Corporations And Taxes

American corporations are always talking about what an onerous tax burden they have, and how they need it to be lower to survive. Are they telling the truth? Forbes Magazine has shown us what the top 25 U.S. Corporations paid in taxes. Here they are:

1. Wal-Mart (profit $20.9 billion) tax paid $7.1 billion

2. ExxonMobil (profit $35 billion) no U.S. taxes paid on income

3. Chevron (profit $18.5 billion) tax paid $200 million

4. General Electric (profit $10.3 billion) paid no U.S. taxes, but received tax rebate of $1.1 billion

5. ConocoPhillips (profit $10 billion) paid $5 billion in taxes

6. At&T (profit $19 billion) paid $8.2 billion in taxes

7. Bank of America (profit $4.4 billion) paid no U.S. taxes, but received tax rebate of $1.9 billion

8. Ford Motor Co. (profit $3 billion) paid $69 million in taxes

9. Hewlett-Packard (profit $9.4 billion) paid $1.75 billion in taxes

10. Berkshire Hathaway (profit $11.5 billion) paid $3.5 billion in taxes

11. JP Morgan Chase (profit $16 billion) paid $4.4 billion in taxes

12. Verizon (profit $11.6 billion) paid $1.2 billion in taxes

13. McKesson (profit $1.1 billion) paid $241 million in taxes

14. Cardinal Health (profit $1.7 billion) paid $500 million in taxes

15. CVS Caremark (profit $5.9 billion) paid $2.2 billion in taxes

16. IBM (profit $18 billion) paid $4.7 billion in taxes

17. Wells Fargo (profit $18 billion) paid $5.3 billion in taxes

18. United Health Group (profit $5.8 billion) paid $2 billion in taxes

19. Citigroup (lost $7.8 billion) paid no taxes

20. Procter & Gamble (profit $15.8 billion) paid $4 billion in taxes

21. Kroger (profit $1.7 billion) paid $530 million in taxes

22. AmerisourceBergen (profit $824 million) paid $312 million in taxes

23. Costco (profit $1.7 billion) paid $630 million in taxes

24. Boeing (profit $1.7 billion) paid $400 million in taxes

25. Valero (lost $450 million) paid no taxes

It looks like some of these companies actually paid their fair share of taxes. Others paid nothing or paid a lesser percentage than a middle-class earner pays. Of course, this is only the top 25 companies according to Forbes. There are hundreds of other corporations, and we don't know whether they paid their fair share or not.

However, in 2008, the Government Accountability Office said 2 out of every 3 American corporations paid no income tax from 1998 to 2005 (and those were good economic times -- no recession). Doesn't that make you feel good as you prepare to be honest and pay your own taxes?

Filling Out The Form

Political Cartoon is by Rob Rogers in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.

As you probably know, the Catholic Church is in the midst of a pedophile scandal that reaches all the way up to the Pope. The godly folks over at Landover Baptist Church say this is driving many Catholics to leave their church and become godly Baptists. In fact, LBC says their services are fully booked at all four sanctuaries through the year 2017, and tickets to the services are being scalped for $3000 each!

So, to help the throngs of new Baptist converts the godly people at Landover Baptist have made the following guide showing the difference between the evil Catholic church and the godly Baptist church:

Comparison Guide For Incoming Catholics CATHOLIC CHURCH BAPTIST CHURCH Priests are not allowed to marry so can only give sex advice based on experience to child molesters Preachers are allowed to marry and council church members in marital advice based on their experience. Priests wear skirts and dresses, skip when they walk and speak with a lisp. Preachers wear a suit and tie and speak with a Godly southern accent, just like God. Altar boys wear little white dresses and no underpants and are there to service the priest Baptists don't have transvestites of any kind, especially underage ones who act as temple prostitutes! Church services are conducted in an ancient language called "Latin." Church services are conducted in English (The language in which Jesus thought and which the Holy Bible was written). Church members confess their sins to an old man wearing a dress in a dark wooden box called a "confessional" through an opening large enough for non-Negro genitals. Church members confess their sins to Jesus Christ directly (who coincidentally wears a dress). Church members are asked to pray to Mary and so-called, "saints." Church members do not pray to anyone other than Jesus Christ and his Father, God. And only in times of great distress, a Bird we call, "The Holy Ghost." Services (called "masses") are conducted by step aerobics, kneeling, standing and sitting. Godly Christians™ sit their enormous asses down and listen to the Word of God!

