Chart of the Week: Corporate Tax Dodgers

It is the beginning of a new week and time to get the economic stuff out of the way more charts! Yes, the US has a high corporate tax rate (35%) compared to other countries, but no CFO worth his bonus money would allow his or her company to pay that:

As a percentage of total corporate profits, corporate income tax paid has been going down since the early 50s. The same trend is visible when corporate taxes are compared to total GDP:

In 2009 Bank of America, actually got a net tax benefit of $2.3 billion while General Electric received $3.2 billion despite profits of over $14 billion; just two examples of the corporate welfare enjoyed by the biggest companies in the nation. Thanks to an unfair tax code corporations kept $222.7 billion in federal tax revenue from 2008 to 2010. Corporatists and TEA party extremists want to blame the federal government for causing the financial panic of 2008 by inflating the real estate market with a lot of deadbeat buyers. But the truth is [video @13:00] the United States real estate market was no more inflated than other countries:

No argument that Freddie and Fannie guaranteed bad loans, but it was because the banking industry wanted it that way. One of the few Washington lobbyists that paid his dues in jail, Jack Abramoff, says, "During my years as a lobbyist, I saw scores of congressional staff members become the willing vassals of K Street firms before soon decamping to K Street employment themselves. It was a dirty little secret, And it is a source of major corruption in Congress." He should know, right?

Weekend Edition: Transboundary Conservation

US Person has posted before about the critical concept of transboundary conservation in which ecosystems are preserved intact regardless of their location in two or more nations. To preserve migratory animals or those using large hunting territories, national boundaries must give way to the natural landscape. Elephants are the epitome of an animal that lives large. Historically, elephants wandered across the entire African continent on ancient routes to water and food. Those days are no more. However, the presidents of five southern African nations have taken an unprecedented and historic preservation step. The nations of Angola, Botswana, Namibia, Zambia and Zimbabwe signed a treaty establishing the Kavango-Zambezi Transfrontier Conservation Area in August of this year. The 109 million acre Area is within the borders of those nations and encompasses the famed Okavango inland delta[photo], a unique ecosystem of exceptional wildlife richness. It is the home of an estimated 325,000 elephants or 44% of the remaining African elephant population [photo]. The Area is larger than the state of New Mexico, and will allow elephants and the wild creatures that live with them to live on the land in a more natural way. The Conservation Area will allow sustainable development with emphasis on creating a world class tourist destination. Local human inhabitants will benefit from the increased economic activity. WWF intends that its positive experience with Namibia's community based natural resource management will be applied to provide technical training and assistance to local communities. In Namibia, about 12% of the population have the right to manage and economically benefit from wildlife. The goal in the world's largest transnational conservation area is to promote a peaceful human culture of shared resources while at the same time preserving the landscape's biological integrity for future generations of humans and wild creatures. GREEN KUDOS!

Police Beat: America, the Oppressed

This video says it all: the deliberate use of excessive force by paid thugs of the Plutocracy against peaceful protesters. The brutality occurred at UC Davis:

Last Ice Refuge

Scientists have projected based on computer simulations that the Canadian high Arctic Archipelago will be the last area of ice in the warmer world to come. This remnant of persistent ice will be the refuge for those polar bears that survive rapid global warming. The region in Canada and Greenland is about 500,000 square miles, or twice the size of Texas.{map 14.5.2011}The World Wildlife Fund has been working to preserve Arctic wildlife since 1992 and is now focusing efforts on developing a management plan for the polar bear's last refuge. WWF brought the Coca-Cola, Inc. chairman and CEO to Hudson's Bay to observe the impact of global warming on the bears and the threat it poses to sensitive Arctic ecology. Readers no doubt know that Coca-Cola has been using the polar bear in its advertisements during the holiday season for years [image]. As a result of this visit, and the available scientific evidence, the Coca-Cola company decided to support WWF's efforts to save a home on this planet for such an iconic species. It will donate $2 million over the next five years to begin the important development plan work. Coca-Cola's "Arctic Home" campaign is a first step to raising public awareness of the polar bear's plight and providing the necessary financial resources. The company will match public donations up to $1,000,000. US Person does not endorse products, but believes that business corporations willing to help preserve nature and not destroy it should receive consumer support for their cooperation. Look for the white cans and bottle caps--the first ones in 125 years--if you buy Coke this holiday season. Give a polar bear a home for Christmas by making a donation. (Discliamer: There is no scientific evidence that polar bears enjoy Coca-Cola.)

