Republicans say: GE paid no taxes! What is their point?

[LibocalypseNow]

Man,where do we start? GE is a Corporation that Outsources Thousands of American Jobs. GE doesn't pay any Taxes at all. GE owns a part of NBC which is by far the biggest White House propagandist in the American Media. GE's CEO Jeffrey Immelt is this President's "Jobs Czar." Those are just a few points. This very close GE/White House relationship needs to be fully investigated. How many sweet deals have been sent GE's way by this White House? In my opinion it's corrupt Cronyism at its worst. And im pretty sure if a Republican was in there right now,the Left/Democrats would be screeching for investigations and even Impeachment. Something is definitely wrong with this picture. Investigations need to happen.

I suggest you start by removing your head out of your ass, describing what the Republican Party has done in the past and Murdoch's Corporaton supporting Republicans, RINO and Radical, is too silly to even be called a lie. It's fantasy and not reality something, something you've been doing for so long I have no doubt you actually believe it.

I didn't state anything about GE that wasn't truth or reality. You may not like the truth but it is the truth. This Administration's close ties with GE needs to be fully investigated. Once he named GE CEO Jeffrey Immelt his "Jobs Czar",there should have been immediate investigations. How many sweet deals have been sent GE's way by this White House? It's a fair question.

 

[LibocalypseNow]

The top 12 largest US corporations pay no taxes. You can thank the Republicans.

They should be proud. Isn't this what they wanted?

But how many of those CEO's work for the President as "Jobs Czars?" The answer is just one...GE CEO Jeffrey Immelt.

 

[kaz]

The top 12 largest US corporations pay no taxes. You can thank the Republicans.

They should be proud. Isn't this what they wanted?

Yes, double taxation on shareholders is both unfair and a job killer

 

[kaz]

The top 12 largest US corporations pay no taxes. You can thank the Republicans.

They should be proud. Isn't this what they wanted?

But how many of those CEO's work for the President as "Jobs Czars?" The answer is just one...GE CEO Jeffrey Immelt.

Don't you love how you make a simple point about liberals having a double standard then page after page of posts shows not a single liberal can grasp and address the actual point? Then they tell us how the ignorant vote Republicans. Liberals, you gotta laugh...

 

[rdean]

The top 12 largest US corporations pay no taxes. You can thank the Republicans.

They should be proud. Isn't this what they wanted?

But how many of those CEO's work for the President as "Jobs Czars?" The answer is just one...GE CEO Jeffrey Immelt.

Republicans should be proud. Isn't this what they wanted? Didn't "Czars" begin under Reagan? I don't understand if you are writing this as a complaint or "boasting".

 

[LibocalypseNow]

If a Republican was in there right now,the Left/Democrats would be screeching for investigations and Impeachment over this 24/7. GE not only doesn't pay any Taxes at all but they also Outsource Thousands of American Jobs. So how the Hell did GE CEO Jeffrey Immelt get appointed this President's "Jobs Czar?" That just seems ludicrous to me. The Left/Democrats should actually be ashamed of themselves for defending this close relationship. Just because this President has a 'D' by is name,doesn't mean this awful Cronyism is right. The Left just doesn't have much integrity or credibilty left. They're just defending the indefensible at this point.

 

[kaz]

The top 12 largest US corporations pay no taxes. You can thank the Republicans.

They should be proud. Isn't this what they wanted?

But how many of those CEO's work for the President as "Jobs Czars?" The answer is just one...GE CEO Jeffrey Immelt.

Republicans should be proud. Isn't this what they wanted? Didn't "Czars" begin under Reagan? I don't understand if you are writing this as a complaint or "boasting".

Other then each other, W and Clinton both had more unconfirmed appointees then every President since FDR combined. Obama has 32 and Bush 28. Clinton Had 7 which was at the time the most since FDR, but W dramatically increased them and Obama's topped him before the end of his only term.

And they are Unconstitutional no matter which party does it and they should all be removed.

 

[kaz]

If a Republican was in there right now,the Left/Democrats would be screeching for investigations and Impeachment over this 24/7. GE not only doesn't pay any Taxes at all but they also Outsource Thousands of American Jobs. So how the Hell did GE CEO Jeffrey Immelt get appointed this President's "Jobs Czar?" That just seems ludicrous to me. The Left/Democrats should actually be ashamed of themselves for defending this close relationship. Just because this President has a 'D' by is name,doesn't mean this awful Cronyism is right. The Left just doesn't have much integrity or credibilty left. They're just defending the indefensible at this point.

I spent a bunch of my career in GE management and I managed projects outsourcing a bunch of IT jobs to India. Actually outsourcing jobs is good for the economy when it's market driven. Government should neither encourage nor discourage it.

