Oh Sparky - you had me going!!!!!!! and then this last post
I agree, it is ashame, horrible, repugnant, etc., that some, but certainly not all, corporate big wigs pad their retirements, etc. But, unless they are doing something illegal (which many do and are never caught
), I think we are complaining to the wrong person IMO. I mean look by way of example at the offshore corporation loophole that exists to help corporations avoid paying some but not all American taxes by incorporating in say, Bermuda - where they pay far less tax if any at all. I think this is horrible and they ought to be ashamed of themselves for not carrying what I independantly determine is their fair share. But, my opinion of fair share is not the opinion of the IRS, which is the only opinion that matters. The IRS must tell you what taxes you owe (Oh if it were the other way around
). Apparently the IRS does not care about this gross loss of revenue because they have known about the loophole for a long time and have not shut it. Moreover, Republicans and Democrats alike have bitched about it to get votes, but neither has done a whole lot to close it. Why? It seems to me that some of that legally gotten tax savings finds its way into a campaign donation in one form or another. So, as I have repeatedly said, it is not just the Republicans in the boat of corporate horribleness (
) , the Democrats are right there with them on almost every issue. Also, corporate big wigs were padding their expense accounts, etc., during the past ten administrations and no one did a whole lot about it. For example, the trillions of dollars in fraud that Enron, MCI, and others committed for years in the Clinton Administration - yet they were never investigated, audited, or caught.
Also, I often use the analogy of mortage interest tax deduction to make my point that taking a legal tax deduction is generally bad or unfair to the poor, yet we pretty much all do it with little care for whom it may hurt. For example, if you own your house and take the perfectly legal mortgage interest deduction, it could be argued you are screwing the poor. After all, the poor generally cannot afford to buy a house and get no such deduction and if they do buy a house they will probably buy a lesser expensive house and get less of a deduction. So, when someone fortunate enough to own a house takes the mortgage deduction off of their taxes, they are taking an elitist tax cut unavailable to everyone. So, I have suggested to my friends that bitched about the tax cut going only to the wealthy that they not take the mortgage interest deduction because it similarly also is a dedection only for the wealthy or at least it is a sliding scale tax benefit that benefits people who buy expensive houses with a mortgage. The same argument applies to the homestead exemptions available in many states which allows a homeowner to take usually about 20% off of the value of their house before the property tax is calculated. To date, I know of no one who has declined these clearly elitist but perfectly legal deductions despite their apparent care for the poor
Note: I offer this in a friendly manner and not an in your face, finger snapping, I'm right your wrong way
I just hate it when people say Republicans are against the little guy and Democrats are for them. I say based on the votes, they are essentinally the same, with the Democrats coming out a little on top, but not much.