Thursday, October 02, 2003

Michael Moore Coming to Town? Rumor has it that none other than Michael Moore will be in Lansing on 12 October.  The time and location have not been announced yet.  He's definitely worth seeing.  I was lucky enough to see him when he was at Central a few years ago - the videotape wouldn't work, so he ended up spending most of his time answering questions from the audience.  Stay tuned for details... 10:23:55 PM    comment []

Cheap labor conservatives seduce Senate, but don't get far in the House Also on the NYT front page was an article about a Senate Finance committe bill which would allow companies with off-shore investments a tax windfall.  The companies, hiding the money overseas in order not to pay U.S. taxes, would get a one time "tax reduction holiday" to reincorporate this money back into the states.  According to Bill Archer, former chair of the House Ways and Means committee and current lobbyist, this could allow for $300 billion to trickle back in.  [Among the biggest companies with overseas investments are Hwelett-Packard with $14.5 billion and Merck with $15 billion.]  The problem that some are afraid of is that if the Senate passes this bill, it will actually encourage further overseas investments, as this would only be taxed at a rate of 5.25 percent (and not at what a company would be taxed at if their operations remained here in the country). Cheap labor was defeated at the House, however, when a non-binding vote showed a bill passing that would block the expanded overtime exemptions in a new Bush administration-Department of Labor proposal.  Unfortunately, in a Republican House, this might not last if leaders decide to put the thumbscrews to wayward party members. 10:08:16 PM    comment []

WMD Boondoggle According to the front page of the New York Times, our chums at the Bush administration are asking for $600 million to hunt Iraqi weapons.  This money comes from the $87 billion to pay for the war (it's just the rest of it that's going to Bush's campaign donors).  This is in addition to the $300 million spent earlier.  Of course, David Kay, the head of the Iraq Survey Group, came out and said there were no WMD's.  Maybe they can use that money to search for Karl Rove's morals instead.... 9:49:35 PM    comment []

© Copyright 2003 Jennifer Wood.