A Simple Solution to America’s Gun & Mass Shooting Problems

The Ingram MAC-11 (Military Armament Corporation Model 11), a defunct American small arms manufacturer, made this subcompact machine pistol developed during the 1970s. Shown here with 32-round capacity magazine, and suppressor.
Weight: 1.59 kg (3.50 lbs)
Length: 248 mm (9.76 in/20.90 in)
Barrel length: 129 mm
Cartridge: .380 ACP
Caliber: 9mm
Action: Straight Blowback
Rate of fire: 1200 /min
Muzzle velocity: 980 ft/s
Effective firing range: 50 m

There’s little debate of any significance about the problem of firearms in the hands of those who use them to commit heinous acts. This year alone, to date (as of this entry 27 August, the 239th day of 2015) there have been there have been:
248 Mass Shootings, with
313 Dead &
926 Wounded.

One only need type in ‘mass shootings’ in any search engine to find literally thousands upon thousands of news items, complete with details about this uniquely American problem. There is, however, significant and legitimate debate about how to ameliorate and stem the growing problem.

Some say no laws are needed, that LEOs (Law Enforcement Officers) need to enforce current laws. Others say outlaw guns completely. Somewhere, there is a “happy middle ground” of compromise to be found that protects our law-abiding citizens’ 2d Amendment Rights, and protects the innocent from miscreant would-be murderers and assailants.

I have a rather simple solution
to the
gun / mass shooting problem.

Congressional Budget Office: Offshore Corporate Tax Havens Cost each Citizen $1259

Historically, our nation has prospered when tax rates on the ULTRA wealthy and corporations were highest.

In the period following World War II, under President Dwight David Eisenhower – a Republican, and former Supreme Allied Commander / 5ive Star General – Corporate Tax rates have continually declined.

Now, during the Obama administration, they are at the LOWEST they have EVER been.

Corporate Income Tax Rates have continually declined the peaked during the Eisenhower administration. The formula is: b/(a+b) Where (a) Corporate Profits After Tax (without IVA and CCAdj), Billions of Dollars, Seasonally Adjusted Annual Rate (CP); And (b) Federal Government: Tax Receipts on Corporate Income, Billions of Dollars, Not Seasonally Adjusted (FCTAX)

—

Tax Havens Leave U.S. Filers $1,259 Tab Each, Report Says

By Derek Wallbank – Apr 15, 2014

U.S. taxpayers would need to pay an average of $1,259 more a year to make up the federal and state taxes lost to corporations and individuals sheltering money in overseas tax havens, according to a report.

“Tax haven abusers benefit from America’s markets, public infrastructure, educated workforce, security and rule of law -– all supported in one way or another by tax dollars -– but they avoid paying for these benefits,” U.S. Public Interest Research Group said in the report released today, the deadline for filing 2013 taxes.
ref: http://www.uspirg.org/reports/usp/picking-tab-2014

“Instead, ordinary taxpayers end up picking up the tab, either in the form of higher taxes, cuts to public spending priorities, or increases to the federal debt,” it said.

In total, the U.S. loses $150 billion in federal revenue and another $34 billion in state revenue annually because of money parked in tax havens, the Boston-based consumer advocacy group concluded.

That’s almost

Radical Republicans, TEApublicans and other Governmental Deconstructionists

“Audits, liens, garnishments: the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) goes to amazing lengths to ensure you comply with your taxes but what happens when they turn that energy to making sure you also comply with their political agenda? As recent scandals have shown, that’s exactly what they are doing! Our response: its time we abolished the IRS.

“The IRS has admitted to unfairly targeting conservatives, hassling adoptive parents, throwing lavish conferences, attempting to censor pro-life groups and has leaked confidential tax information for political ends — and this is the agency we are going to trust with enforcing Obamacare?”

Tear it down.

Break it up.

Destroy it.

Kill it.

We hate it.

That’s the message of the modern Republican party.

We hate you.

We love BIG BUSINESS.

We think you ought to believe the way we do, think the way we do, act the way we do.

Be different!

Join the crowd!

Yes, the irony is abundant.

The message quoted above is a direct e-mail message from

Former Alabama business owner convicted of defraduing employees & federal government

Greed, avarice, theft… they’re all related to each other.

It begs the question, however, and that question is:

“How much is enough?”

—

Former CEO of bankrupt Adams Produce Co. enters plea agreement to fraud and other charges

By Kent Faulk | kfaulk@al.com
on January 29, 2013 at 4:43 PM, updated January 29, 2013 at 5:19 PM

BIRMINGHAM, Alabama – Scott David Grinstead, former chief executive officer of Adams Produce Company, today was charged with fraud against the now bankrupt company, failure to report a felony against the government, and failure to file federal income tax returns, federal authorities announced.

Grinstead, 45, who also today entered a plea agreement with federal prosecutors, is the second Adams Produce employee to be charged in a criminal probe of the long-time Birmingham-based company, which shut down after declaring bankruptcy last year.

