"Frontline" tonight: Corporate tax shelters. We are kidding ourselves.

[Faygo Kid]

These bastards find every shelter to avoid paying taxes. Stunning, but not surprising (if that's possible). We hope for a better country. They are destroying it. And George W.'s coffers swell to obscene levels. It's a cheap price to pay to assure their ascendancy. From day 1 of this Administration, the goal has been an unprecedented transfer of wealth and concentration of power into the hands of a few. And it's working. Don't kid yourselves; it is working.

[mhr]

1. For More, Read "Perfectly Legal" By David Cay Johnston

Here are two good interviews:

Perfectly Legal by David Cay Johnston
http://www.perfectlylegalbook.com/
http://tinyurl.com/2xcge (rm)
http://tinyurl.com/yto4z (mp3)

[Sugarbleus]

6. Yeah, I heard an interview with this guy on radio a week or so ago....

GREAT info that book/author.

The only thing that bothers me is that this crap has been going on for DECADES and eons. It is a problem intrinsic to this "capitalist" driven society. No matter which party is in office, this tax code and the creeps that get away with unbridled greed and "usery" are alive and well in America. Wealthy Dems get caught up in this sinister tax scheme as well. It didn't just start with shrubya.

[JHB]

11. Also read the "America" series by Bartlett & Steele

Donald L. Barlett and James B. Steele have also been chronicling this and other effects of Reaganomics/the voodoo that Bush do for over a decade now.

America: What Went Wrong? (1992)
America: Who Really Pays the Taxes? (1994) (Bartlett only)
America: Who Stole the Dream? (1996)
Great American Tax Dodge, The "How Spiraling Fraud and Avoidance Are Killing Fair... (2000)

http://www.twbookmark.com/authors/71/1952/
What Barlett and Steele do was best described by Leonard Downie Jr., in his book, The New Muckrakers: An Inside Look at America's Investigative Reporters. Downie wrote that the journalism of Barlett and Steele "represents a significant step beyond traditional muckraking...instead of just reporting still unproven accusations and focusing on individual corruption, (they reveal) with expert analysis and thorough documentation what has systematically gone wrong with the powerful, complex institutions that affect so much of life today."

[Ilsa]

2. Meanwhile, the rest of us

are wondering how to pay for food and shelter, save for our retirement, and save for our children with disabilities (or for college), because the cold-hearted bastards won't be wanting to help them. I'm surprised there isn't more white-collar crime by people trying to get just a little bit further ahead.

[Claire Beth]

3. I watched that, too

The middle class is screwed!

[Gin]

4. Maybe the country needs to be bankrupt to fix it....I know one thing

I do not want to pay anymore taxes. The corruption is so rampant and so deep...I don't think anyone can fix it unless the playing field gets leveled.

I use Wachovia...makes me sick to see they are involved in cheating all of us.

[Zinfandel]

5. Can we ever correct all this bullshit in a hundred years?

Even if we had Congress, Senate the Presidency...the money and corruption is so overwhelming...how would you come up with a way to stop these corporate monsters? They would have you killed in a heartbeat if anyone even tries, they simple buy influnce...everyone has their price...they get their tax cuts, tax shelters overseas, pay no taxes, receive government subsidies & government contracts, they ship jobs away from Americans to overseas, slave labor and they overcharge for their products...they are so filthy rich...yet they refuse to pay their own country's workers fair wages or more than minimal health benefits.

And this is what the pig Republicans, BushCo are ALL about, they are the republican party...corporations through republican controlled legislation is to have us ALL work for Wal Mart wages with no benefits.

Who then would buy their products? The Germans, UK, Netherlands, Kuwaites, Saudis, Japanese, Australians, South Africans or South Americans...will we become just another slave labor market for the world?

[camero]

7. Call it for what it is... a redistribution of wealth

A redistribution of wealth from the lower and middle classes to the Upper class. The whole system is a big cancer.

[whatelseisnew]

10. Call it legalized looting of the treasury

[camero]

14. That it is

I also think since the bulk of the total taxes are being paid by the middle and lower classes. It is also Robin Hood in Reverse.

[Zinfandel]

8. Kick in the "ass"

:kick:

[AgadorSparticus]

9. PBS had something about this tonight too....

These corporate tax shelters are criminal. What really strikes me is the fact that they can have TWO sets of books. I couldn't believe it when I heard it. I didn't even think it was legal. But apparently they can. Enron, anyone? It makes the whole stock market almost a scam. How many companies engage in this TWO books crap? This is how they are able to lie, exaggerate numbers, etc. The SEC is as crooked as they come. NO wonder in the last several years we've had such a massive problem with stocks, mutual funds, bonds, etc. The SEC should be audited by an independent council. Like that will happen, though....Seems everyone is crooked these days....

Bebe

[Corgigal]

12. Seems where I do my local banking

is as ugly as they come. Or just more likely to get caught because this Frontline piece had them everywhere. I paid more taxes then these jerks. I'm still wont play in the stock market and it's all a house of cards that might fall down any day now.

[skippysmom]

13. It's pathetic

I pay a higher tax rate than some of these companies. What could we do as a nation if these companies just paid their FAIR SHARE???