Friday, December 31, 2010

Tribute to the Great One, Dr. Clarkson

We owe him so much. He's now so far, yet close.... partly because the PN staff has continued his work with such aplomb! And they have created a tribute page among the many fine offerings in the vast Patriot Network website. Here it is. Enjoy.... Remember... submit memories and pictures of your own... and thank God that such a man could ever exist!
And please think about a gift to the Clarkson Memorial Fund, won't you? This blog is a volunteer effort at present. Other PN services are perilously close to it!
http://www.patriotnetwork.info/memorial/

Robert Barnwell Clarkson II

June 4, 1947 - March 1, 2010


Happy New Year, ameriKa! Uncle Sugar loves you

Those poor, helpless multi-billionaires. Just by coincidence, they call the shots in the government that makes this kind of decision!

http://www.newsoftheweird.com/archive/index.html

Americans continue to agonize over government "giveaways," but as News of the Weird has noted several times, somehow federal farm subsidies continue unabated -- even though much of the money no longer goes to cuddly "family farms" but to rich urban industrialists who hardly know a plow from a sow. In the latest accounting from Environmental Working Group records, the weekly New York Press revealed such "agrarian" handout-seekers as Manhattan billionaires Leonard Lauder and David Rockefeller -- and Rockefeller's son Mark. (In fact, for 10 years now, the federal government has handed Mark $54,500 a year not to grow anything on his 5,000 acres in Idaho. According to the Press, Mark never intended to, in that he only bought the land because it was adjacent to the upscale, socialite-hangout South Fork fly-fishing lodge he runs next door.) [New York Press, 6-15-10]

News Link • Bailouts
10 bailed-out banks spent $16.3M lobbying in 1H
08-31-2010 • Eileen Aj Connelly, AP Business Writer
The 10 banks that received the most bailout aid during the financial crisis spent over $16 million on lobbying efforts in the first half of 2010, as the debate over financial regulatory reform reached its height. Disclosure reports show that the banks that got the most government help in late 2008 and early 2009 also invested the most to influence members of Congress, the White House, the Federal Reserve, Treasury Department and a long list of federal agencies as new rules were enacted governing Wall Street and the nation's financial system.Read more: Ten Bailed-Out Banks Spent $16.3 Million Lobbying in First Half
Read CommentsMake a CommentEmail this News LinkSend Letter to Editor

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Here's some great news, despite the ominous, horrible, ghastly, outrageous state into which our freedoms have sunken. Only in dictatorships is there any restriction on what you can and can't photograph. Thank God for the following decision, but woe unto any country where it's necessary!

You CAN Photograph That Federal Building

Oct 19, 2010 ... The right of photographers to stand in a public place and take pictures of federal buildings has been upheld by a legal settlement reached in New York.
...............Under the settlement, announced Monday by the New York Civil Liberties Union, the Federal Protective Service said that it would inform its officers and employees in writing of the “public’s general right to photograph the exterior of federal courthouses from publicly accessible spaces” and remind them that “there are currently no general security regulations prohibiting exterior photography by individuals from publicly accessible spaces, absent a written local rule, regulation or order.”
www.prisonplanet.com › Featured Stories - Cached

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Here's a good one. The big banks aren't whoring it up for the feds enough already, so they're now joining the rest of the "private" sector in doing volunteer work on a massive scale.
Banks are *supposed* to be part of the private sector. They are supposed to be working for the good of the customer first and foremost. Oh, yes, self-interest and self-advancement is what any business is all about, but doesn't that depend on keeping customers happy and well-served at all costs?
Of course it does. In a great free enterprise-based economic like ours, anyway -- right?
But who are ameriKa's banks really in it for? One could say they're a virtual arm of the government and nothing "private" about them at all, but it would be every bit as accurate to say that the government is an extension of the banks. Or another branch of the incestuously close family tree. Slice it however you like, all the large institutions in this society are ranged against us as an attack army for from hell. Yes, all of them!

Wall Street Is the New Tax Collector? Governments Relinquish Taxation Powers to Big Banks
Wall Street titans have found a new way to screw over the poor and middle class -- as surrogate tax collectors.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Follow the money as they follow the money. Like bloodhounds.

