jim Crow used blunt tools. James Crow, Esquire uses surgical tools, high paid consultants and lawyers to cut out the heart of black political power."

    News

    New Report Details ALEC Influence in Arizona

    by Brendan Fischer — November 30, 2011 - 8:42am
  • Topics: ALEC Exposed, Election 2012, Corporations, Politics, Wisconsin Protests

    • Last year, the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) attracted attention when reporters revealed Arizona's SB1070 anti-immigration law was pre-approved by ALEC corporations that stood to benefit from its passage. As ALEC's legislative and corporate members descend upon Arizona for meetings this week, a new report (pdf) shows that ALEC's influence in Arizona goes beyond SB1070 to include bills that suppress voting, attack worker's rights, privatize public education, and limit environmental protections.

    Syndicate content