Apple, Google, Microsoft Sitting on 58 Billion in Overseas Profits, Blackmailing Us to Avoid Taxes

[marmar]

AlterNet / By Les Leopold

Apple, Google, Microsoft Sitting on 58 Billion in Overseas Profits, Blackmailing Us to Avoid Taxes
How does it feel to have the jobs gun pointed at your head? Because that’s what this is: a stickup.

June 23, 2011 |


America’s largest global corporations are holding $1.5 trillion dollars in profits overseas in order to avoid US taxes. “Apple has $12 billion waiting offshore, Google has $17 billion and Microsoft, $29 billion,” reports the New York Times.

These corporations claim that if we reduce their tax rate on that cash from 35 percent to 5.25 percent (which is less than the rest of us pay in sales taxes), they will bring the money home and invest it in creating badly needed jobs. They claim that for every billion invested, 15,000 to 20,000 jobs will be created directly and indirectly, which means such a tax holiday could create up to 30 million jobs – more than enough to bring us back to full employment and then some!

How does it feel to have the jobs gun pointed at your head? Because that’s what this is – a stickup, a robbery, job blackmail. It’s as if these corporations finally realized that they should emulate Wall Street and pick the carcass clean.

I know, I know. But, aren’t the pro-corporate lobbyists correct when they say that we need those overseas profits here? What good will it do the unemployed if that loot isn’t repatriated? Also, doesn’t that 5.25 percent of $1.5 trillion translate into more than $50 billion in federal revenues that we’ll never see if the money stays parked overseas? And given the fact that Washington is too broke for another jobs stimulus program, don’t we have to play ball with those who have the money to move our economy? Isn’t it time to grow up and realize that we have to encourage, not vilify Corporate America in order to put our people back to work? Wrong on all counts. Here’s why we shouldn’t give the blackmailers the money. ...............(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.alternet.org/economy/151413/apple%2C_google%2C_microsoft_sitting_on_58_billion_in_overseas_profits%2C_blackmailing_us_to_avoid_taxes/

[Atman]

1. Unrec'd for being a bunch of bullshit...the Republicans flotated this....

The corporations, and far more of them than these three popular whipping boys -- who are charted to make profits for their shareholders, not rainbows and unicorns to make us feel good -- signed on to a suggestion brought up by the GOP, who had given them this Christmas present once before. It didn't help the economy before, but since when do Republicans actually care about the economy?

This story should not be framed as being all about evil corporations, who are just saying that they want the tax break the GOP offered them, it is about evil lawmakers who keep wanting to give away our money to people who don't need it.

[midnight]

2. American middle class paying for the rich and the powerful.

They play this game of short circuiting our cash flow like Enron did to California energy flow...

[Lucky Luciano]

3. I would be ok with a 15% tax rate on patriation of profits

Contingent on guaranteed jobs. ie - if people are not permanently hired based on some metric then there is a tax penalty to 40%...and no loopholes that allow them to hire and immediately fire etc. This can work if every company does it. It does not work if only a few scattered companies try it.

[cpamomfromtexas]

5. I like it, I'm a big fan of snapbacks

holds their feet to the fire and challenges them to not make claims unless they plan to achieve them

Give them a 90 day window to repatriate, and start the jobs, and then slam it shut, I say. If Obama lets them trickle them in, they will not produce those jobs at all.

[Atman]

7. self delete

[Lucky Luciano]

8. Only needs to work for a couple of years to get the

...economy to move. Once it is moving along nicely, no need to fix what is not broken. Those cities you speak of often get nailed during a recessionary time, so if this helps us to not be in a recession a couple tears down the road, I will speculate that it will not just be a band-aid, but a real fix. Don't have the research to really back it up though.

[mwooldri]

4. Complete reform of the tax code IMO is necessary.

No, NOT this "Fair Tax" thingy.

There's so many tax breaks for this, that and the other - so it is possible to reform the tax code, make the headline "tax rate" go down, yet bring in more revenue.

Simplifying the tax code would work wonders. Also the tax code can be reformed so that people who are not self employed and have a "regular job" can pay their entire tax bill out of with-holding of their taxes and no need to file tax returns, and if a tax return would be needed then there would be more 1040 EZ's than anything else.

This would make certain Republicans heads spin. Cut taxes but eliminate tax breaks.

[Overseas]

6. I agree that it is ridiculous blackmail. When Bush fell for it

and slashed their taxes we lost hundreds of thousands of jobs.

When Democrats fell for it and didn't stop the Bush tax cuts at the top the stock market trading recovered, but the jobs created were mostly stimulus projects.