Blog AFSCME Joins Call for Corporate Tax Reform

by Karl Stark  |  May 19, 2011

On Wednesday, AFSCME joined other unions and allies in the progressive community across the country in telling lawmakers to put their money where their mouth is when it comes to tackling the federal budget deficit. In all, over 250 non-profits, consumer groups, unions and faith-based groups signed onto a letter calling on Congress to enact corporate tax reform that raises revenue.

Just as in Wisconsin, Ohio, Florida, Michigan, and other states across the country, politicians in Washington, DC, have proposed draconian cuts to essential public services while letting their corporate cronies off the hook:

It makes no sense for Congress to debate cuts in public services that working families rely on while ignoring the public spending that benefits corporations and is hidden in the tax code...
Some lawmakers have proposed to eliminate corporate tax subsidies and use all of the resulting revenue savings to pay for a reduction in the corporate income tax rate. In contrast, we strongly believe most, if not all, of the revenue saved from eliminating corporate tax subsidies should go towards deficit reduction and towards creating the healthy, educated workforce and sound infrastructure that will make our nation more competitive.

Even in the face of an 8.7% national unemployment rate and budget shortfalls in states across the country that have caused over 400,000 layoffs since 2009, the view from the corporate boardroom couldn’t be sunnier. While raking in record profits in 2010, many of America’s largest corporations avoided paying even one cent in taxes.

So what did they do with all this extra cash? Use it to hire back workers? Increase investments to help stabilize the economy? Fat chance — CEO’s kept it for themselves.

SALLY AND FRANK DISCUSS TAXES

by Allen L Roland, Ph.D

Only a animated cartoon can do justice to the absurd reality of our current tax code where General Electric made 14 billion dollars profit and not only paid no taxes but got a 3 billion dollar refund: Allen L Roland

Click on this 3 minute video and enjoy.

http://www.campaignmoney.org/blog/2011/04/14/new-video-how-avoid-paying-taxes

Happy tax day, if you’re not outraged, you’re either GE top management or on life support.

And here are 9 things the financial elite don’t want you to know about taxes.

http://www.wweek.com/portland/article-17350-9_things_the_rich_dont_want_you_to_know_about_taxes.html

This coming Monday, April 18 is Tax Day ~ and that's the day when "we the people" will demand our country back from these corporations in events all across the country.

Allen L Roland

http://allenlrolandsweblog.blogspot.com/2011/04/sally-and-frank-discuss-taxes.html

About the Author: Allen L Roland is a Freelance Alternative Press Online columnist and psychotherapist.Allen is also available for comments, interviews, speaking engagements and private consultations. Dr. Roland is a practicing psychotherapist, author and lecturer who also shares a daily political and social commentary on his weblog and website www.allenroland.com . He also guest hosts a monthly national radio show TRUTHTALK on www.conscioustalk.net

TAKE ACTION ON TAX DAY

April 15, 2011 11:24 AM | Permalink 

Hundreds of events from coast to coast are being organized to target corporations that fail to pay their fair share in taxes while lawmakers consider slashing public services that working Americans depend on. 

MoveOn

MoveOn invites "frustrated taxpayers, underwater homeowners, vilified public servants, job-hunting students, and unemployed veterans—everyone facing cuts or cutbacks, a pink slip or a shrinking paycheck" to join demonstrations to demand that Congress cracks down on corporate tax dodgers and to deliver to these companies the tax bill they should pay. Find a MoveOn event near you.

U.S. Uncut

U.S. Uncut is also organizing demonstrations and events targeting corporations, some of which are in cooperation with MoveOn. Find a U.S. Uncut event in your area.

U.S. PIRG

Finally, U.S. PIRG and other organizations will have activities outside post offices on April 15 and April 18 in several states to create awareness about tax dodging by corporations and to press Congress to act. These events will target people whose minds are very much on taxes as they mail off their federal income tax returns.

See the list below for U.S. PIRG events in your state and contact information.

April 15, 2011

Event: U.S. Public Interest Research Group will be holding events outside of Post Offices across the country to try to get Congress to address tax dodging corporations with report releases and post-carding.

