I’m tired, and the sweat is running off of me in tiny rivers. The house we live in, built over 150 years ago, does not have air conditioning. It’s never bothered me before, but, tonight, as I lay here in bed, with a red-hot laptop balanced across my mountainous belly, and my sweat pooling in my folds, I’m reconsidering my idealistic stance against AC. But that’s not what I wanted to talk about tonight. Tonight, I wanted to talk about the debt ceiling debate, and the real intentions of the corporate handmaids we call our leaders. As I’m not sure how long I’ll make it before passing out from heat stroke, here’s the most important thing that I wanted to pass along. It’s footage of Bernie Sanders on the floor of the U.S. Senate yesterday, railing sarcastically against the debt ceiling ‘compromise’ being trumpeted the so-called Gang of Six.

Here’s part of what the Senator from Vermont had to say… And, remember, he’s saying it sarcastically:

“…Clearly (the Gang of Six) has won this debate, in a very, very significant way. My guess is that they will probably get 80 to 90% of what they want. In this town, that is quite an achievement. They have stood firm in their desire to represent the wealthy, and the powerful, and the multinational corporations. They have threatened… They have been very smart in a number of ways. They have been determined. And, at the end of the day, they will get 80 or 90% of what they want. That is their victory, and I congratulate them on their victory. Unfortunately, their victory will be a disaster for working families in this country, the elderly, the sick, the children, and for low income people…

Can you imagine the change that would happen in Washington if the Tea Party zombies ever actually woke up and listened to a speech given by Bernie Sanders, instead of just reflexively calling him a Socialist?

As for the deal being floated by the Gang of Six, a lot hasn’t been made public at this time, but Bernie’s right when he says there’s reason for concern. For instance, Matt Taibbi is reporting that the compromise will almost assuredly contain another tax holiday for corporations. Here, with more on that, and why it’s a terribly bad idea, is a clip from Taibi’s post:

…For those who don’t know about it, tax repatriation is one of the all-time long cons and also one of the most supremely evil achievements of the Washington lobbying community, which has perhaps told more shameless lies about this one topic than about any other in modern history – which is saying a lot, considering the many absurd things that are said and done by lobbyists in our nation’s capital.

Here’s how it works: the tax laws say that companies can avoid paying taxes as long as they keep their profits overseas. Whenever that money comes back to the U.S., the companies have to pay taxes on it.

Think of it as a gigantic global IRA. Companies that put their profits in the offshore IRA can leave them there indefinitely with no tax consequence. Then, when they cash out, they pay the tax.

Only there’s a catch. In 2004, the corporate lobby got together and major employers like Cisco and Apple and GE begged congress to give them a “one-time” tax holiday, arguing that they would use the savings to create jobs. Congress, shamefully, relented, and a tax holiday was declared. Now companies paid about 5 percent in taxes, instead of 35-40 percent…

So, it looks as though, at least according to Taibbi, that the DC lobbyists have been able to work in another tax give-away for our corporate masters. And, that’s not the worst of it. According to numerous analysts, the Gang of Six plan would also reduce Social Security benefits by as much as $1,300 a year, while further cutting corporate tax rates.

But, we’re told this is necessary, as corporations are “job creators.” We’re told that we can’t possibly raise taxes on them, or their senior executives, because, if we do, they’ll stop creating jobs. It makes sense, right?

The only problem is, the evidence tells us different. Fortune 500 companies, according to all the data, aren’t creating jobs, in spite of pulling in record profits. Regardless of how much the talking heads on TV may tell that they’re “job creators,” they’re not… at least in this country.

….Last Friday’s Bureau of Labor Statistics’ report was brutal: a scant 18,000 jobs were created in June. Many look to big business for answers — especially those corporate leaders who joined President Obama earlier this year for his job summit.

Unfortunately, they are looking the wrong people.

According to the WSJ, Big Business slashed 2.9M domestic jobs in the 2000s while creating 2.4M overseas. In fact, all of the net job growth in the last 35 years did not come from Big Business. Those jobs came from entrepreneurs…

And, not just are the jobs disappearing while corporate profits are rising, but those who are able to hold on to their jobs aren’t seeing their incomes grow. Check this out:

…Over this six-quarter period [from Q2 of 2009 to Q4 of 2010], corporate profits captured 88% of the growth in real national income while aggregate wages and salaries accounted for only slightly more than 1% of the growth in real national income…

So, are you starting to get the picture? There is incredible wealth being created in our country, but it’s all at the corporate level, and it’s not making it’s way down to the American people, regardless of what we’re being told about these beneficent entities and their ability to “create jobs.” Here’s a little anecdotal evidence – a headline from today’s news:

“Goldmann Sachs will lay off 1,000 people, even though it made $1 billion in profits in the last 3 months”

Here’s an American company that benefited directly from the recent taxpayer bailout, and, just a year later, they’re firing American workers, in spite of making record profits. Sounds unconscionable, doesn’t it?

But it shouldn’t surprise anyone. Corporations are, after all, psychopathic by nature.

I want to go on, but I’m afraid that the rest will have to wait until tomorrow…. Good night, my invisible friends….

[note: The photo of the sleepy sloth above has nothing to do with this post. It’s just there because I’ve recently figured out that posts with photos tend to get more comments. Also, I noticed that they were talking about a sleepy sloth video of Good Morning America this morning, so that means it must have done well with focus groups. Speaking of GMA, have you noticed that half of their content is now taken directly from YouTube? It’s pretty amazing how far can you stretch the definition of news… Check this out. I just looked the GMA website, and these are their three top headlines: “Paris Hilton Interview: Greatest Celeb Walkouts,” “Extreme Makeup Hoarders,” and “Which Popular Summertime Snack Can Kill Your Pet.” I know it may not mean shit to anyone but me, but it pisses me off that we continue to allow these networks to use our public airwaves. The deal, as I understand it, was that they could use them in so long as they provided news as a public service. This, I’m pretty sure, wouldn’t qualify.]