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Vatican's Catholic Child Molesters Arrest the Whistleblower!

Catholics arrest the whistleblower but covered-up their organization's child molesting activities.

Cardinal Robert Sarah called the whistleblower a "traitor plotting against the Vatican". Paolo Gabriele risked arrest to come forward about the Vatican cover up of their perverted priests butt-chucking little boys but somehow he's the 'traitor'???? These are some sick and twisted muther 'uckers. 

"Let's hope ... that the arrest is an isolated case and that there are no other traitors plotting against the Vatican," Cardinal Robert Sarah told the La Repubblica daily."

They abuse their tax-exempt status by political lobbying over birth control.

Can you say 'extreme' hypocrites?

They are all about the fetus, but they hate the child.

Their tax-exempt status should be revoked. 

Vatican's Catholic Child Molesters Arrest the whistleblower!

Grover Norquist: The Billionaires' Best Friend

 This is the dude who has hijacked the U.S. House of Representatives. He is an unpatriotic, traitor and enemy of the state.

http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/grover-norquist-the-billionaires-best-friend-20111109

Alan Simpson Slams Fellow Republicans

 

'RINO'=Republican In Name Only. Ex-Senator from Wyoming (ya know, the very-red state that Dick(less) Cheney is from). Alan is warning the rest of the GOP that their party has been hijacked by idiots (reads: Tea Baggers) and is hurting America by obstructing legislation which would have sped up the economic recovery. He knows what you should know.

The Republican-held U.S. House of Representatives have pledged their allegence to a private lobbyist (Grover Norquist) OVER their sworn allegence to the U.S. Constitution and America. That makes House Republicans traitors; enemies of the state; unpatriotic. Heed his words Repukes. After all, Alan meets all of your criteria. He's a Republican, he's white, he's old, he's from a red state, he was a Senator:

Click this link and go watch the interview

I tried to share this particular story to Facebook, but for whatever reason this particular story is not posting ... censorship perhaps? Censor this FB!

The Best Liberal Defense is a Strong Offense on the Conservative Attacks on Women

I am going to use a sports analogy to suggest that it is past the time for Liberals to begin a movement to rescind the tax exempt status of all religious organizations. The analogy is: "The best defense is a strong offense". 

If the idea of an rescinding religious organizations' tax exempt status sounds offensive to you, then here is some news which explains the insanity which prompts an 'equal but opposite reaction'. The laws of nature (dare I say, 'science') dictate that for every action, there is an equal but opposite reaction. 

The Republican thinking revealed in this article is so sick as to be dangerous to America. The reaction is to keep the sickos playing defense. To do that, there needs to be a serious and sustained offensive attack on the tax exempt status of the source of the the Republican attack on women. 

Defeating Republicans and Tea Baggers at the polls is not sufficient. They represent factions of American society that demands to be entirely marginalized in order to protect the survival of America as a free nation. They are not simply nuts, they are a threat to what America represents. Republicans are whack-a-doodles, and the whack-est of the lot are Tea Baggers.

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2012/05/09/1090094/-Kansas-bill-lets-doctors-deny-chemotherapy-to-pregnant-women

'The Supremely Republican Supreme Court'

Sometimes you have to 'get-out-of-Dodge' to gain a clearer perspective. Sometimes you don't, if you're paying attention. 

Either way, this piece from the UK's 'TheGuardian' tells-it-like-it-is regading the U.S. Supreme Court.

The Supremely Republican Supreme Court 

 "The Republican party may have lost in 2008, but its political will still lives on in a Republican-dominated supreme court that, at times, cannot even bother to pretend that it is doing constitutional law."

Do you see how the Supreme Court dot is connected to the Tea Bagger hijacking of the GOP, and the U.S. Congress dot is connected to your vote dot, and to the health care in America dot? I hope so.  

