Why ARE some companies anti-American?

There was a very compelling piece on “60 Minutes” this past Sunday night that brought attention to the number of companies previously based in America that have renounced their United States citizenship and established their headquarters overseas in order to avoid paying taxes in the United States.  Lesley Stahl did her usual sterling job in telling this story "The New Tax Havens".  She traveled to Zug, Switzerland to visit the headquarters of Transocean, the company that owned the oil rig that exploded in the Gulf of Mexico that caused the BP oil disaster that released nearly 5 million barrels of crude oil in the Gulf of Mexico and to visit the headquarters of Weatherford International, an oil field services company, that WAS, like Transocean, based in Texas before moving to Zug.  What she discovered was the “headquarters” of Transocean was practically unstaffed save for a young lady who came to the door.  On the visit to WeatherfordInternational’s “headquarters” she found that company DID NOT have an office at the address of their “headquarters” but a post office box instead. (Hmm ... this is quite a twist considering BOTH of the companies featured were once based in Texas and that Texas Governor Rick Perry (R) has inferred that Texas would consider seceding from the Union.  [Perry: Texas could secede]  Perry has since thrown his hat in the ring for the Republican 2012 presidential nomination.  Perhaps this is the beginning of the secession process.  Someone should ask Governor Perry if he's running for President of the UNITED STATES or President of the CONFEDERATE STATES) 
   These two companies are hardly alone.  Over 30,000 formerly U.S. companies have relocated overseas to avoid paying taxes in the United States.   Why are some companies anti-American?    The national debt in the United States exceeds $14 trillion and the companies that have moved overseas would pay $60 billion a year in taxes to the U.S.  Those annual tax dollars would go a long way toward paying down the national debt.  Those companies also have created HUNDREDS of THOUSANDS of jobs overseas.  With an unemployment rate of 9% (roughly 27 million Americans) those jobs would be welcomed with open arms in America.  Yet, these companies, based elsewhere but have the bulk of their operations here, have decided that putting Americans to work is not as important as their bottom lines. 
   That is not a new phenomenon.  It is reported that American companies flush with record profits are sitting on approximately $2 trillion and refusing to hire Americans.  They are blaming it on “uncertainty” of the tax rate and strict regulations.  In other words, they don’t want to pay taxes at all in America and American workers should have to work in substandard work conditions without the slightest concern for their safety and well being.    GOP Presidential candidate Mitt Romney said that corporations “are people”.  So does the Supreme Court of the United States.  (Citizens United case) Really?  If so, then shouldn’t those “people” be regulated and follow the laws of the land like the rest of us? 
   I’ve heard some conservatives argue that NO COMPANY is obligated to hire ANYONE and that a corporation’s responsibility is to make money for the shareholders.  Some conservatives take the position that a job is not a RIGHT but a PRIVELEGE.  Make out of that what you choose.  Americans are losing their homes, their savings and their retirement funds all because they have NOT been given the PRIVELEGE of working.  I’d like to see one of the GOP candidates make such a statement to the American people.  Better yet, I would love to hear someone ask ALL GOP candidates, regardless of what office they’re running for, if this is their position.
   These are the “people” the GOP represents.  The GOP wants to cut Social Security benefits, Medicare, Medicaid, WIC, Food Stamps in addition to not wanting to extend unemployment benefits AND wanting to reduce the weeks of eligibility for those unemployed.  They want to do all of this while at the same time wanting to further reduce the tax rate for these companies, excuse me, these “people” who are NO LONGER Americans.  The GOP, the party of rigid immigration laws, wants to give FOREIGN companies AMERICAN tax dollars.  (Will someone, ANYONE please explain this to me?)  John Chambers, CEO of Cisco Systems, said he builds companies overseas and he creates jobs overseas and that he “badly” wants to bring the $40 billion dollars in profit back to America.  He said if that if the government would let him do so at a 5% tax rate as opposed to the 35% tax rate.  He said he wasn’t asking for a “favor or a handout”.  Lesley Stahl quickly retorted, “It sounds like it.”  She just may be on to something.  At the standard 35% tax rate, the United States Treasury would get $14 billion dollars from Cisco.  At the 5% rate John Chambers wants, Cisco would pay the treasury $2 billion.  The CEO of Cisco is asking the government for a $12 billion tax break.  The $12 billion difference wouldn’t go towards job creation.  It would go into the dividend envelopes of the shareholders.  There are about 30,000 American companies overseas with a combined income of $1.2 trillion and those companies won’t bring that money or those jobs into America because they don’t want to pay taxes in America.  I understand that our country is a capitalist society but the greed displayed by these companies is REPULSIVE.
    Let me make sure I have this right.  Companies that were FOUNDED in America  and have renounced their American citizenship, that rely on the American tax payer funded United States armed forces to protect their interests overseas, that rely on American tax payer funded police and fire protection, that utilize American tax payer funded communications facilities to do their business, that use American tax payer funded roads, bridges and highways and REFUSE to hire Americans to work in America want a 30% tax break from the AMERICAN people.  How MANY things are wrong with this picture?
   Here’s a simple solution.  If you want a tax break from ME and other American tax payers, then bring those hundreds of thousands of jobs and those TRILLIONS of dollars in profit to America.  Simple solution.

Why ARE some American companies anti-American?

Peace, peace in the Middle East!

Craig Riggins   

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