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America the Uncompetitive
Wall Street Journal ^ | Aug. 15, 2008 | WSJ

Posted on 08/14/2008 10:22:13 PM PDT by FocusNexus

The new international tax rankings are out for 2008, and congratulations to Washington, D.C., are again in order. Our political class has managed to maintain America's rank with the second highest corporate tax rate in the world at 39.3% (average combined federal and state).

For the first time, the U.S. statutory rate is now 50% higher than the average of our international competitors, continuing a long-term trend as the rest of the world keeps reducing corporate tax rates.

Last week Senator Byron Dorgan of North Dakota waved around a new politically generated study by the Government Accountability Office (GAO) finding that 28% of large U.S. corporations paid no income tax in 2005. "It's time for big corporations to pay their fair share," Mr. Dorgan roared.

Well, the Tax Foundation looked at those numbers and found that, among the large companies that paid no taxes, 85% of them also made no profits that year.

To correct this revenue dearth, Barack Obama and Democrats in Congress are proposing to pry more tax money out of U.S. companies that have profitable affiliates outside the U.S. Mr. Obama is also shamelessly taking the Byron Dorgan line that the problem is venal U.S. CEOs rather than the nutty U.S. tax code.

(Excerpt) Read more at online.wsj.com ...


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Editorial; Extended News; Politics/Elections
KEYWORDS: business; economy; elections; globalism; govwatch; mccain; obama; taxes; trade; uncompetitive
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1 posted on 08/14/2008 10:22:13 PM PDT by FocusNexus
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To: FocusNexus

Well we obviously need to raise taxes.


2 posted on 08/14/2008 10:31:04 PM PDT by Tzimisce (How Would Mohammed Vote? Obama for President!)
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To: Tzimisce
Well we obviously need to raise taxes.

Any fool can see that (i.e. Byron Dorgan, Barack Obama, and Democrats in Congress).

3 posted on 08/14/2008 11:04:48 PM PDT by NurdlyPeon (New tag line in progress.)
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To: Tzimisce
Well we obviously need to raise taxes.

I agree. Raise taxes to the point that all business moves out of the country or fails. Raise the income tax on all the citizens too. As a matter of fact, I recommend that all money earned by private citizens be taken every payday and doled out via a gubbmint ID debit card which only allows a certain amount for each expenditure, which will be decided by the gubbmint.

OR.....we could get really serious about this and vote these people out...right?.....right??.....hahahahahahahaha!!!!!

FMCDH(BITS)

4 posted on 08/14/2008 11:20:16 PM PDT by nothingnew (I fear for my Republic due to marxist influence in our government. Open eyes/see)
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To: FocusNexus

Consider that in the US you have:

1. A very high tax rate
2. Repressive environmental regulations
3. Confiscatory legal system run by greedy trial lawyers
4. Labor unions bent on protecting an overpaid, underproductive and unhealthy work force

One wonders how we have been able to maintain the prosperity we do have.


5 posted on 08/15/2008 4:37:41 AM PDT by henkster (Politics is the art of telling a bigger and more believable lie more often than your opponent)
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To: Man50D

FairTax ping!!

Doing away with the taxation of income and replacing it with the taxation of consumption would change the whole game.

Then again, doing away with the IRS and cutting spending to 2000 levels would work too, as Ron Paul has proposed.

Either way, we’ve got to do something drastic about the tax code.


6 posted on 08/15/2008 4:40:27 AM PDT by ovrtaxt (This election is like running in the Special Olympics. Even if McCain wins, we're still retarded.)
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To: FocusNexus

7 posted on 08/15/2008 5:20:45 AM PDT by Zakeet (Crime wouldn't pay if the government ran it)
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To: henkster
America built the modern capitalist world. The wonder instead is that anybody votes for or even tolerates this torrent of crap from the left.
8 posted on 08/15/2008 6:02:28 AM PDT by JasonC
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To: ovrtaxt; Taxman; Principled; EternalVigilance; phil_will1; kevkrom; Jaysun; Bigun; PeteB570; FBD; ..
Fair Tax ping!