Wouldn't Surprise Me

Political Cartoon is by Joel Pett in the Lexington Herald-Leader.

Civil Discourse

From the blog LeftWingConspiracy.com.

Where Are The Real Republicans ?

Those of you who have read this blog for a while have heard me lament the fact that the Republican Party and conservatism in general have been taken over by the hate-filled right-wing theist fringe elements. There was a time when the conservative movement and the Republican Party had leaders like Barry Goldwater, Dwight Eisenhower, William F. Buckley, John Anderson and others.

I seldom agreed with these men, but I consider them to be political giants in our country's history. They weren't fueled by hatred for minorities and those with a different sexual orientation. They didn't think women should be second-class citizens. They honored the Constitution and tried to do what they thought was in the best interests of the people of the United States.

They knew how to compromise when it was necessary for the good of all. They were a valuable counter-weight to liberals (and vice versa). But all of that is in the past. Now the Republican Party is fueled by hatred of anyone who doesn't agree with them, and they've even come up with "purity" tests to kick some out of their party. They've forgotten how to compromise. It's their way or the highway. And many would replace our Constitution with the Bible and happily usher in a theist dictatorship.

I'm not the only person who feels this way. I have Republican friends (yes, I really do!) who no longer feel at home in their own party. Their party has been taken over by the nuts and the haters, and they feel like their party has deserted them (because they have the same views they always had, but the party has veered off into a fringe netherworld).

A good example of this can be found in the article posted to FrumForum by life-long Republican Chris Currey. I urge you to go read the entire article, because I think it will be well worth your time. He has an excellent feel for what is happening to the Republican Party. Here is some of what he has to say:

"I am an old Republican. I am religious, yet not a fanatic. I am a free-marketer; yet, I believe in the role of the government as a fair evenhanded referee. I am socially conservative; yet, I believe that my lesbian niece and my gay grandchild should have the full protection of the law and live as free Americans enjoying every aspect of our society with no prejudices and/or restrictions."

"I witnessed the fight for equal civil rights in the 1960s. And as a proud American, I applauded the passage of the Civil Rights Act and Voting Rights Act, and we became a better country because of them. Those acts made America stronger. Those acts, at their core, represented and still represent all the values upon which the Republican Party was founded. Yet today, our GOP representatives and leaders are ashamed of them. When they talk about them, you feel their discomfort, their clumsiness, and sometimes their shame. That awkwardness is so strong that it crosses the television screen and hits you in the face in your living room. Why is that? What happened to this generation of Republicans? We are the party of Abraham Lincoln, and yet we act and behave as if we are the party of Nathan Bedford Forrest."

"I did not like Medicaid and Medicare when they were passed. I was opposed to them. Maybe I was too young, too strong, and too ideologically confined. Yet, over the years, I saw how Medicare helped millions of elderly Americans. I saw how Medicare helped my mom in her final years battling emphysema caused by years of smoking. You have to be blind to oppose those programs. You have to be blind to wish for the suffering of millions of Americans just because you believe in personal responsibility."

"Then something happened in the 1990s. The leaders of the GOP grew belligerent. They became too religious, almost zealots. They became intolerant. They began searching for purity in Republican thought and doctrine. Ideology blinded them. I continued to vote Republican, but with a certain unease. Deep down I knew that a schism happened between the modern Republican Party and the one I grew up with. During the fight over the impeachment of President Clinton, the ugly face of the Republican Party was brought to the surface. Empty rhetoric, ideological intolerance, vengeance, and religious zealotry became the common currency. Suddenly, if you are pro-choice, you could not be a Republican. If you are for smart and sensible taxes to balance out the budget, you could not be a Republican. If you are pro-civil rights, you could not be a Republican."

