US Uncut blog

Obituary for the Win America Campaign

2012-05-02T00:21:00Z

Hi Uncutters,

Short version: Win America Campaign vs. US Uncut: We won!

Detailed version: Once upon a time, there was a deadly coalition of corporate lobbyists determined to use their bottomless war chests to sway lawmakers with a deluge of cash. Their agenda was twofold: Maximize their profits, and shift their tax burden to the shoulders of the disappearing middle class. Those middle class folks had enough of this corporate cabal and their greed, and decided to organize an effort to stop them in their tracks. It worked, and the coalition disbanded.

But I'm not talking about the anti-ALEC campaign of 2012 led by Color of Change, Occupy and other social justice organizations. I'm talking about the fight against the Win America Campaign (WAC) of 2011 led by US Uncut, Citizens for Tax Justice and other tax-fairness organizations. This week, the Win America Campaign, led by some of the world's most notorious corporate tax dodgers like Apple, Google, Cisco and Pfizer, finally disbanded after months of sustained grassroots pressure against their low-tax "repatriation" scam.

See, these big companies got a generous tax break in 2004, paying just a 5% federal tax rate (instead of the statutory 35% rate) on US profits they "repatriated" back to America from overseas bank accounts in tax havens like the Cayman Islands and Ireland. And Bush, along with his Republican Congress, gave it to them under the auspices of "job creation."

Thing is, those profits were made in America, but these companies just exploited loopholes in the tax code (that their lobbyists helped write) that enabled them to make money here without paying taxes here.

And that big tax break they got for shifting American profits back to America didn't create jobs - Cisco, Hewlett-Packard, Pfizer and others actually cut tens thousands of jobs in the year following their "repatriation" tax break, while paying multi-million-dollar salaries to their CEOs and buying back company stocks to artificially inflate their market value. Then they shifted even more profits overseas, hoping to cash in on the next repatriation scam.

It took efforts from a trifecta of dedicated activists to stop greedy corporate tax dodgers from scoring another wasteful tax break. Nonprofits like Citizens for Tax Justice, Jubilee USA, Institute for Policy Studies and Global Financial Integrity all contributed an onslaught of devastating studies and reports exposing the truth of the last repatriation scam, and wrote op-eds that ran in mainstream publications. Advocates like Nicole Tichon, Jack Blum and Chuck Collins all used these studies to lobby key lawmakers against the proposal.

Grassroots groups like US Uncut then took that information and turned it into creative direct action at Apple stores in over a dozen major cities, from Honolulu, Hawaii to DC. Chris Priest and US Uncut Boston wore shirts that disguised them as Apple employees before breaking out into spontaneous protest in an Apple store and getting carried out by police. Some of the activists who took part in the Wisconsin uprising of early 2011 protested at the Apple store in Madison. Leslie Dreyer of US Uncut San Francisco and several others wore pastel-colored skintight Zentai suits with QR code that linked to US Uncut's video calling on Apple to ditch the Win America Campaign, right outside of the 2011 Worldwide Developers Conference. Jim Coleman and US Uncut Chicago demonstrated outside of the city's flagship Apple store at a high-traffic intersection for 12 weeks straight.

Even the corporate-owned media noticed our campaign - a columnist for both Fox Business and Wall Street Journal's Marketwatch talked to me about a piece called "Jobless Recovery Creates More Corporate Protesters." Independent media, tech reporters, mainstream papers, even the New York Times covered our campaign.

US Uncut activists even engaged the Win America Campaign online. WAC created a YouTube channel, with their first video featuring Rep. Paul Ryan on cable news talking about how he doesn't want repatriation every 7 years, but every day. Within an hour of posting the video on our Facebook page, Uncutters gave the video hundreds of "dislikes," and a comments thread filled with disparaging comments for Rep. Ryan and corporate tax-dodgers. WAC soon deleted the video, along with their YouTube channel. President Obama would threaten a veto of the repatriation bill, and the bill would die in Congress.

Win America finally disbanded. But we aren't going to let them slide that easy. If those companies want to create jobs, we challenge them to stick to the promise they made - dedicate 5% of their American profits stashed overseas to create new jobs in America, or use that money to give a raise to non-executive employees.

ALEC is an even more sinister corporate coalition than WAC, and will be much tougher to take down. But the Occupy Wall Street movement is already escalating tactics on corporate offenders, even threatening a day of general strike on May 1. The moral of the story? Organized people can and will prevail over organized greed.

