Posted on 04/02/2014 4:16:21 AM PDT by PaulCruz2016
WASHINGTON (AP) — Caterpillar Inc. executives defended a tax strategy Tuesday that has saved the manufacturing giant billions in U.S. taxes. They got support from Republican senators, including one who said the company deserves an award.
Caterpillar has avoided paying $2.4 billion in U.S. taxes since 2000 by shifting profits to a wholly-controlled affiliate in Switzerland, according to a report released by Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich. Levin chairs the Senate investigations subcommittee. On Tuesday, Levin grilled Caterpillar executives and their accountants at a hearing on the company's tax strategy.
"Caterpillar is an American success story that produces iconic industrial machines," Levin said. "But it is also a member of the corporate profit-shifting club that has transferred billions of dollars offshore to avoid paying U.S. taxes."
Julie Lagacy, a Caterpillar vice president, was adamant that the Peoria, Ill.-based manufacturer follows all tax laws. "We pay everything we owe," she told the subcommittee. Caterpillar got support from Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., who questioned why the subcommittee was even holding the hearing.
"I think rather than having an inquisition, we should probably bring Caterpillar here and give them an award," Paul said. "You know, they've been in business for over 100 years. It's not easy to stay in business."
Paul said Caterpillar and its accountants have an obligation to shareholders to minimize their taxes. "It is a requirement that you try to minimize your costs. So rather than chastising Caterpillar we should be complimenting them," Paul said.
(Excerpt) Read more at mail.com ...
“white privilege” = actually receiving and enjoying the rewards for working your ass off.
A “minarchy” is the only kind of government that we can have any hope of actually holding accountable.
Also, it won’t innovate. It won’t tell everybody ELSE that they have to “honor ‘gay marriage’”. That is not about minimum involvement in morality. That is about TWISTED involvement in morality, which turns an old “thou shalt not” not into a “we don’t care if” but into a “thou shalt.”
This is why I love FR, despite it’s faults. I can basically read a headline then skip to the comments and get so much more insight than by reading the actual article. Yes, I’m serious.
Why should CAT pay any taxes at all? Don’t their shareholders pay enough on dividends and gains, and their employees on their wages?
Our country was and would be successful again if we returned to law based on what is biblical.
I hear the “libertarians” shouting all the time that we shouldn’t oppose “gay marriage” because the government should have no involvement in marriage at all.
I disagree on at least two levels. The government does have a role in promoting a stable society, and marriage and families are the cornerstone.
The second level is that they are not just “allowing” this travesty, but FORCING EVERYONE TO RECOGNIZE AND PARTICIPATE in this farce.
We should oppose having a government that would ever dare to force others to recognize a “gay marriage.”
The bible principle about not trusting in princes has been QUITE forgotten, as is the admonition about not “lightly healing the wound.”
Want to remove the temptation for a government to force “gay marriage”? Make that government fit in a phone booth.
Of course you often pick up knee-jerks, not actual reasoned analysis.
Taxation in Switzerland
http://www.ocra.com/solutions/taxation_switzerland.asp?gclid=CNTg_br-wb0CFbFFMgodACoAcw
“white privilege” = code for “Suitably Neutered White Male”
Protecting my people, my heritage, my culture, and my traditions is called “self-preservation”.
Rand Paul on the issues:
The solution to the government’s fiscal crisis must begin by cutting spending in all areas, particularly in those areas that can be better run at the state or local level. Every year since being in the Senate, I’ve introduced a comprehensive budget that balances within 5 years. The purpose is not only to show that it can be done, but it also demonstrates that when the size of government is reduced through reform, resources can be more efficiently prioritized without relying on tax increases.
I do not support any proposed gun control law which would limit the right to gun ownership by those who are responsible, law-abiding citizens.
I am 100% pro-life. I believe life begins at conception and that abortion takes the life of an innocent human being. It is the duty of our government to protect this life as a right guaranteed under the Constitution. For this reason, I introduced S. 583, the Life at Conception Act on March 14, 2013. This bill would extend the Constitutional protection of life to the unborn from the time of conception.
I want to work in the Senate to secure our border immediately. In addition, I support the creation of a border fence and increased border patrol capabilities.
I believe that the primary Constitutional function of the federal government is national defense, bar none. I believe that when we must go to war, we must have a Congressional declaration of war as the Constitution mandates, and we fight to win. And we must fight only under U.S. command and not the UN.
My 2014 budget proposal, A Clear Vision to Revitalize America, would accelerate domestic resource development on public lands. For two generations, it has been the policy of the United States government to deny its citizens access to the energy resources they own. Either these public land holdings need to be sold off to the states to manage, or the government should unlock its massive mineral wealth by fostering a process of efficient, safe and effective energy development.
I am working to reassert the rights and privileges of the 50 states and over 300 million Americans. The Federal Government must return to its constitutionally enumerated powers and restore our inalienable rights
I also seek to prevent the Department of Education from regulating private and homeschooling options and will fight to keep the Federal Government’s hands out of these promising alternatives to conventional public education.
It is time to put an end to the profession of “career politician,” and impose limits on how many times a member is allowed to seek re-election.
http://www.paul.senate.gov/?p=issues
Thanks for this post.
The question is ‘what has he DONE’, certainly not ‘what has he SAID?’
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