 

Republicans try to limit a college education to the 1 percent

 Undergrads May Fail Critical-Thinking Test, but Academia Is Failing Them

The whole U.S. college experience is being priced out of the reach of the 99%, despite being less, and less relevant. I've worked alongside MBAs and Ph.D's who struggled to dress themselves (so-to-speak).

As long as Republican'ts are hell-bent to make a college education affordable for only the 1% ... because they don't want an educated electorate holding them accountable ... then we're hosed as a nation.

Anyone who buys into the right's argument that the current debate over the interest rate on college loans is purely a political straw man argument ... well, anyone who doesn't understand how this dot, is directly connected to so many more dots is an idiot, college educated or not. 

For this and a number of other reasons, it entirely escapes me how 'anyone' supports the most extreme of the Republican'ts; the Tea Baggers. I consider Tea Baggers to be enemies of the state. No exaggeration. They are dangerous to America's future. They are some warped, distorted thinking whack-a-doodles whose interference in the Congressional process is destroying America from the inside out.

 

Big Drug Money & the Corporatocracy Make a Killing

 

Its all about the Corporatocracy, Corporate Welfare, Big Money, Big Pharma, the Carpet-Baggers and the Robber-Barons:

Drug (Rx) Money: Making a Killing

 

 

ALEC and the NRA tell the sheep & lemmings what to think and what to BUY. Wal-Mart stocks the shelves.

 

Here is the short of it:

ALEC is a lobbying organization whose constituents want to sell more stuff. Stuff like guns & ammo.

If ALEC & the NRA can lobby state legislatures to pass 'shoot first & ask questions later', laws at the state level, there is research data that shows each time one of those dumb-ass laws gets passed there is a surge in the Sale of guns & ammo. Badda-Bing, Badda-Boom! More moola for the corporate executives. Some corporate executives get richer quicker, while folks who like to eat Skittles and drink Tea get murdered by mouth-breathing racists and mental defectives (typically registered Republicans) ;-)

Whenever ya wanna find out the story behind the story, all ya gotta do is follow the money, the drugs, and the whores (whores=lobbyists in this case).

It is precisely why ALEC & the NRA promote the hysteria among the great-unwashed-masses that somehow Obama will take all their precious guns away. Net result: more guns and ammo get sold, despite the FACT that the reality does not match the bullshit being slung by ALEC & the NRA.

There ya have the whole mess summarized, in Readers Digest / Cliff Notes fashion. Now don't all you freaks out there who have been screaming about how your 2nd amendment rights are somehow under attack feel just a little bit silly and embarrassed, and maybe even a little bit ashamed? No? Yeah, I didn't think you'd GET why having corporate executives playing you like sock-puppets is a bad thng.

There is a definite and obvious demographic trait that separates Conservatives and Liberals. Conservatives really NEED to have some authority figure tell them what to think and how to act. When the same lie gets repeated often enough and broadly enough, Conservaties will click their boot heels together and march in unison, on command, and none will misstep or fall out of line. It makes them a formidble, marching army to be reckoned with, and their causes are typically monetarily motivated.

Liberals are individual thinkers who tend to filter information through their own, individual thinking machines before being convinced to fall in line in order to march in unison for a leader or a cause. That makes Liberals more of a rag-tag and seemingly disorganized lot who seemingly cannot be organzed to support a single cause. UNTIL ... until Liberals DO coalesce to support a cause. Once all those individuals do come together it typically has more sustainability and force than the masses who will fall in line at the drop of a hat, behind misguided, and malformed thought processes.

Let's connect some dots.

Trayvon Martin's killer hasn't been arrested because of Florida's goofy law. The goofy law was promoted by the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) lobbying group along with their NRA ally.

Here is one reference with more detail: http://mediamatters.org/blog/201203210004.

ALEC is comprised of mega-corporations like AT&T, ExxonMobil, Pfizer, and you guessed it: Wal-Mart.

