Business lobby and some Democrats voice opposition to Obama’s crackdown on offshore tax havens.
Business lobby and some Democrats voice opposition to Obama’s crackdown on offshore tax havens.
Yesterday, the Obama administration announced “a major offensive against businesses and wealthy individuals who avoid U.S. taxes by parking cash overseas.” Predictably, the business lobby immediately cried foul over the changes, claiming that they will destroy businesses and “eliminate American jobs.” But Congressional roadblocks have also emerged:
Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus, a Montana Democrat, called for “further study” of Obama’s proposals within minutes of the president’s announcement yesterday. Representative Joseph Crowley, a Democrat on the tax-writing House Ways and Means Committee, said he’s wary because the tax changes would hurt Citigroup Inc., his New York district’s largest private-sector employer.
The Wonk Room provides some facts to help inform “wary” Democrats.
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Time to clean the rest of the trash in 2010!!!!!!!
Taking names,checking it twice, making sure who is notty or nice. The American voters are coming to Washington!!!!
Obama, that includes you….the American public wants government health care. The exact same as you have!!or your
FIRED!!!!
Remember who put your ass in that chair!!!!
May 5th, 2009 at 2:12 pmI would like to thank Harry Reid for allowing traitors and interest-laden senators from the boonies (pop. < 700,000) to chart the path of the rest of the country. Those lobbyists, they do have to earn a living, providing sellout senators their living.
May 5th, 2009 at 2:16 pmLet me get this straight, if we avoid paying taxes on money parked in a overseas bank account, we won’t loose jobs, but if we pay taxes on that money parked overseas, we’ll loose jobs???
So how does paying taxes on money your hiding eliminate jobs???? If the money is being hidden, how could you use that money to create jobs?????
Isn’t the reason for hiding the money to avoid paying taxes or showing profit????
WE ARE NOT REPUBLICANS AND WE ARE NOT STUPID!!!
2010 WILL BE THE TIME TO FIRE THOSE WHO SUPPORT THIS FRAUD!!!
May 5th, 2009 at 2:17 pm“Further Study” is code for “Dream On.”
May 5th, 2009 at 2:19 pmYes, it would be bad for everyone’s constituents if all Americans had to pay their taxes.
Notice how everything these days is “but but but jobs will be lost!” They use the argument for healthcare reform, EFCA, carbon cap and trade, failure to bailout Wall Street, to name a few.
And the lobbyist are looking at a banner year!
PEACE
May 5th, 2009 at 2:19 pmidentify and remove as soon as possible.
May 5th, 2009 at 2:19 pmBloomberg News has a good article:
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601070&sid=aaXFFJBizJtc&refer=politics
“Our tax code should reward companies that thrive by continuing to invest in America and American workers,” Rangel said. “I applaud President Obama’s commitment to simplifying our tax code and look forward to working with the administration to close these loopholes.”
My opinion: SHOCK COMING FROM RANGEL, ONE OF THE BIGGEST TAX CHEATS OF ALL.
Grassley said he supports efforts to crack down on tax abuse. “Out of fairness, corporate taxpayers generally shouldn’t pay pennies on the dollar compared to the rest of Americans,” Grassley said. However, he said, if Obama is “using tax shelters as a stalking horse to raise taxes on corporations at the cost of U.S. jobs, he’ll lose me.”
Like none of these corps can afford to pay their FAIR SHARE of taxes??? Excuse me???
May 5th, 2009 at 2:19 pmHurt Citi-Group?? How many people did they lay off even with bailout money?
Citi-Group plans to lay off 52,000 jobs by early 2009
May 5th, 2009 at 2:21 pmThe teabaggers will quickly and eagerly jump on this bandwagon.
May 5th, 2009 at 2:22 pmAs mattY points out, American corporations are not taxed highly as a percentage of GDP. Our nominal rates are relatively high, but tons of loopholes and credits lower the effective rate.
And we are in a financial and fiscal quagmire, for cripes sake. The total unwillingness of corporations and high income and hign net worth individuals to be the slightest bit inconvenienced by paying more is pathetic.
But it flows, to some extent, directly from the example set by Dubya. We fought two wars without any call to actually pay for them, not even budgeting for them honestly, much less assessing an sort of war-based taxation.
Our WWII forebears wouldn’t even recognize our bellyaching selfishness.
May 5th, 2009 at 2:23 pmok – baucus also wants to take ’single pay’ health care off the table…
what is WITH these so-called “democrats”???
take out the TRASH, is right!
May 5th, 2009 at 2:23 pmNOLIESPLEASE Says: #1
Like you, I want the very same healthcare these crooks get – that was what was promised during the campaign! However, I haven’t heard those words mentioned by Obama in quite a while. It appears to be a ‘public plan’ or some other name single payer, but no more about ‘the very same as they get paid for by us’ and if ‘everyone’ had it, it would be so cheap and the very best coverage.
