Uniting Against The Buyout Of Democracy

Asheville Progressive Posted on by

By Isaiah J. Poole March 12, 2012 The fight to overturn the Supreme Court’s Citizens United ruling and to undo its effects on our democracy is now being ratcheted up as a spectrum of progressive organizations are cooperating on multiple fronts. The groups, which include the Campaign for America’s Future, discussed their objectives and strategies at a news conference Monday at the headquarters of the Service Employees International Union in … Continue reading →

HR 347 & S 1794 aka The ‘Trespass Bill’ of 2011 Criminalizes Protest.

Asheville Progressive Posted on by

… Jeanine Molloff, Op-Ed: “The legislators responsible for bringing this legislative excrement to life are Representative Tom Rooney (R-Fla.) in the House of Representatives and Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-CT.) leading the Senate version. The ‘Federal Restricted Buildings and Grounds Improvement Act of 2011’ sounds more like an appropriations bill authorizing monies for federal grounds landscaping. This bill potentially makes peaceable protest anywhere in the U.S.–a federal felony punishable by up … Continue reading →

The Opposite of Snobbery

Asheville Progressive Posted on by

The Opposite of Snobbery David Sirota, Op-Ed: N+1 magazine notes that since the late 1970s, when Santorum was enjoying his taxpayer-subsidized higher education, “the price of tuition at U.S. colleges has increased over 900 percent.” In 2011, that meant the average total cost of a year at a public university was $21,477, up 5.4 percent in just 12 months. Thanks to cuts to programs that make college and vocational education … Continue reading →

Oil Companies Earn Billions While Americans Pay More

Asheville Progressive Posted on by

Oil Companies Earn Billions While Americans Pay More Daniel J. Weiss, Jackie Weidman and Richard W. Caperton, News Report: This Center for American Progress analysis finds that each penny rise in the average quarterly (three months) price of a gallon of gas corresponds to a $200 million increase in quarterly profits of the big five oil companies—BP, Chevron, ConocoPhillips, ExxonMobil, and Royal Dutch Shell. … Continue reading →

Report Brings GE’s 2.3% Tax Bite to Light

Asheville Progressive Posted on by

General Electric (GE) records show that it pays far, far less in taxes than us ordinary taxpayers. So much for the claim that corporate taxes are too high. GE’s Securities and Exchange Commission 10-K filing for 2011 reveals that the company paid at most 2.3 percent of its $81.2 billion in U.S. pretax profits in federal income taxes during the past the past 10 years. Last year when it was … Continue reading →

Bothwell steps up his opposition to Amendment One

Asheville Progressive Posted on by

Congressional Candidate Cecil Bothwell (D – NC11), a longtime defender of civil liberties for all Americans, has issued a statement explicitly urging North Carolina voters to oppose Amendment One, the anti-marriage amendment. “Republicans in the North Carolina General Assembly have decided to put one of their favorite wedge issues on the state primary ballot, May 8. The proposed amendment to our state constitution is wrong on multiple levels. It denies … Continue reading →

Legalize Medical Marijuana

Asheville Progressive Posted on by

.In Support of using Medical Marijuana to alleviate pain and suffering. Whereas: Medical Marijuana has been demonstrated to be an effective drug for the treatment of many ailments experienced by people and can only be used by Doctors as part of an effective treatment program for the treatment of pain and suffering and Whereas: North Carolina current law denies Doctors from treating patients by prescribing Medical Marijuna and Whereas: Many … Continue reading →

Oil Lobby Says Obama’s Call to End Big Oil Handouts Is ‘Discriminatory’

Asheville Progressive Posted on by

Oil Lobby Says Obama’s Call to End Big Oil Handouts Is ‘Discriminatory’ Rebecca Leber, News Analysis: “Exxon Mobil – the most profitable oil company – paid a 17.6 percent federal effective tax, lower than the average American. The company paid zero taxes to the federal government in 2009. The oil industry is fighting to keep its handouts, despite posting record-breaking profits of $137 billion in 2011. So far, it seems … Continue reading →

Jim Hightower | Cooperatives Over Corporations

Asheville Progressive Posted on by

Jim Hightower | Cooperatives Over Corporations Jim Hightower, Op-Ed: “While it’s rarely mentioned by the conventional media, completely missing in the political discourse, not considered by economic planners and chambers of commerce and not known by most of the public, there are 30,000 cooperatives in America (with 73,000 places of business). A 2009 survey by the University of Wisconsin’s Center for Cooperatives found that these energetic enterprises have 130 million … Continue reading →

Petition to Break up Bank of America Pushes Forward

Asheville Progressive Posted on by

Petition to Break up Bank of America Pushes Forward George Zornick, Video Presentation: Last month, we noted that Public Citizen filed an official petition with the Federal Reserve to break up Bank of America, using powers granted under the Dodd-Frank financial reform bill. Those measures were supposed to end “too big to fail,” yet Bank of America has assets equal to one-seventh of America’s GDP—and there are quiet but persistent … Continue reading →