The New Tax Man: Big Banks and Hedge Funds
Nearly a dozen major banks and hedge funds, anticipating quick profits from homeowners who fall behind on property taxes, are quietly plowing hundreds of millions of dollars into businesses that collect the debts, tack on escalating fees and threaten to foreclose on the homes of those who fail to pay.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Let me get this straight: the government that has a money waterfall for funding warfare is so strapped it has to bleed working people the rest of the way dry..... in order to fund giveaways?
Is this the greatest country in the world experiencing total downfall, or is this Alice in Wonderland meets Godzilla?

Cash-strapped governments ramping up tax-collection efforts
Tax officials throughout the Washington region are trying new and often extraordinary measures to collect tens of millions of dollars in delinquent payments, as huge projected budget deficits threaten to slash public services.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Go to work for the government. A great way to save on taxes.


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Speaking of Alice in Wonderland, do you ever feel like you're sometimes searching "Through the Looking Glass" for the basic information you have coming from the System?

Man Makes Ridiculously Complicated Chart To Find Out Who Owns His Mortgage

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/11/18/man-makes-ridiculously-co_n_785315.html
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/11/16/mortgage-security-chart_n_784274.html

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Bringing people power to bear on the birth certificate issue!

http://boycotthawaii.com/

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Odds and ends:

Can you tell which of these government spending projects are real or fake?
If only the American people knew...
[Link ever goes dead, search REAL OR FAKE in Youtube.]

Group Tallies Families' "Hidden Health Tax"
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124353194170163283.html?mod=googlenews_wsj
You're paying for your own and somebody else's.

British banks revolt against Obama tax plan
British banks and stockbrokers may refuse to take on American clients if new international tax proposals outlined by President Obama are passed.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/banksandfinance/5374095/British-banks-revolt-against-Obama-tax-plan.html

Thursday, December 30, 2010

Giving a little of it back to them

Just in via email from the PN HQ:

IRS Computers are Down

Patriot ties up Tax Agent for an Hour!


Here’s a little holiday fun from Ralph X.

Ralph received a CP-91 where the IRS said they would levy his SS payments. Ralph has already submitted a CDPH, so I told him to call the number on the letter and tell the IRS if they touched his SS he would sue them for violating a stay on collections.

This is Ralph’s response:

HAPPY NEW YEAR............ I finally got [an agent] on this after 4 calls. I just got off the phone with them and they tell me that their computers are all down in preparation for the 2011 tax season and they are currently unable to access any of my information. (Is that LAME or what?) The rocket scientist I talked to said that he didn't think any holding of SS funds had been setup yet, and since he's a rocket scientist......he should know.

Bottom line is he recommends that I call back Monday or Tuesday....whenever they manage to get the computers back up if that's the case. Sounds a bit "fishy" to me.

Anyhow, he was fairly nice and I managed to keep him tied up on the phone for nearly an hour talking nonsense stuff........I figure his work might pile up more than it already was. Then I ask if he could hold for a moment while I went to [relieve myself]......and never came back. He's such a nice young man.

Until later,

Ralph

*******************

...............Now, how about this one, which is written up much more vividly in the National Examiner 2/22/10 (Nancy Scott, "Nurse Outsmarts the IRS!") This could be extremely useful for some college-bound youth in your life.

http://blogs.mccombs.utexas.edu/mccombs-today/2010/04/is-your-mba-graduate-degree-tax-deductible

In January, The Wall Street Journal ran a story about the fight of nurse Lori Singleton-Clarke to deduct nearly $15,000 in business school tuition as an unreimbursed employee business expense on her federal income tax return. The twist to the story, besides the fact that she represented herself in U.S. Tax Court and won (after three years of IRS discussions), is that it lays out a road map for other students in deciding whether to deduct business school expenses.

While the U.S. Tax Court issued a summary opinion in the Singleton-Clarke case, in a similar case, Daniel R. Allemeier, the Tax Court judge issued a memorandum opinion, which implies that the judge thought the case did not involve a novel legal issue and that the tax law in the area was well settled. Though tax court rulings do not create precedent that must be followed by every court, decisions like these are persuasive precedent and bode well for students in similar tax circumstances.


