[Boston-editorial] Op-Ed Submission: America ¹ s Corporate Benedict Arnolds

[Pete Stidman]

I think we should put it on the local newswire, but
not feature it.  It's not really our thing so much,
it's more for a specialized audience.  


-Pete
 

--- Matthew Williams <mw21 at mindspring.com> wrote:

> So, anyway, do we want to feature this? I think it's
> got some good 
> information, but I also think the way it's
> framed--the whole traitor, 
> Benedict Arnold thing--is kind of silly, which makes
> me hesitate. -- 
> Matt
> 
> On Jun 13, 2005, at 5:51 PM, Press Room at UFE
> wrote:
> 
> > Op-Ed Submission from United for a Fair Economy
> (617-423-2148 x119)
> >
> > America's Corporate Benedict Arnolds
> >
> > “That’s un-American” is the cry heard whenever the
> unwritten code of
> > American values is breached, Compassion, fairness
> and equal 
> > opportunity are
> > hallmarks, and although you might not be able to
> recite chapter and 
> > verse of
> > the code, you know when it is broken.
> >
> > On this the 204th anniversary of the death of
> Benedict Arnold, one of
> > America’s most famous traitors, it’s time to
> consider whether some of
> > America’s largest corporations that pay little or
> no federal taxes, 
> > have
> > indeed become traitors.
> >
> > Large corporations are in full retreat from paying
> their fair share of
> > taxes. In 2003, corporations paid just 7% of the
> cost of the US 
> > government,
> > according to a study by Citizens for Tax Justice.
> >
> > It wasn’t always this way. At the end of the
> Second World War, a time 
> > when
> > paying taxes was viewed as a patriotic duty,
> corporations paid half 
> > the cost
> > of the federal government. Even as recently as the
> 1970s, corporate 
> > taxes
> > accounted for 20% of federal treasury receipts.
> >
> > This dramatic change has shifted the cost of
> paying for government to
> > smaller businesses and individual taxpayers, while
> at the same time 
> > boosting
> > corporate profits and their executive’s pay.
> >
> > In 2003, ten companies each reported more than $1
> billion in profits to
> > their shareholders, yet paid no federal corporate
> income tax. 
> > Collectively,
> > these firms that have claimed the only way they
> can remain competitive 
> > is
> > through tax breaks, earned $30 billion in profits
> and paid their CEOs 
> > $126
> > million in 2003.  The average pay of the CEOs of
> the corporate Benedict
> > Arnolds was $12.6 million, 51% higher than the pay
> of the average
> > large-company CEO as reported by Business Week.
> >
> > Who are these resurrected Benedict Arnolds? A new
> report published by 
> > United
> > for a Fair Economy entitled Corporate Traitors:
> The Decline of 
> > Corporate
> > Taxes and the Subsequent Rise of CEO Pay
> >
>
(http://www.faireconomy.org/press/2005/corporatetraitors.pdf)
> bestows 
> > awards
> > on some of these tax avoiders.
> >
> > Boeing, the nation’s second largest defense
> contractor, is honored 
> > with the
> > “Taxes are the Real Enemy” Benedict Arnold award.
> Boeing received the
> > largest federal tax refund in 2003. So large was
> Boeing’s $1.7 billion 
> > tax
> > refund that it dwarfed the company’s $1 billion in
> reported earnings, 
> > giving
> > the company an effective tax rate of -159%
> according to Citizens for 
> > Tax
> > Justice.
> >
> > Viagra maker Pfizer took home the “Taxpaying
> Dysfunction (TD)” award.
> > Despite $14 billion in profits between 2001 and
> 2003, Pfizer couldn’t 
> > get
> > excited enough about paying taxes to perform –
> sending just $1.2 
> > billion to
> > the federal treasury, a miserly effective tax rate
> of just 8.2%. In
> > contrast, Pfizer’s industry competitor Merck paid
> 32.5% of its $12.7 
> > billion
> > in three-year profits in federal taxes.
> >
> > Pfizer saw no need to be Scrooge-like when it came
> to paying its CEO 
> > Hank
> > McKinnell, however, who walked away with $21.4
> million in 2004, more 
> > than
> > three times what Merck paid its CEO.
> >
> > These disparities in tax rates adversely affect
> the competitive playing
> > field not only between giant companies like Pfizer
> and Merck, but to 
> > an even
> > greater degree between large companies and small
> businesses. While the
> > average large company today pays only 18% of its
> income in federal 
> > taxes,
> > many small businesses owners pay 34%.
> >
> > Two centuries after Benedict Arnold used his power
> and influence to 
> > gain a
> > plum assignment as commander of West Point, and
> then used that 
> > position to
> > surrender this important fort to the British, we
> are witness to other
> > powerful players using their privilege and
> standing to rewrite the 
> > nation’s
> > tax laws for their own gain.
> >
> > Corporate tax and accounting departments have
> morphed from backwater 
> > cost
> > centers to sexy profit drivers. Investments in
> research and 
> > development have
> > shrunk as investments in aggressive lobbying and
> accounting have 
> > blossomed.
> > These corporate Benedict Arnolds, like their
> namesakes, are 
> > jeopardizing the
> > nation’s security.
> >
> > The American public, angered by Arnold’s betrayal,
> went on to fight and
> > reclaim West Point from the British. Today the
> fight is about 
> > restoring the
> > fairness of the tax system by assuring that
> corporations pay their fair
> > share to maintain the society upon which their
> vast wealth depends.
> >
> > The fight has many fronts
> > -Congress should reform and simplify the corporate
> tax code, lowering 
> > the
> > rate, eliminating the myriad of tax breaks and
> implementing 
> > progressive tax
> > principles that would tax Big Business at higher
> rates than small 
> > family
> > businesses, reversing the current reality.
> > -The corporate alternative minimum tax,
> eviscerated by the Clinton
> > Administration, needs to be restored, so that all
> profitable companies 
> > pay
> > taxes.
> > -We need to withdraw from tax treaties with many
> of the 90 tax haven 
> > nations
> > who aid and abet corporate tax avoiders.
> >
> > Those who continue down Benedict Arnold’s path
> might, like the infamous
> > traitor, consider taking themselves to another
> country. Their current
> > behavior is un-American and unacceptable.
> >
> > Scott Klinger is the corporate accountability
> coordinator at United 
> > for a
> > Fair Economy (http://www.faireconomy.org) and
> author of the report:
> > “Corporate Traitors: The Decline of Corporate
> Taxation and Subsequent 
> > Rise
> > in CEO Pay.”  
> >
>
(http:///www.faireconomy.otg/press/2005/corporatetraitors.pdf)
> > Scott Klinger may be emailed at
> sklinger at faireconomy.org.
> >
> >
> > _______________________________________________
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> > Boston-editorial at lists.indymedia.org
> >
>
http://lists.indymedia.org/mailman/listinfo/boston-editorial
> >
> 
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