Locations:

Portland OR, April 15th. Contact Jen Lavelle at jlavelle@ospirg.org, 503.231.4181

AnnArbor MI, April 15th. Contact Megan Hess at mhess@pirgim.org, 734.662.6597

Chicago IL, date TBD. Contact Brian Imus at brian@illinoispirg.org, 312-544-4433 x 210 (Federal Plaza, outside of main post office)

Hartford CT, April 15th, Contact Jenn Hatch at jhatch@connpirg.org, 860.233.7554

Albuquerque NM, date TBD, Contact Erin Eckelson at erin@nmpirg.org, 505.254.1244

Philly area, date TBD. Contact Megan DeSmedt at mdesmedt@pennpirg.org, 215.732.3747

Phenoix AZ, April 15th. Contact Seren Unrein at sunrein@arizonapirg.org, 602.252.9227

Des Moines IA, Date TBD, Contact Sonia Ashe at sashe@iowapirg.org, 515.282.4193

April 18, 2011

Event: U.S. Public Interest Research Group will be holding events outside of Post Offices across the country to try to get Congress to address tax dodging corporations with report releases and post-carding. U.S. PIRG is partnering with Citizen Action in a number of states: NJ, OR, IL, MI, MO, CT.

Locations:

Trenton NJ, April 18th. Contact Jen Kim at jkim@njpirg.org, 609.394.8155

Seattle WA, April 18th, Contact Lindsay Jacobson at ljacobson@washpirg.org, 206.568.2854 (either at post office downtown, or in front of Microsoft).

Boston MA, April 19th, Contact Dee Cummings at dcummings@masspirg.org, 617.292.4805

Baltimore MD, April 18th, Contact Johanna Neumann at Johanna@marylandpirg.org, (410) 467-9389

St. Lois MO, TBD

Categories:

 

• Tax Fairness and Tax Reform,
 
• Tax Giveaways for Corporations

GOP’s Reverse Robin Hood Agenda. PLUS: 7 Corporate Tax Evaders

On Wednesday, President Obama unveiled his deficit reduction plan as a plausible alternative to the GOP’s cruel budget proposal delivered a week earlier. That plan, presented by House Budget Chairman Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI), showed that the GOP isn’t interested in cutting the deficit; they would pay for tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans with spending cuts for services that benefit the elderly, the working-poor and a beleaguered middle-class. Even the non-partisan Congressional Budget Offices estimates it would increase the deficit over 10 years. Please check out my post, “Fighting for a People’s Budget,” outlining alternatives to the GOP’s reverse Robin Hood agenda.

Media

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Slide Show: 7 Corporate Tax Evaders

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Obama's budget speech was a clear rebuke to the GOP's reverse Robin Hood agenda. But he continues to legitimize the inside-the Beltway consensus that spending cuts are necessary for fiscal responsibility.

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An Offensive Response to the Budget 'Crisis' (US Politics, Economy)

Deficit hawks across the political spectrum and the tea partiers claim America is broke. It isn't. We can deal with our debt by taxing extreme concentrations of wealth.

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Human Interest ObamaPresident Republican Party Social Issues

When President Obama spoke of “shared sacrifice” this week, two-thirds of the cuts he proposes to reduce the deficit with would come from education, health and other social programs while a paltry one-third would come from our bloated defense budget. This week, we ask in our lead editorial, “Whose Shared Sacrifice?

With a government shutdown averted, the budget compromise calling for $38.5 billion in spending cuts passed by Congress on Thursday, touted as “the largest annual spending cut in history,” is now headed to President Obama’s desk for approval. And yet, as Iargued this week in the Washington Post, somewhere along the way we lost the point of having this debate in the first place: a need for a clear strategy to build the economy and revive the middle class.

Also this week…

SLIDESHOW: 7 Corporate Tax Evaders

Tax Day is right around the corner. This week, we’re reminded that while Washington continues to tell Americans to tighten their belts, some of the country’s most profitable corporations aren’t paying their fair share of taxes. Who are they? Be sure to look at our slideshow, looking at seven corporate tax dodgers. And let’s not be fooled: by restoring saner corporate tax policy, we wouldn’t have to balance the budget on the backs of struggling Americans. The slideshow is available here.