Wednesday, December 22, 2010

USG moves like a cyclone through global banking

First they came for the Swiss. Now it's the Germans -- and, horror of horrors, the Panamanian banks that are being deprived of their privacy, security and dignity. I don't know the industry very well, but I am well familiar with the fedgov, and to me this article has "coercion" and "subjugation" written all over it, even "fascist Washington-based new world order."

http://blacklistednews.com/Deutsche-Bank-pays-half-a-billion-to-escape-US-tax-probe--Business/12020/0/11/11/Y/M.html

Deutsche Bank pays half a billion to escape US tax probe
Business
Published on 12-22-2010 Email To Friend Print Version
Share
Source: DW-World
Deutsche Bank has agreed to pay the United States' Department of Justice $553.6 million (421 million euros) to avoid criminal charges and end an investigation into the bank's sale of fraudulent tax shelters that cost the government billions in revenues.
The office of a New York district attorney general confirmed that the Frankfurt-based bank admitted taking part "in financial transactions which furthered fraudulent tax shelters that generated billions of dollars in US tax losses."
The deal will "resolve an investigation related to the bank's participation in various tax-oriented transactions for clients from approximately 1996 to 2002," Deutsche Bank said in a statement.
Independent overseer
The multi-million dollar payment represents the total fees Deutsche Bank earned from its participation in the fraud, tax revenues lost by US authorities and a $149 million fine.
An independent expert will now oversee the implementation of measures "designed to ensure that Deutsche Bank does not participate in future transactions that may be used to defraud the Internal Revenue Service," the attorney general said.
Deutsche Bank said it was "pleased" the investigation was over, adding that the fine would not have any impact on its current net income, since it will come out of the bank's reserves.
The bank also said that its tax products are now checked more rigorously than they were in the past. "Since 2002, the bank has significantly strengthened its policies and procedures as part of an ongoing effort to ensure strict adherence to the law and the highest standards of ethical conduct," it said.
Author: Ben Knight (AFP, dpa)
Editor: Sam Edmonds

Monday, December 20, 2010

The world upside down

The above is the name of a song emblematic of the American Revolutionary period. The USA was where, for the first time in known history, people power had run off the greatest power in the world -- Great Britain.
I've just received evidence that the phrase applies to our country in a painfully ironic vein: today's edition of Casey's Daily Dispatch titled The World Is More Free – But Not Your World. It says.....

With so many things happening in our political system, it’s easy to lose focus of the world as whole. And for this reason, many Americans are rather pessimistic about the future of the world. Decade after decade, our government grows bigger and opportunity slowly wilts.

But sometimes we have to step back from our own country and analyze the world’s trend. In general, the world is getting more free –-- not less. Think about the globe only 50 years ago: China wasn'’t communist in name only, but communist in reality. Of course, the USSR still worshipped Lenin, and Eastern Europe was under the grip of the same mental aberration.

Furthermore, other parts of the world were on economic lockdown too. Few in their right mind would have located their customer service department or any business unit in India at the time. The Middle East, too, has seen vast improvements since then. Modern Turkey and Dubai would have been unimaginable a few decades ago. On top of this list, there are still more examples, such as Singapore, Taiwan, and South Korea. Don’'t forget South American countries like Chile, Argentina, Colombia, and Brazil. Sure, most of these locations aren’'t free-market paradises, but compared to the past, things are good and in many cases getting better.

If China alone grew freer, the world on net would have improved. A billion souls are being allowed to experience a form of free-market capitalism after almost a century under communism. That’s an amazing accomplishment. The United States, Canada, and Western Europe have become less free, but our populations represent a much smaller proportion of the world.

As strange as it sounds in the middle of this recession, the world on net is doing well compared to the past. Unfortunately for us, we'’re not a net gainer in this new global picture. The new global economy offers plenty of opportunity for the adventurous. But I don’'t think the majority of us will be packing for Singapore anytime soon. We’ll likely survive with what’'s left of the free market at home.

This shift is especially apparent among foreign students. As I’'m finishing my masters of finance at Johns Hopkins University, I'’ve met so many international students that have no intention of remaining in the U.S. They’re here to get a good education, and then they’re leaving. This would have been an unimaginable plan only two decades ago. Anyone who could stay in America would.

