Illinois USA - How the Rich Bought Political Power

ꕤ Article SOURCE as indicated Illinois USA Bruce Rauner Governor of Illinois Swedish-German descent venture capitalist private equity firm GTCR (30 years) father lawyer / senior VP Motorola Wife #1 Beth Konker Wessel (3 ch.) Wife #2 Diana Mendley Rauner (3 ch.) Son: "In 2010, Eric, then 21, got arrested for trying to rob a Walgreen’s drive-through in Missoula, Montana. He gave a pharmacist “a note threatening to blow his head off unless he handed over prescription painkillers, according to charging documents in the case,” reported the Daily Missoulian. The paper further reported that he told authorities that he was drunk at the time and addicted to pills. Originally charged with felony robbery, Eric, who had been unarmed, pleaded guilty in July 2012 to an amended charge of felony criminal endangerment and received a three-year deferred sentence." [Comment:  Eric was 1 years old when his parents separated, before divorcing (affair allegedly discovered by wife #1)   Siblings were 4 and 6 years old] http://www.chicagomag.com/Chicago-Magazine/October-2014/Bruce-Rauner/ D.I.V.O.R.C.E. Article & Divorce Court Documents Affair allegedly discovered by Wife #1 Rauner allegedly sought reconciliation & continued to live in house However, Wife #1 allegedly discovered  consultation with lawyer http://www.businessinsider.com.au/bruce-rauner-1993-divorce-2014-5?r=US&IR=T ---------------------- ꕤ ---------------------- NYT Wealthy Governor & His Friends Remaking Illinois Unprecedented Political Spending By NICHOLAS CONFESSORE NOV. 29, 2015 SUMMARY - as per my understanding Kenneth C. Griffin billionaire founder one of the world’s largest hedge funds -- Griffin & friends ('the families') -- poured tens of millions of dollars into the state -- concentration of political money -- unprecedented in Illinois history -- wealth forcefully shifted state’s balance of power -- 2014:  'the families' helped elect Bruce Rauner governor -- Griffin friend of Rauner (elected governor) [Wealthy Election Buyers] Agenda: cut spending overhaul state’s pension system impose term limits weaken public employee unions Formula: change the power structure change way business conducted change status quo taking advantage of shifts in: regulatory factors legal factors cultural factors Rich families remaking Illinois: channelled vast wealth into political power infusion of money into campaigns via newly carved paths "reshaping government with fortunes so large as to defy the ordinary financial scale of politics" 2016 USA Presidential Campaign - 158 Families New York Times analysis -- just 158 families -- provided nearly HALF of early campaign money -- donors from FINANCE INDUSTRY -- finance field = more new political wealth than other Following helped elect Rauner: John Childs -- Florida-based leveraged-buyout pioneer Sam Zell -- private equity investor Paul Singer -- hedge fund manager, NY Richard Uihlein (Dick) -- Chicago suburbs businessman -- General Bindings Corp -- plastic binding manufacture, family business -- family co-founded: Schlitz Brewing -- Uline, Inc - shipping supplies distribution company Philosophies of donors becoming widely adopted blueprint for public officials in USA -- critical of powerful unions -- want reduction of public (government) spending -- want reduction of taxation -- want to undermine govt-led efforts to redress gap b/w rich/poor -- consider strong public unions root of all evil -- re governance:  Chicago, New York & California Increasing Amounts of Money -- much stronger last 5-6 years To usurp political power in Illinois -- the rich have pumped BIG money into political campaigns -- money that outstrips that of unions --{unions were formerly 'financial lifeblood of both parties'} -- Rauner:     "triggered a state law that removes limits on campaign contributions when a wealthy candidate spends heavily on his or her own race."     "The law, intended to limit the influence of the wealthy by providing a level playing field, had the opposite effect: Freed of the restraints, supporters of Mr. Rauner poured millions more into his campaign, breaking state records." Rauner - Campaign Spending v. Unions -- abt half of $65 million Rauner spent in 2014 -- came from Rauner & x9 others -- (other individuals, families or companies they control) -- $13.6 million Griffin family contributions -- MORE than --> 244 labour unions combined donations Kenneth C. Griffin Biggest Donor - re Rauner -- Griffin:   $5.5 million -- private plane at Rauner’s disposal HOW MILLIONS OF ELECTION FUNDS SPENT -- political advocacy groups -- research organizations -- party committees -- credit union on Chicago’s predominantly black South Side -- depositing $1 million to support small-business loans -- $20 million (Rauner, Griffin & Uihlein)     Note:  Rauner as given “$27 million of his own money to public education, both CPS and charters.” (Rauner publicly stated figure is:  $20 million) [ChicagoMag] -- to beat back union pressure Other -- Rauner advocacy of school choice -- African-USA voter appeal - stuck in worst schools [ChicagoMag] Result -- Rauner elected -- agenda to shrink govt -- agenda to make state more business friendly -- however:  Democrats supermajority in both houses DEMOCRATS Democrat majority want: -- minimum wage -- millionaires-only income tax increase -- both items against Rauner position REPUBLICANS Rauner - governor (thus opposed to Democrat majority) Chicago Sun-Times  |  PRESS -- reversed no-endorsement policy to back Rauner -- Rauner, part-owner prior to run for governor Illinois State: -- mismanagement by state officials -- both parties -- over $100-Billion in UNFUNDED pension liabilities -- x10 governors went to prison -- public employee unions unaware re absence of retirement benefit funding by state -- lobbied for other spending -- state owes billions in unpaid bills NOTE:  Illinois state constitution BANS raising taxes solely on rich SOURCE http://www.nytimes.com/2015/11/30/us/politics/illinois-campaign-money-bruce-rauner.html?_r=0 Illinois' flat income tax places it in the 'Terrible Ten' Written By sswerdlow Posted: 06/25/2014, 06:52pm Illinois is one of the ten most regressive states in the country ... A state is regressive if it requires the poor to pay a greater share of their income in taxes than the rich. In Illinois, the state’s poorest residents—those in the bottom 20 percent of the income scale—pay almost three times as much of their earnings in taxes as the top one percent do. Illinois’ flat income tax is one of the primary reasons ITEP ranks the state as the fourth most regressive. A flat income tax means the state takes the same percentage of income from everyone, regardless of how much or how little they earn. Illinois is one of only ten states with a flat tax rate. There are seven states that collect no taxes on individual income. See which states have flat, graduated, or no income taxes in the map below. Illinois increased the tax rate on individual income from 3 percent to 5 percent in 2011. That increase is set to expire January 1, 2015. Speaker Michael Madigan reports that the House Democratic caucus is almost 30 votes shy of the 60 needed to make what was a temporary increase permanent. If Illinois fails to extend the tax rate of 5 percent, it will have the third lowest individual income tax rate of any state with a flat tax. According to the Tax Foundation, only Indiana and Pennsylvania will have lower rates, at 3.4 and 3.07 percent respectively. Illinois depends on individual income taxes for 42 percent of its tax revenue, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Taxes on individual income bring in more money for the state than any other tax. This wasn’t the case in 2009, when half of the state’s tax revenue came from sales tax. Sales tax revenue has steadily declined since then, though, due to the Great Recession. http://chicago.suntimes.com/chicago-politics/7/71/876236/chicago-budget-revenue-tax-ideas ---------------------- ꕤ ---------------------- COMMENT The word 'gubernatorial' is unpleasant sounding to me: "C18: from Latin gubernator governor." Really enjoyed checking this out. American politics is sooooooo disgusting. USA doesn't even pretend to be democratic. This story has everything ... & the state's broke.  Quick, someone write a TV-series.  It should be interesting to see what happens when the opposition (Democrats) have the majority in both houses.  Second article on income tax is also very interesting.  Those rates are bizarre.  It's so low it's like there is just about no income tax. ꕤ