 

[LibocalypseNow]

This is a good link for info on what Corporations pay in Taxes. GE's profits are actually up since this article was published. And guess what? Even the Left's Boogeymen WalMart & Oil Companies paid Taxes...

Business In The Beltway
What The Top U.S. Companies Pay In Taxes
Christopher Helman, 04.13.11, 07:10 PM EDT

For all the outcry over GE, a number of corporate titans are paying much higher rates than the average citizen.

In Detail: What The Top 20 U.S. Companies Pay In Taxes

As many Americans finish up their personal tax returns over the next few days, they'll marvel with horror at how much hard-earned cash gets siphoned up by the government. At times like this, it's satisfying to have a corporate bogeyman to hate--like General Electric, which has faced a withering hail of criticism since The New York Times proclaimed last month that the conglomerate paid no federal taxes in 2010, despite $5 billion in U.S. profits. There goes corporate America again, always sticking it to the little guy.

But is there any real reason to believe that? Sure, GE has an army of accountants and lobbyists trying to reduce its tax burden, but wouldn't you if you had $150 billion in worldwide revenue and $14.2 billion in pretax income last year?

To see if GE was an aberration, we took a look at the 2010 annual reports of the 20 most profitable U.S. companies. Some of the results may surprise you. The average income tax rate within the group was 25.4%. America's three biggest oil companies, ExxonMobil ( XOM - news - people ), Chevron ( CVX - news - people ) and ConocoPhillips ( COP - news - people ), all endure income tax burdens of more than 40%--higher than the statutory U.S. rate of 35%. Exxon, with a 45% rate, tallied $21.6 billion in worldwide income taxes for 2010. Wal-Mart Stores ( WMT - news - people ) paid $7.1 billion (at a rate of 32.4%) in income taxes.

In Detail: What The Top 20 U.S. Companies Pay In Taxes

All these tax burdens are higher than the average citizen pays. So where does General Electric ( GE - news - people ) stand? Contrary to what many in the public seem to think, the conglomerate did pay taxes in 2010. It reported $2.7 billion in cash tax payments during the year, and on its income statement lists a provision for income taxes of $1.05 billion. Considering GE's pretax income of $14.2 billion, that makes for a tax rate of just 7.4%. The only one of the 20 corporate giants with a lower rate was AT&T ( T - news - people ), at -6.4%--but that was only because MaBell won a tax settlement with the IRS that reduced its tax liability by $8.3 billion.

So how to make sense of GE's taxes? The outcry seems to focus on the $5 billion in profits GE made in the U.S. Now if GE were to pay the 35% statutory federal corporate tax rate on that, it would come to $1.75 billion. Yet, as the Times trumpeted, GE has recorded a $3.25 billion tax benefit for the year on its U.S. operations. It's important to understand that this "benefit" is not a refund (which is why the Associated Press should be doubly embarrassed for being fooled Wednesday by a bogus GE press release concocted by the Yes Men that said the conglomerate intended to return its $3.2 billion tax "refund" to the U.S. Treasury). It just represents an amount GE will balance out against other tax obligations.

Corporations pay income taxes to other countries where the rate is less. The US tax rate is higher which is why they locate their factories in other countries.

Why does GE get this benefit? Simple: its finance arm, GE Capital, lost a lot of money during the financial meltdown (roughly $30 billion) and it's still carrying those losses forward and deducting them from current income. As GE spokesman Gary Sheffer wrote in his response to the Times story: "Without these financial crisis losses at GE Capital, GE's tax rate would have been near the average of other multinational corporations." He added, "In short, when you lose money, you don't pay taxes."

If GE's industrial side (maker of jet engines, light bulbs, turbines and such) were a standalone entity, its global tax rate would be 16.8%. It's only after consolidating its results with the GE Capital side that its rate drops down to 7.4%.

A lot of other mega-corporations suffered losses during the financial meltdown as well, but their tax rates aren't as low as GE's. So what's GE doing that they aren't? Yes, GE's lobbyists have helped get laws passed like those that grant federal tax credits for green energy investments like wind turbines. GE both builds such turbines and invests in wind farms and gets millions in such credits.

But the real tax benefits are gleaned overseas. The U.S. has higher corporate tax rates than nearly all the world's biggest economies, so it's only natural that GE would seek to generate as much of its profits overseas as possible. As long as those profits aren't repatriated to the U.S., GE doesn't owe U.S. tax rates on them.

http://www.forbes.com/2011/04/13/ge-exxon-walmart-apple-business-washington-corporate-taxes.html

 

[Mr.Nick]

Are repubs for more taxes with that statement? Are they for more taxes just on GE with that statement?

One wolf points at another and screams "He ate...A SHEEP!" as he pulls the wool out of his own teeth

The point is progressives consistently argue for higher taxes but only for those corporations that aren't in the democrats pocket...

