Saturday, July 7, 2007

How cheerful

Little bits of random information from a mailer I received from Mother Jones magazine: 60% of U.S. companies don't pay taxes, half of the FDA's drug evaluation budget is funded by drug companies, four of the top richest people in the U.S. are Walmart heirs.

Lovely.
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11 comments:

Anonymous said...

Shea,
No U. S. company or corporation pays taxes. ZERO! The consumers of a company's products / services pay all the taxes. Corporations are collectors of taxes. They collect money from me and thee (buried in the cost of goods or services) and pass it along to the government to squander. It makes me crazy when folks start talking about forcing corporations to pay their 'fair share'. It's as if we are holding our own guns to our own heads and everyone is smiling.

Sunday, July 08, 2007
Larry said...

I'm surprised it isn't higher.

Sunday, July 08, 2007
Watch 'n Wait said...

Have problems to be resolved..but doubtful they will be as long as there's no public financing of elections. Need corps to not be considered persons. Need re-regulation. Need to pay taxes on income in off-shore banks. Need to make monopolies illegal again. Need to get rid of Bush/Cheney/Gonzo...and thereby the whole damned mess of them. And most of all, need to get our people out of Iraq and home. Now.

Sunday, July 08, 2007
Mike of the North said...

RIck you lucky s.o.b. I had the wittiest cutting response typed up when a power outage occured that caused me to close the comments window and lose it.

My basic premise was that if we are going to absolve corporations from paying taxes then we have to absolve anyone else that provides services for a fee from paying taxes too. After all aren't they going to just raise their prices to compensate for the taxes they have to pay? That leaves salaried and hourly employess left to pay the bills. Doesn't sound fair to me.

As I thought about the problem waiting for the power to come back on I realized the only solution was to raise taxes on capital gains to compensate for the lack of taxes being paid by corporations. Since the vast majority of the wealth in this country is controlled by a very small percentage of the population, I propose that in order to minimize the impact of this massive increase in capital gains tax on the average american taxpayer, we tax the top ten percent of wealthiest investors only. This way we can insure that corporations start paying their share.

let me know what you think.

Monday, July 09, 2007
Anonymous said...

Mike
I’m no economist and I don’t believe there is any economist that understands economies. We cannot absolve corporations of taxes they never pay. Saturday afternoon the guy running the small business that washes our outside windows showed up and took care of business. He charged me $40 for his effort. That $40 covers all his business expenses, including his taxes. The same goes for the guy or gal selling those delicious reindeer sausages out of that cart. Same for Comp U S A and General Motors. My window washer collected taxes from me and paid it to the government. I don’t believe anything is any more complicated than that on any level.

Fair is subjective and if we allow it to become doctrine, someone other than you or I invariably ends up deciding what is fair and therein lies the rub.

Historically, any reduction in tax rates, results in an increase in tax revenues overall because it tends to broaden the tax base and allow more capital to pour through the economy rather than directly to the government that squanders cash on a macro scale. I would rather send all my taxes directly to you. You will not build a large office building and staff it with unmotivated morons, which is how my money is currently being used.

The problem with going after capital gains is that when the rates begin to be perceived as confiscatory, folks will park or hide gains rather than submit to the higher tax rates. This hiding of private capital reduces the availability of venture capital as government is first in line to borrow from conventional lenders (banks) and we are only able to access what is left over. More than half the planet toyed with government tweaking of economies for most of the twentieth century and it failed everywhere. All I want my government to do is stay out of the way.

I feel much better now. Good to hear from you. Sorry for the rant on your site Shea.

Monday, July 09, 2007
azgoddess said...

yep yep yep...invest in drug companies -- they will never let you down -- oh wait, unless you want actual medical treatment!!!

Monday, July 09, 2007
SheaNC said...

Rants are always welcome. But you know, "build a large office building and staff it with unmotivated morons," sounds like something that is as true for the private sector as it is for the government!

Monday, July 09, 2007
Mike of the North said...

I'd rather staff a building full of morons than dump billions down a black hole missile system that still hasn't worked even when they completely stack the deck in the interceptors favor.

Mind you the interceptor system is a major cash cow for the interior of alaska where I live. But how about funding a rail system from here down through canada to the lower 48? It would create just as many jobs if not more, and it would make just as many corporations that much richer.

To hell with black ops military projects let's invest in infrastructure.

btw Rick, the economic theory you expound upon sounds a lot like that trickle down crap that ronnie rayguns tried to pawn off on us. Not only did I fail to see any real benefit to the country from it. I've never seen any historical records that support your assertions that the actual tax revenues increase when tax rates are reduced.

Statistical trends can be interpreted to be caused by any number of factors and most of the time any interpretation of a tax rate decrease leading to a revenue increase is made by the very people that directly benefit from those decreases. Not only that but the mere premise that dropping taxes increases revenue flies in the face of logic. I still haven't been able to wrap my brain around that one.

As far as the govt getting out of the way of corporations with nafta and the wto you've gotten your wish. Consequently U.S. manufacturing jobs have been shipped to china and mexican farmers can't support themselves growing their own corn when they have to compete against archer-daniels-midland. And guess where they head to try to make enough to keep their family fed?

Tuesday, July 10, 2007
Anonymous said...

I am simply reflecting on the fact that corporations do not pay taxes. Whatever tax rate is imposed on them is buried in the costs of goods and services and is paid by you and I. They are simply a tax collector for government. I am completely aware that some folks don't mind that at all. I do. I think it far more likely that most do not realize that this ruse is taking place.

I was not aware that there was no rail system from Alaska to the lower 48. With the amount of money we are squandering, we could build a bridge from Alaska to the lower 48

Tuesday, July 10, 2007
Anonymous said...

Until political campaign funding is dealt with (for real, not for show), funders will continue to buy politicians, who will continue to write tax policies in favor of those funders (ever look at some of the special tax breaks that some corporations get thanks to their particular congressional puppet?).

Sunday, July 22, 2007
SheaNC said...

lapopessa: I agree completely.

Sunday, July 22, 2007

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