Although ALEC claims to be “nonpartisan,” their website states that ALEC’s mission is to “promote free markets and limited government.” That’s the GOP’s entire pitch in six words. In a list of “Legislators with ALEC Ties,” Republicans outnumber Democrats 11 to 1. Personally, I would be willing to wager that cowards who stalk and kill unarmed Skittles eating teatotallers are laregly registered Republicans too. But, that's just a hunch on my part.

Read more: "This Law Brought To You By Wal-Mart: Who’s Writing American Legislation?"

http://nyulocal.com/national/2012/03/06/this-law-brought-to-you-by-wal-mart-whos-writing-american-legislation/

Ok, those are just a few dots. Now I wanna relate some old wisdom that I think applies:

"Power corrupts; absolute power corrupts absolutely"
(Giant Corporations almost always suffer from corruption ... way too many examples to argue the point)

"Think Global, Shop Local."
If the meaning of that escapes you, try reading this Blog post:
http://webstersfs.blogspot.com/2009/02/meaning-of-think-global-buy-local.html

"The most important political office is that of the private citizen."--Louis D. Brandeis
When I choose not to shop at WalMart I am making a political contribution to the causes that I support. When you choose to save a few extra bucks by shopping at WalMart, you are making a political contribution too ... but yours goes to support the dark-side. ;-) When millions of INDIVIDUALS sit up and take notice of injustice, and each one INDIVDIUALLY begins to question authority a movement is born, and shit does happen. Just ask the police department in Stanford, Florida.

"Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it's the only thing that ever has." --Margaret Mead
You console yourself about supporting the dark-side by focusing on those immediate dollars that you save, and the resignation that it is too big, it will never change, might as well save a few bucks now. I congratulate myself for spending a few more than I might otherwise have to, in order to do the right thing. And my smile turns to a grin when I see a small movement in the right direction gather momentum, and effect change ... knowing that I got on board the bus before it became the only obvious thing to do. Why wait, get ahead of the herd. Pay it forward.

There are plenty of additional reasons for not spending your money in a WalMart.

http://makingchangeatwalmart.org/

 

Glenn Beck is a bad joke. Courageous Woman laughs at death threats.

 

Glenn Beck is a nutless wonder. Beck's right-wing rants have spawned death threats against the life of an elderly woman and fellow professor. That fits with the cowardice of the right.

Read and watch the associated video of the interview at this link:

http://www.truth-out.org/frances-scott-piven-laughs-death-threats-considers-tactics-disruption/1331906514

Hey Beck, I support the efforts of Frances Scott Piven ... does your lard-ass have a problem with that? C'mon righty, stop threatening little old ladies. There are plenty of alternatives (and growing) at the ready.

 Did I mention that I don't like Republicans? Heck-Beck, I don't even like anyone who likes a Republican. ;-)

 Did I mention that Tea Parties are for little girls with imaginary friends?

 Does any of this upset your sensibilities righty? Gee ... that's too damn bad. ;-)

 Where did loser Beck skulk off to anyway? Is he on satellite now? Or does he even have a gig anywhere anymore? Rhetorical question. I couldn't really care less if Beck is alive or dead.

Another example of the ignorant, lying, hypocritical crap spewing from the mouth of Republican Candidate Willard "Mitt" Romney

 

Thanks to BuzzFlash for highlighting Willard "Mitt" RawMoney's latest gaff; well, maybe not the latest; I should check to see if he is awake and his lips are moving before I say "latest" gaff.

While pandering for votes in Mississippi before the recent presidential primary, Romney declared:

"If the federal government were run more like here in Mississippi, the whole country would be a lot better off."

Here are the problems with the Mittster's statement:

" ... the State of Mississippi (MS) "sucks up $2.73 in federal support for every dollar its residents pay in national taxes." In the dog-whistle language of the right wing, that makes the state where 66 percent of GOP voters believe in creationism, an official "welfare state."

"Romney, the man who would be president, is saying that Washington DC should emulate a state propped up by federal subsidies -- arguably the poorest and least educated state in the Union."

