If you’re a regular here, you know that the Reich on the Right, the Republican Reich, is virtually always wrong, and the Reich on the Left, Robert Reich, is virtually always right. Therefore, it should come as no surprise that Robert and Bernie usually agree, as they do about greedy corporate deserters and their Republican supporters.
Apple is only the latest big global American corporation to use foreign tax shelters to avoiding paying its fair share of U.S. taxes. It’s just another form of corporate desertion.
Corporations are deserting America by hiding their profits abroad or even shifting their corporate headquarters to another nation because they want lower taxes abroad. And some politicians say the only way to stop these desertions is to reduce corporate tax rates in the U.S. so they won’t leave.
Wrong. If we start trying to match lower corporate tax rates around the world, there’s no end to it.
Instead, the President should use his executive power to end the financial incentives that encourage this type of corporate desertion. President Obama has already begun, but there is much left that could be done.
In addition, corporation [sic] that desert America by sheltering a large portion of their profits abroad or moving their headquarters to another country should no longer be entitled to the advantages of being American…
From <Robert Reich>
I could not agree more. I deplore those greedy corporations.
21 Responses to “Corporate Deserters”
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Great video, Mr. Reich!
I'm definitely w/you on your assertions of corporate greed and desertions!
Thanks, Tom for this.
I do understand why Republican elected officials can't understand this. No one can understand what he or she doesn't want to understand. Whay I don't get is why Republican voters can't see this. Other than my old (but IMO good) theory that their brains have been destroyed by air and water pollution. And now Monsanto wants to merge with Bayer (a German company, I believe?) and let Bayer be the owner of record. Gee. Guess why.
There is a Care2 petition regarding the Monsanto/Bayer merger at http://www.thepetitionsite.com/en-ca/605/947/235/ftc-investigate-dangerous-monsanto-bayer-merger/
Signed, thanks!
Bayer became a giant corporation through research performed by experiumenting on Jews in Republican concentration camps during WWII.
I agree totally with Reich! I just read that Ford Motor Company is going to produce all its small cars in Mexico! This burns me. I cannot remember if they were bailed out with General Motors now, but IF they were, they should have to repay every cent.
A Ford TV ad slams competitors for accepting bailout funds, even though the company’s CEO lobbied for the bill. The company — the only one of the Big Three not to receive a bailout — feared a collapse of GM and Chrysler at the time would have hurt suppliers and, in turn, Ford itself. Ford Chief Executive Officer Alan R. Mulally also asked Congress for a “credit line” of up to $9 billion in case the economy worsened.
In other words, Ford was for government bailouts before it was against them.
Although Ford did not need money from the $80 billion bailout program, Ford did receive $5.9 billion in government loans in 2009 to retool its manufacturing plants to produce more fuel-efficient cars, and the company lobbied for and benefited from the cash-for-clunkers program — contrary to the ad’s testimonial that Ford is “standing on their own.”
FactCheck.org
Thanks for the info, TC.
YVW!!
Reich is right, as of course he most always is. But please don't think that this a uniquely American problem, the EU faces the same problems, even while some of their members are in a race to the bottom of tax exemptions for global corporations. The Apple – Ireland connection Reich mentions in his article has now made the news because Ireland is made to levy the correct amount of taxes on Apple's turnover by the EU courts. I won't bore you with the details and I'm no expert in economics, but apparently it's even worse than Apple getting a huge tax deduction on it's profits; Apple only has to pay taxes over the profits they've made in Ireland itself but doesn't pay taxes any where else for the profits made there, or something to that effect.
This may seem beside the point, but it seems to indicate that global corporations can pick and choose across the globe what kinds of production, trading and tax legislation they want to put in the mix to maximize their profits. They may have their products made in one country which has no workers protection at all, combined with extremely low wages in one country, export it through another with the cheapest and most extensive global covering and pay the lowest taxes over their gains in yet another. And then stash the income of their corporate management in tax havens, of course. I'm sure this will only get worse when the deals on "free trade" like TPP and TTIP are finalized.
The solutions Reich proposes are excellent, there's no doubt about it. However they can only work if other nations or conglomerates of countries do the same and they ALL stop being the hypocrites they are, realize they are played for fools by the global companies, and stop being a tax haven for companies, or becoming one like Brexit Britain. Now there's a trade treaty I would like to see them start negotiating on, wouldn't you?
Apparently the viewer from afar still has eyes which would put an eagle to shame.
AMEN!!!
Lona is spot-on! Amen JD!!
With you all the way!
Amen! As usual, Reich is correct!
And I think that this same principle should be applicable in all countries. Corporations should not be able to able to have their cake and eat it too!
Hmmmmm… I suppose another idea would be that these deserters should not be allowed to sell their products in USA.
Now there's an idea! Although I suspect consumers would then purchase online. But with import taxes etc, the consumer would pay and demand might just drop off.
I guess we can dream Jim, can't we!
Domestic shipping can be high enough. Overseas shipping can be gosh-awful. They would do better to raise prices and offer free shipping – most people know that whan a corp does that the shipping is in the price, but it is easier to predict the total, so one knows what one's getting into. In many, maybe most, cases, personal use is non-dutiable.
Thanks all!! Hugs!!
I would impose a tariff on all goods imported from tax-evasing deserters, equal to the tax they wold have paid, had they remained.
Oh, TC, I like that idea!!!! And Reich's.
Multi-National Corporations ← #BullShit