"When a political party shrinks its electoral based to below 30% and is composed by one demographic group, all that is left are a bunch of zealots. We shrank it by kicking out of the party those who believe that abortion should be legal but limited. We shrank it by kicking out those who believe that an $11 trillion economy, like ours, needs a strong government, not a government that can be drowned in a bathtub. We shrank it when we sanctified Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, and Glenn Beck, and canonized Sarah Palin. These are the leaders of my party nowadays. How did we go from William F. Buckley to Glenn Beck? How did we go from Eisenhower and Nixon to Sarah Palin and Michelle Bachmann? I do not know. What I do know, however, is that these leaders remind of me of the leaders of the Whig Party."

"Maybe I am too old and too cynical, but I think the Republican party is in the last stages of agony. If nothing happens, we might win an election or even two, but in the long run we will lose America."

(The picture above is how the 2008 election would have looked if decided only by 18 to 29 year olds. It doesn't auger a great future for the Republican Party if they continue on their present path.)

A Big Difference

Political Cartoon is by Chuck Asay at caglecartoons.com.

Endangering The Ogallala Aquifer

Our fellow Texas blogger over at Lubbock Left reminds us that the fight continues to oppose putting a radioactive toxic waste dump in the West Texas county of Andrews (the black dot on the above map). If this toxic waste dump is allowed to operate, Texas will soon be the repository for all of the nation's radioactive waste. This would be a huge financial boon for the Dallas corporation, Waste Control Specialists, but a disaster for Texas and possibly several other states.

That's because the proposed dump site sits on the southern edge of one of the largest water aquifers in the country -- the Ogallala aquifer (the purple area on the map). Without the water from this aquifer, West Texas and the Panhandle would be little more than a desert. The water is absolutely vital to the region's farming and ranching interests. It also provides drinking water to many.

And Texas is not the only state that depends upon the Ogallala aquifer. At least seven other states draw water from this aquifer, including Nebraska, Kansas, Colorado, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Wyoming and New Mexico. If this aquifer was to become poisoned by radioactive waste, it could be disastrous for all eight states and the people who live in them.

Of course, the corporation that would benefit the most financially from the toxic waste dump, has assured West Texans and the Republican leaders in Austin that the site is safe and the radioactive waste could not possibly find its way into the aquifer. A company spokesman says, "What gives this site a position of strength for this type of disposal is that it's sitting on a very solid, thick clay formation that holds the waste in place."

That sounds very reassuring, and the corporate-loving leadership in Austin seems to have bought it hook, line and sinker. I'm not at all sure the site is so safe. Even assuming that the company is right about the thick clay layer, does that assure it will remain impenetrable in the future? Recently, there was a series of small earthquakes just west of Fort Worth attributed to gas drilling. Is it beyond the realm of possibility that such earthquakes could also occur in West Texas, where there's a lot more drilling?

Now it would not take a large earthquake, a destroyer of cities. Just a small, almost unnoticeable, earthquake could be enough to put one or more cracks in that thick clay layer and set conditions up for a disastrous leak of radioactivity into the invaluable aquifer. Who can predict what natural disasters could occur in the future? How can this company possibly insure that nothing will happen to breach the waste dump at some time in the future?

This fresh water aquifer is too valuable to too many people to take any chances with. Once the dump has been compromised and the water is contaminated with radioactive waste, it will be too late to do anything and no amount of corporate apologies will make any difference. This ridiculous boondoggle must be stopped now.

I call upon the people of Texas (and the other seven states that draw from the aquifer) to act to stop this mad venture. The profits of one corporation (and a few jobs for Andrews county) are not worth the possible poisoning of the Ogallala aquifer.

Robin Or Vulture ?

Political Cartoon is by Jimmy Margulies in The Record (New Jersey).

Do High Drug Prices Pay For Research Or Advertising ?

If you've had to get a prescription recently, then you know that the prices of those drugs are outrageously high, especially for new drugs that don't yet have a generic equivalent. For many years, the drug companies have told us that this is necessary so they can recoup the costs of expensive research. The people and the government have accepted this as fact without doing much research into the realities.

But now it turns out that we may not just be paying for the companies to recoup research costs. In fact, the drug companies spend less money on research and development than on other things. This became clear recently when Pfizer signed a disclosure agreement with the government after it was accused of promoting their drugs for off-label use (use for things other than what the FDA had approved them for).

