Posted on 06/10/2004 8:03:39 PM PDT by neutrino
The Department of Homeland Security recently awarded what could be a $10 billion border security contract to Bermuda-abased Accenture. My guest tonight says it is outrageous and wrong to reward a company for abandoning our country.
Congresswoman Rosa DeLaura has authored legislation that would prevent government contracts from being awarded to foreign companies. In her statement, she said, "The United States should not be doing business with those who want all the benefits of citizenship without any of the responsibilities."
(Excerpt) Read more at cnn.com ...
Additional tax burdens placed on American businesses that try to sell goods and services to nations overseas MAKES THAT PROBLEM WORSE. It boggles my mind you can't see that.
I don't mind competing with the countries you mention, and I happen to like French wine, Greek halava, Dutch Gouda Cheese, McDonalds Australian beef hamburgers, Arnold Schwartzeneger (Austrian), Danish Blue Cheese, British Stiltson, Swedish blonds, Swiss watches, and Irish and Scott's whiskey.
You still have not addressed the issue. Then why not let American companies compete to sell goods in those countries without additional costs placed on our goods and services by the U.S. Congress? Why shackle American industry with higher costs and drive it either out of business or out of the U.S.?
So why are you supporting the idiotic Democrat tax policies that hurt American competitiveness in overseas markets? I'll ask again, try to answer, since this is actually about the issue at hand - "Why is forcing U.S. based companies to pay taxes for goods and services sold overseas 'good the for the country' when it makes them uncompetitive and hampers their ability to sell their goods and services overseas, thereby reducing their revenue, and of the number of U.S. employees they can hire?"
36 - lol - yes, I wish I had those terribly high corporate tax rates:
Microsoft 1.8%
GE 13.3%
Ford 5.7
Worldcom 2.9
IBM 12.4
GM (minus) -1.2%
Enron (minus) -39.5%
ElPaso Energy(minus) -26.6
Colgate-Palmolive 0.9
Navistar 2.4%
What an odd question! I advocate tariffs and non-tariff control of trade. That does not constitute a tax on domestic corporations. As for offshore corporations, they can pay additional taxes, fees, or charges for access to the U.S. market.
That isn't the same as taxing domestic corporations.
36 - "XBob, do you own a company? Have you owned a company? Do you think most, or even many, operate on the scale of Marriott or IBM, and can buy Congressional perks? "
Answers, no, yes, no.
However, I have also worked as procurement manager in very large companies and multi-million and multi-billion dollar projects, where I was responsible for budgets of hundreds of millions of dollars. I was taught to take advantage of tax and other advantages, in multiple country sourcing and purchasing. So I know, from the inside, what many of these companies are doing.
And between them and the politicians, they have so screwed up our tax system, that the minor-fix you propose, will do nothing to alieviate the major problems we have.
What gets me most about the free-traitors, is when they take the ideas and hard work my father and I did, to develop a great 'widget', and produce it efficiently with quality, and then they shut down our factory, and take the money from our ideas and work, and move it to Bermuda, to avoid the taxes. Then they move my factory and ideas to China, to avoid the labor costs, and then they sell the Germans and me, my Chinese widgets, at a discounted price, and then they call on me to pay my taxes here in the US, on the non-job, which they have exported, to finance the Navy and military, to assure that the flow of oil to Chjina, and Germany will be protected, and they want to pay no taxes on it for all that support, while living here in the US, under my protection.
40 - well said:
"We are weakening ourselves at the same time that a resurgent China is becoming stronger. The military and geopolitical implications are obvious. It is not in the best interests of any U.S. citizen for America to be supplanted by China as the worlds sole superpower.
There are more important things than cheap prices for consumers. Among those are the ongoing security of our nation."
Convict all the free-traitors, as they are blind to the consequences of their actions.
ping 45, last paragraph
Some things I have not seen mentioned yet. Obviously everything is about the profit so what is to keep Accenture from utilizing cheaper labor in one of the other 48 countries in which is operates.
Additionally I am see the complaint being that it is not fair to the corporations that different countries have different tax rates. Huh? THey knew that before deciding to do the business in those countries.
41 - "You still have not addressed the issue. "
You haven't begun to address the real problems. What we have here is a failure to communicate.
We have a triage system, with an injured man with a broken leg and a heart attack, and you are only seeing the problem of the broken leg.
