First off, I can't claim credit for that question. As she frequently does, Randi Rhodes, gave me the topic, as she was explaining it to a caller on her radio show today. So, sincere Hat Tip to Ms Rhodes!
As she explained it Tax Policy is the "Coin of the Realm".
Tax Policy is what Lobbyists go to DC for.
Tax Policy is where the action Is ... It determines whether or not America gets back to work ...
Whether or not Corporations REINVEST their Profits back into the business;
Whether or not Corporations REHIRE workers, here or abroad;
Whether or not Corporations save a bundle on Taxes -- simply by paying a BUNDLE to their CEO's ...
Whether or Not those CEO's just drove the Company into a ditch, or broke it up for parts, and just shipped it overseas. ... along with those once-American Jobs.
It hasn't always been this way.
Used to be for Corporations to get their Tax Breaks -- they HAD TO Reinvest in America.
Tax Policy made it so. Back in the day, when the America Dream was a still more reality, than Myth.
These days Tax Policy puts all the emphasis on Reinvest in America on the wrong syllable --
These days Tax Policy too often encourages Deinvest in America, instead.
My, what a long slow slide into mediocrity, it has been.
5 Things You May Not Know About CEO Pay
Michael Sanibel, provided by Investopedia; sfgate.com -- Jan 7, 2011
- $1 Million Tax Deduction
[...]
In 1993, the corporate tax deduction for nonperformance-based pay was limited to $1 million for covered employees. These include the CEO and the next four highest paid officers of publicly held companies. This limitation applies only to cash and in-kind compensation paid as remuneration for services rendered. Contributions to qualified plans and performance-based compensation such as stock options are generally excluded from the limit.
No wonder Stock Options compensation packages in the 10's of Millions are so popular -- they just get to "write it off" !
No wonder we, as a Nation, have such trouble, in trying pay-down that National Deficit.
Of course that's the "Exceptional" American Way -- those in the exception-class get all the breaks;
while those in the productivity-class get all the aches and pains.
A State of the Union you won’t hear from Republicans or Democrats
by theblitz, alternet.org -- Jan 26, 2011
Tax Policy: Corporations "tax" workers 45 times as much as the government does. The average worker creates well over $100 worth of new wealth each hour. But his take home pay is only $8. The government takes $2 in taxes, and the corporation takes $90 for overhead and profit, including obscene CEO salaries. This is the "tax" we need to reduce. Even failed CEOs are given hundreds of millions of dollars when they are fired.
CEO salaries now exceed 500 times the salary of their workers. And these gigantic compensation packages are tax-deductible expenses for the corporation. We taxpayers are subsidizing their salaries! We should limit the corporate tax deduction for executive compensation to 20 times the salary of their lowest paid worker. We must also close the loopholes that allow the multinationals to avoid taxation altogether.
We should. But we won't.
Who wants to encourage Corporations to Reinvest in America anyways? When Deinvesting in America is much more palatable to the Lobbyists, that call the shots.
I thought Number 5 on the CEO fun fact list -- was especially illustrative of how "exceptionally" far Corporate America has fallen.
Money for Nothing, I think they call it the CEO Country Clubs ...
5 Things You May Not Know About CEO Pay
Michael Sanibel, provided by Investopedia; sfgate.com -- Jan 7, 2011
- Parachute to Safety
Most top execs don't have much to worry about if their company is taken over or if they lose their job. Their contracts often include a "golden parachute" clause that grants them a generous severance package that they take with them even if their company is performing poorly. [...]
The 2008 financial meltdown didn't prevent many executives from walking away with large chunks of their corporate treasury. When Countrywide Financial failed and was taken over by Bank of America, Angelo Mozilo took home $188 million. At the same time at Citigroup, after a poor quarterly performance, Charles Prince retired with a package worth almost $100 million.
LOL, when I first read this, I had to do a double-take:
Huh? I wondered, Why was 'Prince Charles' working for Citigroup?
He's the last one that needs a $100 Million paycheck, for basically -- doing Nothing!
CEO'n -- Nice work, if you can get it, I guess.
What it is doing to the Economic Health of the country however, is a whole other sad story ... but a very exceptional one, as they say.
One in a Million, exceptional.