To: ThirdEye who wrote (265426 ) 6/19/2002 10:52:49 PM From: Raymond Duray Respond to G.O.P.'S CLASS WAR AGAINST AMERICA HEATS UPmediawhoresonline.com declared openly last week by Karl Rove, is advancing on two fronts, according to reports in the New York Times and the Washington Post.resorting to under-handed tactics to order to help ensure that their big-business mogul friends will not have to pay their fair share of taxes. Instead, the G.O.P. wants either to shift the tax burden downward to ordinary working families , or to cut vital social services such as Medicare -- or both.Republican leaders in Congress are using procedural tactics like walking out of committee hearings to keep Congress from voting on measures to close the so-called Bermuda loophole in the federal tax code, measures that would almost certainly pass overwhelmingly if given the chance. The loophole allows big companies to pretend legally that they are based offshore (Bermuda has been the country of choice) and then filter profits through a third country (most often Barbados), avoiding American income taxes? Pharmaceutical companies are among 21 donors paying $250,000 each for red-carpet treatment at tonight's GOP fundraising gala starring President Bush, two days after Republicans unveiled a prescription drug plan the industry is backing, according to GOP officials. Republican officials declined to disclose the donors to the event at the Mayflower Hotel, which is expected to net as much as $30 million for the party. But people familiar with the dinner said drug companies, as well as financial service firms, are among the biggest contributors. Both industries are lobbying aggressively to fend off new, costly regulations in the waning days of this congressional session. dccc.org nytimes.com washingtonpost.com nytimes.com
