Fast food companies are dodging billions of dollars in taxes by registering their products as "intellectual property" and by diverting profits offshore. So the next time you're biting into a Big Whopper, know that you're making their headquarters in Switzerland very happy! Via Think Progress:

Technology companies have mastered the use of schemes involving low-tax foreign countries in order to avoid billions of dollars in American taxes each year. Now, fast food chains like McDonalds, Burger King, and Subway are doing the same.

When the companies create a product, like Burger King’s Whopper hamburger, they can classify it as intellectual property. Franchises then pay a fee to the company to sell the product and use the company logo. But instead of collecting the fees in the United States, where the intellectual property filings were created, Burger King, McDonalds, and other chains often house the fees in other low-tax countries in order to save millions of dollars, as Reuters’ Tom Bergin reports:

In Burger King’s case, the IP was created in the United States, home of the Whopper. But the fee the European units pay to use it goes to Burger King’s main European office in Zug, Switzerland. There the effective tax rate could range from 2 percent to 12 percent, according to Thierry Boitelle, tax partner with law firm Bonnard Lawson in Geneva.Zug-based Burger King Europe GmbH retains the payments, a Burger King spokesman said. Had the fee been remitted to the United States it would have faced a tax rate of 35 percent to 39 percent.

McDonalds and Burger King each have overseas headquarters in Switzerland. Subway sends most of its overseas profits to Curacao, a low-tax haven in the Caribbean. Coffee-chain Starbucks also utilizes the intellectual property loophole to help reduce its corporate tax rate— Reuters reported that it successfully avoided millions of pounds in British taxes last year. The companies’ tax rates differed: Starbucks paid 31 percent in the U.S. but just 13 percent overseas; Burger King also paid 13 percent on overseas income, while McDonalds paid 20 percent.

Earlier this week it happened again. We don't know all the details, but what we do know is this. A young man named T.J. Lane walked into high school—here in my home state of Ohio—approached a table full of kids and started shooting.

By the time the smoke cleared, three kids were dead. Three tragedies of unfulfilled dreams, unrealized potential, and abrogated Constitutional rights to "life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness," their "general welfare" not protected by the state. More accurately, sacrificed on the altar of the arms industry's puffery and profit-driven deceit.

Like with any tragedy such as this, there were many handmaidens. Certainly, chief among them was the violence this young man bore witness to regularly, in a household reportedly filled with it. His parents, both charged with domestic abuse and other violent behavior in the past, seemingly helped nurture a disturbed and dangerous kid.

But it's also been reported that the killer's grandfather—from whom Lane accessed the gun used—had so many weapons lying around that he couldn't figure out a gun was missing until afterwards. Read that sentence again.

Teaching a child that violence solves everything and giving him access to an arsenal. That should make his family criminally liable—although, current Ohio law will not allow that to happen.

Perhaps, if Ohio state lawmakers hadn't been so busy letting fetuses testify or extending concealed-carry permits to drinking establishments (shots and shooting! Two pastimes that go hand-in-hand like crack cocaine and boating!), they could've found some time to work on that one.

Because, make no mistake, it's a love affair with guns by an obsessive and loud minority and the resulting lax regulation, which are key reasons these things just don't happen on a regular basis in any other Western country. While TJ Lane had easy pickings among a bevy of unaccounted-for weapons, the state of Virginia—under its culturally-Ragtime-Era governor—was removing a law that limited buyers to one handgun purchase per month.

Continue reading »

Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz seems to be the "Third Way Moderate of the Month" these days. He's everywhere, promoting his new book in all the Starbucks stores, showing up with op-eds calling for boycotts on campaign contributions to presidential candidates, and just generally inserting himself into politics more than I can recall in the past.

This week he pops up on This Week, with Christiane Amanpour, echoing the right wing memes with just a soft hint of moderation to make them go down like a venti mocha with extra chocolate. Check this piece of the discussion out, where he blames the ever-amorphous "Washington". As much as I'd like to believe he's trying to stick a hot poker in the backs of those companies sitting on their trillions without reinvesting in jobs or growth here in the states, it's just very difficult for me to believe.

SCHULTZ: Well, I think it's -- it's important to kind of frame the issue. As a result of the debt crisis and the debacle that took place between Congress and the president, we have a crisis of confidence in the U.S. and abroad. And that crisis of confidence is as a result of the lack of leadership coming out of Washington. Now, what I've also been saying, in addition to the fact that I've asked like-minded CEOs to suspend contributions, is that business and business leaders should not be waiting for Washington, and we need to reaffirm our faith in the economy and do everything we can to be a catalyst for change and try and do everything we can to invest back in America so we -- we can affect the jobs issue. But make no mistake: The issue at hand right now is the dysfunctionality in Washington and the lack of understanding that this is no longer a crisis. This is an emergency in America. And as a result of that, we need political courage and political will to solve our problems.