Uncut 2.0- Taking the fight back to corporate tax dodgers

2012-01-06T21:22:00Z

Happy new year, Uncutters! 2011 was the year we stood up and fought back. And with your help, 2012 can be the year we win.

After heavy involvement in the Occupy Wall Street movement, We're re-booting US Uncut this month, and putting out a call to action against corporate tax dodgers on the week of January 23rd, two weeks from now.

Our target? Corporations that paid their lobbyists more than they paid in federal taxes. There's 29 to choose from, courtesy of this list from Citizens for Tax Justice. Some of the most egregious offenders are already on our targets list, like Verizon, FedEx and GE.

And there's more good news-- a bevy of community organizations and coalitions in over a dozen major US cities will also be fighting corporate tax dodgers this Winter and Spring with creative direct actions! These are talented, passionate activists, consisting of every facet of the 99%-- organized labor, unemployed and underemployed workers, interfaith groups and clergy, the uninsured, and others.

Team up with these folks for reinforcements if you live in their cities, and visit their websites if you'd like to see past results of their actions in protest of corporate greed, congressional corruption, rallying for jobs, not cuts. Several of these coalitions have already expressed interest in working with Uncutters in their cities in taking the fight to the doors of corporate tax dodgers.

Stand Up! Chicago
-Chicago, IL

Fight For Philly
-Philadelphia, PA

One Miami Now
-Miami, FL

Good Jobs LA
-Los Angeles, CA

United NY
-New York, NY

Working Washington
-Seattle, WA

Good Jobs=Great Houston
-Houston, TX

Wisconsin Jobs Now
-Madison/Milwaukee, WI

We Are Oregon
-Portland, OR

Mass Uniting
-Boston, MA

Our DC
-Washington, DC

We Are Ohio
-Columbus, OH

Good Jobs Better Baltimore
-Baltimore, MD

And of course, you can connect with your local #Occupy groups through the Occupy Together network for more reinforcements. For help and input on ideas for creative actions, hit up our friends at the Backbone Campaign in Seattle/Vashon Island!

(If you'd like some help connecting your Uncut groups with any of these organizations, send an email to usuncut@gmail.com for details)

It's going to be a great year for the movement-- US Uncut is even being featured in a documentary called We're Not Broke, premiering at the Sundance film festival later this month!

France Uncut is helping us bring in the new year with their day of action on January 14, fresh off of their amazing showing at the G20.

And UK Uncut, our original inspiration, continues to influence the public dialogue against David Cameron's austerity programs with their anti-tax dodger actions.

Let's make 2012 even more memorable than last year, and do it across the globe!

See you in the streets,
CG

CEOs Reaping the Rewards of Tax Cheating

2011-08-31T21:46:00Z

Some 25 major U.S. corporations are paying their CEO's more money then they give to Uncle Sam. That is according to a new report by the Institute for Policy Studies that is making the rounds in the news cycle today.

According to the study, while the economy lingers, corporate outlays for CEO compensation have rebounded to nearly pre-recessionary levels. Furthermore, the ratio between the average worker salary and CEO has risen from 263-1 in 2009 to 325-1 just last year.

When will the corporations and the corporate-politicians get it? American people are waking up and we're beginning to notice. It's only a matter of time before this all spills over into the streets. You can make that happen!

Read more about the report here: Executive Excess 2011: The Massive CEO Rewards for Tax Dodging

Check out a cool infographic and sign the petition for the Stop Tax Haven Abuse Act here: StopCorporatetaxCheats.com

Post up an action here: http://www.usuncut.org/actions

Crash the Town Halls!

2011-08-14T23:02:00Z

Had enough of all these politicians talking about all these cuts? Yeah, us
too.

Time to bring the street-heat to the Town Hall and show all the politicians
that we've had just about enough of the false alternative between cutting
more or cutting less.

Click here to find a list of local Town Halls coming up soon (call the phone
# if no event is listed yet).

Cutting Social Security? Cutting Medicare? Cutting Teachers? Cutting
Firefighters? Cutting US? That's how you're going to fix our problems and
get our country back on track? That don't make no sense, Jack.

How about JOBS? If these political jackasses (yeah, I said it) had been
talking about jobs for the last 3 months instead of messing around with some
debt-ceiling circus, maybe we'd putting Americans back to work instead of
seeing more and more of our neighbors get fired.

Click here for some great "NO CUTS" and "UNCUT US" US Uncut signs with our logo
on it.