And it’s not necessarily that America has gotten so bad. It’s that the gap between us and other places in the world has gotten smaller. When an educated foreigner had to pick between earning $50,000 in the U.S. and $5,000 domestically, the choice was obvious. But now that they can make $20,000 domestically; $50,000 in the States is less appealing. After all, there are personal costs to immigration, such as learning a new language and getting along with a different culture. It simply isn’'t worth the extra cash for many individuals. Similarly, most of us wouldn'’t jump on a ship for China to boost our salaries by $30K. We’'ve all got roots that can be troublesome to uproot.

For a long time, talented individuals from Russia, Eastern Europe, China, and India either had to move to the West or were destined for poverty, despite their skills. Now, with an education and some effort, one can earn a decent living in numerous countries around the world. For most people around the globe, the glass looks half full. There’s a lot to be hopeful about --– even in this recession. Unfortunately, our glass doesn’'t only look half empty; it’'s actually getting emptier...... (end of quote)

Fortunately, we who have sat at the feet of Dr. Robert Clarkson for any length of time have the best education available long-term on this subject. The Great One had no illusions about the nature or intentions of the fedgov, While he was the very picture of optimism, many of us fully realized that Babylon-on-the-Potomac and lots of other jurisdictions in this country are not only contemptuous but hostile to the citizens' real interests. Visit the Patriot Bookstore today -- keep tradition tradition going. Our products are all very user-friendly and would make excellent (late) Christmas gifts!

Saturday, December 18, 2010

A new day has dawned

......and already the info streaming is flowing. Anybody remember the PN's old friend Bud Cummings? He sends out frequent emails on the nature of real versus false money. Bud's latest compilation contains info that will already be known to some but not others:

Quotations from U. S. MINT* & COINAGE ACTS by Charles. Weisman

In re to PUBLIC STATUTES & "Biblical Money"!

* Copyright 1987, revised 1991 ISBN 1-929205-01-5

Quoting Daniel Webster from the Congressional Record:

"Of all the contrivances for cheating the working classes of mankind, none has been found more effectual than that which deludes them with paper money."

Cite Richard Henry Lee writ. to George Mason 15 May/1787: “Knaves assure, & fools agree, that calling paper ’money’ & making it ’tender’ is the way to be rich & happy; thus the national mind is kept in continual disturbance by the intrigues of wicked men for fraudulent purposes, for speculating designs.” Note: Lee named on 2 Apr, 1792 Mintage Act re U. S. Money of *Account.

Quoting Geo. Washington from a letter to a citizen of Rhode Island in 1787:

"Paper money has had the effect that it ever will have, to ruin commerce, OPPRESS the HONEST, and open a door to every species of FRAUD and injustice."

Cite William Paterson in 1786: “An increase of paper money if it be a tender, will destroy what little credit is left; will bewilder conscience in the maze of dishonest speculations,…will turn vice into legal virtue; & will sanctify iniquity by law.”

Cite James Madison in #44 of the FEDERALIST PAPERS: "...The extension of the prohibition to Bills of Credit [paper money] must give pleasure to every citizen in proportion to his love of justice and his knowledge of the true springs of public prosperity."

Cite Thom. Jefferson: [1816] "I believe that banking institutions are more dangerous to our liberties than standing armies. Already they have raised up a money aristocracy that has set the government at defiance. The issuing power [of money] should be taken from the banks, and restored to the people to whom it belongs..."

Citing from FAREWELL ADDRESS by Pres. Andrew Jackson [4 March, 1837] in part,

"The Constitution of the United States unquestionably intended to secure to the people a circulating medium of gold and silver... The paper system being founded on public confidence and having of itself no intrinsic value, it is liable to great and sudden fluxuations, thereby rendering property insecure and the wages of labor unsteady and uncertain...

Some of the evils which arise from this system of paper press with peculiar hardship upon the class of society least able to bear it...The paper-money system may be used as an engine to undermine your free institutions, and those who desire to engross all power in the hands of the few and to govern by corruption or force are aware of its power and prepared to employ it...The mischief springs from the moneyed interest derives from a paper currency which they are able to control...

The distress and sufferings inflicted on the people by the bank are some of the fruits of that system of policy which is continually striving to enlarge the authority of the Federal Government...You have already had abundant evidence of the banking institution's power to inflict injury upon the agricultural, mechanical, and laboring classes of society..."
....................................................................................................................

SIGNATURE#2
RE Intent of Congress-
See 18 USC 241, 242:
18 USC Section 1001 is in U. S. v. Myers, DC Cal. 1955, 131 F Supp. 525 "This section was designed to insure to the whole world, government employees & general public alike, that any record, document, instrument, or statement made by a governmental employee, great or small, in his official capacity & in the course of his official duties, can be relied upon by all."
18 USC 1001. Whoever, in any matter within the jurisdiction of any department or agency of the United States, knowingly wilfully falsifies, conceals or covers up by any trick, scheme or device a material fact, or makes any false, fictitious or fraudulent statements or representations, or...or entry, shall be fined not more than $10,000 or imprisoned not more than five years or both."
See /save/print pics & history of silver "$"-8 Bits@ Notre Dame Coin Museum online; coined in HISPAN 1772-1825; used in U S to 1857!
Coined in "HISPAN" [aka as New Spain]. Search for Coin Collection of Robert Gore Jr.
Get FREE Voter-Juror Edu info@ 1-8OO-TEL-JURY & WWW.AMERICANJURYINSTITUTE.ORG
Get Best Deal on 1828 Noah Webster Dict. of the "AMERICAN" English Language@ www.ChristianTech.com

Friday, December 17, 2010

Is today the day.... that ameriKa starts to recover?

Stop the presses! Man bites dog! What's wrong with this picture?
All of a sudden, in the twinkling of an eye, Dummacrats and Republicons appear to have grown up and started to make sense. If this NYT article is to be believed, they've just passed a bill giving the American people a break on that which was previously held inviolate and immutable -- taxes. And almost a trillion dollars' worth -- Am I seeing things? With more Democrat than Republican Representatives voting for it?!?!Italic OK, OK, they didn't wake up yesterday realizing they'd been selfish pigs and cannibals all their illustrious political lives. They certainly haven't restored the Constitution to final authority in their deliberations. (If they had, most public servants would quickly be out of a job.) Let's face it, this is probably nothing but the same old narrow, blind self-interest that's motivated these skunks all along: they've added the Tea Party movement, the European riots and the actual state of things in ameriKa up and remembered, finally, that crime doesn't pay. Could the sight of English university students rocking the royal limousine and shouting "off with their heads" have anything to do with improving Congressional eyesight?
At the least this development shows politicians capable of coherence. At best, it may, who knows, presage a return to actual sanity for them and hope for us. They're so all-fired concerned about the deficit -- would somebody out there care to remind them it's nothing but funny money, and all they have to do is abolish the Fed to solve that little problem? Or, as a New Jersey compatriotess of mine used to say, "mint one umpteen-trillion-dollar coin out of pot metal, hand it to the Fed and say "debt discharged."
Will O'Bama sign the bill, or did he agree beforehand to take the rap? Something has to be wrong with this picture, but as of this moment I don't see what it is.
Patriot Network products that come to mind: the Financial Privacy and Gold and Silver DVDs. Order one or both today!


http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/17/us/politics/17cong.html?_r=2&hp
Congress Sends $801 Billion Tax Cut Bill to Obama

Here's Freedom's Phoenix's presentation of the above news plus other juicy items germane to our interests. /\/
News Link • TAXES: Federal
Congress Sends Tax Cut Bill to Obama as Logjam Ends
12-16-2010 NY Times
Congress at midnight Thursday approved an $801 billion package of tax cuts and $57 billion for extended unemployment insurance. The vote sealed the first major deal between President Obama and Congressional Republicans as Democrats put aside their ob
Read Comments Make a CommentEmail this News Link Send Letter to Editor
News Link • Legislative Mischief
Senate Democrats give up on earmark-laden spending bill
12-16-2010 Washington Post
Senate Democrats on Thursday abandoned their efforts to approve a comprehensive funding bill for the federal government after Republicans rebelled against its $1.2 trillion cost and the inclusion of nearly 7,000 line-item projects for individual lawm
Read Comments Make a CommentEmail this News Link Send Letter to Editor
News Link • Government
Washington area is wealthiest and most educated region in the nation
12-16-2010 Washington Post
The Washington area's affluence and education levels make it the wealthiest and most educated region in the nation, according to census data released Tuesday that reflect five years of relative prosperity compared with the rest of the country.
Read Comments Make a CommentEmail this News Link Send Letter to Editor

