Wednesday, March 20, 2019

Corporate Power Trivia Night

It started innocently enough with a question brimming with numbers in the single and double digits. How hard could it be?  
"National governments are typically the highest revenue generators in the world.  But in recent years, some corporations are generating more profits than many governments. How many corporations make it in to the top 25 revenue generators in the world?"  

And now for the answer.  By 2016, of the world’s 25 largest revenue generators, 8 were corporations. What happens if one expands the net a bit and looks at the top 100 revenue generators? Corporations are producing an even larger share of revenue. In 2014, 64 of the largest economies in the world were corporations and 36 were governments. Two years later, in 2016, 69 were corporations and 31 governments.  Annual revenues are of course only one indicator of the size of a government or corporation but it is one metric that enables comparison of the two.

Lest one thinks that some radicals manipulated these statistics to fit their agenda, take note that this data came from the CIA World Factbook and the Fortune 500 listings Chart.

Manatee/Sarasota Move To Amend held the first Corporate Power Trivia Night in March, 2019. There were 7 teams competing. Even the seasoned and well-informed amongst us were surprised by some of the questions and answers. Participants commented that they had learned a lot and were surprised at the depth and breadth of corporate constitutional rights. Topics covered included lobbying, prescription drug legislation, corporate personhood, the Farm Bill, the 14th Amendment, net neutrality, and the We-The-People Amendment.

Manatee/Sarasota Move To Amend would be happy to bring a version of this political Trivia Night to your favorite local group and tailor it to your groups' interests.


Source: http://www.corporationsandhealth.org/2017/10/09/the-100-largest-governments-and-corporations-by-revenue-in-2016/

Wednesday, March 6, 2019

Florida Legislature vs. Public Schools

Move To Amend member, Carol Lerner, has researched the current crop of education-related bills that have been introduced into the 2019 Florida Legislative Session.  Carol reports on the good, the bad, and the omnibus -
Bills to Defeat:  
Omnibus Bill (number pending): The Senate Education Committee, under the leadership of Sen. Manny Diaz, is putting together a broad omnibus education bill, modeled after previous draconian House omnibus education bills of the past two sessions (HB 7069 and HB 7085). 
 One will include direct school vouchers called Family Empowerment Scholarships which will be funded out of the education budget. Sandwiched between school vouchers