May 5th, 2009 at 2:24 pmWhat were these large companies doing when the economy was on a false boom from 2004-2007? Cutting jobs to “remain competitive.” Cutting corporate tax rates has an economic benefit of only .60 on the dollar, if I recall correctly. The investments Obama is making, all over $1.
May 5th, 2009 at 2:25 pmThis is such crap. Bush cut taxes to the tune of 1.3 trillion and still had the lowest job creation in over 50 years that is only about thress million jobs created in right years.
May 5th, 2009 at 2:27 pmThis congress isn’t keeping up with President Obama. They’re coming to work more often than did the last republican majority in the 109th Congress, yet they can’t seem to stop looking forward to the next vacation. President Obama, Clinton, Geithner, they’re not taking vacations. Congress’ legislative activity I believe will need to be greater considering the challenges we face.
May 5th, 2009 at 2:32 pm99% of the Tea-baggers cant afford to have money in overseas accounts…
May 5th, 2009 at 2:33 pmIn the timeless words of Gomer Pyle: Surprise, surprise, surprise.
May 5th, 2009 at 2:34 pmMaybe it’s time for a real protest.
May 5th, 2009 at 2:34 pmXisithrus Says:
99% of the Tea-baggers cant afford to have money in overseas accounts…
—–
I would wager that none of the teabaggers experienced a tax increase by President Obama, and yet they protested on April 15. They don’t seem to be influenced by facts.
May 5th, 2009 at 2:35 pmFollow the money, these as$holes owe taxes and should pay their fair share.
While if anyone in middle class America avoided taxes they would be in prison.
As usual, the wealthy get a pass, while middle America gets the finger.
Some times I just hate what our country has become, loathsome.
May 5th, 2009 at 2:36 pmThe really funny part is how the politicians are framing it as a tax increase.
well, Duh, if the companies aren’t paying taxes now by sheltering offshore, then I guess to sick twisted minds it would appear that if they can’t shelter and have to pay then it does “increase their taxes”
Only it doesn’t! It forces them to be responsible citizens who “pay their taxes” according to current law!
May 5th, 2009 at 2:38 pmFor true leftists, Obama has been a total bust!
He’s escalated the war in Afghanistan, increased the cross-border bombings of Pakistan, hemmed and hawed about prosecuting war crimes, refused to actively lobby House members to make it easier for workers to organize (EFCA), and surrounded himself with bank industry reps who’ve committed $12.8 trillion to sinking financial institutions with no assurance that the money would be repaid.
Apart from a trifling bill on stem cells, Obama has done absolutely zero to confirm his bona fides as a liberal.
The truth is, Obama is neither liberal nor conservative; he’s simply an inspiring orator and a skillful politician who has no strong convictions about anything.
May 5th, 2009 at 2:40 pmBuckie Boy SaysAs usual, the wealthy get a pass, while middle America gets the finger.
Some times I just hate what our country has become, loathsome.
Bucky….it’s time to take it to the streets!!!!They are not listening to you!!! They will listen when millions gather to demand single payer!!! They will listen when millions gather to damand the end of corporate loopoles!!!!
They will listen when when we will vote them out of office!!!! Look at Europe…protests scare the governments there….it’s about time to scare these idiots who say they are working for the people!!!
May 5th, 2009 at 2:42 pmThe tenets of Obamunism:
First you brutally turn to the bully pulpit and the press to beat the hell out of all dissenters.
Then you hire a bunch of tax cheats and you confiscate a huge pile of tax payer dollars to bailout your preferred billionaires and screw shareholders of companies, then begin making demands on company products despite being outside what people will buy in the free market.
You then preside over a fascist takeover of private industry and the health care system.
Like a python squeezing the life out of a small animal you systematically destroy the personal freedoms and individual liberties that America was built upon, making all citizens dependents of the government.
You then appoint yourself dictator for life like your buddies Castro and Chavez.
May 5th, 2009 at 2:44 pmHang em out to dry. I don’t care if they are Dem or Repub.
Protecting large U.S. corps, especially banks like Citi, that are the primary cause of 9% unemployment and foreclosures is a strategy that should lead ANY politician to be kicked to the curb.
May 5th, 2009 at 2:50 pmReparations4TheBlackHolocaustNOW
To all those on TP this person is not black there username is misleading this is a racist. This person should be totally IGNORED.
May 5th, 2009 at 2:52 pmReparations4TheBlackHolocaustNOW,
YOU WILL BE IGNORED
May 5th, 2009 at 2:53 pmTrajan rears his ugly head as Reparations.