If we could make all these crooked corporations pay their fair share, just like the rest
of us, then we could fund a jobs program. We ain't gonna cut our way out of
this problem (trickle-down economics is busted), and we ain't
gonna let these political hacks cut what's left of the social safety net and
hack away at our communities anymore.

Time to get political in order to turn our attention and anger at those
making all these messed up decisions - the politicians. So, show up at a
local Town Hall and give 'em Hell ya'll (or "just tell them the truth" - either way, it's cool)."

Click here for a Town Hall action kit that an Uncutter made up and posted on
the new forums.

Brothers and Sisters, it's time to rise up and raise your voice to tell
those politicians that we're over their BS. If the spirit so moves you,
stand up to cause a ruckus, cause a bit of a disruption, and shout at the
top of your lungs so these Representatives and Senators can hear you:
"JOBS not CUTS" (maybe get the whole room chanting along with you).

Remember, when they say "cut back", we say "FIGHT BACK!" Time to Fight Back
at the Town Halls. See you there Uncutters!

In Solidarity,

The US Uncut Team

P.S. Need ideas? The US Uncut Town Hall action
kit(developed by one
of our own) has some great ideas in it, and feel free to
get creative when you get your direct action on - wittiness is always a
winner in our book. Also, post ideas in the
forum on how to sneak
signs into the Town
Halls.

Bring the #ruckus!

The revolution will be tweeted, liked, & shared. We the People Win. #epic
www.usuncut.org @usuncut #usuncut

Announcing the New US Uncut Forums

2011-08-09T20:19:00Z

Right now, more than ever before, America is aching for a direct action group to take to the streets and protest the cuts, like they're doing in Greece and Spain.

After watching the circus in Washington unfold, and watching our leaders cut all of our public services to pieces to protect corporate tax loopholes, we're all mad as hell, and ready to do something about it. But we need your voices to move forward.

Want to help pick our next day of action? Actively plan actions against our targets? Decide on content to put on our website? Or maybe you just designed some really awesome graphics and want them on a poster. And hey, maybe you just have some questions to throw our way. Good news- you can do all of that on forums.usuncut.org!

All our message boards need is your participation. Will you take a minute and register and introduce yourself?

We want to open up lines of communication between all US Uncut groups, connect organizers and activists with each other, and equip everyone with all the resources they need to have successful, effective, fun actions. What better way to do that than a forum where all of us can collaborate in real-time?

Our forums are completely free and very user-friendly. We want you to join in the conversation with us as we make plans to shake things up again.

This movement is about all of us, not just a few of us. This movement can grow into the mighty populist force its destined to be, but only if we have your input as we move forward and plan future campaigns.

Join our forums! And we'll see you in the streets.

http://forums.usuncut.org

24,000 Reasons to Join US Uncut

2011-07-21T18:48:00Z

On the eve of our 24,000th Facebook fan, Uncutter JW wrote up this post.

24,000 Reasons to Join US Uncut
By Uncutter JW

24,000 pages in GE's tax return (from its 975-strong tax department)

24,000 tax filers with incomes from $533,000 to $2.2 million who paid no Federal income taxes

24,000 in binary is 101110111000000

24,000 is _X_XM_V in Roman Numerals

24,000 is $12 /hr before federal income taxes, which will be about $1,600 or $1,600 more than GE paid in taxes in 2011

24,000 owed in property taxes by Cook County, IL Commissioner John Fritchey. When asked why he hadn’t payed them, he cited a recent divorce and advice from his wife’s lawyer

24,000 Pentagon computer files lost in a March cyber attack on a defense contractor. To save money on taxes, contractors are increasingly going offshore.

24,000 HSBC accounts whose data was stolen by a disgruntled employee last year. Now, even offshore Swiss accounts may not be safe...

24,000 Sarah Palin emails released this year after a Freedom of Information Law (FOIL) request. They recount a story of a Palin administration fighting to try to keep an oil profits tax, which accounts for 90% of Alaska state revenue.

24,000 pounds a British couple can save on inheritence taxes through a gift loophole to their children. That is, if you have £6,000 each year for a “child's stakeholder pension.”

24,000 tons of soil staying out of Iowa streams, lakes and rivers thanks to taxpayer-funded efforts of the Iowa DNR.

24,000 people die prematurely each year because of pollution from coal power plants, subsidized by federal coal tax credits.

24,000 US Uncutters taking direct action against corporate tax cheats and unnecessary and unfair public service cuts across the U.S.

Will you join us?

