Rand Paul Blasts His Colleagues-- It's Outrageous That Apple Is Being Harassed About Its Taxes

Business Insider ^ | 05/21/2013 | Grace Wyler

[SeekAndFind]

Kentucky Senator Rand Paul went on a great rant during today's Senate subcommittee hearing on Apple's offshore tax practices, slamming his Congressional colleagues for even holding the hearing in the first place.

"Frankly, I'm offended by the tone and tenor of this hearing," Paul said, laying into those who take issue with Apple's tax policies.

"I'm offended by the spectacle of dragging in executives from an American company that is not doing anything illegal," he added. "If anyone should be on trial, it should be Congress."

Apple CEO Tim Cook is testifying before the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations this morning to defend the company from accusations that it avoids tax payments by shifting profits to offshore subsidiaries in Ireland.

Michigan Democratic Sen. Carl Levin, the chair of the subcommittee, said Monday that he has "never seen anything like" Apple's tax "gimmickry."

But Paul took issue with the premise of Tuesday's hearing, however, and called on the Senate to stop "harassing" Apple, which he called one of "America's greatest success stories."

"Instead of doing the right thing, we drag businessmen and women in here to berate them for trying to maximize their profits for shareholders," Paul said. "Apple has done more to enrich people's lives than politicians will ever do."

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[SeekAndFind]

I betcha the IRS is now doing research on Rand Paul's stock portfolio to see how many Apple shares he owns...

[SeekAndFind]

[PGR88]

It just shows how a super-complex tax code benefits those already wealthy, those with Government connections, and corporations that are able to throw tons of lawyers, accountants and lobbyists at a problem.

[Fair Paul]

That’s a great chart, you really do live up to your Freeper handle.

[opentalk]

Rush was talking about this...John McCain is one of the outraged senators with Levin. Said they pay taxes..have not broken any laws...GE is should be there instead. [Paraphrase]

[SeekAndFind]

RE: That’s a great chart, you really do live up to your Freeper handle.

Courtesy of Business Insider.

See here:

17 Great American Companies That Keep Mountains Of Cash Overseas Just Like Apple Does

http://www.businessinsider.com/apple-google-microsoft-coca-cola-taxes-cash-offshore-2013-5

[El Cid]

"Instead of doing the right thing, we drag businessmen and women in here to berate them for trying to maximize their profits for shareholders," Paul said. "Apple has done more to enrich people's lives than politicians will ever do."

Absolutely.
I'm no fan of the Birkenstock wearing Apple crowd, but the people running that company are doing their job: Creating products that the public wants (albeit part of that is from brainwashing the public with Ads that makes them think they actually need these gadgets ... but they are also good at that aspect of their job), and maximizing profits for their shareholders (individuals, 401ks, Pension plans, etc).

The Government needs to stop throwing obstacles in the way. They are the grit and sand in the gears of the Nation Industries.
And simplifying the tax code, and abolishing the IRS would be great also -- but that would mean the Government would have to put the Nation's interests ahead of their own self interests (of expanding their power and control) -- so I'm holding my breath for that one...

[roadcat]

"I'm offended by the spectacle of dragging in executives from an American company that is not doing anything illegal," he added. "If anyone should be on trial, it should be Congress."

It's all a distraction, folks. These multi-national companies make money overseas, hold it overseas, and then reinvest it overseas. Nothing illegal, just an attempt by this government to steal money for itself because this government mismanages money. Government should be on trial!

[Westbrook]

Abolish the income tax.

... AND ...

Abolish the IRS.

[Chickensoup]

Shakedown time.

[SSDecontrol]

Well done Rand.

[Da Coyote]

Simple test:

Who has the highest IQ?

The dumbest Apple engineer. ..or...any US senator?

[Nifster]

Good for Rand. His words are EXACTLY what I thought when I read about McShame’s faux outrage.....Time for a different type of tax system

[Wuli]

If the U.S. did not tax American coporations on their overseas income - which many OECD countries do not do, but only on their U.S. income, more of that money would return to the U.S.

[JimRed]

Isn’t Apple a big RAT donor? Did they change their donations?

[ModelBreaker]

I note the democrat senators are not raking GE over the coals. It has huge foreign cash holdings too. I wonder why?

[iopscusa]

Tax the hell out of Apple, Google and Microsoft, these crony bastid leftist must pay! Go after the Goldman type crooks and the PEU crooks including Romney and all the Bush creeps while you are at it. Tax them till they die!

[higgmeister]

Rand Paul Blasts His Colleagues-- It's Outrageous That Apple Is Being Harassed About Its Taxes

It's also insanely funny that the Rats are trying to eat one of their own liberal oriented corporations which further proves there is no honor among thieves!

[higgmeister]

I wonder why?

;^}

[SunkenCiv]

• ---

  Latinos, should be a natural constituency for the party, Paul argued, but "Republicans have pushed them away with harsh rhetoric over immigration." ...he would create a bipartisan panel to determine how many visas should be granted for workers already in the United States and those who might follow... [and the buried lead] "Imagine 12 million people who are already here coming out of the shadows to become new taxpayers... [Rand Paul calls on conservatives to embrace immigration reform]

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• ...by softening its edge on some volatile social issues and altering its image as the party always seemingly "eager to go to war... We do need to expand the party and grow the party and that does mean that we don't always all agree on every issue" ... the party needs to become more welcoming to individuals who disagree with basic Republican doctrine on emotional social issues such as gay marriage... "We're going to have to be a little hands off on some of these issues ... and get people into the party," Paul said. [Rand Paul: Time for GOP to soften war stance]

• ---

  One day after announcing on his radio show that he is "truly considering" running in 2014 for the U.S. Senate seat now held by New Jersey's Frank Lautenberg, Rivera amped up his message today in a television interview and a column on the Fox News Latino website... a moderate Republican who is fiscally conservative but also supports gay marriage and Roe v. Wade... [Geraldo Rivera declares himself a 'moderate Republican' as he eyes U.S. Senate run]

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