[Vision2020] Some Figures

[Donovan Arnold]

I disagree with the statement that "not everyone pays taxes". Everyone does pay the price of taxes, just not directly. 

If a company is charged an extra $5 million in taxes, it will raise the money by raising the cost of the products or services it sells to the consumers, which is everyone. 

I am against bailouts for companies unless they provide an essential function to society, such as utility companies, medical services, groceries, etc.

If the government is going to engage in binge spending to prime the economic pump, it should create jobs for rebuilding the infrastructure of the country. It should build bridges, roads, public buildings and utilities. It should create projects to create cheaper, cleaner, and more efficient forms of energy. It should spend it on technological, scientific, and medical research and development. It should invest in better schools, vocational training, hospitals, retirement and low income housing, and community centers. It should modernize the military to be safer for our troops and to maximize accuracy or our weaponry.

Giving billions away, to billionaires, for nothing, will only in the long run, run the country dry and worsen the future economic prospects of the nation. 

Best regards,

Donovan



--- On Fri, 12/12/08, Art Deco <deco at moscow.com> wrote:

> From: Art Deco <deco at moscow.com>
> Subject: [Vision2020] Some Figures
> To: "Vision 2020" <vision2020 at moscow.com>
> Date: Friday, December 12, 2008, 11:23 AM
> The lowest estimate for the cost of the various bailouts is
> $700 Billion.
> 
> Other estimates range up to $7.4 Trillion
> http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/11/24/bailout-cost-government-p_n_145971.html
> http://www.fatwallet.com/forums/finance/880705/
> 
> Assume the absurdly low $700 Billion.
> 
> In round numbers there are just over 300 million people in
> the use.  Hence, for each billion of bailout money each
> person incurs a share of debt/liability of about $3.30.
> 
> 700 x 3.30 = $2,310
> 
> 
> At he high end:
> 
> 7.4 x 1,000 x 3.30 = $24,420
> 
> Of course not everyone of the 300 million pays taxes, hence
> the burden becomes larger as it falls on fewer people.
> Some corporations pay taxes, but most do not pay any or
> very little (55% to 75%).  See below.
> 
> 
> The only recourse in this whole ill-conceived bailout we
> ordinary citizens have is to stock up on Preparation H.
> 
> 
> W.
> 
> 
> __________________________________
> 
> http://www.afterdowningstreet.org/node/35481
> 
> 
> Most Corporations Don't Pay Income Taxes
> Submitted by Chip on Tue, 2008-08-12 23:03. 
>   a.. Congress 
>   b.. General Discussion
> Most Corporations Don't Pay Income Taxes
> by: Richard Rubin | Congressional Quarterly
> 
> Most corporations, including the vast majority of foreign
> companies doing business in the United States, pay no income
> taxes, according to a Government Accountability Office
> report released Tuesday.
> 
> During the eight-year period covered by the report, 72
> percent of foreign-owned corporations went at least one year
> without owing taxes, and the same was true for 55 percent of
> domestic corporations.
> 
> Small companies were much more likely to pay no taxes than
> larger companies. Still, more than 3,500 large domestic
> corporations - with more than $250 million in assets or $50
> million in gross receipts - did not pay taxes in 2005.
> 
> The report said about 80 percent of the companies studied
> paid no taxes because they didn't generate any profit
> after expenses. Money-losing companies can legitimately owe
> no tax, and others can use provisions of the tax code to
> lower or eliminate their liability.
> 
> But the lawmakers who sought the data seized on the report
> as proof of corporate gamesmanship.
> 
> "It's shameful that so many corporations make big
> profits and pay nothing to support our country," said
> Byron L. Dorgan , D-N.D., who requested the report along
> with Carl Levin , D-Mich. "The tax system that allows
> this wholesale tax avoidance is an embarrassment and unfair
> to hardworking Americans who pay their fair share of taxes.
> We need to plug these tax loopholes and put these
> corporations back on the tax rolls."
> 
> The report covered the period from 1998 through 2005.
> During that time, corporate income taxes as a share of gross
> domestic product dipped, from 2.2 percent in 1998 to 1.2
> percent in 2003, the lowest share since 1983. But receipts
> jumped after that, hitting 2.7 percent in 2006 and 2007,
> according to the Office of Management and Budget. That was
> the highest share since the late 1970s.
> 
> The GAO report also found that foreign-owned corporations
> were somewhat more likely to report no income than domestic
> corporations. There are several possible reasons for that.
> Foreign corporations may be younger, and startups are more
> likely to have no net income after expenses. They may also
> be in industries with lower profit margins.
> 
> Another possibility could be the use of transfer pricing,
> which companies use to account for transactions between
> subsidiaries in different countries. Creative,
> rule-stretching use of transfer pricing can allow companies
> to push their profits into lower-taxed jurisdictions. The
> report does not attempt to examine whether illegal
> transfer-pricing caused the difference between foreign and
> domestic companies.
> 
> But companies looking for lower-taxed jurisdictions often
> take profits out of the United States. The country's 35
> percent top rate on corporate income is among the highest in
> the industrialized world.
> 
> Many tax experts and lawmakers from both parties, including
> Ways and Means Chairman Charles B. Rangel , D-N.Y., and
> presidential candidate Sen. John McCain , R-Ariz., have
> called for lowering the corporate tax rate. Lawmakers are
> likely to differ on what revenue-raising measures, if any,
> should be paired with a corporate rate cut.
> 
> In addition, Levin, Finance Chairman Max Baucus , D-Mont.,
> and other senators have been trying to close the "tax
> gap," the difference between taxes owed and taxes
> collected.
> 
> In a statement, Baucus said, "I'm committed to
> finding ways to improve compliance and reduce taxpayer
> burden so that we begin to bridge the tax gap, which
> accounts for $345 billion in legally owed but uncollected
> federal revenues each year."
> 
> He said the GAO report "shows yet again the need for
> full-fledged [tax] reform next year...."
> 
> "We are constantly reviewing the tax code to find ways
> to crack down on those who are trying to avoid paying their
> fair share, without placing undue compliance or reporting
> burdens on honest taxpayers. As part of this on-going
> effort, we are reviewing the GAO report to see what it might
> suggest about where to target tax gap efforts," Baucus
> said.
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