What is wrong with the Obama economy? While wages continue to stagnate, unemployment at all-time highs, the underemployed losing faith and dropping out by the millions and deficits continue to soar, morons like Levin think that the solution is squeezing even more out of Corporations and the rich. As if it were a panacea for the painfully bad legislation he has sponsored that chases jobs offshore seeking refuge.
To dunces like Levin, it is always about revenue and never about spending. It is always about privilege and never about poorly thought out laws that destroy jobs and a tax code that is an abomination at the least.
You would think that the Senate had much more important things to do than become a showcase for this ignorant dunce’s grand standing for the leftist dunces who make up his glaringly ignorant constituency.
Caterpillar's Senate Show Trial
An American company stands accused of paying all the taxes it owes.
Caterpillar Inc. CAT +0.20% will be dragged before the Senate Permanent Investigations Subcommittee today because committee Chairman Carl Levin wishes the company had a higher tax bill. The Michigan senator, who has helped make the corporate tax code the complicated mess that it is, enjoys bashing corporations for lawfully trying to navigate this mess. Caterpillar will therefore join a distinguished list of firms, including Apple, that have taken turns appearing before the panel to be condemned for seeking to maximize returns to shareholders.
Today's alleged outrage is that Caterpillar pays an effective income tax rate of roughly 29%, which is more than most companies pay but not enough for Mr. Levin. The senator is ticked off that some of Cat's overseas profits are taxed at around 5% by Switzerland. Would he prefer that U.S. shareholders pay more taxes to foreign governments?
Perhaps Mr. Levin would like every business to pay the combined U.S. state and federal headline rate of 39.1%, which is the highest in the developed world, and a major reason the U.S. economy isn't growing faster. But it's not clear even that would satisfy his thirst for more federal revenues.
If last year's show trial with Apple is any guide, today Mr. Levin will slam Cat's tax strategies as "alchemy" and "gimmickry," but offer no evidence that the company is doing anything illegal or even unethical.
He will probably refer to the results of his staff's "investigation," but there's not much to investigate. Large corporations like Caterpillar are constantly audited by the IRS, and the firm has been doing its taxes the same way for more than a decade.
The real outrage, as unemployment remains high and GDP growth remains slow, is for Mr. Levin to suggest that the solution is to extract more cash from U.S. employers.
This report is available every day at wsj.com/morning. Follow on Twitter @FreemanWSJ.
http://online.wsj.com/news/articles...03978304579474973856579200.html?mod=djemMER_h
To dunces like Levin, it is always about revenue and never about spending. It is always about privilege and never about poorly thought out laws that destroy jobs and a tax code that is an abomination at the least.
You would think that the Senate had much more important things to do than become a showcase for this ignorant dunce’s grand standing for the leftist dunces who make up his glaringly ignorant constituency.
Caterpillar's Senate Show Trial
An American company stands accused of paying all the taxes it owes.
Caterpillar Inc. CAT +0.20% will be dragged before the Senate Permanent Investigations Subcommittee today because committee Chairman Carl Levin wishes the company had a higher tax bill. The Michigan senator, who has helped make the corporate tax code the complicated mess that it is, enjoys bashing corporations for lawfully trying to navigate this mess. Caterpillar will therefore join a distinguished list of firms, including Apple, that have taken turns appearing before the panel to be condemned for seeking to maximize returns to shareholders.
Today's alleged outrage is that Caterpillar pays an effective income tax rate of roughly 29%, which is more than most companies pay but not enough for Mr. Levin. The senator is ticked off that some of Cat's overseas profits are taxed at around 5% by Switzerland. Would he prefer that U.S. shareholders pay more taxes to foreign governments?
Perhaps Mr. Levin would like every business to pay the combined U.S. state and federal headline rate of 39.1%, which is the highest in the developed world, and a major reason the U.S. economy isn't growing faster. But it's not clear even that would satisfy his thirst for more federal revenues.
If last year's show trial with Apple is any guide, today Mr. Levin will slam Cat's tax strategies as "alchemy" and "gimmickry," but offer no evidence that the company is doing anything illegal or even unethical.
He will probably refer to the results of his staff's "investigation," but there's not much to investigate. Large corporations like Caterpillar are constantly audited by the IRS, and the firm has been doing its taxes the same way for more than a decade.
The real outrage, as unemployment remains high and GDP growth remains slow, is for Mr. Levin to suggest that the solution is to extract more cash from U.S. employers.
This report is available every day at wsj.com/morning. Follow on Twitter @FreemanWSJ.
http://online.wsj.com/news/articles...03978304579474973856579200.html?mod=djemMER_h