Read the whole thing here: http://blog.buzzflash.com/node/13385 but don't miss out on some of the great comments too.

Here's a couple of samples: 

"Mississippi is the rule in the south, not the exception. Take every military installation out of the south, end the oil depletion allowance, and reduce federal aid to the former Confederacy and the bigots would dry up and die."

" ... In 1992, W.V. was the next to poorest state after Mississippi. Their motto was "thank God for Mississippi."

Recycling Gone Wrong; Puts U.S. Military at Risk.

 

The Chinese screw-up recycling too.

'The system works like this: Old circuit boards and other electronics, dubbed "e-waste," make their way to the Chinese city of Shenzen, where workers pry off components, wash them in a river and change their markings to make them look new. Counterfeiters use new digital printing equipment to put different markings on the old chips, then package them as today's latest models. The parts can sell for as much as 70 percent less than the real thing.'

According to an article Military.com News (highlights in bold by BloggerRadio.com):

"The Electromagnetic Interference Filters were sold to Raytheon by a company called Texas Spectrum Electronics, a defense subcontractor in Texas.  Those three FLIRs contained transistors that Texas Spectrum bought in July 2010 from a company called Technology Conservation Group or TCG."   

"TCG, it turns out, is both an electronics recycling company and an electronics distributor.  The transistors at issue were mixed in among 72 pounds of miscellaneous excess inventory that a Massachusetts company called Thomson Broadcast sent to TCG as "E-scrap."  … Where did Thompson Broadcasting get the parts?  They bought them in April 2008 from a company called E-Warehouse in California. And E-Warehouse? They bought them from Pivotal Electronics, an electronics distributor in the UK.  We asked Pivotal where they bought them.  Their answer?  Huajie Electronics Ltd. in Shenzhen, China."

Another question is, what did taxpayers end up paying for parts that passed through at least 6 companies?

? -> 1)China -> 2)Pivotal Electronics-UK -> 3)E-Warehouse-CA -> 4)Thompson Broadcasting-MA -> 5)Technology Conservation Group (TCG) -> 6)Texas Spectrum Electronics-TX ->7)Raytheon -> ? WTF!

Click the link below to see the original article:

Recycling Gone Wrong

 

The Food Stamp President

3 Important videos to be certain to watch if you really want to know where your tax dollars go, and why.

1)

2)

 3)

Factor in a quote from a U.S. Marine who was the only person ever awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor TWICE: "War is a rackett"--Major General Smedley Darlington Butler, United States Marine Corps, 1881 - 1940.

Go ahead, argue with either. Republican President Dwight D. Eisenhower who graduated West Point, was a five-star general in the United States Army. During World War II, he served as Supreme Commander of the Allied forces in Europe, with responsibility for planning and supervising the invasion of North Africa in Operation Torch in 1942-43 and the successful invasion of France and Germany in 1944–45, from the Western Front. In 1951, he became the first supreme commander of NATO.

Or, Smedley Butler, a Marine Major General who was awarded the Medal of Honor, not once, but twice.

Do you REALLY think that the collection of pinheads (Bachmann, Cain, Gingrich, Romney, Paul, Perry, Santorum, Huntsman) that you are seeing every day in media reports knows better than either of those two? Really?

Eisenhower and Butler warned us that what those videos document will happen to us if we weren't careful.

Gee, I guess we failed to listen, were simply to stupid and / or too afraid to heed their warnings.

The next time some low-information voter opens their misguided pie hole and includes the word: "entitlement" in anything they say ... have them watch these videos. After they watch explain to them how they are being sodomized by the Corporatocracy and the greedy sock-puppets who report to them, on a daily basis. The country is not broke. Social Security and Medicare have nothing to do with the economic condition we find ourselves in today. We are just wasting money paying the private Corporatocracy inflated prices for crap that does not enhance our military stength, but only the bank accounts of corporate executives, their lobbyists, and their Congressional sock-puppets.

