If Mitt Romney won't tell you which need to be closed, we will
By Chris Parker Wednesday, Oct 10 2012
A year ago, Citizens for Tax Justice,
a Washington, D.C., nonprofit, studied the tax returns of 280
corporations. What it found was a Beltway version of a Mafia protection
scheme.
From 2008 to 2010, at least 30 Fortune 500 companies—including PepsiCo, Verizon, Wells Fargo, and DuPont—paid
more for lobbyists than they did in taxes. They collectively spent $476
million sucking up to Congress, buying protection for tax breaks,
loopholes, and special subsidies.
It didn't matter that these same 30 firms brought home a staggering $164 billion in profit during that three-year period. They not only managed to avoid paying taxes, but they also actually received $10.6 billion in rebates.
Welcome to the U.S. tax code, where companies like General Electric and Boeing contribute less to the federal treasury than a retired machinist living in Florida.
Defenders of the system argue that most deductions don't go to large corporations. That's true. By pure dollars, the lion's share go for mortgage interest, employer-paid health insurance, retirement plans, and Medicare benefits.
The difference is these tend to benefit everyone. They're designed for the greater good, reinforcing the pillars of self-determination: home ownership, savings, and health care.
But there's another part of the tax code where 99 percent of America is barred from entry. It's where Congress sells loopholes and subsidies to those with the wallets to pay. READ MORE
It didn't matter that these same 30 firms brought home a staggering $164 billion in profit during that three-year period. They not only managed to avoid paying taxes, but they also actually received $10.6 billion in rebates.
Welcome to the U.S. tax code, where companies like General Electric and Boeing contribute less to the federal treasury than a retired machinist living in Florida.
Defenders of the system argue that most deductions don't go to large corporations. That's true. By pure dollars, the lion's share go for mortgage interest, employer-paid health insurance, retirement plans, and Medicare benefits.
The difference is these tend to benefit everyone. They're designed for the greater good, reinforcing the pillars of self-determination: home ownership, savings, and health care.
But there's another part of the tax code where 99 percent of America is barred from entry. It's where Congress sells loopholes and subsidies to those with the wallets to pay. READ MORE
s
the suicide rate among soldiers climbs to the highest levels in
history, the Army is hoping Americans might one day treat their mental
health woes with a single sniff.
ormer
Vice President Dick Cheney would agree that he is about as right-wing
as an American politician can be, openly hostile to the federal
government's intervention in society. But one surprise from his memoir,
In My Time, is that Cheney recognizes that his personal success was made
possible by Franklin Roosevelt's New Deal and the fact that Cheney's
father managed to land a steady job with the federal government.
t would be bad enough, as I reported last week, that