OH, THOSE POOR CORPORATIONS
We are regularly fed a diet of comments about the tax hell that Wisconsin and other states are for corporations. No wonder they move to China, India, Mexico, etc.! If only we would lower corporate taxes, jobs would magically be created and the U.S. would be heaven.
Like the rhetoric of Rick Perry and Michele Bachmann, this is fantasyland. Just like all the horror stories about Obamacare, the lies flow like a tidal wave. Oh, the poor corporations. Let's take a look...
Have you heard of the SC Johnson corporate empire? It is located in the corporate tax hell called Wisconsin. This octopus corporation owns a bank, and produces such consumer brands as Pledge, Windex, Glade, OFF!, and Ziploc. It is a corporation of many billions of dollars, and its bottom line each year is extremely positive.
How much corporate tax does SC Johnson contribute to Wisconsin each year? Zero. Nada. Nothing.
Two public companies that the Johnson family controls, Diversey and Johnson Outdoors, also paid no taxes to Wisconsin.
From the year 2000 to 2008 none of these companies paid any corporate taxes to Wisconsin. None!
Tax loopholes and tax credits allow them to avoid paying any taxes. And Governor Walker wants to add more breaks for corporations. Democrat Governor Jim Doyle had a hand in passing some tax breaks for big corporations. Where do you think Walker and Doyle get their campaign contributions?
Harley-Davidson, also a Wisconsin-based corporation, has a legal scheme to avoid many taxes. Creating a subsidiary in another state, allows Harley-Davidson to greatly reduce its taxes on any product that they get a cut from that bears the Harley logo. Royalties go to the subsidiary in another state that is even more tax-friendly to big corporations. And Nevada, the gambling capitol of America, has no corporate tax and is a haven for big corporations to be registered there, even if they have no employees or real estate in that state.
Current Governor Scott Walker wants to go farther. He wants to allow corporations to set up their own tax loopholes, organize for tax benefits, etc., and to stop the state Department of Revenue from even challenging these corporate moves. That seems incomprehensible, but it is true. The Legislative Fiscal Bureau in Wisconsin could not even venture a guess as to how much revenue the state would lose with this sort of sweet corporate action.
If you do not challenge the immense lies of the right-wing, they will be taken as truth and fact. And you, sucker, will be taken to the cleaners. Your support of right-wing shenanigans takes money right out of your pocket. And you salute them for doing it to you.
