30 Companies paid more in lobbying then they did in taxes.

[Ausm]

What's wrong with this picture? Corporate cash is killing our Democracy.


http://publicampaign.org/sites/default/files/ReportTaxDodgerLobbyingDec6.pdf

 

[EagleKeeper]

Your representatives in Congress have allowed tax loopholes for many years.

Convinced by lobbyists.

Maybe congress should do their own homework and lobbyists not allowed to set foot on government property or places rented for government use.

But that goes against free speech of companies and unions

 

[alent1234]

what's a tax loophole?

 

[Agfadoc]

28.5 lobbyists for every congressman. Get rid of the lobbyists and we might have a solid chance at a level playing field.

Whats worse though, the drug dealer providing the drugs or the users taking the drug. It takes two for it to work.

 

[Ausm]

Your representatives in Congress have allowed tax loopholes for many years.

Convinced by lobbyists.

Maybe congress should do their own homework and lobbyists not allowed to set foot on government property or places rented for government use.

But that goes against free speech of companies and unions

I don't see Unions not paying their taxes in this article but I could have missed it.

 

[Agfadoc]

Did you miss the GE not paying theirs? Legally albeit, but not all of them happen to be at the hip of this president though.. I bet that Lobby seat is awesome..er...

But wait, there's more...

http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/press/2011/dec11/12-07MSGEHealthcarePR.mspx

Why do you think GE and Microsoft support the presidents healthcare bill?

What? Wait... No way... Ya think?

 

[quest55720]

That is why we need to lower the corporate rate to around 20% and get rid of all deductions except health insurance. That would take care of this problem. Government can not be trusted to do anything right.

 

[EagleKeeper]

To stop the lobbyist you have to curtail free speech.

For some that is fine for business lobbyists - but not for union lobbyists?

US Supreme Court has kept a level playing field.

Talk to your congressional Representatives on why the loopholes are allowed to exist and get them changed.

 

[Agfadoc]

Isn't our representatives supposed to be our lobbyists?

 

[hal2kilo]

Bu, bu, but you expect a congressman to actually write the legislation in a bill?

 

[EagleKeeper]

Isn't our representatives supposed to be our lobbyists?

Some are; most are not. Are their lips moving?:biggrin:

 

[werepossum]

That is why we need to lower the corporate rate to around 20% and get rid of all deductions except health insurance. That would take care of this problem. Government can not be trusted to do anything right.

It would certainly help, although I suspect the high cost of regulations and the chances of favorable contracts or grants, not to mention the chances of government action driven by one's competitors, would still make it economically necessary to lobby the government. When government gets this large and intrusive, it's not prudent for a major corporation to not court government. We all saw what happened to Microsoft; it's not prudent to ignore government when one's competitors are whispering in government ears.

My own preference would be to abolish all corporate income taxes and tax dividends, bonuses, etc. just as wage income. That way American corporations have a competitive advantage rather than a disadvantage, the cost to the consumer remains largely the same, and revenues to government probably remain the same or go up. I'm not a huge fan of progressive income taxes, but if we must have one I think it makes sense to count all income the same.

 

[senseamp]

$84 Million in lobbying for $8 Billion tax break? Looks like there is every incentive for corruption.

 

[homercles337]

Did you miss the GE not paying theirs? Legally albeit, but not all of them happen to be at the hip of this president though.. I bet that Lobby seat is awesome..er...

But wait, there's more...

http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/press/2011/dec11/12-07MSGEHealthcarePR.mspx

Why do you think GE and Microsoft support the presidents healthcare bill?

What? Wait... No way... Ya think?

Would you forthwith attempt conversion of obtuse into English?

 

[PokerGuy]

It's funny to see the lefties rail against evil corporations who pay more in lobbying than in taxes..... but yet at the same time push for even more government and more government control. Wake up you dolts, the bigger and more powerful the government is, the more powerful the corporations are because they're going to spend the lobbying cash to get their voice heard.

