Archive for April, 2009
S.637 Newspaper Revitalization Act
Posted by Ray Myers in Press & Media Facts on April 13th, 2009
Sen. Benjamin Cardin [D, MD] introduced a bill in late March, to allow newspapers to restructure as non-profit organizations under section 501(c)(3) of the Federal tax code. This bill could be one way for declining newspapers to abandon their current, failing, for-profit model.
See the full text of the bill below.
H.R.1966 Megan Meier Cyberbullying Prevention Act
Posted by Ray Myers in Social Justice Facts on April 13th, 2009
This bill, named after the 13 year old Missouri girl who committed suicide after being harassed on the social networking site MySpace.com, is sponsored by Rep. Linda Sánchez [D, CA-39]. The intent of the bill is to make online harassment, known as cyberbullying, punishable under Chapter 41 of title 18 of the United States Code. The section dealing with threats and harassment.
Proponents of the bill say it will protect children and teens while online, where anonymity makes harassment easier.
Opponents contend that the bill would threaten free speech online and that sufficient criminal and civil penalties already exist for such behavior.
Read the full text of the bill behind the cut.
G20 to address offshore banking
Posted by hphillips in Finance & Banking Opinions on April 9th, 2009
FINANCE: Tax Havens in Spotlight at G20 Meet
Lucy Komisar*
NEW YORK Mar 29 (IPS) - This could be the moment when a fatal
blow is delivered to the worlds tax havens. Or it could be
another largely cosmetic change that allows offshore financial
centres such as Switzerland the Cayman Islands and Liechtenstein
to deflect attacks on the system by sacrificing the few tax
miscreants that governments catch in their nets.
Decisions at the G20 government leaders meeting in London Apr. 2
will set the direction.
Financial centres with bank secrecy laws are blamed by the
Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development which
represents 30 developed economies for hiding some 5 to 7
trillion dollars offshore so the profits they produce evade
taxes. This costs the U.S. 100 billion dollars in taxes annually
says Michigan Senator Carl Levin who has introduced legislation
to combat offshore tax evasion. The numbers are guesses as bank
secrecy masks the figures. Read the rest of this entry »