US squabble for corporate tax dollars

Obama Takes Aim at 'Unpatriotic' Corporate Inversions By Dunstan Prial Published July 24, 2014 FOXBusiness President Barack Obama is taking direct aim at the rising number of U.S. companies using international mergers to relocate their headquarters overseas in an effort to avoid paying U.S. corporate taxes. In prepared remarks in a speech scheduled for today at a technical college in Los Angeles, the president urged Congress to pass tax reforms that would eliminate loopholes that allow U.S. companies to shield large portions of their profits overseas. Obama’s public remarks significantly raise the profile of an effort that gained momentum last week with a letter from Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew sent to Congressional leaders in which Lew said such international mergers, called “inversions,” “hollow out the U.S. corporate income tax base.” The president was expected to make a broad call for “economic patriotism,” suggesting that companies that pursue inversions are essentially renouncing their U.S. citizenship in an effort to reduce their corporate tax burdens. Administration officials said ahead of the president’s speech that inversions hurt middle-class Americans who have to pick up the slack when corporations use sophisticated loopholes to shirk their tax responsibilities. Inversions -- and the U.S. corporate tax code -- have come under a higher level of scrutiny since giant U.S. drug maker Pfizer (PFE) announced earlier this year that it planned to merge with London-based AstraZeneca, a move that would have saved it billions in U.S. taxes. The deal fell apart but the issues it raised haven’t gone away. Relocating their legal addresses outside the U.S. for tax purposes is hardly a new phenomenon for companies, but Pfizer is by far the largest and most high-profile company to ever attempt the move.

