Portside

The real struggle must not be reduced to dichotomies that speak to people’s emotions, but rather found in the structural causes that allow a small segment of humanity to exploit and enrich itself on the backs of billions of “others,” and to self-attribute to itself a sense of moral superiority.

The massive leak of documents known as the Panama Papers illustrates how Donald J. Trump and others seek to profit off his very name alone. The Trump name shows up on 3,540 of the leaked documents, many shedding light on what has become a business model. Trump's name doesn't appear as an owner of offshore accounts; some of his associates and business partners are also in the files.

Reader Comments: Contested Convention is Needed; and "#BernieorBust" Dead End; The Left in 2016; Stopping Israel's Occupation and BDS; Israel as the Last Remaining, Active Settler-Colonialist Project; Who's Afraid of Communism - Paul Buhle comments; Teamster and Other Multi-Employer Pension Plans; Teacher Challenges Low Evaluation in Court and Wins; Baldwin; Shakespeare; James Connolly - appreciated today; Just Released - Panama Papers Database...

Anonymous whistleblower says "Panama Papers are, if nothing else, a glaring symptom of our society's progressively diseased and decaying moral fabric."

Berning Ted and Donald on 'NY Values.' Burning Issues: The Money Hidden In Shell Companies. Street Music | Hotel California. The Dirtiest Trade Deal And What's In It. "Because I’m Latino, I can’t have money?" Kids on Race.

Reader Comments: Panama Papers fallout; Controversy over whites as part of the working class; Mine Safety and Blankenship Jail Sentence; Minimum wage hikes discussion; Bernie and labor, Wisconsin victory; Wall Street and Glass-Steagall; Hillary and labor, Wall Street and fracking; Pope Francis; Announcements: Gerald Horne book signings - Baltimore, Washington and New York; China Labor Relations; Communists in the Civil Rights Movement

So far super-rich US tax dodgers have escaped the scrutiny and outrage directed at the world’s greediest following the release of the documents known as the Panama Papers. This is in large part because US one-percenters long ago decided to shelter-in-place, hiding their money in tax havens at home. The US has overtaken Singapore, Luxembourg and the Cayman Islands as a preferred haven for the super-rich to hide their assets, trailing only Switzerland and Hong Kong.

The Panama Papers illuminate a key aspect of why the system isn’t working–because globalization has allowed the capital and assets of the 1 % (be they individuals or corporations) to travel freely, while those of the 99 % cannot. I think we’re heading towards a root to branch re-evaluation of how our market system works–and doesn’t work.

 The Panama Papers reveal the widespread use of shell corporations in the British Virgin Islands, the Seychelles in the Indian Ocean, and Panama. Historically, North American investors prefer tax havens in the Caribbean or Panama, with an estimated 54 percent of offshore investments going to those areas.   The release of the Panama Papers should give a strong boost to US and global campaigns to crack down on these global secrecy jurisdictions and practices.