Listen to my 20 minute interview friday, December 1, on KPFK-LA ‘Beneath the Surface’ show, and my take on the Senate version of the Trump tax cuts. Where the tax cuts of $3 trillion minimum for business are paid by $3 trillion tax hikes on the middle class. The tax cuts in historical context, and their relation to central bank monetary policy, and the growing subsidization of capital incomes by government policy (fiscal and monetary) int he 21st century.
To listen to the show, GO TO: http://archive.kpfk.org/index.php?shokey=bts_friday
Dr. Jack Rasmus @drjackrasmus
Jack Rasmus 
ANY POLITICIAN PROMOTING “REPATRIATION” SHOULD GO DIRECTLY TO JAIL, i.e., DO NOT PASS GO, DO NOT COLLECT $200
We are being told, by many politicians and commentators who represent themselves as being knowledgeable in economics and politics, that 2 to 5 trillion dollars of corporate profits are offshore and the mantra is that Congress should provide an incentive for corporations to bring home (repatriate) those profits for the purpose of stimulating our economic growth.
The story is that corporations would have to pay a “penalty” if they were to repatriate those profits in the normal course of business. The “penalty” would be the income taxes they owe on those offshore profits.
Why should a corporation’s offshore tax liability be called a penalty? Simple answer is that it is not a penalty and should not be characterized as a “penalty”. It is federal income tax, which has been deferred. Why has it been deferred? Congress passed legislation permitting subsidiaries, which operate and make profits offshore, to defer the federal income taxes assessed on that income until they pay dividends to the domestic parent corporation. That ability to defer taxes provides an advantage to these subsidiaries versus domestic operations, which doesn’t make any sense.
This deferral “feature” enables offshore operations to defer payment of tax obligations, in perpetuity, which is an incentive for our multi-national corporations to produce offshore, to the detriment of domestic operations, which reduces our nation’s economics, including reducing our employment.
In 2004, Congress legislated a “repatriation” holiday whereby those profits repatriated were assessed only 5.25% rather than the 35% owed, thus Congress benefitted these corporations to the detriment to U.S. taxpayers and negatively affected our national debt. The effect was to reduce the taxes owed by 85%. In essence Congress appears to have participated in an embezzlement of the taxpayers for the benefit of the multi-national corporations.
The solution to this nonsense is to repeal the special dispensation provision given to multi-national corporations, which would benefit our economics, whereby, at the minimum:
1. Corporations would pay their taxes on offshore profits.
2. Eliminate this incentive to produce offshore.
3. Reduce our national debt.
4. Stops the conspiracy of embezzling from non-multi-national corporate taxpayers and the United States.
5. Increase employment.
Whereas this deferral “concept” is damaging to our nation, some of these same people are beginning to advocate for the complete elimination of federal taxes on offshore profits by promoting the concept of “territorial” taxation whereby taxes are only paid in the nation producing profits.
ANY politician advocating the continuance of this deferral or total elimination of taxes on offshore operations should be charged with conspiracy to defraud and embezzle the United States of America.
We, the People, have the right to believe that Congress should legislate laws that benefit our nation.
It appears that Congress has stimulated the morphing of our nation from “Of the People, by the People, and for the People” to “Of, by and for corporations”, beginning with ERISA in 1974 (esoteric).
In regards to “Main Street” and “Wall Street”, Congress must direct most, if not all, of its energies to “Main Street”. Wall Street is a derivative of Main Street. Since ERISA, the reverse has been done, i.e., the emphasis has been placed upon Wall Street.
mz, Sep. 25, 2017
mikiesmoky@aol.com