The Sage Observer

Corporate Inversion

          Corporate Inversion is not normally a subject of dinnertime conversation. Most people haven’t even heard of it. What most of us are hearing, and frequently, are the constant complaints of our illustrious Corporatocracy regarding our nation’s corporate tax rate as compared to most other countries in the world. They say we have, on average, the highest corporate rate of all. I don’t remember when the change was made, but I do remember back in the seventies when the corporate tax rate was 51%. Today that rate is 35%, down 16%. Help me understand.

In past postings to this blog, I have on more than one occasion pointed out the lack of patriotism on the part of our nation’s corporations. I have pointed out their lack of care for our environment, loyalty for their employees, and, for that matter, even loyalty for their customers. If in the seventies their rate of return on investment was acceptable then, why is not their present rate of return at a tax rate of only 35% acceptable now—especially in light of the enormous national deficit and debt with which our nation is now burdened and their share of the profits embedded in that debt? This leads me to another question. Why is our Corporatocracy complaining about a 35% tax rate? I’m not going to bore you here with a detailed discussion on taxation (I confess. I don’t want to do the necessary homework), but the fact is our corporations, for the most part, do not pay taxes at anywhere near that high rate. On average, they don’t pay half that. Many pay nothing, absolutely nothing. But, to take this just a little further, beyond taxation, still dissatisfied with their return on investment, they—as you know, are outsourcing labor (jobs) to the detriment of our nation and our economy, to slave labor abroad (Insofar as I am concerned, child labor and the labor of those living in substandard living conditions, and dormitories or barracks, is slavery—a rose is a rose by any other name).

Now, still dissatisfied with their return on investment, the Corporatocracy has gone even further. More and more companies are moving their jobs, production, profit centers and profits out of the country—our future if we continue to accept the current system and the endless job of trying to make it more fair and consistent. They are resorting to corporate inversion (and they have been doing this for several years). They are moving their corporations overseas (the complete hypocrisy of which is indicated by the fact that their CEOs aren’t required to move with their company)—one popular location among others is Ireland, a country with a very low tax rate. Sandy Cutler of Eaton moved his company’s domicile to Ireland in 2012 by buying Cooper Industries, a company run from Texas which already had a foreign address, via a 2002 corporate inversion. He predicts his company’s tax rate will be about 5% this year. Are you kidding me? Does anyone think that a country like the United States of America can govern a country with a corporate tax rate of 5%, given the immense amount of programs we have going—and necessary programs at that? Do you really think we can successfully compete, tax wise, with other much smaller countries at those or similar tax rates? Do you think we can successfully compete with slave or other labor with similar rates? What will Mr. Cutler do next? At what rate of return on investment will Mr. Cutler and his partners be ultimately satisfied? Is their objective to enslave the world? Is that what it will take for them to achieve their ultimate goals? When people like Ted Cruz and Grover Norquist (and all the others in their party) advocate so small a government and so low a rate of taxation that they can squeeze it in the palm of their hand, where do you think they are taking you? Why do you think your economic status has fallen so greatly while theirs and the stock market has gone through the roof? You surely must see the truth. Look at the past; Look at the present; Predict the future—your future. This is where the Corporatocracy and Power Elite, our Shadow Government, is taking us—back to serfdom, where our forefathers were centuries ago and from which they escaped to come here, to the "land of opportunity", The United States of America.

Reference: Tax Break ‘Blarney’: U.S. Companies Beat the System With Irish Addresses,  www.bloomberg.com;

Moving Your Company Overseas Is So Evil, Jack Lew Would Ban it in the Past!, www.reason.com

Ronald Miller

Email me at mtss86@comcast.net