TrajancanlickthelittlebitImissedthismorningfrommyhairyass..
May 5th, 2009 at 2:55 pmsomobody’s got a bad case of the PMSD.
get off the ice – before the spiders come for you!
May 5th, 2009 at 2:59 pmReparations4TheBlackHolocaustNOW Says:
Like a python squeezing the life out of a small animal you systematically destroy the personal freedoms and individual liberties that America was built upon, making all citizens dependents of the government.
Let me see, we depend on the government for : postal service, military, police, fire, safty boards FDA, FAA , EPA , CDC ,state national gaurd, FEMA , U I INSURANCE, SOCIAL SECURITY, MEDICARE ETC….
So becuase we have these social institutions, I get mail, I am protected by our soldures, police protect our safty rights, firemen protect my home, the FDA gives me freedom not to worry about bad food, the FAA give me freedom from worry thta my plane wont crash, EPA gives me the freedom to breath clean air, the CDC gives me freedom from worries about dangerus desieases that might effect my family, UI insurance gives me freedom when I loose my job, social security gives my grandparents freedom to live, medicare gives my grandparents the freedom not to have to work at the age of 65 just to stay alive….. SO PLEASE EXPLAIN TO ME WHAT FREEDOM WE ARE LOOSING?????
WHY DO YOU HATE CHAVEZ….HE WAS ELECTED DEMOCRATICLY BY THE PEOPLE ???? IF THAT IS WHAT THE PEOPLE WANT WHY SHOULD THE BUSH ADMINISTRATION HATE THIS PERSON???? MAYBE BECAUSE HE TELL THE TRUTH ABOUT CORP FACSIST AMERICA?????
You know shite about freedom…becuase your a corporate slave….FU**EN IDIOT!!!
May 5th, 2009 at 3:00 pmI don’t get it.
It used to be that **Conservatives** decried dodging taxes by moving to tax havens as unfairly dodging paying one’s fair share.
Now conservatives are against closing the loophole ?
May 5th, 2009 at 3:10 pmFollow the money trail. When in the world will congress take up the fight for Joe and Mary average citizen and stop thinking of strictly of themselves? Make these high flyers pay like Joe and Mary, their fair share. Orders for goods create jobs not rich people who hoard money to invest for dividends.
May 5th, 2009 at 3:12 pmThe real reason BUSH hates Chavez….he kicked out EXON MOBILE out of the country becuase Exon would not agree to the new royaly terms from the profits of oil sales set out by Chavez. Unfortunalely for Bush, he already invaded Iraq for the oil and didn’t have any good reason for calling Venesvella a terrorist county.
If Chavez is so bad….why did he give free oil to poor people in northern states for free???? He’s real bad!!!!
May 5th, 2009 at 3:13 pmTP, it is totally inaccurate at this time to say the democrats quoted in this Bloomberg story are voicing “opposition” to Obama’s offshore tax reform. Skepticism and raising concerns, as Boxer and Baucus did does NOT mean opposition. Also, there are no congressional “roadblacks” yet, only that there “may” be.
If anything, these democrats are being RESPONSIBLE by making sure Obama’s plan doesn’t have any “unintended consequences” on businesses, that it doesn’t do more harm than good.
Joseph Crowley, on the other hand, may have a valid concern about businesses possibly being “double-taxed,” but he is clearly looking out for himself and his campaign contributor Citigroup, who gave over $10,000 to him in the 2007-2008 cycle. See OpenSecrets for more on that.
May 5th, 2009 at 3:17 pmLet us not forget Senator Mitch McConnell (R – Cayman Islands).
May 5th, 2009 at 3:25 pmSome have gone off the deep end with their protectionism for the wealthy. A wage earner has a percentage of his or her salary deducted (taken) from their paycheck for taxation. Those found to have created off-shore tax haven accounts need to post a bond until their tax return is filed and approved by the IRS. Can you believe the madness that is being expressed? Paying taxes will have negative effects on businesses! These arguments are pure fodder for the comediennes and I hope they are at their sardonic best.
May 5th, 2009 at 3:28 pmFrom the Bloomberg article: “…Obama proposed outlawing three offshore tax-saving strategies commonly used by companies such as Citigroup, General Electric Co., and Procter & Gamble Co. In doing so, he reignited debate about whether U.S. companies can remain competitive in world markets if they have to pay billions of dollars in taxes on foreign profits…”
Whoa – these companies make enough money in foreign profits to ‘have to pay billions of dollars in taxes’? Billions?!
May 5th, 2009 at 3:28 pmPredictably, the business lobby immediately cried foul over the changes, claiming that they will destroy businesses and “eliminate American jobs.”
___________________________________________________________
Would somebody please explain to me how socking money away in off-shore accounts to avoid paying taxes helps to create jobs?
