In the Sovereign Fiscal Responsibility Index, the Comeback America Initiative ranked 34 countries according to their ability to meet their financial challenges, and the US finished 28th, said David Walker, head of the organization and former US comptroller general.
"We think it is important for the American people to understand where the United States is as compared to other countries with regard to fiscal responsibility and sustainability," Walker said in a CNBC interview. "Americans are used to rankings and they're used to ranking very high, but frankly in this area we rank very low."
"The company reported worldwide profits of $14.2 billion, and said $5.1 billion of the total came from its operations in the United States.
Its American tax bill? None. In fact, G.E. claimed a tax benefit of $3.2 billion."
Dems and Repubs, the system is corrupt. Do you see this yet? The complex tax laws benefit those that can hire lawyers and accountants to find loopholes in those laws (the ones their lobbyists inserted into the laws). Can you see this? Simple systems close loopholes and promote equality. A flat tax. Simple laws. Why do you all seem to think overly complex bureaucracy is somehow a virtue?
"Sixty-five million Americans—or one in four adults—have a criminal record. But employers—including major companies like Bank of America, Omni Hotel, and Domino's Pizza—routinely post job ads on Craigslist that explicitly exclude such applicants, according to a new report conducted by the National Employment Law Center (NELP), a labor-affiliated advocacy group."
If you make enough laws, we're all criminals. Non-violent drug offenses account for a huge number of these "criminals." Isn't it obvious to everyone that the negatives of America's drug puritanism far outweigh the positives? Come on people!
"The top corporate income tax level in the United States is 35 percent. In the United Kingdom, it's 28 percent. But in Ireland, it's only 12.5 percent, and in Bermuda there's no corporate income tax at all. That means multinational companies that shift their earnings through Ireland or Bermuda can save billions of dollars in taxes each year.
On today's Fresh Air, Bloomberg News reporter Jesse Drucker, who has written extensively about corporate tax-dodging, explains how companies like Google, Pfizer, Lilly, Oracle, Facebook and Microsoft have managed to reduce their tax rates by hundreds of millions — and in some cases, billions — of dollars by taking advantage of offshore tax havens.
In October, Drucker reported that Google had saved $3.1 billion in taxes in the past three years by shifting the majority of its foreign profits into accounts in Ireland, the Netherlands and Bermuda using financial techniques called "the Dutch Sandwich" and "the Double Irish" arrangement. Basically, he says, Google credited its Irish office with the majority of its non-U.S. sales revenue — and then shuttled that money through various subsidiaries located in Ireland and other countries to save billions in taxes."
This is important to read for a couple reasons. First, realize that in an Internet world, relocating a corporate entity is a simple click of some mouse buttons. Your talk about "saving jobs" and "stimulating the economy" is meaningless. Those invisible barriers you call national boundaries don't trap capital inside. Please get that through your thick skull. Second, all you damn whining Republicans whining about how rich people and corporations pay an unfair share...please stop saying that. It's bullshit. Rich people and corporations pay lawyers and accountants to avoid the high tax rates you so often quote. Here's yet another example.
"WASHINGTON—Reports continue to pour in from around the nation today of helpless Americans being forcibly taken from their marital unions after President Obama dropped the Defense of Marriage Act earlier this week, leaving the institution completely vulnerable to roving bands of homosexuals. "It was just awful—they smashed through our living room window, one of them said 'I've had my eye on you, Roger,' and then they dragged my husband off kicking and screaming," said Cleveland-area homemaker Rita Ellington, one of the latest victims whose defenseless marriage was overrun by the hordes of battle-ready gays that had been clambering at the gates of matrimony since the DOMA went into effect in 1996. "Oh dear God, why did they remove the protection provided by this vital piece of legislation? My children! What will I tell my children?" A video communique was sent to the media late yesterday from what appears to be the as-yet unidentified leader of the gay marauders, who, adorned in terrifying warpaint, announced "Richard Dickson of Ames, Iowa. We're coming for you next. Put on something nice.""
"Best not to cite the price of the new iPad as an example of why inflation isn't a problem when you head into a working-class neighborhood.
In Queens, New York, on Friday, New York Fed President William Dudley did just that. He got an earful.
After being bombarded with questions about food inflation, Dudley attempted to reassure his audience by putting rising commodity prices into a broader economic context -- but that only made matters worse.
"When was the last time, sir, that you went grocery shopping?" one audience member asked."
The reason to read this article carefully is because it shows two key things. One, it shows how out of touch the Fed is to everyday people's experiences. Two, it shows how their CPI, inflation, calculation has NOTHING to do with the price level of common household purchases. It is a highly manipulated and over-intellectualized calculation, used to manipulate greater macroeconomic policies.
"Government payouts—including Social Security, Medicare and unemployment insurance—make up more than a third of total wages and salaries of the U.S. population, a record figure that will only increase if action isn’t taken before the majority of Baby Boomers enter retirement."
So, you thought we were a free-market, capitalistic society, huh?
How can people call this guy a nut? He is, by far, the most reasonable man in Washington. LIBERALS...please pay attention to the part where he says he would attack MILITARY SPENDING first. Notice that he says he wouldn't take away social spending all in one instant. He recognizes that it would have to be gradual, and people would have to get used to it.