Tally this very real 'issue' as one of hundreds of issues that the Occupy movement and the 99-percenters are all about.

Low-info-voter types frequently ask what it is that the Occupy crowd wants. Generally speaking, they want ALL of the 99-percent to wake the hell up and begin to GET-IT before it is truly too late ... and it's getting close to that point.

To address the argument that if we 'balance' our military spending with our non-death-and-destruction-spending we will be left defensless and vulnerable. Pure crap. U.S. military spending outstrips ALL other militarys on the planet COMBINED. And yeah, that does include China. Get your head around the numbers, and the facts.

The thing that Eisenhower warned us about and the current imbalance between the military spending and everything else positive we might do with those dollars ... posiitve, non-destructive things has little to do with our nation's security, and everything to do with excessive, private corporate profits, and greed.

The military-industrial-complex has used 'fear' to get We-The-People to buy into their 'need' for 53% of every tax dollar. That's nuts.

"If Tyranny and Oppression come to this land, it will be in the guise of fighting a foreign enemy." -- James Madison

"The people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders...tell them they are being attacked, and denounce the peacemakers for lack of patriotism and exposing the country to danger." – Herman Goering - Nazi

Congress Can Shove the Robocall bill HR 3035 Up Its Pork Fed Ass

Yet another reason to use a Google Voice phone number on all forms, and all your calls!

http://gizmodo.com/5858727/congress-can-shove-the-robocall-bill-up-its-pork+fed-ass

http://lifehacker.com/5846185/congress-is-about-to-make-it-legal-to-robocall-your-cell-phone-heres-how-to-speak-up-against-it

http://gawker.com/5733642/robocall-victim-takes-robo+revenge

http://lifehacker.com/5674575/press-pound-to-escape-political-robocall-lists

SIGN THE PETITION

CALL EVERY ONE OF THEM and tell them what you think!

 

Using Your Zip Code Find a Credit Union

 Click this link to:

Use Your Zip Code to Find a Credit Union

Keep the banks "occupied".

The 'Occupy' Movement confuses the easily confused (Republicans).

I find it a bit funny that the Repukes keep trying to diminish the "Occupy" movement because they cannot identify a lone leader who they then could focus their attack-dog strategies on ... I think that the lack of a lone / central leadership figure is a freaking stroke of genius! ;-)

I heard an audio collage of the right's confusion in trying to attack the 'Occupy' crowd. They have called them Wall Street worker’s rich kids; they have said they were homeless, dirty, young, unemployed, Woodstock-Wanna-Be's, etc, etc, etc. They have been unable to find a characterization that sticks so that they can focus their lemming, sheep, brown-shirt, goose-stepping, and scripted attacks upon.

When you present a lone, dynamic and public leadership figure what always happens? Ask Abraham, Martin, and John what happens. Ask Mandela, ask The Dalai Lama. ;-)

We don’t need one leader; we need WE-THE-PEOPLE to stand up and take this nation back from the Corporatocracy and the crazies.

'BS News' is more accurate than Faux News

Grover Norquist is still trying to drown the government in a bathtub.

 

Grover Norquist is a soldier in the same army as the Koch brothers. I consider both to be enemies of the state. Both their names closely entwined with the names of either those convicted of, or investigated for, criminal activities.

Grover Norquist is a demented zealot who was born with a silver spoon in his mouth; born to a Corporate VP, Norquist is a fat, middle aged, radical right-wing lobbyist. After being a career student who has never worked a real J-O-B in his entire 54 years on the planet, Norquist became a lobbyist.

THAT is why Norquist has ZERO frame of reference for what WE-THE-PEOPLE are all about. He is clueless about what it means to be an average American under seige from the right for at least the past 30 years.

Grover Norquist is a soldier in the War againt the American middle class. He fights from behind the front lines, preferring to manipulate and financially influence his causes from the shadows.

