Some days, you readers take this column to interesting places …
- Are there any USA politicians who really understand where jobs come from and are prepared to stand up to the vested interests who want the free funds flowing to the big institutions to continue.
I suspect most politicians in Washington are insulated from the day-to-day reality of everyday people who get up in the morning, drink their coffee, slap some water on their face, and then go to work so they can pay the bills, take a vacation now and then, put their kids through college, and then, hopefully, retire with a reasonable income.
As to the “vested interests …” The fact is that corporate welfare, in the aggregate, is a larger portion of the budget than most realize, and we should begin seriously addressing this issue, if we want to get the U.S. budget under control.
Last week, Forbes magazine published what the top U.S. corporations paid in taxes last year. “Most egregious,” Forbes notes, is General Electric, which “generated $10.3 billion in pretax income, but ended up owing nothing to Uncle Sam. In fact, it recorded a tax benefit of $1.1 billion.” Big Oil giant Exxon Mobil, which last year reported a record $45.2 billion profit paid the most taxes of any corporation, but none of it went to the IRS.
Along with low interest loans, interest rate manipulation, grants, subsidies, inflated contracts, and general malfeasance, the number of dollars “shipped” to big corporations (vested interests) is, in a word, staggering. Speaking of vested interests …
- Is it true that the US Federal Reserve Bank is a private bank, and are any of the governors connected to corporations?
The answer to the first part depends. If you look to the Federal charter regarding this you will find that “The Federal Reserve System is not “owned” by anyone and is not a private, profit-making institution. Instead, it is an independent entity within the government, having both public purposes and private aspects.” If you look to legal precedent, however, another picture emerges. In Lewis v. United States, 680 F.2d 1239 (1982), thecourt ruled thusly …
Federal reserve banks are not federal instrumentalities for purposes of a Federal Tort Claims Act, but are independent, privately owned and locally controlled corporations … federal reserve banks receive no appropriated funds from Congress and the banks are empowered to sue and be sued in their own names . . .
The answer to the second part of the question? I think you should ask Tim Geithner …
Trade in the day – Invest in your life …
