America Inc.: The Real Deficit Culprit

Within months of Wall Street "banksters" demolishing the nation's economy -- and subsequently blowing a three-year, $800 billion hole in tax revenues as well as necessitating $800 billion in recovery spending -- Republicans convinced goodly numbers of voters it's not Big Business to blame for the dire straights in which we find ourselves.

It's Washington!

With profits at historic highs, Wall Street banks paying record bonuses and the widest gap in wealth between rich and poor since the 1920s, corporate elites and their Republican water carriers have decided at this very moment, when their country needs them to ante up for the leaps essential to remain competitive in the 21st century, -- at this very moment -- to stomp their feet, hold their breath and demand even more tax cuts.

Fact: Fortune 500 companies don't come close to paying the statutory 35 percent tax rate (39.5 percent including state taxes) Republicans whine is the highest among industrialized nations. It's more like 17 percent on average which actually places the U.S. third lowest, behind Ireland and Iceland, in the 34-member Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development.

The effective rate ends up being 2.1 percent of G.D.P. as opposed to an average of 3.5 percent for the other OECD countries. Eliminating corporate tax gimmicks would produce $1.2 trillion in deficit reductions over the next ten years. If you're counting, that's a total of $2.8 trillion corporations have set us back!

Our definition of good corporate citizenship has become so distorted this is what we now consider worth emulating.

President Obama recently appointed Jeffery Immelt to head his new advisory Council on Jobs and Competitiveness. Immelt is CEO of General Electric having succeeded Jack Welch in 2001. Welch was dubbed "Neutron Jack" for ruthlessly eliminating hundreds of thousands of U.S. jobs over 20 years as G.E. moved factories across Asia and Latin America. In the last decade Immelt himself has closed 29 U.S. plants and shipped 25,000 jobs overseas.

The company, once known for its R&D and manufacturing prowess now gets over half its revenue doing the kinds of economically meaningless money churning that took down Wall Street in 2008. In fact G.E. Capital was a $100 billion recipient of bailout funds.

Moreover G.E. cleared $10.8 billion worldwide in 2009 and, by retaining its profits in off-shore tax havens, paid no U.S. taxes whatsoever. According to the EPA, it is the third worst Superfund toxic waste site corporate offender.

This is what it's come to. Fast-buck Freddie corporations that can move jobs, invest capital, buy politicians and stash trillions in profits anywhere in the world telling the country that provided them essential political stability, endless opportunities, billions in tax subsidies, a highly educated workforce and a superb infrastructure to go to hell!