Localize This! Action Camp

2011-07-21T14:32:00Z

You've got mad skills & talent at putting on some of the most creative, impactful activism our country has ever seen (we got the pictures & videos to prove it!)... but you want to learn more from some mad geniuses that blazed the trail before us?

Insert the LocalizeThis! Action Camp - it's a camp just for learning fun tricks, tips, and tools for doing creative progressive direct action.

Hosted by Bill Moyer from Backbone Campaign, a group that encourages progressive leaders to have a backbone, the training will take place in beautiful Vashon Island, WA on August 14-21, 2011.

Check out Mr. Bill's description here:

This Summer on Vashon Island, WA, the Backbone Campaign is hosting the third annual Localize This! Artful Activism Camp, an intensive training in nonviolent creative tactics, art for social change and community organizing.

Localize This! is a space to skill share and to train, strategize and design actions, build imagery and prepare for the upcoming campaigns and actions.

Join effective organizers and activists from Chicago, Biloxi, Boston, Baltimore, Burbank, Bellingham, Seattle, Portland, Oakland, Austin, Alaska and BEYOND!.

If you are a "freelance" activist, there is NO BETTER WAY to build your ability, confidence, and meet future collaborators. If you are part of a progressive organization, then send a delegation!

We think this progressive training is a great way for US Uncut to get pumped up and ready for the next round of actions coming up soon, so let us know if you plan on attending.

Wanna go? (Yeah, you do.) Click here to register for Localize This!

Can't make it but want to support bringing other Uncutters to activist camp? Click here to sponsor an emerging activist and contribute to the travel fund (make sure to type 'US Uncut' in the "Dedication" spot so it helps a fellow Uncutter).

Here's hoping we can send a few folks there to grow your skills, have a blast, and push the movement forward! See you there, Uncutters!

In Solidarity,

US Uncut Team

PS. Want more info? You can also visit http://LocalizeThis.org for information and registration. Feel free to call the Backbone Campaign office at 206-408-8058 or email camp@backbonecampaign.org.

Loews Corporation Joins the WIN America Coalition

2011-07-07T22:28:00Z

New York, NY — Loews Corporation (NYSE: L) didn't announce today that they've joined in support of the WIN America Campaign, a group of large multinational corporations that are lobbying Congress to 'repatriate' over $1 trillion in foreign profits at a highly-reduced tax rate. The announcement was not made by means of the addition of their name to the lobbying group's supporter website.

With 5 subsidiaries, including Loews Hotels and Diamond Offshore Drilling, the conglomerate holding company stands to save millions of dollars on the repatriation of foreign earnings at the new proposed 5.25% federal tax rate. According to Loews 2010 Annual Report,

"Certain of Diamond Offshore's international rigs are owned and operated, directly or indirectly, by Diamond Offshore International Limited ("DOIL"), a wholly owned Cayman Islands subsidiary of Diamond Offshore. Since forming this subsidiary it has been Diamond Offshore's intention to indefinitely reinvest the earnings of this subsidiary to finance foreign operations...Diamond Offshore does not expect to provide for U.S. taxes on any future earnings generated by DOIL, except to the extent that these earnings are immediately subjected to U.S. federal income tax or as they relate to Diamond East Asia Limited."

Loews joins the ranks of approximately 40 companies - as well as many Republicans and several Democrats in Congress - to come out in support of the lobbying effort, which the Obama administration has opposed, except in the context of more systemic tax reform.

Loews Corporation did not respond to an email requesting confirmation of their non-announcement.

-----------

[This article written with the help of the US Uncut community.]

Be sure to say 'hi' to Loews Corporation on twitter and facebook. :)

Dueling Dozers: Robert's Story

2011-06-28T05:37:00Z

Meet Robert Somerton- a volunteer firefighter in Lake County, California. He just received a notice from Bank of America that the foreclosure process on his home was to be "accelerated." Robert decided that instead of giving Bank of America the satisfaction of dumping another home on the market, he would demolish it before the bank sends the sheriff to kick out his family.

Just a few nights ago, Robert posted the entire contents of his $350,000 estate under "Free Stuff" on Craigslist. He intends to donate everything of value in his home before he films "Dueling Dozers" demolishing the house built by his father's hands in 1990, all the way down to the concrete foundation. And he plans to post video footage to YouTube.

Some folks would suggest that Robert's action is criminal property damage. But Robert would say the scheme he was lured into was a criminal act, and justice has to be served by the citizen if it won't be served by the system.