Pfizer said it had paid about $20 million to doctors and other medical professionals "for consulting and speaking on its behalf in the last half of 2009." Of course, these are the same people the company is counting on to prescribe their drugs and encouraging others to do the same. This is not a medical or research expense. It is an advertising expense (and that doesn't include the huge amounts spent on TV and other forms of advertising).

Meanwhile, during that same period, the company spent about $15.3 million on actual research and clinical trials. In other words, advertising dollars easily dwarf the amount spent on actual research. While the company (and other drug companies do the same) has been telling us the high prices for new medicines is to recoup research costs, much more of the money goes to recouping advertising costs than research costs.

For many years now, these drug companies have been negotiating discount prices with other countries while soaking Americans with higher prices. It is time for that to stop. It is time for the government to negotiate lower prices for Medicare and Medicaid. It is also time for the government to allow the re-importation of lower-cost medications from other countries.

We must stop feeling sorry for Big Pharma and allowing it to charge exorbitantly high prices for drugs. If they need help in research and development, then the government should give them some help (on the condition they open their books to government accountants), but the American people deserve and should get low-cost drugs.

Given the choice between protecting Big Pharma's windfall profits and letting the people buy drugs at a reasonable price, the U.S. government should be on the side of the people. Why isn't it?

Tea

Political Cartoon is by Monte Wolverton at caglecartoons.com.

Deal With It

Yellowdog Granny shows us what's really bothering many right-wing teabaggers.

The Arrogance Of Insurance Companies

In an incredibly arrogant disregard for their consumer clients, Wellpoint (the parent company for numerous state Blue Cross insurance programs) has decided that its top executives just aren't making enough money. After all, Wellpoint's CEO, Angela Braly (pictured), was only being paid around $8.7 million a year. How on earth could she possibly live on such a paltry salary?

To take care of this "underpaid" employee, Wellpoint has raised Braly's salary a whopping 51% -- to about $13.1 million a year. In addition, at least three other of the company's top executives have received salary boosts of around 75%. Those are some pretty nice raises in a time of recession. I'll bet the rank-and-file workers (the people who do the actual work for the corporation) didn't receive a 50% to 75% raise.

And how did the corporation pay for these astronomical raises? Simple. They raised insurance premiums on their customers. Remember, it was Anthem Blue Cross (a Wellpoint company in California) that recently raised its rates by an incredible 39%. It turns out that their Blue Cross companies in at least eleven other states have also raised premiums by double digit percentages. The corporation claimed they had to raise their rates because of rising medical costs.

Wellpoint claims the raise for its top executives were just to maintain their "gold standard of excellence". Company spokesman Jon Mills said, "Wellpoint wants to attract and retain top talent. In order to be the best, to be innovative, to continue delivering the best service, we do have to retain the best quality. We are in no way trying to inflate the salaries and compensation figures but trying to maintain a high level of talent at the organization."

What a load of unadulterated horse manure! I'm surprised his nose didn't grow several inches as he said that (and I wonder how big his own raise was). Does he really think the American people are stupid enough to believe a competent and talented CEO couldn't be hired for less than $13.1 million a year -- a lot less? I think by "gold standard of excellence" he's referring to the excellent amount of gold in executive bank accounts.

You may be asking how the company is going to fit such large pay increases into the cap on administrative costs required by the new health care reform law (which limits administrative costs to 15%-20%). No problem there. Wellpoint has already informed its investors that it will just reassign some administrative costs as medical costs (and thereby skirt the intent and meaning of the new law). They'll just do a few accounting tricks, and then it's back to business as usual.

And don't get the idea that Wellpoint is the only insurance company pulling these kind of shenanigans. They are just the most brazen. Aetna and Cigna have announced they will also be raising the cost of premiums for their consumers, and you can be sure the other companies will soon follow suit.

This points to the big failure of the new health care reform law -- it failed to cut out or control the profit motive in health insurance. It doesn't take a genius to figure out the giant health insurance companies aren't in business to pay for their customers' health care. That's only a secondary concern at best. They are in business to make huge profits -- the bigger the better. And if they have to abuse sick people to do it, so be it.

The new health care reform law did a few things that were badly needed, but it did not truly reform the system. That won't happen until we have a public option for insurance (which will put pressure on private companies to keep premium prices down to compete).

Another For Therapy

Political Cartoon is by Jerry Holbert in The Boston Herald.