corpocrisy: the systematic betrayal of american workers

[xchrom]

http://www.nationofchange.org/corpocrisy-systematic-betrayal-american-workers-1359988966

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1. Let the public pay for the research.

Since World War II, our federal government has played the dominant role in the research of new technologies, with an emphasis on the long-term basic research that painstakingly perfects design while not yet producing revenue. Corporate research and discovery, on the other hand, is heavy on the profit-making late stages of development.

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2. Use the publicly-funded technologies to double profits in 8 years.

From 2003 to 2011, total corporate profits more than doubled from $900 billion to almost $2 trillion.

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3. Use the recession as an excuse to cut taxes in half.

For the 20 years prior to the 2008 recession, corporations paid an average annual rate of 22.5 percent in federal taxes. Since then, the average has been 10 percent.

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4. Quietly hoard all the excess money.

Anywhere from $2.2 trillion to $3.4 trillion is being held by non-financial corporations, who have chosen to fatten stockholders rather than invest in new production facilities and the employees needed to make them profitable.