Merchants Have No Country

I'm conflicted on aspects of Jeffersonian Democracy, but dude got it right when he wrote,

"but merchants have no country. the mere spot they stand on does not constitute so strong an attachment as that from which they draw their gains."

Jefferson was admonishing New England merchants and shipowners who were more concerned about diminishing the profitability of transatlantic trade than rallying around their country in the War of 1812.

Fast forward 200 years. US companies have $2.1 trillion clams parked overseas for the sole purpose of avoiding US corporate taxes. Microsoft, Apple, and Google are brand-name players in this shenanigans.

 It's time to bring down a big government hammer on this shit:

• Step 1. Fill Nino's seat with a moderate.
• Step 2. Overturn Citizens United v. FEC.
• Step 3. Clean Congress the fuck up.
• Step 4. Double Congressional salaries to $384K a year but require our representatives to shop for health insurance on some shitty website like the rest of us.
• Step 5...You'll have to buy the book.

REFERENCES

• Letter Thomas Jefferson to Horatio G. Spafford, 17 March 1814., Founders Online.
• U.S. Companies Are Stashing $2.1 Trillion Overseas to Avoid Taxes, Bloomberg Business, 4 March 2015.

I Don't Need No Doctor

The reckless US Supreme Court ruling on campaign finance handed down yesterday is a giant step for corporate personhood, but a giant step backward for US citizens.

Schlubs like me, who vote in every election and make $25 campaign contributions, are eating humble pie.

A politically-charged US Supreme Court yields the potency to seed and nurture a Corporatocracy like invasive crab grass.

The Corporatocratic Court decision may be a blessing: it may trigger a groundswell of opposition to corporate personhood. ~J.P. Barlow, from Twitter

One of my favorites rock bands as a teenager was Humble Pie. In 1971, when this video of Humble Pie was made, I was a freshman at New Providence High School. Crank the volume.

In my slightly post-pubescent mind, I Don't Need No Doctor might have meant ditching school without a doctor's note.

Today, I Don't Need No Doctor is

A mantra for people without health insurance

The corporate shills and troglodytes in the Senate (e.g. Max Baucus, Harry Reid, the RepubliCants, and the ConservaDems) failed to hammer out a version of the insurance reform bill that the ever-so-slightly more enlightened House of Representatives (e.g., Anthony Wiener) could stomach.

The US Senate is a snake pit of uncontested corporate corruption. If ever you can't fathom a Senator's position or motives, Google their campaign contributions or go directly to the Center for Responsive Politics. Suddenly the irrational and unfathomable makes sense. Suddenly you'll understand your elected official is on someone's payroll. And, sadly, it’s not yours