When Norquist steps into the daylight, below is the kindda crap he spews:

"I don't want to abolish government. I simply want to reduce it to the size where I can drag it into the bathroom and drown it in the bathtub."

Truth is ... Norquist probably struggles to drag his own pasty-white buttocks to that tub.

So, when you wonder what is motivating the current Republican Congress to hold our nation hostage, the answer is easy. Private money. Money funneled from the Corporatocracy through lobbyists like Norquist to their sock-puppets in Congress.

Here ya go, read more about it in the LA Times:

http://www.latimes.com/news/politics/la-pn-norquist-paralyzing-congress-20111004,0,2329509.story

 

 

"First Technology" Credit Union is an oxymoron.

I've had an account with this credit union since 1973 when it was known as the Tektronix Credit Union.

I think that it was a marketing miscalculation for them to rename themselves "First Technology" anything.

I say that because over the years I have witnessed both their service level and their technical expertise deteriorate.

They have me associated with someone else's account and each time (at least 4 times so far) that I visit them in person to help them correct their mistake, I receive the same excuse for why they are unable to correct this recurring problem ... according to even one of their branch managers "it's a software problem". They say that they can't fix it. So I'll just have to live with my name being associated with someone else's account.

Gee, so much for "First Technology ...". What a joke this credit union has become.

It gets even better. The person with the other account that these morons have associated me with, apparently has a past due account. So I get a call from their number one Moron, named "Antonio" (likely hiding behind an alias) leaves his contact number as 855-855-8805 Option 5, extension 4202.

It wouldn't be so absurd if I had not visited with them in person multiple times, and each time they promise that they have annotated the "system"/file, and each time it is the same old BS with this group. They continue to get things wrong.

Ah well, I'll update after I contact regulators and legal-beagles about how to get through to these clowns and get them to do the right thing finally. Meanwhile, I have to switch my auto-deposit and prepare for an exit from this PITA credit union.

 

 

 

 

 

Call the freak-show and let 'em know what you think: 202-456-1111

NYT: Health care cuts proposed in deficit negotiations - politics - The New York Times - msnbc.com

Obama selling out to GOP=Get-Old-People!

Where is ANY news about the end of Corporate Welfare!!!???

Where is the tax increase on the upper 2%???

Use the write-in part of your ballot in the next election because there simply are no choices among politicians.

They are all bought and paid for whores of the Corporatocracy. Vote 'em ALL out.

NYT: Health care cuts proposed in deficit negotiations - politics - The New York Times - msnbc.com.

It is time to get on a bus to D.C.

It is time to go visit this freak show and make these losers understand what is at stake for them and for the nation.

Before the bus leaves the station, pick-up your phones and rain a shit-storm of calls on all your elected officials in Washington NOW. This morning. Let 'em hear it. Don't wait. Do it today.

This is a Union Town.

It is truly a Happy May Day. Osama Bin Laden is Dead!

 

PIECE OF GARBAGE Osama Bin Laden is DEAD!  Carcass in US Custody!

Thank You U.S. Military, Intellegence Community, and President Obama!

Now let's get the rest of them.

 

 

Not impressed with General Motors (GM) ascent toward #1

 

I have either owned outright, or have been co-owner of 7 GM vehicles in my life time.

I did not use the words "so far" because to borrow a line from Chief Joesph, and take poetic license with it,

" ... from where the sun now stands, I will never buy another GM vehicle."

7 GM rigs are enough to convince me that General Motors produces an inferior product.

Why I stuck with them as long as I did, escapes me now.

They are crap. I will elaborate in a future post.

GM is not ascending to #1, Toyota is falling from #1.

 

Tax Time? Not for Giant Corporations - Newsroom: U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders (Vermont)

 

Release: Tax Time? Not for Giant Corporations - Newsroom: U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders (Vermont)

BURLINGTON, Vt., March 27 - While hard working Americans fill out their income tax returns this tax season, General Electric and other giant profitable corporations are avoiding U.S. taxes altogether.

