General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsDavid Cay Johnston - Journalists are missing one of the biggest stories in America
"the saga of how new laws and regulations are promoting monopolies, duopolies and oligopolies, to the massive detriment of consumers."
http://www.mediachannel.org/missing-the-story/
"Imagine what a great story you would have if Congress had enacted a sneaky law to make you give other people money to pay their income taxes. Now imagine that Congress exempted from the income tax the very people who got this money.
Well, that is just what happens with one industry, thanks to so-called deregulation. You and everyone else pay this tax every time you put gas in your car. The most astonishing part of this tax story is that it is imposed not by Congress, but by regulation.
The simple story is that Congress in 1986 exempted monopoly pipelines from the corporate income tax if they organized themselves as Master Limited partnerships. The George W. Bush administration then let these pipelines include the nonexistent tax in the rates they charge."
RiffRandell
(5,909 posts)Last edited Fri Apr 5, 2013, 04:22 PM - Edit history (1)
Highly recommend it---even though he's a former republican. He knows exactly how and why we are getting screwed.
http://www.amazon.com/Perfectly-Legal-Campaign-Rich---Everybody/dp/1591840694/ref=sr_1_3?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1365193235&sr=1-3&keywords=david+cay+johnston
Edited for making mistake on title---sorry Mr. Johnston!!!!
davidcay
(22 posts)Thanks for the recommendation, but that is Arianna Huffington's riff.
My trilogy on this consists of
THE FINE PRINT (price gouging)
http://www.amazon.com/Fine-Print-Companies-Plain-English/dp/1591843588/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1365184994&sr=1-1&keywords=fine+print+cay
FREE LUNCH (stealth subsidies to the rich)
http://www.amazon.com/Free-Lunch-Wealthiest-Themselves-Government/dp/B002HREKHS/ref=pd_sim_b_2
PERFECTLY LEGAL (how the tax system favors the rich)
http://www.amazon.com/Perfectly-Legal-Campaign-Rich-Everybody/dp/1591840694/ref=pd_sim_b_1
haikugal
(6,476 posts)eppur_se_muova
(36,299 posts)angstlessk
(11,862 posts)And you even narrate one
antigop
(12,778 posts)malaise
(269,187 posts)WillyT
(72,631 posts)Glad ta have ya aboard !!!
Liberal_Stalwart71
(20,450 posts)Are you really THE David Cay Johnston? If so, I greatly admire your work. "Free Lunch" was simply brilliant.
Also, do you have any views on this Social Security debate we've been having?
PA Democrat
(13,225 posts)I highly recommend it.
JDPriestly
(57,936 posts)It's good to know we consumers have you on our side.
Great article. How do we move the media to report on this?
rurallib
(62,451 posts)diane in sf
(3,919 posts)RiffRandell
(5,909 posts)Huge mistake..I meant Perfectly Legal...I even bought a copy for my republican in-laws as an xmas gift.
So sorry---I do know who you are and your book was highly informative. I never knew the alternative minimum tax existed until I read it.
spockeye
(238 posts)nineteen50
(1,187 posts)attack by corporations through Alec and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce on the 7th amendment guaranteed right to a jury trial. Here is a novel idea make safe products.
GitRDun
(1,846 posts)Combating large corporate greed will be the fight of their generation.
Private sector re-distribution of wealth aided and abetted by bought politicians and a press concerned more about "the get" than reporting anything useful is a road to ruin..
rurallib
(62,451 posts)When I get into discussions I try to make sure that his points are brought up.
Johnston is one of the few that has chronicled - maybe the only one - how our electeds have essentially turned government over to the corporations and the rich and stuck us with the bill.