Even with debt, US not closing offshore loophole

[Forkboy]

WASHINGTON - US Representative Richard Neal has been thwarted for years in his effort to stop foreign insurance companies from shifting premiums paid by their US customers to offshore tax havens.

This week, it became clear that the Springfield Democrat will be frustrated once again, as Democrats and Republicans in Congress have left tax code changes out of their competing plans to raise the debt limit.

While much of the nation’s attention has been riveted on the determination of fiscal conservatives in the House to block any provision that raises new revenue, Neal’s unsuccessful effort to close what he calls an offshore tax loophole is an example of how business interests have stymied an array of tax code changes sought by President Obama, Democrats, and even some Republicans in the Senate.

“It’s the lobbying muscle,’’ Neal said. “Once something becomes embedded in the tax code, its very hard to extract.’

http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2011/07/27/even_with_debt_us_not_closing_offshore_loophole/

[LooseWilly]

1. Shocking...

:sarcasm:

[dkf]

2. Exactly.

[hfojvt]

3. knr

keep spreading the news.

[Jim Warren]

4. Like being shaved

by a drunken barber.

[The Magistrate]

5. Indeed, My Friend: There is Plenty Of Revenue To Be Had

The fact is, we do not have a spending problem. We have a revenue problem, and the root of thre revenue problem is how cheap the denizens of Congress sell themselves....

[xchrom]

6. +1

[WinkyDink]

9. Ah, would that they were cheaply had! The people might then afford them!

[The Magistrate]

11. They Are Dirt Cheap, Ma'am

What is paid for their souls and votes is pocket change by compare to what the purchaser gains. People with even a shred of self-respect would hold out for a decent percentage, but you can literally by a favor worth two billions for eighty thousands spread over five years from one of these wretches.

[Forkboy]

14. Could be worse.

I'd sell my vote for a lava lamp, some pornographic French postcards and a year's supply of meatballs. ;)

[dreamnightwind]

7. K & R

I hope more people see this.

[nashville_brook]

8. k and r

[RainDog]

10. k&r

[shanti]

12. yet another campaign promise that obama has failed

to fulfill :(

[Mimosa]

13. True.

Until jobs come back -and the tax code which facilitates offshoring is changed- most of us will get more poor.

[midnight]

15. They manufacture the crisis and we pay for it...