Not paying taxes is unpatriotic, but…
…debating the amount and how the taxes are spent is patriotic!
"It IS a fine morning here in front of Joe’s Café & Coffee, somewhere in the Upper Town neighborhood of Old Saint Paul, Minnesota!"
It IS a fine morning here in front of Joe’s Café & Coffee, somewhere in the Upper Town neighborhood of Old Saint Paul, Minnesota! With a current temperature of 66ºF, and we are expecting a high of 89ºF, but sadly, no much-needed rain is predicted.
I’m outside, because I’m not quite ready to deal with the guys at the counter this morning. We’ll engage them another day. Instead, we will discuss slimy corporate tax dodgers.
According to the White House, the projected 2009 fiscal year budget deficit is expected to be $482 billion, an all-time record. Worse, the projected budget does not reflect the costs of military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Just think where we’d be if we could collect what is owed by some unpatriotic corporations who have established offshore tax shelters:
“As much as $300 billion a year in taxes goes uncollected by the government, and by some estimates more than a third of this may be related to corporations’ reliance on offshore tax havens, according to some lawmakers.” [Source: “Congress targeting corporate tax dodgers in Cayman trip” CNN Politics,com]
Ten firms, some of whom are making huge sums of money in government contracts—but pay no taxes due to sham offices offshore:
Halliburton: Dubai.
Accenture: Bermuda
Ingersoll-Rand Co. Ltd.: Bermuda.
Tyco International Ltd.: Bermuda.
Cooper Industries Inc.: Bermuda.
Noble Drilling Services Inc.: Cayman Islands.
Global Crossing: Bermuda.
Seagate Technology LLC: Cayman Islands.
Nabors Industries Ltd.: Bermuda and Barbados.
Foster Wheeler Ltd.: Bermuda.
[Source: HR World]
There is some action planned in the senate, but with this administration and the makeup of the current congress, action is unlikely:
“Specific legislation is expected to be introduced later this year…(the) Government Accountability Office report…showed (up to) half of the 18,857 entities registered at a single Caymans Island office building were either U.S.-owned or had U.S. billing addresses (emphasis mine).” [Source: Senators plan laws to target offshore tax evasion, by Kevin McCoy, USA TODAY]
These corporations (and not mentioned in this post, individuals) all benefit from the taxes that are being paid by us, some (Haliburton, for example) are making a ton of money in defense contracts and REFUSE to pay their share. To say this angers me, is an extreme understatement!
I’ll repeat: Not paying taxes is unpatriotic, but debating the amount and how they are spent is patriotic!