Adams Produce was founded in 1903 by Edwin Calvin Adams. The Adams family sold the company to executives and a private equity firm in 2010.

Grinstead, under the terms of his plea agreement, is to pay $450,000 in restitution to the bankruptcy estate of Adams Produce for the benefit of the company’s employees who were not fully paid because of Adams’ abrupt closing and its filing for bankruptcy last year, according to a statement from U.S. Attorney Joyce White Vance, FBI Special Agent in Charge Richard D. Schwein Jr. and IRS Criminal Investigation Division Acting Special Agent in Charge Veronica Hyman-Pillot.

“This case involves the chief executive officer of a company who

Do We Now Know Enough About Mitt Romney’s Taxes?

MAKING SEN$E — September 28, 2012 at 5:04 PM EST

By: Paul Solman

US Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney speaks at a town hall meeting at Central High School in Grand Junction, Colorado, on July 10, 2012, where he said he has ‘nothing hidden’ in his taxes. Photo by: Nicholas Kamm/AFP/Getty Images

It’s hard enough to figure out my own taxes every year without having to worry about Mitt Romney’s. But because the issue of Romney’s taxes has come to loom so large, I thought I’d better get some professional advice. So I sought out a friend, estate planning lawyer Matthew Berlin, who has modest clients like me as well as the high and well-heeled, some of them with assets abroad. I asked him if we now knew all we need to know, at least with respect to the tax returns Mitt Romney has disclosed publicly.

No, said Matthew. There are a host of questions that any inquiring tax attorney or journalist might ask. Without them, a true picture of Romney’s finances would be impossible. So I asked Matthew if he wouldn’t share the questions with us. Here they are:

Meet the real “Welfare Mothers.”

Courtesy of the Wall Street Journal, the real “Welfare Mothers” are found to be…

—

Over Two-Thirds Of Corporations Pay No Federal Corporate Income Tax

First Posted: 01/10/12 01:03 PM ET Updated: 01/10/12 06:17 PM ET

At a time when the federal government is starved for cash — and facing layoffs and cuts in services across the board — more and more corporations are sidestepping their traditional tax rate and keeping millions of dollars for themselves.

The number of U.S. corporations structuring their businesses in such a way that they can avoid higher taxes has skyrocketed in the past quarter century, The Wall Street Journal reports.

In 1986, about 24 percent of corporations were what’s known as nontaxable businesses — meaning the companies themselves pay no federal income taxes — instead passing on the earnings to individual investors to pay taxes on. By 2008, these businesses accounted for about 69 percent of all corporations, a designation that can save companies hundreds of millions of dollars in a single year

Advocates for the business community have expressed frustration with the country’s 35 percent corporate income tax rate, calling it unreasonably high. In practice, though, it’s common for big businesses to pay much less, thanks to a cornucopia of tax-code loopholes and exemptions won by lobbyists.

The issue of corporate tax participation has become especially pressing in recent years, as the country struggles to manage its ballooning deficits. Corporate taxes for non-financial companies have fallen more than 13 percent since 2007, according to Bloomberg. At the same time, the national debt grew to $15.23 trillion from $9.13 trillion — a number larger than the economy itself.

According to a recent analysis of nearly 300 Fortune 500 companies by the Citizens for Tax Justice, the average company was paying just 18.3 percent in taxes — a little more than half the official rate. And by using techniques like industry subsidies, stock option packages, and moving assets overseas where they can’t be taxed, 30 companies mentioned in the report — including Wells Fargo, Verizon, Boeing and General Electric — didn’t pay a cent in federal taxes in 2008, 2009 or 2010, the report found.
The phenomenon affects state income taxes as well as federal. Last month, another study from the Center for Tax Justice found that corporate tax avoidance had cost states a combined $42.7 billion between 2008 and 2010 — a period when budget shortfalls forced states to cut spending for health care, public schools and care for the elderly and disabled.
—
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/01/10/corporations-pay-no-tax_n_1196875.html

—

More Firms Enjoy Tax-Free Status

January 10, 2012
By JOHN D. MCKINNON

StoneMor Partners LP, the publicly traded firm that specializes in running cemeteries, expects to see handsome profits in coming years as baby boomers age and die. But unlike its largest rivals, its corporate tax bill from the federal government will be zero.

StoneMor is among the many businesses organized so they don’t pay a penny in federal corporate income tax. And yet such firms don’t employ an army of accountants to shield profits in complex tax shelters. Their enviable tax position is perfectly legal and has been encouraged by Congress and state governments. Known as

IRS pays whistleblower $104 Million for exposing wealthy tax cheats

United States Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation Special Agent badge

To know the truth is good, even though what may be revealed might not be good.

The über-wealthy & super-rich can run, but they cannot hide.

If anything, this perfectly illustrates the need for strong regulation.