AWARD: The Nation Nominated for Best Political Coverage in Utne’s 2011 Independent Press Award

This week we received word that The Nation has been nominatedfor Best Political Coverage in Utne Reader’s 22nd Annual Independent Press Awards. And we’re in good company. Nominees include Dissent, In These Times, Mother Jones, The American Conservative, The American Prospect, The New Republic and The Progressive. We’re honored for the recognition. Winners will be announced May 18th at the MPA-Association of Magazine Media’s Independent Magazine Media Conference in San Francisco. Congratulations to all our co-nominees.

BLOG: Tax Day Activism

Guest-blogger Allison Kilkenny continues to bring us the latest on US Uncut, which most recently pulled off a clever hoax with the cultural activist duo The Yes Men. They widely circulated a false AP report stating that General Electric would refund its entire $3.2 billion tax return. Wouldn't that be something! Be sure to read Allison's report here. More actions are planned across the country for Friday, over the weekend, on Tax Day this Monday, led by US Uncut, MoveOn and others. Be sure to read my colleague Peter Rothberg’s post, “A Primer on Tax Day Activism” for a powerful look at what many will be doing around the country.

WELCOME: Jamelle Bouie

We’re pleased to welcome Knobler Fellow and guest-blogger Jamelle Bouie, who is also a Writing Fellow at The American Prospect. Bouie’s specialty is US politics—with a focus on parties, elections and campaign finance. His writing has appeared in The Washington Independent, CNN.com, and in Ta-Nehisi Coates' blog at the Atlantic. Be sure to head to The Nation’s group blog,The Notion, and check out his latest post, “Democrats Prepare to Embrace Anonymous Campaign Contributions.” Read it here.

Grassroots Movement Ties Cuts in Public Services to Corporate Tax Cheats

RELEASE: After GE Stunt, US Uncut Organizing 100 Tax Day Actions Across America

Posted on Fri Apr 15th 2011, 2:42am UTC

Blair Fitzgibbon 202-503-6141 blair@fitzgibbonmedia.com
Carl Gibson 601-454-6443 usuncut@gmail.com
Joanne Gifford 707-758-1699 worksalot2@me.com
Ryan Clayton 202-656-2116 uncutclayton@gmail.com
Duncan Meisel 512-657-9124 duncan.meisel@gmail.com

Grassroots Movement Ties Cuts in Public Services to Corporate Tax Cheats

New York, NY – In the wake of a satirical media prank on GE with help from the Yes Men, US Uncut is planning a weekend of nearly 100 Tax Day actions between April 15th and April 18th. The group makes a direct connection between recently announced budget cuts and a corporate culture of tax evasion.

“Why are we cutting $400 million from local law enforcement funding, while corporations like GE, Verizon, Bank of America, and FedEx continue to get away with not paying any taxes year after year?”

asked Carl Gibson of US Uncut Mississippi,

“If GE alone paid their fair share of taxes, then we could ‘uncut’ nearly $2 billion in job training programs. Do we want good jobs in America or do we want tax cheats?”

While millions of Americans pay their taxes this weekend, many have begun to wonder why those who profit most off a system of public services in America pay so little to maintain it. In fact, the Government Accountability Office reports that 83 of the top 100 US companies use tax havens to dodge taxes.

“This weekend will be the largest protest against corporate tax cheats in American history. This is the next wave of tax protest in America,” said US Uncut NYC spokesperson Duncan Meisel, “Citizens in nearly 100 cities are taking to the streets to demand that corporate tax cheats stop bankrupting America.”

In Washington D.C., local organizers are holding a “guerilla book signing” at a corporate storefront with soon-to-be bestselling author Nick Shaxson, who recently wrote Treasure Islands: Uncovering the Damage of Offshore Banking & Tax Havens. On April 18th, the anniversary of Paul Revere’s ride, local Boston activists are holding a March for Common Sense with the rallying cry: “The Cuts are coming! The Cuts are coming!”

