CORPORATE WELFARE All the Property that is necessary to a Man, for the conservation of the individual and the propagation of the species, is his natural Right, which none can justly deprive him of: But all Property superfluous to such purposes is the Property of the Public, who, by their Laws, have created it, and who may therefore by other Laws dispose of it, whenever the Welfare of the Public shall demand such disposition. He that does not like civil society on these terms, let him retire and live among Natives. He can have no right to the benefits of Society, who will not pay his Club towards the Support of it. Benjamin Franklin WHO LOSES FROM CORPORATE TAX AVOIDANCE? Heres a sketch of research conducted by: A Joint Project of Citizens for Tax Justice & the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, for fiscal years 2008-2010. Our current corporate income tax mess is not a good approach for the rest of us. The losers under this system include: THE GENERAL PUBLIC: When corporations are permitted to shirk economic responsibility shared by the rest of us, the general public has to pay more, get less in public services, while facing mounting national debt and deficits. DISADVANTAGED COMPANIES: Wide variation in tax rates among industries, usually the result of successful lobbying, help pick winners and losers suppressing competition. These discrepancies within industries are striking. DuPont and Monsanto both produce chemicals but over three years Monsanto paid 22% federal tax while DuPont paid a negative rate of -3.4 percent. Nordstrom paid 37% while Macy’s paid 12 percent. Hewlett-Packard paid 3.7% but Texas Instruments paid 33.5 percent. FedEx paid 0.9%, competitor United Parcel Service paid 24.1percent. THE U.S. ECONOMY: The government is gifting larger tax subsidies to some companies over others is not just poor economic policy, it is unfair, unjust and flies in the face of the classical philosophy of free markets. Markets are not free when they are manipulated to insure artificial advantage. Companies don’t need subsidies to be successful. Distributing income upwards for corporate surplus wastes the resources the working class generates and guarantees expanding wealth inequality. More capital left in the hands of working class consumers rather than enhancing already profitable corporations would spur economic activity where it is most effective. Recently Boeing was awarded a $35 billion contract to supply cargo airships for the Air Force. The Pentagon needs the planes but does Boeing need an additional windfall honorarium to do what is profitable on its own? Boeing reported $9.7 billion in pretax U.S. profits but received $3.5 billion in tax subsidies paying no federal income tax over three years. In truth, profitable companies don’t need subsidies to produce product and services. They simply need to supply customers who want them. When the tax code is so rigged to the advantage of politically connected companies ordinary taxpayers, by mathematical necessity, must pay more and receive less on public services. It should be more obvious now that those least able to generate tax revenue, the middleclass and poor, are the ones bearing most the burden. I have not seen any of the other candidates addressing corporate welfare as a key contributor to the national debt and deficit. They seem to parrot the nonsense that corporate tax rates need to be reduced, or in some cases eliminated, to spur growth. They would rather blame the unemployed, those working only two jobs instead of three, and those lazy moochers on food stamps. This displays a rank ignorance of the reality that corporations are granted a light lift, a free-ride, or amazingly, free gifts for their activities while the rest of the working class contribute full tilt to the maintenance of our society. A Senator is needed who understands the situation as it truly is before one can craft a solution. My “OWNER PLAN” (see my website, danielpughforsenate) would launch us into economic recovery. Legislation to eliminate irrational and unjust corporate welfare needs to be a priority and foremost in a leaders mind and would further correct a system that unjustly distributes gains to the top of society. Most GOP candidates say they can’t be bought but if they are preaching lowing taxes on corporations they are already the under the corporate spell. Real corporate tax reform can raise needed revenues for sustaining needed social expenditures, reduce deficits, and pay down the debt. Let’s go to work. Daniel
Posted on: Tue, 11 Mar 2014 19:50:43 +0000
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