If profits really WERE being used to create jobs instead of being squirreled away out of the country, we’d be better off. Do these corporations realize that profits poured back into the business (such as for payroll and benefits for added employees) aren’t subject to taxes? And that more people working means more people will be able to buy the company’s widgets or whatever it is they sell?
I suspect the cry of “it will eliminate American jobs!” is just shorthand for “you want to take away our lucrative gravy train!”
May 5th, 2009 at 3:30 pm“If anything, these democrats are being RESPONSIBLE by making sure Obama’s plan doesn’t have any “unintended consequences” on businesses, that it doesn’t do more harm than good.”
Chucko33, don’t you think it’s possible that the people that President Obama has working on this plan are taking that into consideration? This isn’t the totally inept Bush administration, you know.
May 5th, 2009 at 3:34 pmLast night Rachel Maddow listed a few of our finest and best known corporations that have offshore ’subsidiaries’ that exist only for the purpose of avoiding U.S. taxes. Would you believe that Citigroup has 427 and Morgan Stanley has 273 such entities? Would you believe that those two have received the majority of the bank bailout funds? Would you believe that the U.S. taxpayer is about to get shafted even more?
May 5th, 2009 at 3:50 pmranus69 Says:
To all those on TP this person is not black there username is misleading this is a racist. This person should be totally IGNORED.
Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmm interesting.
Please tell me how you came to these conclusions???
It is my suspicion that even some “liberals” hold racist views. So please share…
May 5th, 2009 at 3:55 pmThese are not Democrats. These are bought and paid for republicans. Most all of Washington is bought and paid for. They do not work for us, or our interests.
May 5th, 2009 at 4:34 pmIf we could slip Congress a truth serum we might hear objections like “But it would hurt the money laundering business!”
May 5th, 2009 at 4:40 pmHow can Max Baucus vote for the bill when he got: $37,000–Citigroup that has 427 off shore accounts…..and $34,000–Morgan Stanley that has 273 off shore accounts….
Joseph Crowley didn’t do as well. He only got $10,500–Citigroup…(but more companies donated the limit) He also got $10,000 from Credit Suisse Group … $10,000 from Zurich Financial Services…. all this is found on opensecrets.org….
I wonder what their constituents think…. It’s for sure neither one is listening to them….
May 5th, 2009 at 4:47 pmThese “fortunate” corporations and individuals don’t pay their fair share of taxes. Instead we have to pick up the cost of running the U.S. Government while they hide their money in foreign banks. Multinational corporations defer paying taxes while using “slave labor” in third world countries to manufacture goods for sale in the U.S. and other countries. It benefits corporations to send jobs over seas because of the tax break and the sweatshop slave labor. Business that do only do business on U.S. soil do NOT get the tax break and our laws prohibit sweat shop slave labor.
May 5th, 2009 at 6:06 pmAll this pandering to corporations is because we don’t have public funding of campaigns for Congressional members. Take away the need to build a campaign chest full of money for Congressman and Congresswomen and that will take away the influence of lobbies. This is why we need public financing for campaigns.
May 5th, 2009 at 6:17 pmWe know congress is corrupt, they know that we know. If the people who send them to congress let them get away with serving Wall Street and The Banks instead of the voters, nothing will change.
Conclusion: This will be buried and nothing will change.
Just heard the CEO of Johnson & Johnson (the “family company”) protest losing the earnings deferral. The spokesman for the Cayman Islands tells us what wonderful service they provide for investors. The C of C, many multinational companies and the Republicans will fight to save the tax havens. Just one more chapter of profits for the elite, bail-outs for the taxpayers.
May 5th, 2009 at 6:20 pmJane at #40, of course the Obama administration is looking at offshore tax reform closely. BUT, it is Congress who writes the reform. And after what happened with last minute changes to the (swiftly passed) stimulus bill courtesy of Chris Dodd via the Treasury Department, the dems had better be careful with whatever legislative language is used. Any one sentence in new offshore tax reform legislation could serve as a loophole or weaken the intent of the Obama reform. I’m sure you and others know that.
There’s no need to rush this reform since it’s just the start of tax reform under Obama and, as the Bloomberg article notes, Obama’s proposals won’t take effect until 2011 at the earliest anyway. Better to take your time and get this right, so I’m with Baucus on this one.
May 5th, 2009 at 6:35 pmAny taxes stuck on business will be passed on the consumers. So in the end, the consumer will end up paying.
May 5th, 2009 at 7:37 pmThe taxes can be taken from the profits kwsventures. It’s not like off-shore accounts give us lower prices.
May 5th, 2009 at 8:15 pmthank you…
May 6th, 2009 at 4:37 amI THANK
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