There's no conceivable realistic way to get money out of politics, and there's no way you're going to control corporate influence and control since they hold the purse strings that control the govt reps. The ONLY logical solution is to reduce the scope and power of the government.

 

[QuantumPion]

You give unelected bureaucrats the power to make or break an entire industry with the stroke of a pen and then wonder why thousands of companies are scrambling to get their bribe money in? Duh.

 

[Ausm]

It's funny to see the lefties rail against evil corporations who pay more in lobbying than in taxes..... but yet at the same time push for even more government and more government control. Wake up you dolts, the bigger and more powerful the government is, the more powerful the corporations are because they're going to spend the lobbying cash to get their voice heard.

There's no conceivable realistic way to get money out of politics, and there's no way you're going to control corporate influence and control since they hold the purse strings that control the govt reps. The ONLY logical solution is to reduce the scope and power of the government.

Yeah we saw how well that worked with the near total collapse of our financial system.

 

[QuantumPion]

Yeah we saw how well that worked with the near total collapse of our financial system.

You are aware that the economic collapse was directly caused by government interference in the banking and mortgage industries, right?

 

[EagleKeeper]

The government had the tools - they neglected to use or misused them. Why?

 

[senseamp]

My view on this is that since Supreme Court ruled that corporations have same rights as US citizens, they should have same obligations. US citizens are obligated to pay income taxes on income made overseas. Time for corporations to pay up or shut up.

 

[QuantumPion]

My view on this is that since Supreme Court ruled that corporations have same rights as US citizens, they should have same obligations. US citizens are obligated to pay income taxes on income made overseas. Time for corporations to pay up or shut up.

They already are taxed four times:

a) Capital gains on their stock
b) Income tax on their employees
c) sales tax on their products
d) Corporate income tax

You want to tax them a 5th time now? When will it be enough?

And for the record, the S.C. did not "rule that corporations have the same rights as citizens". They ruled that corporations can spend money on political speech the same as unions get to.

 

[Fern]

what's a tax loophole?

Technically, it's when a tax law, or two or more in combination, results in unintended consequences resulting in a tax benefit for people or businesses.

However, most people around (mistakenly) use the term to describe some benefit Congress has passed into law for the benefit of people or business, usually it some kind of deduction or credit they don't like for some business or industry they don't like.

Fern

 

[bfdd]

we can like stop using their products or services, all the while demanding more from our politicians who are really to blame for allowing this to happen and actually taking what is given to them. yes it takes restraint and a big person to do it, but those are supposed to be the kinds of people that we elect. if they dishonor us that's on them.

they should all resign.

 

[Fern]

I don't care much for the article. I must admit I didn't read past the halfway point; couldn't bear it. IMO, a slanted piece by an author with an agenda.

Congress, the Exec branch and it's minions draft thousands of pages of regulations on all kinds of businesses each year. Is it not possible that corporations spend a lot time and money lobbying on those?

The article looks to me like it's trying to pass it all off on taxes. While I'm sure they do lobby for tax measures, it's ridiculous to ignore regulations and corporations' concern about them.

Fern

 

[QuantumPion]

Technically, it's when a tax law, or two or more in combination, results in unintended consequences resulting in a tax benefit for people or businesses.

However, most people around (mistakenly) use the term to describe some benefit Congress has passed into law for the benefit of people or business, usually it some kind of deduction or credit they don't like for some business or industry they don't like.

Fern

A good example of a loophole was the $7500 electric car tax credit. People for a while were buying electric golf carts for $7500, getting the full tax credit, and then selling or leasing the golf carts to clubs to get their full value back. $7500 free money.

Another good one I heard about (although not a tax loophole) was the mint trying to get people to adopt the $1 coins by selling them for $1 with free shipping on their website. People would buy $10,000 worth of coins on their credit card, deposit the coins in the bank, and pay off the credit card. Free credit card rewards / airline miles for you, thousands of dollars of waste for the government shipping coins back and forth. :hmm: