Tweet of the Day

.@GovernorPerry: Every blue-collar worker should be listening when I say I'm going to lower the corporate tax rates.” #Hannity

— Sean Hannity (@seanhannity) July 21, 2015

I laughed my ass off when I saw this tweet. I can guarantee to Gov. Rick Perry that working class people aren't concerned about corporate tax cuts. The level of disconnect Perry has with the working class is staggering.

Chart of the Day

Thomas Oatley is an is an associate professor of political science at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. He wrote an article in the Washington Post. Oatley made this chart that shows the flow of American investment money heading to the tax haven of the Cayman Islands.

President Barack Obama signed the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) into law in 2010. The United States and the Cayman Islands reached an agreement. Cayman banks must notify the IRA of any U.S. account with more than $50,000. The law won't officially take effect until 2014.

Banks, funds and other financial institutions that fail to comply with FATCA face a 30-percent withholding tax on their U.S. source income, a penalty that could effectively freeze them out of U.S. financial markets.

Investment bankers have an army of tax attorneys. I'm sure they will find a way around FATCA.

Dolphins Unlikely to Get Tax Subsidy

Dario Moreno, a political science professor conducted a poll of likely Miami-Dade County voters. The question Moreno asked is if voters would support a tax subsidy for stadium improvements for the Miami Dolphins. 73 percent of likely voters said they would not support a subsidy.

"This is toxic to the Legislature, the county commission and the executive," said Dario Moreno, a political science professor who conducted the 1,000 voter survey for a private client.
"There's not one group of likely voter who supports this idea," Moreno said. "Even in County Commission District 1, where the stadium is, people are overwhelmingly opposed."

The Florida legislature is amending a bill for a bed tax. The tax would then have to be approved by a voter referendum. However, the tax may never see the light of day. The Miami-Dade delegation is against tax dollars for stadium improvements. According to Forbes, Stephen M. Ross is the 117th richest man in the world. Ross has the financial resources to lobby the Florida legislature. Which makes me wonder why he doesn't use his own money for improvements like Tampa Bay Lightning owner Jeff Vinik?

Update: The Buzz, a Senate approved $400 million for remodeling of the Miami Dolphins' stadium.

Rick Scott's Dubious A From the Cato Institute

The Cato Institute has given Gov. Rick Scott an A on their annual fiscal report card. The reasons they cite is that Scott's wants to eliminate the state's corporate tax and his layoffs of state employees. There are also budget cuts that have crippled the state's education system. The Cato Institute has called these pro-growth policies. The Buzz notes Scott hasn't created the kind of growth that would merit an A.

In the area of job growth, Florida is a middle-runner, ranking 25th in the nation over the last year, under Scott’s economic policies. Florida’s job creation rate is lower than the national average and long-term unemployment is worst in the nation.

Scott has also backed off of his 777 jobs promised. Scott promised to create 700,000 jobs in seven years. Scott went on the Bud Hedingger Live radio show and reneged on that promise.

"The bottom line is, I could argue that I don't have to create any jobs. I just have to make sure we don't lose jobs."

Wow.

Why then did the Cato Institute give Scott an A. It is because Scott will do everything in his power to make sure corporations pay no taxes in Florida. Silly rabbit, Cato isn't about libertarian ideology. The think tank is to make sure the rich get richer.

The Great Corporate Tax Swindle

Via Mother Jones and the Center of Responsive Politics. These ten corporations made billions in profits and paid zero in corporate taxes. General Electric made $19.6 billion in profits and got 18.9 percent tax return from the IRS. These and other corporations have been dodging taxes while many Americans have lost their jobs. Think about the tax breaks these ten corporations received the next time Mitch McConnell, Rick Scott or Mitt Ronney say corporations need tax cuts because they are job creators.

Verizon Communications Profits: $19.8 billion Effective tax rate: -3.8% Top recipients, 2011-2012 President Barack Obama: $51,493 Sen. Robert Menendez (D-N.J.): $24,450 Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.): $23,700 Rep. John Boehner (R-Ohio): $22,500 Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.): $15,000

General Electric Profits: $19.6 billion Effective tax rate: -18.9% Top recipients, 2011-2012 Mitt Romney: $53,750 President Barack Obama (D): $30,493 Sen. Scott Brown (R-Mass.): $23,900 Rep. Howard Berman (D-Calif.): $21,860 Rep. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.): $19,750

Boeing Profits: $14.8 billion Effective tax rate: -5.5% Top recipients, 2011-2012 Rep. Buck McKeon (R-Calif.): $31,750 Rep. Adam Smith (D-Wash.): $25,000 Former Sen. George Allen (R-Va.): $23,500 Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.): $23,125 Rep. Ron Paul (R-Texas): $20,986

NextEra Energy: North America's largest solar and wind power operator, based in Florida Profits: $8.8 billion Effective tax rate: -2% Top recipients, 2011-2012 George LeMieux (R-Fla.): $9,500 Mike Haridopolos (R-Fla.): $4,800 Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.): $2,000 Rep. Ron Paul (R-Texas): $2,000 Rep. Tom Rooney (R-Fla.): $2,000

American Electric Power: Electric utility based in Columbus, Ohio Profits: $8.2 billion Effective tax rate: -6.4% Top recipients, 2011-2012 Rep. John Boehner (R-Ohio): $34,750 Rep. Steve Stivers (R-Ohio): $34,050 Rep. Bob Gibbs (R-Ohio): $21,700 Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W. Va.): $19,750 Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio): $18,450

Pacific Gas & Electric: California electrical utility Profits: $6 billion Effective tax rate: -8.4% Top recipients, 2011-2012 President Barack Obama (D): $6,250 Rep. Jim Costa (D-Calif.): $5,000 Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.): $5,500 Rep. Fred Upton (R-Mich.): $5,000 Rep. Jeff Denham (R-Calif.): $3,500

Apache: Houston-based oil and gas company Profits: $6 billion Effective tax rate: -0.3% Top recipients, 2011-2012 David Dewhurst (R-Texas): $25,000 Rep. Connie Mack (R-Fla.): $5,000 Rep. Bill Cassidy (R-La.): $2,500 Rep. Mike Conaway (R-Texas): $2,500 Rep. Gene Green (D-Texas): $2,500 Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.): $2,500 Brendan Doherty (R-R.I.): $2,500

Consolidated Edison: New York energy company Profits: $5.9 billion Effective tax rate: -1.3% Top recipients, 2011-2012 Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.): $15,050 Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.): $8,000 Rep. Edolphus Towns (D-N.Y.): $6,650 Then-Rep. David Wu (D-Ore.): $2,500 Rep. Joseph Crowley (D-N.Y.): $1,500 Sen. Harry Reid (D-Nev.): $1,500 Rep. Jose Serrano (D-N.Y.): $1,500

El Paso: Houston-based energy company that operates the country's largest natural gas pipeline Profits: $4.6 billion Effective tax rate: -0.9% Top recipients, 2011-2012 David Dewhurst (R-Texas): $7,500 Mitt Romney (R): $5,000 Rep. John Barrow (D-Ga.): $3,000 Rep. Diane Black (R-Tenn.): $2,750 Sen. John Barrasso (R-Wyo.): $2,500 Sen. Max Baucus (D-Mont.): $2,500 Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.): $2,500 Gov. Rick Perry (R-Texas): $2,500 Rep. Fred Upton (R-Mich.): $2,500 Sen. Roger Wicker (R-Miss.): $2,500

CenterPoint Energy: Electric and gas utility company based in Houston Profits: $3.1 billion Effective tax rate: -11.3% Top recipients, 2011-2012 David Dewhurst (R-Texas): $22,050 Gov. Rick Perry (R-Texas): $13,458 Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.): $10,299 Rep. Greg Walden (R-Ore.): $7,000 Rep. Kevin Brady (R-Texas): $4,000

SeaWorld Paid Zero Corporate Taxes

Orlando Sentinel columnist Scott Maxwell writes that SeaWorld paid zero in state and federal corporate taxes last year. Another fun fact is only two percent of major for-profit companies paid taxes in 2010. The sad thing is Fox News and the tea party movement want people to believe that Occupy Wall Street is declaring class warfare on the rich.

Mark Wilson Has Been Busy

The Florida legislature is passing $124 million in tax cuts. The cuts will go to benefit corporations. The cuts will go to benefit corporations.

(Gov. Rick) Scott is pushing a key element in the package that would increase the corporate tax exemption from $25,000 to $50,000, excluding 3,770 companies from the 5.5 percent tax and reducing state revenue by $29.4 million. The governor wants to phase out the corporate tax, which accounted for nearly $2 billion in state revenue last year.