TAPPER: I'm sorry. I love your lattes, but I just think this is a copout. There are absolutely people in this town who are willing to compromise. Absolutely there are members of the Republican Party, of the Democratic Party who are willing to compromise. To say, "We're not going to give money to anybody, all 435 members of Congress, all 10 Republicans running for president, President Obama," is not doing the work of trying to figure out who actually is trying to solve these problems.

AMANPOUR: Mr. Schultz?

SCHULTZ: Yeah, let me -- let me -- let me give you some information: $4 billion was spent in 2008 in the presidential cycle, an estimated $5.5 billion in 2012. I would -- I would suspect that even you would think that we can use that money much better off, for our education system, to do anything possible to create jobs in America and not to continue to fund a broken system. But that's not the issue. The issue right now is not to point blame. The issue is, we -- we must address the issue of job creation in America.

Last week, as an example, I was in Europe. I had a private meeting with President Sarkozy. And in that meeting, he shared with me not only about the euro zone and the problems in Europe with regard to Greece, but the fact is that the connective tissue as it relates to the problems we're having in America and how that spilled off as a crisis of confidence in Europe. The issues that we have right now are not just singularly focused on America and Washington. And responsibility has to be for those who are in Washington who can make the decisions necessary to bring back confidence and hope back into the country.

I'm truly confused by this whole mushy frame. It's "Washington" that has created this crisis of confidence, and business has to step up and fix it? And really, is anyone else just a little creeped out that a CEO of an American company is having a private audience with Sarkozy to discuss the Eurozone problems, which are at a crisis point?

A memo to Howard Schultz: There are thousands marching in the streets, protesting corporate control over our politics, our economy, and their lives. Is this really the time to duck corporate responsibility and blame it all on
Washington?

The combined actions of Schultz lately are those of someone considering a run at the Presidency: Publishing a book about his vision for this country and our economy, actively boycotting political donations to the amorphous "Washington", appearing on Sunday talking head shows, and meeting with foreign heads of state. A third-party candidate based on Third Way principles? As I see it, that could really create some serious problems for everyone, but most of all those people out there exercising their rights of assembly and free speech while speaking against the corporations and Wall Street, who would be Schultz' first constituents.

Are you a Starbucks Rewards Member? If you are, you probably got this awesome warm-and-fuzzy feeling email today about how you could help Starbucks help needy schools by funding Bill Gates' DonorsChoose.org initiative.

It all sounds great, doesn't it?

msnbc's Morning Joe and Starbucks encourage you to support public schools through DonorsChoose.org.

Starting October 4th, Starbucks retail stores and participating grocery stores will feature a select number of marked bags of Gold Coast Blend®- Morning Joe Edition coffee with $5 DonorsChoose.org donation stickers*. To direct funding to the public school classroom project of your choice visit DonorsChoose.org/starbucks**.

[...and the fine print...]

**Offer only available through codes found on specially-marked packages of Starbucks® Gold Coast Blend® - Morning Joe Edition coffee. We will donate $5 for every code entered through 12/31/2011, until $600,000 has been given. Enter your code at www.donorschoose.org/starbucks then choose a classroom project to receive the $5 donation. Codes expire on 12/31/2011 at 11:59 pm EST. Donations can only be directed to existing projects on DonorsChoose.org. Coffee purchases and this $5 donation are not tax-deductible. For promotional details and restrictions, visit www.donorschoose.org/starbucks.

Awww, isn't that nice? A special blend for the conservative dude on the so-called "liberal" channel, and all you have to do is buy it to send five bucks off to DonorsChoose.org, which until recently I supported for the most part. The idea behind DonorsChoose is for teachers to put up a wish list for their classrooms, and small donors to fulfill it with...small donations.

This is all great except that it now includes charter schools, which already receive plenty of money from big donors, including a lot of very, very far right wing donors. It's also symptomatic of a larger issue, which is the abject underfunding of our schools. What's next? A $5 donation for every bag of Bill O'Reilly Decaf Blend? Or maybe the Erick Erickson Afternoon Teabag?

