Or have they already bought the government….
A new report by Public Campaign examines how these major corporations have influenced Congress to craft a tax code that lets them get away with making so much money and paying so little taxes in return. In its report, “The Artful Dodgers,” Public Campaign juxtaposes the limited tax liability of dozen major corporations with the companies’ campaign contributions and lobbying expenditures, which amount to more than a billion dollars over the last decade:
EXXON MOBIL: The oil giant that was the world’s most profitable corporation in 2008 has spent $5.7 million in campaign contributions over the last ten years and $138 million in lobbying expenditures. Its federal corporate income tax liabilities for 2009? Absolutely nothing. Not only did it pay nothing, but it also received a tax rebate the same year of $156 million.
CHEVRON: Chevron spent $4.4 million in campaign contributions and $91 million in lobbying expenditures over the last decade. It received a tax refund of $19 million in 2009 while making $10 billion in profits and $324 million in government contracts in 2008.
CONOCOPHILLIPS: The Texas-based gasoline giant spent $2.5 million in campaign contributions and $63 million in lobbying expenditures over the last decade. It received “$451 million through the oil and gas manufacturing deduction,” a special tax break, between 2007 and 2009, despite $16 billion in profits over the same period of time.
VALERO ENERGY: Valero spent $4.1 million in campaign contributions and $4.8 million in lobbying expenditures from 2001 to 2010. It received a $157 million tax rebate in 2009 despite $68 billion in sales during the same year. It received “$134 million through the oil and gas manufacturing deduction” over the last three years.
BANK OF AMERICA: Bank of America employees contributed $11 million to federal political campaigns from 2001 to 2010 and spent $24 million lobbying over the same period of time. It made $4.4 billion in profits in 2010 while receiving a tax refund of $1.9 billion.
CITIGROUP: Citigroup employees contributed $15 million to federal political campaigns from 2001 to 2010 and spent $62 million lobbying over the same period of time. It made $4 billion in profits in 2010 while paying absolutely nothing in federal corporate income taxes. It also received a $1.9 billion tax refund.
GOLDMAN SACHS: The mega-bank Goldman Sachs, which is often called “Government Sachs” in insider circles because of its clout over Washington, spent $22 million in campaign contributions and $21 million in lobbying over the last decade. It paid an ultra-low tax rate of 1.1 percent in 2008, while also receiving $800 billion in governmentloans to help weather the financial crisis.
BOEING: The aviation and defense contractor giant gave $10 million in contributions and $115 million in lobbying expenditures over the last decade. It paid a grand total of nothing in federal corporate income taxes in 2010 and received a $124 million tax refund.
FEDEX: FedEx spent $8.7 million in campaign contributions and $71 million in lobbying expenditures from 2001 to 2010. It paid a .0005 percent effective tax rate recently, actually spending 42 times as much on lobbying Congress as it did paying taxes. To do this it utilizes 21 tax havens.
CARNIVAL: The cruise line paid $1.7 million in campaign contributions and $1.6 million in lobbying over the past ten years. Despite the relatively low amount of money it spent influencing Washington, it has gotten away with a super-low tax rate. Over the past five years, its federal corporate income tax rate has been an effective 1.1 percent.
VERIZON: Verizon spent $12 million in campaign contributions and $131 million in lobbying expenditures over the past decade. It paid absolutely nothing in federal corporate income taxes over the past two years and $488 million in government contracts in 2008; in 2010, it made $12 billion in profits.
GENERAL ELECTRIC: General Electric spent $13 million in campaign contributions and $205 million in lobbying expenditures over the last decade while netting a tax refund of $4.1 billion over the past five years. It made $26 billion in profits over the same time period.
The amount of money that taxpayers are losing from the tax dodging by these major corporations is enormous. For example, if five of the nation’s biggest banks paid their taxes at the full rate, we could re-hire every single one of the 132,000 teachers laid off during the recession — twice.
Lost in the 21st Century 
My Thoughts: On Tax Day and the Social Contract
Today is Tax Day, the deadline for filing one’s income taxes in the USA. Even though I filed mine a while back, I still always stop and ponder our tax situation on the deadline day.
First of all, I pay a lot of taxes and I really don’t mind it. I’m lucky enough to have a good job, at least for now, so I don’t mind contributing to the good of the country.
I don’t mind paying Medicare and Social Security withholding taxes as they are a part of the social contract we have with the government to support today’s seniors now and ensure we aren’t destitute and without medical care when we get old. I’ve kept my part of this bargain by paying into the system since I was 16 years old and I expect the government to live up to their end of the deal and not change things this late in the game.
I don’t mind paying taxes even though I’m a Gay man who can’t file a joint return with his partner. I don’t mind paying taxes to support education even though we will never have children. I don’t mind paying taxes to build high-speed rail and save our crumbling infrastructure. I don’t mind paying taxes to prevent those people and their children not as lucky as me from starving or doing without medical care. I don’t mind paying taxes to build give poor children a head start or to create jobs by exploring clean energy and energy efficient cars. I don’t mind paying taxes that support internet improvements and expansion so we can link the country to the world. I don’t mind paying taxes to provide benefits to our Veterans who have served our country. I don’t mind paying taxes to enrich our country’s cultural and artistic life.
I do mind that my taxes support unnecessary wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. I do mind that I pay more taxes than Exxon Mobile, GE and Bank of America, who don’t pay any. I do mind that my tax rate ended up being higher than the 17% tax rate that most of the wealthiest 1% of Americans paid- if they paid at all. I do mind that so many Corporations don’t pay any taxes and spend billions lobbying Congress to keep it that way.
I guess my thought has always been that we have an obligation to give back. It’s part of the social contract.
None of us will ever be completely happy with how our tax dollars are spent. But we do need to realize the obligation we have to society to pay these taxes. We also need to do our best to elect Representatives that will make everyone pay their fair share and use these tax funds to the benefit of the nation as a whole-not just the lucky few. That is becoming harder and harder to do as the Rich and the Corporations buy the Government piece by piece.
We have an obligation to learn the true positions of the people we elect to manage the nation’s finances. We are not doing our duty as Americans if we fall for public relations campaigns and smoke and mirrors that hide a Candidate’s true agenda. That certainly happened in last year’s Congressional Elections….
So on tax day, don’t resent having to pay. Remember, death and taxes are the only two inevitabilities in life.
Just think about how you can best work to be sure everyone pays their fair share and our nations funds are used wisely.
And I know, that alone, is asking a hell of a lot…..
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