Scott and other Republicans are billing this as a jobs bill. Florida has one of the lowest corporate tax rates at 5.5 percent. The result is the state has been running deficits shortfalls, which resulted in budget cuts. The corporate taxes have not produced jobs, as can be seen by the chart below.



Florida's unemployment is higher than the national average. There is no evidence that corporate tax cuts produce jobs. It is merely a talking point for Scott and fellow Republicans.

This legislation has Florida Chamber of Commerce president Mark Wilson. A man who represents everything that is wrong about Florida politics.

Wilson lobbied for the the Polk County Sunrail line. The only reason the project was approved because the line was near JD Alex Alexander's business Atlantic Blue. The property value of Atlantic Blue would increase greatly.

Alexander and Scott didn't approve the Sunrail line over high-speed rail over fiscal concerns. The high-speed line would cost $280 million and create 23,000 job. The Sunrail line will cost the state $901 million. State and Polk county would have to pay the cost for any Sunrail accidents caused by CSX. The deal is stupid beyond words.

Wilson's latest goal is gerrymandering the redistricting process. The most powerful man in Florida politics can't be bothered with subtlety. Wilson believes he is above the constitutionally-mandated fair districts law.

"Anybody who understands politics looks at a redistricting and says, 'This is a chance to reset the table,' Wilson said.

Many Floridians were illegally thrown out of their homes with forged foreclosure documents. Attorney General Pam Bondi has been accused by for employees of stonewalling an investigations of questionable foreclosures by banks. Florida's foreclosure courts do not review the documents, before forcing a homeowner to vacate his property. Apparently, the foreclosure process is too slow for Wilson.

"As our economy tries to recover, we recognize there is a lot of pain in the foreclosure process but the delay in the foreclosures is drawing out that pain throughout the entire economy."

Wilson can help you with your pain by making the chances that you become homeless greater. What a nice guy.

Unemployment Will Continue

This is a Federal Reserve graphic of what unemployment will look like in the next few years. There is no light in the near horizon. Part of the problem aggregate demand. The poor and middle class have less money to spend. That is why the GDP has been hovering under 3 percent this year.

Obama has sought the advice of CEOs from Fortune 500 companies. What they have been telling Obama is corporate tax cuts are needed. This isn't a change of position. While progressives believed that Obama was their knight; Obama said during the 2008 campaign that he would consider cutting corporate taxes. Obama's focus on job creation has been to appoint David Cote, CEO of Honeywell, and John Lechleiter, CEO of Eli Lilly & Co. to the Jobs and Competitiveness Council. The chair of the council is Jeffrey Immelt, CEO of General Electric. GE paid zero taxes in 2010. GE also received $3.2 billion tax return.

Obama has appointed men that are using their White House position to push for more corporate tax cuts.

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Florida Corporate Tax Cut Madness

Scott Maxwell details how given Darden Restaurants a corporate tax cut would be more than what the company pays in taxes.

Legislators were trying to help Darden Restaurants get a tax break.

Their problem was this: The Fortune 500 company was paying so little in corporate-income taxes on its headquarters in Orange County that the break was bigger than its tax bill.

And it's hard to find a way to let the company to pay less … than nothing.

This, my friends, is the state of corporate taxation in Florida.

Florida has a 5.5 percent corporate tax rate. Which is one of the lowest in the country. There are also the endless loopholes in the tax code. Gov. Rick Scott plans to eventually eliminate Florida's corporate tax. Contrary to what Scott and other Republicans say, eliminating corporate taxes isn't about creating more jobs. It is about maximizing profits.

Corporations are in the business of money. It is understandable that they would want more profits. I just wish people like Mark Wilson, of the Florida Chamber of Commerce, would be honest and stop saying eliminating corporate taxes is about job creation.

Obama Wants to Lower Corporate Tax Rates

Back in January, Bloomberg reported President Barack Obama made a speech about lowering the corporate tax rate. The New York Times reports Treasury Sec. Tim Geithner is working on lowering the corporate tax rate from 35 percent to 26 percent.

Gene Sterling, director of the National Economic Council goes in full sellout mode.

"The question is, Is the business community going to support this because it's a win for the economy over all?" said Gene Sperling, director of Mr. Obama's National Economic Council. "Or, is it going to get held up because each business will decide whether they're a temporary winner or loser compared to the status quo?"

It is harder to see everyday how Obama is the lesser evil than the Republicans.