9 posted on 08/15/2008 6:48:18 PM PDT by Man50D (Fair Tax, you earn it, you keep it!)
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To: FocusNexus
Well, the Tax Foundation looked at those numbers and found that, among the large companies that paid no taxes, 85% of them also made no profits that year.

The Tax Foundation should know corporations don't pay income taxes. They past that cost onto the consumer in the form of higher prices.
10 posted on 08/15/2008 6:51:32 PM PDT by Man50D (Fair Tax, you earn it, you keep it!)
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To: FocusNexus

The Left always points the finger away from themselves to some outside “enemy.” Communists countries around the world deflected blame from themselves to the “Evil United States” whom they claimed were undermining all their good works. Domestically, the Left/Democrats point to “Greedy Corporate America.” Same Talking Points, same Playbook!

The International Left is behind it all!


11 posted on 08/15/2008 8:24:28 PM PDT by Mind-numbed Robot (Not all that needs to be done needs to be done by the government)
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To: Mind-numbed Robot

And “greedy corporate America” is largely the driving force behind much of the leftist globalism that’s chipping away at our sovereignty! Hypocrites. They cast blame while they ride the very wave they demonize.


12 posted on 08/16/2008 4:36:25 AM PDT by ovrtaxt (This election is like running in the Special Olympics. Even if McCain wins, we're still retarded.)
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To: Man50D
The Tax Foundation should know corporations don't pay income taxes.

Yes, but they still incur huge compliance costs, which are passed on to individuals.

13 posted on 08/16/2008 4:44:17 AM PDT by foxfield
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To: foxfield
Yes, but they still incur huge compliance costs, which are passed on to individuals.

That is the other part of the equation that causes the increase of consumer prices.
14 posted on 08/16/2008 5:13:15 AM PDT by Man50D (Fair Tax, you earn it, you keep it!)
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To: FocusNexus

Does this take into account VATs? I could see that a much lower direct tax on corporate profits would easily be outmatched by the VAT taxes along the way resulting in higher consumer prices and greater levels of plunder into gov’t coffers.


15 posted on 08/16/2008 6:39:22 AM PDT by Malsua
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To: henkster

By spending our children’s earnings and eating our seed corn.


16 posted on 08/16/2008 1:06:11 PM PDT by Little Ray (I'm a Conservative. But I can vote for John McCain. If I have to. I guess.)
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To: henkster

By spending our children’s earnings and eating our seed corn.


17 posted on 08/16/2008 1:06:12 PM PDT by Little Ray (I'm a Conservative. But I can vote for John McCain. If I have to. I guess.)
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To: FocusNexus

Well clearly we need to send more of our factories to Communists.

We need to offshore more technology and more programming.

Obviously that means we’ll fire a lot of people, who will need jobs. But there won’t be jobs. So they’ll end up working at Walmart.

And Walmart sells Chinese imports cheaply.

Therefore: America is competitive!

No problem! Everyone go back to sleep. China is our friend. Venezuela is our friend. Saudi Arabia is our friend.

We send them all our jobs, factories and money. We’re all friends. Now, hush and shut your eyes. Don’t think about the boogie man. Everything is just fine.

You’re getting sleepy...


18 posted on 08/16/2008 1:14:54 PM PDT by Cringing Negativism Network (CHEVY VOLT COUNTDOWN: V minus 99 Weeks. Waiting...)
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To: Zakeet

POST #7 LOLOLOLOLOLOL


19 posted on 08/16/2008 1:38:27 PM PDT by Extremely Extreme Extremist (BARACK OBAMA WILL SAVE US! HE HAS RISEN!!)
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To: nothingnew

Well without government oversight and regulation, how can we possibly claim to be free?


20 posted on 08/16/2008 5:10:39 PM PDT by Tzimisce (How Would Mohammed Vote? Obama for President!)
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