As a boy in my early teens-I had the misfortune of reading every Allen Drury book ever written ( At least through the early 70’s). And that’s a long list. As I grew older, and came under the influence of some really dedicated teachers and professors-I realized how really bad these novels were. ( You know-those teachers that are now the enemy of the Galtian paradise our McKinleyesque overlords want to set up for us).
With the exception of Advise and Consent, Drury spiraled downward into a teabagger’s wet dream-with dreams of conspiracies between the media, liberal politicians, and the United Nations. Most of his characters were very shallow-more stereotypes really, and it was relatively evident that he didn’t like black people very much. ( Witness his treatment of some of his black characters in The Throne of Saturn and Preserve and Protect). His prose was long-and turgid. And his endings were entirely predictable. In those days it was the Russians who were behind the conspiracy. Nowadays, one has to assume it is Islam, I guess.
However I always consoled myself with the fact that it was just a work of fiction. The real world did not play out that way.
Until now:
Last week, the New York Times reported that, despite making $14.2 billion in profits, General Electric, the largest corporation in the United States, paid zero U.S. taxes in 2010 and actually received tax credits of $3.2 billion dollars. The article noted that GE’s tax avoidance team is comprised of “former officials not just from the Treasury, but also from the I.R.S. and virtually all the tax-writing committees in Congress.”
After not paying any taxes and making huge profits, General Electric is expected to ask its nearly 15,000 unionized employees in the United States to make major concessions.
This year, 14 unions representing more than 15,000 workers will negotiate a new master contract with General Electric. Among the major concessions GE has signaled that it will ask of union workers is the elimination of a defined contribution benefit pension for new employees, a move the company has already implemented for its non-union salaried employees. Likewise, GE is signaling to the union that it will ask for the elimination of current health insurance plans in favor of lower quality health saving accounts, a move the company has already implemented for non-union salaried employees as well. (Skippy comment-health savings accounts suck-my company has been trying to sell them as the greatest thing since sliced bread.)
In addition, General Electric may ask some workers for a wage freeze. Since the recession began in 2007, GE threatened to close plants in Schenectady, NY and Louisville, KY unless workers took wage concessions and adopted two-tier wage structure.
$14 billion in profits, $3 billion in tax credits, and instead of celebrating, they are instead trying to screw their workers. They can’t even use the poverty excuse-because GE had a great year in 2010. They just can’t share any of it with the people who made them successful.
I’m sure its all Frankly Unctuous’ fault. And Orrin Knox would approve.
All while we wage war against Felix Labaya in Libya.
Come Nineveh Come Tyre indeed.
Skippy,
You will not see that reported on MSNBC. We need to go to a Flat tax for personal income, and probably a Flat tax for corporates too.
Sorry for my ignorance but what’s the national pension system like in the US? Is there a minimum rate stipulated by law or corporations are free to choose?
Here in SG we have the Central Provident Fund(CPF) which is basically funded by employee (20% of monthly salary) and the employer (15% top-up of monthly salary). For example someone earns $2000/mth he/she will actually get $2300 (15% employer) although the take-home pay will only be $1600. No job means no CPF.
The CPF can only be used for insurance, investment bonds, health and housing. If I’m not wrong money kept in the CPF will get 4% returns annually. Otherwise it can only be withdrawn when the person reaches 55-65 (not sure of the laws anymore… they keep changing).
Well that’s our problem-we don’t have a consistent retirement system like Singapore has. The US should-but our selfish spoiled children of a citizenry won’t deal with it.
The last 30 years have seen companies consistently try to weasel out of their pension obligations and they have done this through the vehicle of the 401K. It is similar to the CPF-but it puts too much burden on the employee and not enough on the employer.
Its aggravated by the fact that our Social Security system is actually quite solvent-but we refuse to enact the necessary revenue enhancements to keep it that way.
Because we would rather see companies like GE get richer.
GE has a corporate culture that was fostered under Jack Welch, and you’re surprised at this?
http://www.opensecrets.org/orgs/summary.php?id=D000000125
since we ALL know that Skippy will claim that GE gives MOSt of its money to the party that shall not be named, here are the facts…
and then there is Barney Frank and the engine that nobody wants….
yeah but seeing that imelt is best buddies with Obama and the dems who really can fake surprise that GE are scofflaws and neer do wells? geitners and ranglels others oh my.
The USA has one of the highest corp tax rates in the world, 35%. Would you expect anything different from a mutinational company? GE has $84 billion parked overseas. They have GE Capital that has been losing money and balance that against the other company producers, TV, aircraft engines etc. One winner and one loser equals zero.
It does not suprise me, look at the state that any of you live in. They all have some kind of Corp. tax incentive to lure business to their state. They all understand that the real payer of taxes are you, the worker and consumer.
This should be the awakening to the public that we need a new tax system, but not until the citizens figure out that the tax code is really a way that our polititians use it to control us!
That highest corporate tax rate is a big misnomer. Overall the US has one of the lowest tax rates in the world individudally-and as GE proves actual taxes paid by companies is lower than 35%.
Income tax rates are now lower than they were under Ronald Reagan and far lower than they were under Eisenhower. And yet it has become a Norquistian non-negotiable that no taxes can be raised at all on anyone. Anyone who actually believes that the way to a balanced budget is through spending cuts alone needs to have their heads examined.
Remember the deficit commission-they proposed tax reforms but the GOP hated it because it represented an overall tax increase for everyone. So instead we get the current group of spoiled assholes like that cretin Allen West.
Of course the wealthy AND corporations should be taxed but the code itself has become a special interests wet dream despite the Reagan era reforms, a lot of tax write offs have been reinstated.
in addition the wealthy always find a away to avoid taxes..so the question is HOW to collect taxes on the wealthy and their
corporations.
Its unfair and untrue to say the GOP hated the reforms advocated by the commission..there were parts of the report, like raising retirement ages, that were hated by the left.
Of course, we could have saved 600 million and counting if we had kept our noses out of Libya and let the Arabs take care of their own.
As much as the world hates the Jews at least THEY would have done what was necessary to protect their own tribe unlike the feckless Arabs.