This morning the President will be laying out plans to change the tax structure for U.S. Firms Overseas. It is a long overdue problem this country has and these reforms are needed. Corporations here in America, Such as AIG, Citicorp, Pfizer and others have long moved money offshore to countries such as the Cayman Islands in order to not pay taxes. It's all quite legal thanks to legislation passed a few years ago when another party had the majority.

The issue for me however is far simpler. Anyone who has listened to Thom Hartmann for any period of time knows that the government grants corporations the same rights a people. It would seem logical if that were indeed the case, they should bear the same responsibility under the 16th Amendment.

Even if that were not the case, the very idea that such major corporations are using tax havens to avoid paying taxes is obscene. I find it amazing that during the nomination process of Tim Geithner, people were apoplectic over his failure to pay taxes, and yet not a peep from the masses over the billions of dollars companies like Pepsi, Exxon, Dell and Dow Chemical are failing to pay to the government.

On April 15, thousands of people all over the country held their teabag parties, and not a single mention was made about corporations not paying their fair portion of taxes. There is a big disconnect here, and one that I hope the Congress along with the President will truly address once and for all. America needs revenue. That money cannot come solely from people like you and I. Corporations must pay their fair share as well.

I don't have a simple answer, and I will leave that up to those more knowledgeable than I to come up with one. It seems simple to me, if you do business with the United States, INSIDE the United States, you should pay taxes for that privilege. The right wingers are quite fond of telling us 'Freedom isn't Free' -- why would that be any different for a major corporation? They scream for the FairTax and never mention how unfair it really is for corporations like CitiGroup and AIG to avoid paying their fair share due to tax loopholes.

This doesn't even include companies like Haliburton and other contractors who are imo -- war profiteers.

Over 10 years, the US could recoup 210 Billion dollars if these proposals are acted upon in Congress. It's about revenue. It is patriotic to help cut the American deficit and get our country back on path. It is a good time for the President to address this issue as well. July 4th is coming up, and we will probably have a new round of teabagging, maybe these ill-informed folks can actually find a true issue to protest! One can hope, right?


:peace: and
Raine