Outrage was heard from the people of the United States of America when they found out that Google, one of the wealthiest, most profitable companies in the world, paid less than 3% in taxes under the Obama regime. While being very outspoken against greedy corporations and promising to make corporate America pay its fair share of the tax burden, Google is just the latest example how actions speak louder than words.
Cha Ching!
Google, the fifth largest corporate donor to the Obama presidential campaign, benefited from tax loopholes left wide open by the Democrat-controlled Congress so that corporate fat-cats that support them can continue to enrich themselves as the backs of middle class America are stooped under the largest tax load in the nation’s history. Google’s donation records show that 75% of all its political contributions go to candidates from the ruling Democrat Party.
It’s the politicians, stupid!
As Democrats rushed to condemn the way Google has played the tax system to its benefit, those same politicians failed to take responsibility for creating the very laws that enable Google and other corporations (such as Apple) to escape taxation with impunity.
Not only have the Democrat politicians paved the way to allow their corporate friends to move their assets outside of the country, those same Democrats are responsible for raising taxes so high that corporations that can afford it feel obligated to move their money elsewhere.
Liberals are businesspeople first
From politicians to private citizens, to corporations, the same people who say that paying taxes is patriotic are the very ones that do everything to avoid paying taxes. Democrat Senator John Kerry, for example, is quick to support tax increases on average citizens, but he notoriously hold his assets off shore whenever possible. He was most recently in the news for anchoring his new multi-million dollar yacht outside of his home state of Massachusetts to avoid paying his state’s high tax rate on it.
Similarly, liberal activist Steve Jobs and his social activist Apple Corporation are quick to promote liberal government programs that force high tax rates on American workers, but – as a “pro-American” company – refuses to manufacture its products in the United States. It even ships its products directly from China to their U.S. destinations to avoid operating distribution centers in the country. The social responsible, pro-tax corporation doesn’t want to pay taxes, so it willingly exploits workers in a communist country where human rights are little more than a fairy tale in order to make more money.
With Google, nothing is different. The corporation and its executives are willing to promote high taxes for everyone else as long as they themselves don’t have to pay them. Other companies with liberal activist tendencies such as Microsoft and Facebook have similar policies: keep their money out of the hands of the government they help prop up.
Nothing illegal
Google, along with its corporate peers, has done nothing wrong, if you believe that “legal” means “moral.” Some citizens, however, may believe that laws that deliberately aim to reward Democrat donors are immoral and therefore are wrong and that companies that exploit such illicit rewards are similarly immoral.
The real lesson
Although some say that Google alone has “cost” the government and the American taxpayer $60 billion plus interest on that amount of debt, the truth is that no matter how much money the American government gets, it will always spend more and go deeper in debt. Some economists speculate that the American government currently holds obligations that may surpass the collective monetary holdings of the entire world, so $60 billion isn’t going to make a difference.
The real lesson is that people – regardless of their political alignment – agree in one thing: taxes are bad. Unfortunately, we live in a world where only the ultra wealthy and the ultra poor have the ability to live tax free.
Sources:
Drucker, Jesse. “Google 2.4% Rate Shows How $60 Billion Lost to Tax Loopholes.” Bloomberg. October 21, 2010. http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-10-21/google-2-4-rate-shows-how-60-billion-u-s-revenue-lost-to-tax-loopholes.html (accessed October 25, 2010).
“Kerry On Yacht-Taxes Issue: ‘Nothing More To Say’.” WBZ TV. July 27, 2010. http://wbztv.com/local/john.kerry.yacht.2.1825558.html (accessed October 25, 2010).