You Should Not Write on US Currency, But If You Do ….

Defacing US currency is illegal.

Nevertheless, an organization called HUG PAC (a/k/a "Hippies United Globally P.A.C.") wants to register their outrage over the inappropriate corporate US tax policies with a $1 Bill Protest. They are advocating that fed-up citizens write along the edge of their dollar bills the following:

"This is $1 more than GE, Exxon or Bank of America paid in taxes in 2010".

They also suggest you might add the word RECALL and then plug in the name of a betraying representative or two. Then let that dollar and its message circulate.

They go on:

It's time to start educating people. It's time to get people talking when they read this note. It's time to shine light on what's REALLY going on with our tax dollars and it's time to send a LOUD message throughout the nation (without using violence or encouraging hate) that WE, THE PEOPLE say enough is enough!

RSVP to America's $1 Bill Protest on Facebook and let your voice be heard. It's a guaranteed fast way to get the message out. When you do participate, be sure to spend the money at local stores or garage sales, as a tip at a restaurant...places where you know the money will travel through hands before it reaches a bank.

This is what Rob Grace at examiner.com has to say:

The companies specified in the message are juicy examples of big corporations squeaking out on big taxes. General Electric profited $14.2 billion in 2010, $5.1 billion coming from the U.S. alone, but the Connecticut-headquartered company didn’t pay a dime in U.S. corporate taxes for that year’s profit; in fact, the company claimed a tax credit of $3.2 billion. BoA claimed a billion-dollar tax credit last year, too. Exxon did pay $15.1 billion in taxes for ’09’s $45 billion in profit – but that was to other countries; not a dime went to the IRS, which somehow gave the oil company a $1.1 billion credit that same year.

And those companies are just a handful of ones that get away with it. In fact, a 2008 report from the Government Accountability Office revealed that two-thirds of U.S. corporations were allowed to skip out on federal taxes for as long as seven successive years.

Meanwhile, Republicans in congress continue to hit up for even more corporate tax breaks (and cuts to taxes imposed on individual wealth, too), while Middle Class America foots the bill. Corporations are far from proper tax payments; individual everyday folks are left out of the arrangement because of their own taxation rates.

The GOP is actively arguing to leave our country at a standstill, too; take the recent standoff at the Capitol regarding a debt ceiling. After delaying vote in hopes of stifling Democratic opposition, the House GOP rammed through a budget cutting away from many basic programs. The Senate quickly rejected the bill, but Republican senators immediately began filibustering to delay any other budget plan.

And this leaves the country at risk of default if nothing’s achieved by August 2. Basic rights like Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid and even veterans’ benefits could come to a blunt stop. At the same time, though, and already occurring because of Republican delays, the FAA is losing $30 million every day in taxes it now can’t collect from airlines.

This is happening on the state level, too. For example, the Minnesota GOP recently voted to lower state corporate taxes and, at the same time, to remove the state’s tax credit policy on lower income residents.

Apparently this HUG PAC has been doing a lot of interesting and dramatic things in its short lifetime. Shanon Molina is the PAC’s campaign director and treasurer and formed the group just this past June with an executive director known as “Cosmic Scotty”. It has an impressive number of followers. It began as a facebook group for liberals and progressives.

Rob Grace reports:

The local news of international relevance that stemmed from HUG’s Dairy State home, pertaining to organized labor, workers’ rights and collective bargaining, was a starting seed. “I’m an activist,” she [Molina] says, “so I’ve been involved in the Wisconsin protests since day one.”

HUG quickly sprouted through organization of online protests with that original facebook page. A July 3rd “internet flash mob” took place, challenging Molina’s homestate representative, Paul Ryan. “There were roughly 700 comments posted (to Ryan’s facebook page) in two hours.”

That high-volume response inspired Molina to drop a fb flash mob on another notorious congressperson shortly after, which got even bigger results. “The second was Michelle Bachmann ,” a U.S. representative and GOP presidential candidate who’s gaining infamous notoriety in national news of late. And the response to online demonstration number two? “Over 2,000 comments posted in one hour,” Molina says.

Shortly after, HUG took on House Majority Whip Eric Cantor’s facebook page, which got the kind of response that most hippies only dream of. “Over 5,000 comments posted,” Molina says. “It actually took down his facebook page for about 30 minutes due to so many people trying to post at the same time.”

Mr. Grace on the $1 Bill Protest:

How effective can this project be? Well, just consider the volume. There are billions of one dollar bills in circulation, according to the U.S. Treasury.

And each one of those Georgie Boy singles can take place in tens of thousands of transactions throughout its 22-month average lifespan, too.

That means your message can pass through millions of fingers just by everyday money transactions. And before long, you’ll have helped get this vital message across to practically everyone.

And it’s so easy to do, too. “This type of protest allows people to take part from their own homes,” says Molina.

“It gives them a sense of being part of a bigger movement, and it gets out a very clear message.”

He finally addresses the issue of magic-markering up the currency:

But is there a risk? Well, there is that funky little law about “defacing currency,” but … that law only applies if a dollar bill is damaged to a point that makes it unusable, removing it from circulation. Simple message-bearing dollars are common, however, and even quite popular (see some classics here).

And true “hippies” would never pass up opportunity for civil disobedience in peaceful protest, now would they?

Well, the corporatists have been letting their money do plenty of serious talking for decades. Maybe it is time to let OUR dollars talk, too!

[cross-posted at correntewire]