Rio Grande's Big Bend Headed For International Park

The US already shares an international park with Canada, and if the vision of Franklin Roosevelt and Manuel Camacho is realized, the United States and Mexico will one day establish a transnational park along the shores of the Rio Grande in the Big Bend region. Big Bend National Park was established on June 12, 1944, and at that time Roosevelt wrote the Mexican President that the undertaking would not be complete until the protected areas on both sides of the Rio Grande "forms one great international park". Today, Mexico and the US are working to restore the desert river region's diverse eco-system, control invasive species, preserve wildlife, and manage wildfires. In October wildlife officials from both sides released endangered Rio Grande silvery minnows into the river as part of these efforts. Silvery minnow, once common, have vanished from this stretch of the river since the 1960s. The first reintroduction occurred in 2008 [photo]. Mexican wildlife officials also released hawks and owls in the border state of Chihuahua. At the fish release, Secretary Salazar said both governments "share a commitment towards the conservation vision proposed over 60 years ago." The possibility of a peaceful, beautiful and healthy transnational park is a far cry from the specter of barbed wire, guard towers, searchlights, and concrete walls often touted as solutions by reactionary nationalists in the United States. As the Ambassador to Mexico put it, "the seamless flow of nature across both banks of the river is far stronger and far more enduring than what divides us." The cooperative plan to restore the Big Bend/Rio Bravo region was developed by the US National Park Service, Fish & Wildlife Service, Geological Survey, the Mexican National Commission of Natural Protected Areas and other partners. It was signed into action by Secretary Ken Salazar and Secretary Juan Elvira on October 24, 2011.

If You Can't Beat Them, Join Them

The paid thugs of the plutocracy have evicted Occupiers all across the nation. The latest sweep was in  Zuccotti (formerly known as Liberty) Park in downtown Manhattan, the epicenter of the movement. But evicting protesters will simply create more supporters who will occupy other public spaces in order to make their collective voice heard. Exhibit One is this human banner on the beach at San Francisco. To find statistics on the worldwide 1% go to the Paris School of Economics website. Here are a few pertinent ones from The Progress Report:

• The top 1 percet of Americans still own 40 percent of our country’s wealth while the bottom 80 percent owns only 7 percent;
• The richest 1 percent earned one out of every four dollars in 2007. Thirty years earlier, the richest only made one out of every 11 dollars;
• One in four millionaires pays a lower tax rate than 10 million middle-income Americans;
• Fourteen million Americans are unemployed (the actual figure is higher);
• Corporations are sitting on $2 trillion in cash – more cash than at any time in nearly a half century – instead of hiring more employees.

Wolves Come Home to Germany

Johan Geiler von Kaisersberg (1516)

Wolves were exterminated in Germany in the 19th century, but a new study by the German federal government finds that wolves are recolonizing Germany from Poland. Six wolves in Saxony were collared with tracking devices to find out when young wolves leave their parental pack and where they go. It is the first study undertaken in central Europe of wolf movements. Scientists found that wolves can travel large distances, up to 70km (43.5 miles) a day. The study shows males tend to roam farther afield. One young male left his Belarus pack at 12 months old and travelled an amazing 1,550kms (963miles) Wolves are very adaptable animals and can live near humans. Some young wolves in the study made a home in several caves just 500 meters from a busy road. The first pack that migrated from Poland was discovered in Germany about 11 years ago. Since then wildlife officials believe 12 packs, several pairs and a few lone wolves now make their home in Germany. Twenty wolves have been counted roaming the Lusatia region of eastern Germany. With the wolves' return comes fear mongering by anti-wolf groups and Germans are no exception. An anti-wolf association claimed in the mass circulation daily Bild that once wolves become numerous they will pose a threat to humans, and hunting groups in Saxony want permission to shoot them. Computer modelings indicate sufficient lowland habitat to theoretically support approximately 440 wolf packs with more room in the Alps. The average territory size was found to be 172km² (66.4mi²)