Reply #109: my letter [View All]

[libmom74]

Dear. ______________
Recently the Reverend Jim Wallis of Sojourners asked an interesting question when he saw the new Republican Congress’s budget cut proposal, “What would Jesus Cut?” Whether you are a Christian, Muslim, Jew, Atheist or an Agnostic Humanist (like myself) most people believe that it is our moral responsibility to care for the most vulnerable in our society. The Republican party (and Tea Party in particular) insist that the United States is a “Christian nation”, but looking at their budget priorities which would decimate an already weak safety net and leave low income elderly, women, infants, children and veterans among others to freeze and starve in the streets you have to wonder what Jesus would think of his so-called ardent followers in our government who sanction such an imbalance of priorities which greatly favor the extremely wealthy.
Every year the US loses $100 billion in revenue due to over
80% of the largest corporations using offshore tax havens and
loopholes and other tricks to pay little to no taxes and in
some cases even receiving income tax returns without paying a
dime. Below are some of the worst examples and how the money
would be better spent:

Hewlett Packard's pre-tax income was $9.4B but using lower-tax
foreign subsidiaries they managed pay the same tax rate as
someone making $33,950/yr. If HP paid what they truly owed
perhaps we would not now be facing 45 % cuts to the Senior
Community Service Employment Program that help those 65 and
older 8.9% of which live in poverty.

Verizon's pre-tax income was $11.8B yet they only pay 10.5%
tax rate by diverting much of their income through foreign
wireless partner Vodaphone, far below the average 36% of the
average working person. With the lost revenue from Verizon
perhaps we would not be looking at $1B in cuts to community
health centers which provide care for nearly 10 million people
(many impoverished women and children).

Chevron's pre-tax income was $18.5B yet they only paid $200
million in US taxes (they paid $8B total the rest was paid to
countries abroad with lower tax rates). But if Chevron had
paid what they truly should (instead of stashing their cash in
offshore tax havens) perhaps we would not be facing $1.75B in
cuts to job training programs.

Exxon Mobil's pre-tax income was $37.3B but they paid $0. in
US taxes, they did pay 17.6B in offshore taxes but for a
company that makes a lot of money and takes a lot of US
government subsidies you would think that they would owe some
US taxes. The tax revenue being lost from Exxon Mobil could go
a long way to help save the free school meals programs being
cut in many states which a lot of children depend on.

Bank of America earned $4.4B yet paid $0 in taxes and even got
a tax rebate of $1.1B. How?? They scoured the tax code for
deductions like $860 million in tax-exempt income, $670
million in low-income housing credits, and a $600 million loss
on shares of foreign subsidiaries. Making matters worse for the
US Treasury, Bank of America has a provision for credit losses
of $49 billion. At the same time that BofA is gaming the
system some of our lawmakers on Capitol Hill are talking about
cutting $4.5B from the VA when we are currently engaged in two
wars and have over 200,000 homeless veterans.

General Electric earned $10.3B yet paid $0 in taxes and
managed to get a rebate of $1.1B and their effective tax rate
is a measly 5.3%. At the same the GOP controlled House wants
to cut %758 million from the WIC program.
http://wallstcheatsheet.com/breaking-news/economy/the-top-7-corporate-tax-evaders.html
In his last speech Senator Hubert Humphrey said “The moral test of government is how that government treats those who are in the dawn of life, the children; those who are in the twilight of life, the elderly; those who are in the shadows of life; the sick, the needy and the handicapped. " Our current leaders are failing the test.


*letters are good but I would also urge you if possible to join US Uncut on Facebook or Twitter and join the protest that are happening on a weekly basis at banks and other businesses that are tax evaders usuncut.org