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On tax day, Tuesday, April 17, hundreds gathered at the Challenger Memorial in Bayfront Park to protest corporate tax dodgers and participated in a vote for Miami’s Biggest Tax Dodger. The corporations nominated included Wells Fargo, GE, NextEra/FPL, Exxon Mobil, Carnival, Royal Caribbean and FedEx. All were on display at our “Walk of Shame,” where we had six foot printed out photos of their CEO’s and statistics listed underneath of how much the company made, their tax rate, and their CEO’s income. Most people who walked by were more than mildly surprised to see that the corporations listed paid such a low tax rate, yet paid their CEO’s millions. (more…)
Tax day is tomorrow and it’s time for the 99% to rise up and call out the tax dodgers. For too long we have been paying our fair share while giant corporations and the 1% get a free pass. We continue to see education face budget cuts at all grade levels and health care being reduced for the elderly and poor, all while the working class pays its dues! (more…)
1Miami successfully rallied outside of Carnival’s shareholder meeting this past Wednesday, with around 70 – 80 concerned residents. There were also about two dozen activists who bought shares of Carnival and attended the meeting to ask why the corporation doesn’t pay its fair share in taxes. Of course CEO Micky Arison balked at such a question, first claiming that they did indeed pay taxes. When someone called out to ask how much they paid in U.S. taxes, Arison then claimed that if they paid anymore they would have to relocate to China. (more…)
If you’ve been keeping up with our blogs then you understand why Carnival is such a bad corporate citizen. We’ve called them out on several of their shady business practices, such as terrible working conditions, and the millions they’ve spent on lobbyists. The biggest wrongdoing however, is the fact that Carnival has paid a global tax rate of less than 1% over the last three years, and our politicians are to blame for allowing this to continue.
Por fin, termino el suspenso. El senador Marco Rubio anuncio que va respaldar a Mitt Romney, candidato republicano por la presidencia. Dado que ven ojo a ojo sobre muchos temas, el respaldo de Rubio a Romney no solo hace sentido al nivel de ideas compartidas, pero si no también al nivel de mejorar la carera política de Rubio. Con todo que oímos sobre una candidatura vicepresidencial por Rubio, es muy probable que el senador lo está considerando y planificando. Si es el caso, la primera cosa hacer es aprobar a Romney.
A pesar de su charla del escapo de su familia de Cuba bajo el régimen comunista en 1956, un tema central y absurdo de su narrativo, Rubio se junta con Romney sobre la cuestión de la inmigración. A respaldar un candidato es esencialmente a respaldar sus ideas.
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Después de llevar a cabo una serie de carnavales educativos con el objetivo de desenmascarar a Carnival Cruise Lines, uno de los más grandes evasores de impuestos en Miami, los activistas de 1Miami están listos en continuar la lucha para lograr un sistema de impuestos justo y que las corporaciones se responsabilicen en pagar los impuestos que les corresponde.
Durante estas últimas semanas, en cada carnaval, los activistas se educaron y discutieron en los vecindarios de Miami a cerca de la evasión de impuestos. Al fin decidieron hacer una serie de acciones para llamar la atención de los residentes de Miami, principalmente de Carnival Cruise Lines. Lo planearon bien, hasta el último detalle, y ya están listos a llevarlo a cabo.
En las próximas semanas, los activistas de 1Miami tendrán seis acciones planificadas para enfrentar a Carnival Cruise Lines y educar a la gente de Miami sobre este vecino antipático. Por tierra, mar y aire, ningún objetivo está a salvo de la determinación de los activistas de 1Miami para hacer que paguen su parte justa de impuestos.
Según algunas personas, no tiene sentido tomar acciones contra una corporación tan grande. Dicen cosas como “esto no cambiara nada” o “tienen mucho dinero y poder”.
Que Carnival Cruise Lines tiene demasiado poder y dinero está claro. Que utilizan su riqueza y poder para enriquecerse sobre las espaldas de la gente de Miami está claro. Pero si es posible que las acciones de la sociedad civil lograrán una victoria significativa con cambios profundos, entonces si vale la pena intentarlo. El que piensa que no vale la pena luchar por el futuro nunca lograra nada.
La historia está llena de personas que escogieron no hacer nada en momentos claves por el desarrollo de la humanidad. Pero personas como Martin Luther King Jr. y César Chavez, si han logrado cambios profundos y han sido una fuente todas las generaciones. Afortunadamente para la gente de nuestra ciudad, los activistas de 1Miami son de este carácter.
Opening Night was yesterday at Marlins Park, and the flashy, newly constructed stadium couldn’t save the Marlins from an embarrassing loss to the Cardinals. Even the opposing players thought the stadium was a bit over the top for the sport and neighborhood it was built in. All that flash costs money though – to the taxpayers. The estimated cost of the stadium was half a billion dollars mostly financed by our tax dollars, in a county set on cutting its budget. (more…)
Durante las últimas semanas, los activistas de 1Miami llevaron a cabo unos “Carnavales” en varios vecindarios en Miami, incluyendo Hialeah, La Pequeña Haití y La Pequeña Habana. Conociendo los activistas de 1Miami, no sorprende que cada uno fuera un éxito. Todos los carnavales pasaron muy bien; ni el calor ni la lluvia podrían impedir a los activistas de “celebrar”.
El objetivo de estos carnavales era a reunir las comunidades de Miami, no sólo para pasar un buen rato, que lo pasaron, pero también para exponer una empresa que en un sentido figurado esta “hundiendo Miami”. El objetivo de estos carnavales era para educar la gente de Miami acerca de uno de los peores actores corporativos en nuestra ciudad – Carnival Cruise Lines.
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Carnival Cruise Corporation is actually incorporated in Panama, avoiding most U.S. labor, tax and consumer protection laws. If you read Part II: Writing Fat Checks to Executives and Lobbyists, then you will know that Carnival and its affiliates also feel the need to lobby our elected officials on tax issues, because registration as a corporation in Panama is not enough to get you out of owing the IRS a little cash.
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If you live in Miami, you are pretty used to seeing headlines, like the one in the Herald Friday morning, that talk about our jobless rate “holding steady.” As the article explains:
“New numbers show unemployment inching down statewide, and definite signs of life … as payrolls continue to expand in South Florida.”
“Inching,” “signs of life” and “joblessness holding steady.” Should those phrases make us feel good? We keep hearing in the papers that the state of the economy is improving ever so slightly. We also hear, when they talk about “steady” joblessness, that even though there are still a ton of people out of work, at least it’s not getting worse. And that would be fine, if everyone was in the same boat. Well, if we are talking about everyday Miamians that aren’t big banks, then we are sort of in the same boat. I like to call it a sinking ship. (more…)