Through an inversion Pfizer was seeking to reduce its U.S. corporate tax rate of 35% to the much lower 21% in England. The companies that seek inversions say the comparatively-high U.S. corporate tax rate leaves them at a competitive disadvantage to their overseas competitors. Paying a lower tax rate, they say, helps the company reinvest in itself and ultimately benefits shareholders. Tax experts estimate there have been about 50 inversions by U.S. companies over the past few decades, with the pace picking up considerably in recent years. Earlier this year, the Obama administration tucked a measure into a budget bill that would have made the relocation process more difficult for U.S. companies, but the measure never got off the ground in Congress. Obama is now urging Congress to pass the legislation retroactive to May, arguing that will stop companies from rushing into deals to avoid the law. Republicans in Congress, however, have supported broad tax reform that would eliminate loopholes and lower corporate tax rates in an effort to reduce the incentive for companies to relocate in countries with lower tax rates than the U.S. Under current law, shareholders of a U.S. company that merged with an offshore entity would have to own less than 80% of the combined entity to take advantage of a lower foreign tax rate. Obama's budget proposes slashing that cutoff to 50%. Administration officials estimate the deals, if allowed to continue, will cost the U.S. Treasury $17 billion in lost revenue over the next decade. Source - Fox Business - here.

Obama's unlikely to be popular with corporations wanting a free hand.

Sounds like some Americans aren't averse to socialist principles when it comes to grabbing tax dollars.

Don't know how they can predict $17 bil lost revenue in a decade, when there's a variable:  how many companies jump ship and merge.

The Republicans want to lower corporate tax rates, so maybe the Republicans will win next election?

Like how 'mergers' have become 'inversions'. 
That's a good move in the campaign to hold onto tax dollars.

'Inversions hurt the middle-class Americans' is brilliant. 
And so is 'renouncing' US citizenship.
That ought to get Americans waving their pitchforks.  LOL.

Who would have thought a squabble for tax dollars could be this exciting?

RUPERT MURDOCH - on redtape & stifled economic growth

uk.news.yahoo.com

Murdoch tells G20 governments to take a back seat for growth
By Jane Wardell | Reuters – 15 minutes ago

By Jane Wardell

SYDNEY (Reuters) - Media mogul Rupert Murdoch ... criticised excessive financial regulation as stymieing free markets and urged Group of 20 governments to "take a back seat" to allow businesses to drive economic growth.

Murdoch also said U.S. President Barack Obama was penalising businesses by cracking down on so-called "profit shifting" by major corporations to countries with lighter tax regimes, a technique that is also in the sights of the G20.

"My blood pressure goes up when I think of the number of local, state and federal regulations we have in our lives today," Murdoch told a meeting of the Business 20 leaders in Sydney...

"That is just in America. Don't even get me started on the European Union."

The B20 was set up in 2010 to give policy recommendations on behalf of the international business community to the G20. Business leaders meeting here are looking to influence the outcome of the G20 Leaders Summit in Brisbane in November.

"I believe that business does have a role in shaping public policy, mainly in helping limit the size and scope of government," Murdoch said.

"... too much red tape, too many subservient politicians stifling economic growth and entrepreneurism."

...G20 is tackling corporate "profit shifting", which has allowed multinationals such as Starbucks Corp, Google Inc, Apple Inc and Amazon.com Inc to avoid paying taxes.

G20 finance ministers ... endorsed a set of common standards for sharing bank account information across borders, with automatic exchange of information among G20 members to take effect by the end of 2015. [WORLDWIDE POLICE STATE???]

Obama ...  proposed tightening restrictions on U.S. multinationals that shift their tax domiciles abroad ... Obama wants to raise the minimum level of foreign ownership in a newly inverted holding company to 50 percent from about 20 percent, making the deals more difficult to carry out.

"Do we really expect overseas companies to voluntarily bring profits back to be taxed at 35 to 40 percent in the United States, when the corporate tax rate in Ireland is 12.5 percent?" Murdoch said. "This is not the way to achieve economic growth."
...

SOURCE - uk.news.yahoo.com - here.

-------------------------------------------------

COMMENT

So US is a corporate free-for-all.  BUT with a proviso -- keep it in the US?

The 'international' bank account sharing is getting a bit much.

 [WIKIPEDIA]

Wider concerns

The G-20's transparency and accountability have been questioned by critics, who call attention to the absence of a formal charter and the fact that the most important G-20 meetings are closed-door.

The cost and extent of summit-related security is often a contentious issue in the hosting country... 2010, the Toronto G-20 summit sparked mass protests and rioting, leading to the largest mass arrest in Canadian history.

He's right about the red-tape.

Also, all these extra-national gangs are just another step to world totalitarianism -- or something like that.  LOL.  

It just doesn't seem right - all this global ganging up, bullying, controlling, prying etc.