Organized primarily through social media, citizens in nearly 100 cities across America have organized events at corporate storefronts to take creative action on a weekend most Americans dread. Holding signs that say “Tax Cheat”, “Uncut US”, and “Chop from the Top, Not from Mom & Pop”, activists from previous actions appear to be a fun mix of soccer moms, college kids, and social security recipients.

“I’m a veteran that’s been unemployed for over 99 months now, and on the same day I heard about GE’s tax evasion, I got a letter saying my VA benefits were being reduced,” said unemployed veteran and US Uncut supporter Earl James, “Why not invest in jobs for veterans and VA benefits for those who served instead of letting tax cheats like GE’s Jeffrey Immelt get away with cheating our country?"

"There's hay in the barn, but we're not feeding the horses," said Gibson, "This isn't a spending problem – it’s a revenue problem. Two-thirds of US corporations routinely get away with not paying any taxes at all, while the rest of us do our American duty and pay our fair share.”

US Uncut is a decentralized grassroots movement organized through social media that connects corporate tax cheats to public service cuts. Over the upcoming Tax Day weekend, US Uncut will hold a record 100 events.

For more information, please visit: http://USuncut.org

For pictures and video of previous actions, please see: http://USuncut.org/actions

At Least We Still Can Go Broke: Alan Grayson

posted previous to the vote to cut $38 BILLION dollars from the US budget - services we NEED.  Here are some enumerated.  We cannot wait until 2012 to do something .. that's why we have US Uncut.org.  The arguments need reframing, but here are some "dots" to use.

byAlan Grayson

Alan Grayson

Unless you’ve been living in a cave recently – Osama, you can stop reading here – you know that the Republicans have blocked the passage of the appropriations bills that apply to all federal spending between April 8 and September 30, so we are facing a government shutdown.

And as the White House has patiently pointed out, that means no more government-backed mortgages, which now account for 95% of the housing market.

No more government student loans. No more government small-business loans.

No pay for the troops, who are now embroiled in three wars.  They still have to fight.  They just won’t be paid for it.  Despite the Thirteenth Amendment.

No tax refunds, just one week before taxes are due.

No federal grants for roads, schools, or pretty much anything else.

No new medical research at the National Institutes of Health.

And hundreds of thousands of federal employees added to the unemployment rolls.

But there is one thing that you can still do, if the government shuts down.

You can go broke.

I’m a licensed attorney, and yesterday I received this cheerful reminder from a bankruptcy court to which I’m admitted:

“The Court will continue to operate, business as usual, on Monday, April 11, 2011.”

The staff, the bankruptcy court explained, will be paid out of “fee revenue and other sources.”  Anyone who wants to petition for bankruptcy will be welcome to do so.

So there it is.  When the Republicans shut down the government, health and safety, housing and even transportation are all at risk.  But the one thing that you can be sure you can still do is . . . go broke.

For the bankruptcy courts, it’s “business as usual.”  And the bankruptcy business is booming.

But leaving that one exception to the government shutdown aside, it’s now official.  The Party of No is now the Party of No Government.  The Party of Anarchy.  The Party of Chaos.

And remember this:  The White House and the Democratic Leadership have agreed (rightly or wrongly) to what the Republicans originally demanded for the 2011 budget -- $30 billion in social spending cuts.  Yet now the Republicans are demanding twice as much:  $60 billion in 2011 social spending cuts.

But just three months ago, the Republicans insisted on $70 billion in 2011 in tax cuts for the rich.  I’m pretty sure that $70 billion is more than $60 billion, any way you look at it.  So except for those tax cuts for the rich, we wouldn’t be having this argument.

Please make a note on your calendar.  November 6, 2012.  Election Day.  That’s when it will be our turn to punish them, the way that they’ve tried to punish all of us.

Courage,

Alan Grayson

Michael Moore: The Rich Are Committing Class Warfare on Us

Michael Moore sat down with Stephen Colbert to talk about the Republican governors and corporate America's assault on the working class in America.