News Link • Precious Metals
Ron Paul: Fed ‘monopoly’ could be broken if Americans use gold, silver as currency
12-16-2010 RawStory.com
As the incoming chairman of the House monetary policy subcommittee, Rep. Ron Paul (R-TX) will hold the bully pulpit when it comes to the nation's money woes.
Read Comments Make a CommentEmail this News Link Send Letter to Editor

Opinion • United Nations
McElroy's Musings
Marxist America: Robbed, Raped, & Ruined
12-16-2010
David McElroy
Stealth has taken America into the latter stage of Marxist Cultural Revolution, hence Obama and wholesale robbery, rape, & ruin. Just compare Lenin's statements to what you see all around you!
Read Comments Make a CommentEmail this News Link Send Letter to

Man, this came our way via FP too. What's next, will that gang of useful atheists convert???--


http://chuckbaldwinlive.com/home/?p=2579

Time For Christians To Shred Their Bibles

In later the same day per Drudge:
IRS Agent Accused of Stealing Tax Refunds...

Wow, it's been a busy day of catch-up on juicy tax news -- is this the last item of the lot? From News Of the Weird:

In October, Freddie Mac (the government-sponsored but privately owned home mortgage financier -- whose massive debts have been assumed in a federal "bailout" administered by the Treasury Department) filed a claim in Tax Court against the Internal Revenue Service, denying IRS's claim that it owes $3 billion in back taxes from 1998-2005. Should taxpayers care? If Freddie Mac wins, IRS (which is also housed in the Treasury Department) loses out on the $3 billion in alleged back taxes. If IRS wins, it gets its $3 billion, which will undoubtedly be paid with taxpayer bailout money. Lawyers for both sides seem to think that pursuing the lawsuit is important. [Bloomberg News, 11-10-10]


Tuesday, December 14, 2010

IRS officer comes clean, indicts IRS!

The great William Norman Grigg, formerly of the John Birch Society, brings to our attention rich Congressional testimony by a tax goon who went straight. LewRockwell.com is such a great site that Freedom's Phoenix sometimes sends a survey of its recent highlights among its own news links.
Mr. Grigg's specialty is covering the problem of rogue police.

http://www.lewrockwell.com/grigg/grigg-w132.html
Tyrants, Torturers, and Taxmen:
Pillars of 'Civilization'
links to
http://taxboard.net/TxprBoR/1997/Patnoe.html
Statement by David Patnoe

Spendocrats never stop

Did you know there's a depression on? Yes, we are in a DEPRESSION. The politicians and other "chattering classes" are calling it a recession, but that is traditionally defined as two consecutive quarters of falling gross domestic product or GDP. the USA is way beyond that point. Don't look to the fedgov for any real indication of this, however -- the multi-trillion-dollar warmongering and giveaway programs go merrily on as if things were still the economically rosy (if illusory) 1990s.... and even expands, as if money grew on trees! Here are recent items from very useful if sometimes liberaloid Freedom's Phoenix organization in the great and sometimes rebellious state of Arizona and the ever-revealing News Of The Weird syndicated feature.

News Link • Economy - Economics USA08-31-2010 •
Federal spending rises a record 16% in 2009, Census Bureau says
Washington Post Federal domestic spending increased a record 16 percent to $3.2 trillion in 2009, the Census Bureau reported Tuesday, largely because of a boost in aid to the unemployed and the huge economic stimulus package enacted to rescue the sinking economy.
Read CommentsMake a CommentEmail this News LinkSend Letter to Editor

http://www.newsoftheweird.com/archive/index.html Americans continue to agonize over government "giveaways," but as News of the Weird has noted several times, somehow federal farm subsidies continue unabated -- even though much of the money no longer goes to cuddly "family farms" but to rich urban industrialists who hardly know a plow from a sow. In the latest accounting from Environmental Working Group records, the weekly New York Press revealed such "agrarian" handout-seekers as Manhattan billionaires Leonard Lauder and David Rockefeller -- and Rockefeller's son Mark. (In fact, for 10 years now, the federal government has handed Mark $54,500 a year not to grow anything on his 5,000 acres in Idaho. According to the Press, Mark never intended to, in that he only bought the land because it was adjacent to the upscale, socialite-hangout South Fork fly-fishing lodge he runs next door.) [New York Press, 6-15-10]