Paul Rothstein, Relax Your Jaw, 4 May 2009

The President announced an initiative on taxes today. It had all the inspiration of day-old soda. He wants to limit various kinds of profit shifting that allow US multinationals (I know, that’s a confusing concept) to avoid US taxes. By some estimates, the plan could raise $21 billion in each of the next ten years.

Ho hum!

In 2005, the IRS estimated that the 2001 tax gap was — wait for it — $345 billion, of which about $55 was ultimately collected. Most of this money was from under-reporting by individuals, including significant under-reporting of individual business income.

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Press TV
5 May 2009

The United Nations anti-torture committee has demanded access to an Israeli secret prison where torture is allegedly being practiced.

The UN Committee Against Torture in Geneva prepared a document on Israel’s record on torture on Tuesday and called on Tel Aviv to release information on the alleged “Facility 1391” which is situated in an “undetermined location within Israel and which is not accessible to the International Committee of the Red Cross or detainees’ lawyers or relatives.”

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By Jeff Leys, Voices for Creative Nonviolence, 4 May 2009

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President Obama’s 2009 supplemental spending request to fund the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan is currently before Congress. The House Appropriations Committee will “mark up” (finalize its version) of a war funding bill at a committee hearing on May 7th. The full House will likely vote on the bill the following week. The objective is to have the bill finalized and to Obama for signature by Memorial Day.

President Obama is seeking an additional $75.8 billion in war funds for this fiscal year. It is possible that Congress will add to this amount before final passage. If Congress enacts Obama’s request, total war spending will come to $144.6 billion for Fiscal Year 2009 (which ends on September 30, with Fiscal Year 2010 beginning on October 1). This compares to the $186 billion war spending in 2008. Obama’s proposed war budget for 2010 is $130 billion.

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New Profile
3 May 2009

Dear friends,

Some of you have already heard:

The attempt to criminalize New Profile, begun in September 2008 with the Israeli Attorney General’s announcement of a criminal investigation of the movement, has now been accelerated. On April 26th, a day before Israel’s Memorial Day, Israeli police produced a hyperbolic piece of political theater. As if facing down a dangerous organized crime “family”, they “raided” – to quote their press release – the homes of six activists in different parts of Israel, who were summoned for interrogation. Exploiting the ritual emotions of a day of mourning for military dead, this police action singled out and branded anti-militarist activists as non-members of the legitimate community, implying that they (we) are fair game.

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