I know that I organize my personal finances to pay the lowest amount of taxes that I am required to, and I expect the companies I invest in to do the same.
The basic point is: US Tax laws put a US company that does business internationally at a disadvantage. We need to change those laws.
move to germany and run your business out of germany.
you knew what the laws were when you started.
However, having worked and lived in Germany, and had german employees, under German law, I think you would be very surprised.
Interesting little things like sick leave limitations for your employees (at that time) were limited to 56 weeks per year.
The various free traitors fail to consider what will happen if the U.S. fails. It may be that they believe that they will be safe in a gated community in Brazil - but without a strong U.S., they may be nothing but tempting targets for the local government.
Part of what the U.S. offers is a strong, reasonably honest financial system. If that system fails...and with Europe becoming more islamic with every passing day...there is a question of where the money can run.
I wonder how fastidious the Chinese government would be in dealing with General Motors if the U.S. was weak?
I'm going to 'steal' your post from another thread, as it is so applicable here:
"From the article: "As shown by both the February and the March job figures, the growth areas in our free-trade economy are government and areas subsidized by government, such as education and health services (which together accounted for 36,000 of the 46,000 jobs added in February), and areas insulated from foreign competition, such as retail trade, leisure and hospitality, and construction (which, together with government-related employment, accounted for over 70 percent of the job growth in March)."
Ironic, isn't it, that free trade is growing government!"
You're more than welcome to do so! At the risk of using dated buzzwords, I sense synergy!
Neutrino, the taxing of domestic corportations for selling goods and services in overseas markets IS the issue. This additional tax burden that the U.S. Congress places on America's domestic industries has two consequences. Either our companies lose business (and the revenue that allows them to employ you and your neighbors) out to foriegn competitors not compelled to pay additional tribute to Washington D.C., or the domestic company incorporates overseas where they aren't compelled to pay taxes on business not conducted in the U.S. to the U.S.
So I ask again, why should American companies pay taxes to the U.S. government for business conducted elsewhere in the world when this puts them at a competitive disadvantage, reducing revenue, profits, and jobs in America?
I'm still holding out hope you'll realize what the issue is here...
That's exactly what is happening! Instead of being based here in America and selling to the world, the U.S. Congress has created an incentive for businesses that want to export goods to overseas markets to get out of the U.S.!
Then you're left scratching your head wondering why businesses are leaving the country, STILL oblivious to the fact the U.S. Congress has created an incentive for them to do so. As consequence of Congress making it harder for our companies to export the trade balance gets worse, and instead of repealing the stupid tax driving the imbalance you demand higher taxes on goods coming in, further driving down the living standards of your neighbors who haven't seen Congress drive their job out of the country.
You haven't begun to address the real problems. What we have here is a failure to communicate.
The article is about how U.S. tax policy creates incentives for U.S. companies to get out of the U.S. If you want to talk about other things, let's do so in a thread on those subjects.
We have a triage system, with an injured man with a broken leg and a heart attack, and you are only seeing the problem of the broken leg.
More obfuscation on your part. This article is about the broken leg. Sure a heart attack is worse than a broken leg, but having a broken leg isn't ok. U.S. companies can't win races with the U.S. Congress breaking their legs.
I still want you hear your reasoning for why the U.S. Congress should create incentives for companies to incorporate outside the U.S. That's what the article is about, and you've been all over the map avoiding that point.
Um-hmm. So, we apply taxes, tariffs, and non-tariff trade controls to goods imported into the U.S. from those foreign companies you mention. If you'd like, we can reduce taxes on U.S. based corporations to further enhance their competitiveness.
I'm still holding out hope you'll realize what the issue is here...
Indeed I do. The issue is the national security of the U.S. Protecting the U.S. from the dangerous consequences of free trade is our patriotic duty.
How does this help my company that is trying to sell goods to Ireland? If I'm forced by the U.S. government's efforts to tax the goods I sell overseas 19.7% higher than any other country that tries to sell goods to Ireland how will tariffs help me compete with them in Ireland?
Umm..Gunslinger3, it seems I haven't made something clear. I'm all for reducing the tax burden on domestic corporations. I'm all for encouraging exports. I certainly don't want a domestic company to endure impediments such as you describe.
If we impose tariffs and various restrictions on offshore corporations, while at the same time reducing the burden on domestic companies, we regain balance on trade. America, and Americans, win.
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