Robert recently had to close his business, meaning that he wouldn't be able to pay the mortgage at its current rate. BofA told him they had a program that could help him refinance, ironically called the "Hope" program. Its a sinister scheme that requires homeowners to be three months behind on payment and default on their loan before they can qualify for refinancing. The bank also keeps a close eye on your income. Robert remembers having to show them his pay stubs from work.

But once his income fell to a certain point, Robert was disqualified from any loan modification from Bank of America, who sent him mail saying they were accelerating the foreclosure process. Its a scheme that victimizes homeowners across the country, where banks work to dump as many homes onto the market as they can, all in the name of more profit.

So now, Robert is fighting back with bold, direct action. His Craiglist posting was taken down just minutes after it was posted, but here's the full text-

----------------
My wife and I recently received from Bank of America a "NOTICE OF INTENT TO ACCELERATE" and "Options to Avoid Foreclosure".

We've been advised by our legal representative Danial B. Beck of Santa Rosa that we are out of legal options/remedies to Bank of America taking our beautiful hand built home of 15 years. Won't go into great depth or detail here, suffice to say we've been through the Bank of America Hope/Harp/Hamp wringer and hung out to dry.

So unless some kind sole comes up with the 24k we are now behind on our mortgage payments, we will most certainly, within the next few months lose our home to the Banksters of America.

We have decided that when/if it comes to that we'll offer our home (bank once appraised at $350k, zillow now shows at $133k!) and anything, anyone cares to remove from it, including some very nice expensive doors/windows, kitchen and bath fixtures, appliances and all it's contents to anyone how can use them.

We've also decided that rather than allow BofA the satisfaction of taking our home intact, once everything of value is striped from it, with DUELING DOZERS we'll take it down to the concrete slab my father built it on back in the early 1990s. Leaving nothing but a pile of debris in the driveway for BofA to foreclose on, like an episode of Extreme Makeover Home Edition with no plan to rebuild!

Wish us luck, look for the full demolition video on YouTube under the heading " CA homeowners response to Bank of America foreclosure". We plan on shooting it from at least three fixed angles with additional cams mounted inside each DOZER for full effect.

A word to the wise, we are hostile to any "BofA representative" coming on our property as long as we still own it, violators will be dealt with accordingly.

Media outlets interested in covering the day of the demolition can contact me directly. Robert Somerton 707-245-7541

Anyone who'd like to drive by for a preview/meet the owners, view the home/contents, make an offer on the contents prior to the demolition, our address is.

11784 Gifford Springs Rd.
Cobb, CA 95426

This is NOT a short sale as we'll not do Bank of America that favor!!!
-----------------

Good luck to you, Robert.

How are you fighting the corrupt, tax dodging banks that caused this crisis? How are the cuts affecting you and your community? If the media owned by corporate tax cheats like GE and Rupert Murdoch won't cover these stories, we will. The citizens will lead the social media revolution like they already are in Spain, Egypt, Tunisia and the UK.

We want to hear all of your stories. Share them with us at usuncut@gmail.com.

In struggle,
CG

US Uncut and The Yes Men are Back: Following the Money

2011-06-24T16:27:00Z

Repatriate, transitive verb
To restore or return to the country of origin, allegiance, or citizenship

President Obama and Congress, by many accounts, seem to be poised to allow corporations to bring back over $1 trillion in offshore, untaxed profits at a highly-reduced tax rate. What's wrong with a sudden influx of corporate cash? For starters, it probably won't create new jobs, help fund social services like K-12 education, or even curb inflation. And it won't do any of these things if the measly, short-term revenue it creates is tied to any particular fund, like infrastructure, either.

A so-called 'repatriation' holiday would do two things, though: (1) allow corporations to dodge billions in taxes and (2) encourage them to start up their next offshore cash stockpile, so that five years down the road we can play the same game of political theatre and bring home more cash "held hostage overseas"

US Uncut is taking a different tack to the problem of offshore tax havens, by laying bare the real agenda of the WIN America Campaign and other corporate lobbyists in their massive tax dodging scheme. With the help of the Yes Men, we are taking our videocameras and our anger to the source of the problem: the Cayman Islands. Will you help us expose what Nicholas Shaxson, author of Treasure Islands, calls "a hot-money archipelago" that destabilizes world markets and robs our country of precious revenue for social services?

What the tax holiday lobby is trying to do doesn't deserve the name "repatriation", a not-so-subtle attempt to paint a greedy tax avoidance scheme with patriotic and nationalistic hues. Americans do deserve a corporate coming-clean though, so let's get sailing!

Solidarity,