30 Major U.S. Corporations Paid More to Lobby Congress Than Income Taxes

[SMS]

I'm not "chattering endlessly" about it. I'm answering replies and having a conversation. What are you doing, dropping in like a white knight to save the thread from evil old me? Thanks for the condescension...

My point is this issue is not "a problem affecting us now", at least not the problem that is going to bury us. Comments and news articles that make the claim "GE paid no taxes last year" and "GE paid more in lobbying than they did taxes" are either untrue, or just feed the current trend of looking for a boogey man and sound an awfull lot like OWS drivel.

Take all of GE's money if you want, but it's a drop in the bucket compared to our $15T debt and $60+T unfunded liabilities down the road.

Simplify the tax code, and strangle government spending. That is all. Call it chattering if you will but this is not GE's fault.

 

[tRidiot]

Making GE the bad guy for spending money to keep money is taking away from the true problem - overtaxation and a needlessly-complicated and unfair tax code and legislators willing to provide perks to companies in exchange for political backing and campaign contributions (or worse).

 

[LightningCrash]

I'm not "chattering endlessly" about it. I'm answering replies and having a conversation. What are you doing, dropping in like a white knight to save the thread from evil old me? Thanks for the condescension...

Now you're claiming it's topical. Which is it: topical or a red herring? You can't have both.

Nobody is blaming GE for anything. Nobody is posting OWS tripe. Again, you're defending against assertions that weren't made.

This is a problem affecting us now. You're arguing about the significance of the problem and trying to divert the discussion. Try to stay topical. This isn't a conversation about our public debt.

It's interesting that most people in this discussion agree with simplifying the tax code, and many are fine with neutering lobbyists. Even though they've arrived at this identical conclusion, you are intent on defending the honor of the corporations before they get attacked. In this situation, your Knepping is unwarranted.

 

[SMS]

It's interesting that most people in this discussion agree with simplifying the tax code, and many are fine with neutering lobbyists.

I'll leave it with that mutual agreement.

 

[Blue Baby]

SMS, I didn't read it as class warfare and taxation, I read it as the corrupting influence of lobbying--that is, they spend tons on lobbying for the purpose of getting favorable tax treatment. Read in that context, it seems a lot more offensive.

^^ this is exactly what I got out of the article. Lobbying not only for favorable tax treatment but manipulation of any law/reg/moral that helps them make a buck.

 

[Dave70968]

Perfect comparison, actually! Except the corps can simply throw money at the problem and get laws changed so they don't even have to pay. Nobody here has tried to vilify them for their success. People have a problem with their ability to just buy their way into new laws.

Herein lies the problem.

It's not the "eeevul corporashuns," it's the fact that Washington has the power to grant these exceptions. I can make lobbying go away in half a heartbeat: take away Washington's power to dole out favors. Think about it--does anybody offer money and gifts to his dentist in exchange for a favorable law? Of course not--the dentist can't give him that law! Take away a Senator's ability to dole out favors and nobody will be offering him bribes or "campaign donations."

The old saw about how power corrupts is usually read too narrowly: most people take it to mean that it corrupts the person with the power. That's true, but it also corrupts everybody in the world who wants him to use that power. The only solution is to remove the power.