With Congress returning to Capitol Hill on Monday to debate steep spending cuts, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) said the wealthiest Americans and most profitable corporations must do their share to help bring down our record-breaking deficit.

Sanders renewed his call for shared sacrifice after it was reported that General Electric and other major corporations paid no U.S. taxes after posting huge profits. Sanders said it is grossly unfair for congressional Republicans to propose major cuts to Head Start, Pell Grants, the Social Security Administration, nutrition grants for pregnant low-income women and the Environmental Protection Agency while ignoring the reality that some of the most profitable corporations pay nothing or almost nothing in federal income taxes.

Sanders compiled a list of some of some of the 10 worst corporate income tax avoiders.

1)      Exxon Mobil made $19 billion in profits in 2009.  Exxon not only paid no federal income taxes, it actually received a $156 million rebate from the IRS, according to its SEC filings.  (Source: Exxon Mobil's 2009 shareholder report filed with the SEC here.)

2)      Bank of America received a $1.9 billion tax refund from the IRS last year, although it made $4.4 billion in profits and received a bailout from the Federal Reserve and the Treasury Department of nearly $1 trillion. (Source: Forbes.com here, ProPublica here and Treasury here.)

3)      Over the past five years, while General Electric made $26 billion in profits in the United States, it received a $4.1 billion refund from the IRS. (Source: Citizens for Tax Justice here and The New York Times here.  Note: despite rumors to the contrary, the Times has stood by its story.)

4)      Chevron received a $19 million refund from the IRS last year after it made $10 billion in profits in 2009.  (Source: See 2009 Chevron annual report here.  Note 15 on page FS-46 of this report shows a U.S. federal income tax liability of $128 million, but that it was able to defer $147 million for a U.S. federal income tax liability of $-19 million)

5)      Boeing, which received a $30 billion contract from the Pentagon to build 179 airborne tankers, got a $124 million refund from the IRS last year. .  (Source: Paul Buchheit, professor, DePaul University, here and Citizens for Tax Justice here.)

6)      Valero Energy, the 25th largest company in America with $68 billion in sales last year received a $157 million tax refund check from the IRS and, over the past three years, it received a $134 million tax break from the oil and gas manufacturing tax deduction. (Source: the company's 2009 annual report, pg. 112, here.)

7)      Goldman Sachs in 2008 only paid 1.1 percent of its income in taxes even though it earned a profit of $2.3 billion and received an almost $800 billion from the Federal Reserve and U.S. Treasury Department.  (Source: Bloomberg News here, ProPublica here, Treasury Department here.)

8)      Citigroup last year made more than $4 billion in profits but paid no federal income taxes. It received a $2.5 trillion bailout from the Federal Reserve and U.S. Treasury. (Source: Paul Buchheit, professor, DePaul University, here, ProPublica here, Treasury Department here.)

9)      ConocoPhillips, the fifth largest oil company in the United States, made $16 billion in profits from 2006 through 2009, but received $451 million in tax breaks through the oil and gas manufacturing deduction.  (Sources: Profits can be found here.  The deduction can be found on the company's 2010 SEC 10-K report to shareholders on 2009 finances, pg. 127, here)

10)  Over the past five years, Carnival Cruise Lines made more than $11 billion in profits, but its federal income tax rate during those years was just 1.1 percent.  (Source: The New York Times here)

Sanders has called for closing corporate tax loopholes and eliminating tax breaks for oil and gas companies. He also introduced legislation to impose a 5.4 percent surtax on millionaires that would yield up to $50 billion a year. The senator has said that spending cuts must be paired with new revenue so the federal budget is not balanced solely on the backs of working families.

"We have a deficit problem. It has to be addressed," Sanders said, "but it cannot be addressed on the backs of the sick, the elderly, the poor, young people, the most vulnerable in this country.  The wealthiest people and the largest corporations in this country have got to contribute. We've got to talk about shared sacrifice."