 

[LibocalypseNow]

Hopefully the Republicans will step up at some point and investigate this very cozy relationship between this White House and GE. Such blatant corrupt Cronyism can't be ignored.

 

[JakeStarkey]

The top 12 largest US corporations pay no taxes. You can thank the Republicans.

They should be proud. Isn't this what they wanted?

Yes, double taxation on shareholders is both unfair and a job killer

Equitable taxation on corporate income and shareholder come is fair and American.

You don't get the corporate shield of limited liability AND the ending of equitable taxation unless you give up the shield.

Never going to happen.

 

[NYcarbineer]

The only point is this. If GE wants to continue to share the American experience, GE needs to pay taxes.

The excellent irony here is that for all the Right's complaining about GE's tax breaks, loopholes, credits, whatever,

the GOP's Norquist pledge deems any removal of any of them a tax increase, and therefore GE is effectively protected BY the Republicans.

 

[kaz]

The only point is this. If GE wants to continue to share the American experience, GE needs to pay taxes.

The excellent irony here is that for all the Right's complaining about GE's tax breaks, loopholes, credits, whatever,

the GOP's Norquist pledge deems any removal of any of them a tax increase, and therefore GE is effectively protected BY the Republicans.

You seriously can't process the point that Democrats have a double standard? You seriously think the point is that Republicans wanted GE to be taxed? What I like is when you turn around and call Republicans clueless.

Democrats attack corporations, well, except GE, they support Obama. It's a double standard. That is the point, not the idiocy you just vomited.

 

[Sallow]

The top 12 largest US corporations pay no taxes. You can thank the Republicans.

They should be proud. Isn't this what they wanted?

Yes, double taxation on shareholders is both unfair and a job killer

What double taxation?

 

[Sallow]

The only point is this. If GE wants to continue to share the American experience, GE needs to pay taxes.

The excellent irony here is that for all the Right's complaining about GE's tax breaks, loopholes, credits, whatever,

the GOP's Norquist pledge deems any removal of any of them a tax increase, and therefore GE is effectively protected BY the Republicans.

You seriously can't process the point that Democrats have a double standard? You seriously think the point is that Republicans wanted GE to be taxed? What I like is when you turn around and call Republicans clueless.

Democrats attack corporations, well, except GE, they support Obama. It's a double standard. That is the point, not the idiocy you just vomited.

Quite the opposite.

Conservatives want to break the very things that allows American Businesses to be the most sucessful in the world.

Our government, our educated population..and our infrastructure.

 

[kaz]

The top 12 largest US corporations pay no taxes. You can thank the Republicans.

They should be proud. Isn't this what they wanted?

Yes, double taxation on shareholders is both unfair and a job killer

What double taxation?

A corporation makes a profit.

- The profit is taxed as corporate tax

- Shareholders pay taxes on the same money again when they take their earnings as dividends or capital gains.

Same money taxed twice, hence the term...double...taxation.

Or were you referring to that it's taxed again when they spend it and it's triple taxation?

 

[kaz]

The excellent irony here is that for all the Right's complaining about GE's tax breaks, loopholes, credits, whatever,

the GOP's Norquist pledge deems any removal of any of them a tax increase, and therefore GE is effectively protected BY the Republicans.

You seriously can't process the point that Democrats have a double standard? You seriously think the point is that Republicans wanted GE to be taxed? What I like is when you turn around and call Republicans clueless.

Democrats attack corporations, well, except GE, they support Obama. It's a double standard. That is the point, not the idiocy you just vomited.

Quite the opposite.

Conservatives want to break the very things that allows American Businesses to be the most sucessful in the world.

Our government, our educated population..and our infrastructure.

Asked and answered, you cannot process it. Thank you sir. When Republicans criticize Democrats for attacking corporations for not paying taxes, but point out they don't attack GE because their CEO is a big Obama supporter, they are advocating taxing GE. Hmm...no now they want to break the system.

Dude, you're a hoot. BTW, if you were right, you'd address the point rather then evading it.

 

[ClosedCaption]

This is confusing....either way, Repubs still support GE for not paying taxes that is why I dont understand why they try to use that as a strike against taxes...or something

Correct sir, you don't understand. Republicans are pointing out that Democrats rip evil corporations for not paying taxes, then they give Jeffy a pass because he's a big Obama supporter. The point is about the...double standard....of the left. Not that confusing, how can you not understand that exactly?

Who are these people you keep squawking about who is giving GE a pass?

 

[LibocalypseNow]

If a Republican President hired GE CEO Jeffrey Immelt as their "Jobs Czar",you can bet the farm the Left/Democrats would be screeching for investigations and possible Impeachment 24/7. Their defense of this President's blatant corrupt cronyism really is very distasteful. But Par for the Course i guess.