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George Kaiser and tax avoidance

Last week the Sunlight Foundation Reporting Group published a detailed history of George Kaiser's fortune, a fortune built with care to avoid paying taxes, according to the story's author, Bill Allison. Allison co-authored The Cheating of America, a 2001 book on "wealthy individuals and powerful corporations avoid taxes." The article...

Posted by Michael Bates on October 17, 2011 12:03 AM

Thus ended capitalism

Posted by Michael Bates on May 15, 2009 6:09 PM

Tempest in a Tea Party

Again, no time to comment much, just to note the situation. Tulsa has three Taxpayer Tea Party events scheduled for April 15: Civic Center Plaza, 5th and Denver, between 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. LaFortune Stadium, on Hudson north of 61st St., between 12 noon and 2 p.m. Veterans' Park,...

Posted by Michael Bates on April 9, 2009 8:24 AM

The luxury box bubble bursts

The Wall Street Journal reports that the economic downturn is hurting corporate sources of revenue for sports teams and venues, including luxury boxes, club seats, naming rights, and other forms of sponsorship: In a case of monumentally bad timing, this year three of the biggest names in pro sports --...

Posted by Michael Bates on March 6, 2009 11:13 PM

Tulsa Tea Party coverage

I couldn't be at Veterans Park myself for yesterday's Tea Party -- too much to do at work -- but plenty of people were and have posted stuff on the web to tell you all about it. Jenn Sierra has posted photos of the Tulsa Tea Party. You'll find a...

Posted by Michael Bates on February 28, 2009 12:35 PM

Inhofe calls for rolling back TARP

Jim Inhofe has a YouTube channel, and he's using it to mobilize support for S. 64, his bill that would require an affirmative congressional vote to release any more of the remaining $350 billion in bailout funds. Here's the text of Inhofe's message....

Posted by Michael Bates on January 12, 2009 9:53 PM

Help voters understand "what just happened

If you'd like to help the rest of America see this ad -- on TV, not just the Internet -- so they can understand the role that Barack Obama and congressional Democrats played in the mortgage meltdown, please contribute to the American Issues Project Hat tip to Ace, who...

Posted by Michael Bates on October 16, 2008 11:22 PM

Bailout link dump, part 2

Did you know you can have over 100 tabs open in Firefox at once? When that happens, it's time to dump the links, topically if possible. Below you'll find links to some interesting, maybe useful perspective on the bailout and the financial crisis. Yesterday in the mail, I had three...

Posted by Michael Bates on October 9, 2008 7:01 PM

Our dysfunctional political/financial family

Family therapist Bowden McElroy brings his professional perspective to the bailout: Think of our Representatives and Senators as parents and the executives of AIG as errant children. Years of poor decision-making calls for a natural and logical consequence. Instead we reward poor behavior. This article (AIG Executives Blow $440,000 After...

Posted by Michael Bates on October 7, 2008 10:53 PM

Bailout press conference video

Barney Frank, Nancy Pelosi, George Soros, Herbert and Marion Sandler: They're all here....

Posted by Michael Bates on October 6, 2008 11:05 PM

SNL on the bailout

Spot-on satire. Fred Armisen's Barney Frank is priceless. --> (Via Club for Growth.) UPDATE: Guess what? NBC pulled the sketch without explanation. Perhaps it was too honestly critical of Democrats, in particular three wealthy and powerful people who fund far-left organizations: George Soros and Herbert and Marion Sandler. Michelle Malkin...

Posted by Michael Bates on October 6, 2008 7:31 AM

Who convinced Coburn?

Sen. Tom Coburn was on with 1170 KFAQ's Pat Campbell this morning explaining his decision to vote for the $700 billion bailout. It was strange to hear Coburn acknowledge that this bill might not work, that this bill didn't address the underlying causes, but that we had to do something....

Posted by Michael Bates on October 3, 2008 8:01 AM

Coburn: "We are going to ignore the cancer."

Oklahoma Sen. Tom Coburn ate the "crap sandwich" (House Minority Leader John Boehner's phrase), but not without dispensing some strong medicine to his colleagues. As a practicing physician, I compare where we are today to a physician who commits malpractice. We have a patient with cancer. They have a secondary...

Posted by Michael Bates on October 2, 2008 7:33 PM

Jim DeMint on why he voted against the bailout

The senator from South Carolina and champion of fiscal conservatism had this to say during last night's debate on the bailout: We have seen this Government socialize our education system and make our schools among the worst in the world. We have seen this Government take over most of our...

Posted by Michael Bates on October 2, 2008 6:47 PM

Bailout link dump

Perspective worth reading on the mortgage crisis and the proposed bailout, going before the U. S. Senate today: Dave Ramsey's Common Sense Fix: Government insurance for mortgages in exchange for rolling back payments into current balance, fixing the rate, and canceling prepayment penalties; remove "mark to market" accounting for two...

Posted by Michael Bates on October 1, 2008 8:34 AM