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WHO RULES: THE ISRAEL LOBBY
OR UNCLE SAM?
The answer
at last! Uri Avnery, former Knesset member, assesses the Lobby's
power. "If the Israeli government wanted a law tomorrow
annulling the 10 Commandments, 95 U.S. Senators (at least) would
sign the bill forthwith." But, yes, in the end the dog wags
the tail.Fifty
years ago Allen Ginsberg's "Howl" blew the cobwebs
out of millions of young minds and drove a stake through the
heart of Eisenhower's America. Lenni Brenner remembers Ginsberg
in the East Village.Dr Mengele died in exile, in disguise. Dr Ishii
died rich and recognized, in his own Tokyo home. Christopher
Reed on Japanese WW2 medical tortures and how the U.S. covered
them up.CounterPunch
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Why Southern Progressives
Should Support an Estate Tax
By CHRIS KROMM
The essence of the American dream is
that every child born should have an equal shot at success, and
that every person should pay their fair share of taxes, right?
The rich don't think so --
which is why their political minions on the right are pushing
to abolish the estate tax, to ensure the Paris Hiltons of the
world never have to do honest work or contribute to society.
And to prove just how narrow
the base is for estate tax repeal, Public Citizen and United
for a Fair Economy -- which has been leading the fight to keep
the estate tax -- released a report two weeks ago showing the
"movement"
is largely financed by just 18 families:
18 families worth a total of
$185.5 billion have financed and coordinated a 10-year effort
to repeal the estate tax, a move that would collectively net
them a windfall of $71.6 billion.
The report profiles the families
and their businesses, which include the families behind Wal-Mart,
Gallo wine, Campbell's soup, and Mars Inc., maker of M&Ms.
Collectively, the list includes the first- and third-largest
privately held companies in the United States, the richest family
in Alabama and the world's largest retailer.
Sen. Bill Frist (R-TN) has
promised to lead the fight for repeal in May, and House Republicans
are firmly on board -- even though 57% of the public opposes
estate tax repeal.
This is a perfect issue for
Southern progressives. Half of the super-rich families are based
in or have close ties to the South. And Southern populists --
a large part of the Southern electorate, who are progressive
on economic issues -- hate the idea of the super-rich not paying
their fair share to make government work. (The fight for the
estate tax was actually started by Populists as a response to
the excesses of the Robber Barrons.)
The only possible "hook" the right wing has for appealing
to Southerners is the argument that the estate tax hurts the
family farm -- a claim the Office of Management and Budget easily
proves wrong:
Myth: Many family farmers and small business owners
are forced to pay the estate tax.
Reality: Most family farms and small business
owners do not meet estate tax eligibility thresholds.
The USDA's Economic Research
Service reported that the average farm household net worth ranged
from $576,400 for small farms to $1.5 million for very large
family farms. The estate tax already exempts $1.5 million of
all estates, and the exemption level rises to $3.5 million by
2009 (double for couples). The New York Times has reported that
the American Farm Bureau could not cite a single case of a family
farm lost due to the estate tax.
This is an issue Southern progressives
can hit out of the park and use to expand their appeal to the
Southern middle--and working-class.
CounterPunch
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