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Hightower Lowdown
"Everybody does better when everybody does better." -- Jim's dad, W.F. "High" Hightower
December's Lowdown
Corporate elites and their small-minded political servants are creating the Incredibly Shrinking America
"We the people of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America." What a paragraph! This sparse, 52-word opening of our Constitution did not merely launch a fledgling nation--but a bold experiment in democratic idealism.
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In This Issue
Dressed up in their designer suits, they trade in human cargo
The new racketeers
Also in this issue:
- Zapping the beef supply
- Granny d marches on!
- Postmodern piracy
- Suffer the little children
- Hogs at the trough
- Charity begins in the house
- Bill's beer
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Postmodern piracy
Ever wonder why ships from multibillion-dollar cruise lines like Carnival Corporation, Disney and Royal Caribbean all pretend to come from Liberia or Panama? The companies are based right here in the US of A, but by registering their boats offshore, they get to pay corporate taxes there instead of here. Of course, those ports don't assess any corporate taxes. What fun! Royal Caribbean, for example, made $657 million in profits over the last three years, yet paid not a dime in taxes. Because they pay zip, we pay more.
Also, by claiming to be foreign ships, these U.S.-based giants can avoid our labor laws, forcing crews to work 12-hour days, seven days a week for $400 a month. Cruise companies spent about a million dollars lobbying the last Congress to protect their sweetheart deals. When Congressman Gene Taylor (D-Miss.) tried to rein in these outlaws, he says the industry's top lobbyist offered his family a free cruise if he'd drop his bill.
Call Rep. Taylor at 202-225-5772. Let him know we support his efforts to dock these tax cheats.