jonathan-cunningham:

In a potentially crushing blow to the burgeoning medical marijuana industry, the IRS has ruled that dispensaries cannot deduct standard business expenses such as payroll, security or rent…

“I see only two outcomes here,” said Steve DeAngelo, director and chief executive of Harborside. “Either this IRS assessment has to change or we go out of business. There really isn’t a middle ground for us”…

The IRS ruling is based on an obscure portion of the tax code — section 280E — passed into law by Congress in 1982, at the height of Reagan administration’s “war on drugs.” The law, originally targeted at drug kingpins and cartels, bans any tax deductions related to “trafficking in controlled substances.”

Massive multinational corporations get record low tax rates and have a voice in the government calling for even lower rates (even though they fund human rights abuses in Africa). Meanwhile, small businesses that provide medication for sick people are buried, with the obvious intention of putting them out of business. This is what electing conservatives to office gets you.

Just more bullshit in the world. Congress needs some medical marijuana and pizza. Maybe they’d chill out?

thesnugglycactus:

I’ve had this written for a few days but I kept revising it. When I started writing it, I wasn’t focused and it was kind of disjointed. It may still be. But, whatever, quantity, not quality! : )
//

We’re all very aware of the fact that this country is hurting for jobs. We’re also all very aware…

I agree.

We must generate jobs that cannot be exported. Wind/solar/geo/medical/smartgrid infrastructure. Any basic economics class will tell you there will always be a certain percentage of people out of work and/or between jobs. With society and economies changing at such a rapid pace, the issue is keeping up with these changes. We must adapt, innovate, PARTICIPATE, vote with every dollar we spend, work hard, and WE MUST ALL PAY MORE TAXES (yes, I just said that).

Also, our species is heavily reliant upon expansion. We are experiencing the most rapid expansion in technology, culture, and thought in human history. However, our ability to expand our population and allocate/distribute resources is tipping towards stagnation and eventual reduction. (This leads to a very rough road). A mixture of global conservation, population control, and expansion to the heavens will be the only way for our children to lead a comfortable life (or at least one that’s not lived comfortably at the expense of others).

politicalprof:

Bumper sticker attached to a trash can:

“Work harder. Democrats want to spend your money!”

While this does capture a certain mood in this great country, it is perhaps a bit one-sided. The spending urge is among our most bipartisan instincts. If anything, over the last 30 years Democrats have…

politicalprof:

Basically, the answer is: when they’re on the middle class and the poor. On the rich, not so much.

——————-

Harold Meyerson, The Washington Post

America’s presumably anti-tax party wants to raise your taxes. Come January, the Republicans plan to raise the taxes of anyone who earns $50,000 a…

Teh Prof, tellin’ it like it is!

jonathan-cunningham:

Many of the same Republicans who fought hammer-and-tong to keep the George W. Bush-era income tax cuts from expiring on schedule are now saying a different “temporary” tax cut should end as planned. By their own definition, that amounts to a tax increase.

The tax break extension they oppose is sought by President Barack Obama. Unlike proposed changes in the income tax, this policy helps the 46 percent of all Americans who owe no federal income taxes but who pay a “payroll tax” on practically every dime they earn.

There are other differences as well, and Republicans say their stand is consistent with their goal of long-term tax policies that will spur employment and lend greater certainty to the economy.

“It’s always a net positive to let taxpayers keep more of what they earn,” says Rep. Jeb Hensarling, “but not all tax relief is created equal for the purposes of helping to get the economy moving again.” The Texas lawmaker is on the House GOP leadership team.

That’s right: after decades of demagoguery against any sort of increase in the taxation rate for Millionaires and Billionaires, the Republican party finally want to increase revenue by raising taxes: on the poor! This is so mind-blowingly hypocritical that I can barely process it. Out of everyone in the United States, they want the people with the least amount of money to pay more. Sure, they could have increase taxes on people making more than $2 million a year, but they’d rather take that last dime from your pocket. Disgusting. 

mothernaturenetwork:

Stop coddling the super-rich, Warren Buffett says
The billionaire urged lawmakers to raise taxes on the country’s super-rich to help cut the budget deficit, saying such a move will not hurt investments.

I’ll pay more taxes too (middle class)!

climateadaptation:

Imagine a gadget attached to the dash of your car that calculated the per-second costs of driving. The “meter,” similar to a taxi-cab ticker, would not only flash on the screen the cost of gas, emissions, and wear and tear, but also your impact on public roads. How would such a meter change your…