Continue reading »

Forgive me if I'm just the tiniest bit skeptical and annoyed by Howard Schultz' righteous cry for "Washington" to get together and get to a deal on the deficit and national debt. In this interview with Scott Pelley, he repeatedly refers to "Washington", as if "Washington the Monolith" somehow caused the gridlock that exists now.

I understand why President Obama uses the more generic "Congress" to point his finger. But if you're someone like the CEO of Starbucks and you know exactly who is responsible for the incivility in Washington and the gridlock in Congress, standing up brave and tall and waggling your finger at everyone doesn't make any sense.

Now, as to the campaign contributions. Schultz is calling for a moratorium on all campaign contributions. From the interview:

Pelley: You know, since this idea of yours first came out over the weekend, there's been some criticism of it. And part of that criticism essentially says, "This is a little like nuclear weapons. Just because you disarm, that doesn't mean your opponents will." Doesn't it leave an opening for others to wield their influence while you're taking your money to the sidelines?

Schultz: Well, first off, I understand that, Scott. We want to suspend the donations to encourage the incumbents, including the president, to go back to work and to reach a deal. We have sent these people to Washington to represent America, not represent singular ideology.

Continue reading »

If one were to paint a picture of StudentsFirst founder, Michelle Rhee, based upon her associations, what would emerge wouldn't look much like anyone claiming to be a "liberal," or a Democrat. After all, she's cozied up with Florida governor Rick Scott to help destroy Florida public schools. Then did the same with Tennessee's legislators to wreck theirs. She's also an avowed enemy of organized labor, stepping out with Scott Walker to be honored by Betsy DeVos. Plus, her good buddy Joel Klein is Rupert Murdoch's BFF.

Here's a new contour to flesh out the picture: Rhee is slated to appear at Willow Creek Community Church's Global Leadership Summit this week. And here's something you need to know about Willow Creek Community Church. Willow Creek, while officially non-denominational, has theological roots reaching deeply into the Southern Baptist tradition. Because that might put off someone otherwise interested in attending their church, Willow Creek is not affiliated with the SBC, but they nevertheless form alliances and share fundamental beliefs with them. Those fundamental beliefs have led them to affiliate with organizations like Exodus International, an organization dedicated to "praying away the gay."

Huffington Post:

(RNS) Willow Creek Community Church, a trend-setting megachurch in suburban Chicago, has quietly ended its partnership with Exodus International, an "ex-gay" organization.

Willow Creek decided to sever ties with the Florida-based ministry in 2009, Christianity Today reported, but the decision only became public in June.

Church officials described the move as a shift in approach rather than a change in belief. Susan DeLay, a spokeswoman for Willow Creek, said the church continues to welcome those who are attracted to people of the same sex.

"Willow Creek has a whole host of ministries for people dealing with these issues, and we would never intend for them to feel sidelined," she told Christianity Today.

Continue reading »

The power went out in my neighborhood again last night---now it's back up, but I'm having connection issues. I'm in a local Internet/coffee joint not named Starbucks on Venice Blvd, called Venice Grind. I got me a hot cup of smokey latte while I wait for my tech to show up. Light blogging for me until the connectivity issues are resolved. The coffee is great and wireless is free...Louie really loves this place.

Channeling Jean Schmidt

Malkin just can't stand to have an 89 year old man oppose this war. Michelle is channeling Jean Schmidt as usual with her "cut and run" rhetoric. I wonder how many more of her posts will end like this:

"SFChronicle reports... Starbucks 'bomb' found to be harmless Preliminary tests apparently find no explosive material"

That must have really bummed her out.

(hat tip Eric)

Republican Alabama lawmaker Gerald Allen says homosexuality is an unacceptable lifestyle. As CBS News Correspondent Mark Strassmann reports, under his bill, public school libraries could no longer buy new copies of plays or books by gay authors, or about gay characters.

"I don't look at it as censorship," says State Representative Gerald Allen. "I look at it as protecting the hearts and souls and minds of our children." ...read on

The sickness is spreading at a rapid pace. Next will be gay screen writers, gay actors, gay chefs, gay starbucks workers, gay Wal-mart employees...oh wait a second..they don't make enough money to count. The next question is where will Ken Mehlman go?

Those who crave Starbucks can step over to a kiosk at Grace Capital Church in Pembroke, N.H. At True Bethel Baptist Church in Buffalo, N.Y., the spot where the choir once sang now sells Subway sandwiches. And in more than a few picturesque meeting houses, hymns and prayers ascend through a steeple that doubles as a leased-out cellphone tower....read on