IRS pays whistleblower $104 million

By STEPHEN OHLEMACHER

— Sep. 11 10:58 AM EDT

WASHINGTON (AP) — Lawyers for a whistleblower say the Internal Revenue Service has awarded their client $104 million for providing information about overseas tax cheats — the largest amount ever awarded by the agency.

Ex-Swiss banker Bradley Birkenfeld is credited with exposing widespread tax evasion at Swiss bank UBS AG. Birkenfeld himself

Congratulations, Mark Zuckerberg! And welcome to the 1% of the 1% class!

Is it clear enough that Wall Street denizens like neither FaceBook or Mr. Zuckerberg?

They bitched, moaned, groaned, griped, carped and complained about his attire.

Now, the stock of his company is tanking, and readers will recall the title of an earlier post which asked “How is FaceBook’s IPO like Erectile Dysfunction?”

To be certain, this is not a reflection upon Mr. Zuckerberg’s character, but rather a form of criticism of his company’s business model. More specifically, it is the demonstrated lack of a concrete, long-term profit-making revenue stream which has many analysts concerned about the firm’s long-term viability.

By the way, based on 2009 tax year filing data, the Internal Revenue Service says an Adjusted Gross Income (AGI) of $343,927 or more, will put you in the top 1 percent of taxpayers.

—

Mark Zuckerberg earns $1.1 billion from selling Facebook shares

By Salvador Rodriguez

May 22, 2012, 5:35 p.m.

Mark Zuckerberg on Tuesday completed the transaction of the 30.2 million shares he sold in Facebook’s IPO Friday.

The shares he disposed of sold for $37.58 a piece, bringing him a cool $1.1 billion. But despite all that money, the Facebook CEO will be

THE SKY IS FALLING! THE SKY IS FALLING! Or… maybe not.

Believe it or else, there were opponents to air bags, seat belts and child safety restraints.

Some time, someone will oppose everything… even vanilla ice cream and Mother’s Day.

There are, I suppose, several ways to consider the following.

One could presume the psychotic Chicken Little, paranoid delusional “the-sky-is-falling” approach, or, one could suppose the device is only an extension of someone who cannot tell a lie… or, at least is very difficult to deliberately fabricate falsehood.

And then, there’s something in the middle.

I would imagine that’s where the truth resides.
—

A Black Box in Your Car?

By Sam Favate, April 23, 2012, 1:40 PM

If you thought having EZ Pass in your car would make it too easy for the government to track you, you ain’t seen nothing yet.

The Senate passed a bill in March that calls for “mandatory event data recorders” (or black boxes) to be installed in all new passenger motor vehicles, starting with the 2015 models, and which would record data before, during or after a crash, according to KurzweilAI.net.

The bill, which can be seen here, has a privacy provision but gives the government the authority to access the black box in a number of circumstances, including court order, consent of the owner, an investigation or inspection, or to determine the need for emergency responses.

The same bill would allow the IRS to

Q: Where in America can you retire at age 23? A: Bain Capital

“…distributions may be made to a participant who has not separated from service, provided the participant has attained age 23 years old…”

The bigger question is this: Can or will Mitt Romney give all Americans the same opportunity? Can or will his ideas and policy make everyone as rich as Croesus?

Forget “rich.”

Let’s settle for “eliminate poverty.”

I think we know the answer to that one.

—

Bain’s Unusually Young Retirement Rollover Age: 23

April 2, 2012, 2:19 PM ET

By Mark Maremont

Bain Capital, the private-equity firm that Mitt Romney used to run, appears to have an unusual early-retirement age: 23.

That’s the age at which, according to a federal filing (PDF, page 25), Bain employees are allowed to roll over their retirement funds from a Bain profit-sharing plan into their own individual retirement accounts, or simply withdraw the money.

Federal law allows employees in such profit-sharing plans to roll over their funds into an IRA only under certain circumstances, such as when they leave their jobs, when they’ve been in the job a certain number of years, or when they reach a specified age, pension lawyers said. Normally, that age is something close to retirement, such as 50 or 55 years old.

“I’ve never seen or drafted a plan permitting a distribution as early as 23,” said Charles M. Lax, a pension attorney at Maddin Hauser in Southfield, Mich. He said the Bain arrangement

American Income Disparity and the ideal of Equality

The report by the Congressional Budget Office  is based upon data provided by the Internal Revenue Service and the Census Bureau, and was requested several years ago. The official report may be downloaded from the CBO via the link provided in the story in the first sentence of the first paragraph in the words “new report.”

It is my opinion that Republicans – which party has been hijacked by the radical element commonly known as the “TEA Party” – are Hell-bent on destroying this nation by eliminating – bit by bit, piece by piece – every vestige of rule, regulation and protective service that benefits the American people.

Their ideology is “tear down,” rather than “repair, rebuild.” It’s like tearing down the house just to replace the toilet.

Their political philosophy is disguised as “small government, less regulation” which on it’s face, sounds nice – which is almost like asking “if you could satisfy your hunger by eating