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talkpoliticsSo, seems like Obama is [depending on who you ask], A) making some bold moves to close some gaps in the budget and do something meaningful about the crumbling US infrastructure, and/or B) stomping on the Constitution of this great nation yet again, in a bid to pry the Worst Commie President title from Carter's hands:
White House proposes new foreign profits tax
"On Monday, President Barack Obama will use his budget plan to propose spending $478 billion on America's roads, bridges and mass transit systems, with half of that steep bill financed by new taxes on U.S. corporate profits that are squirreled away overseas, White House officials said."
But then, there's a catch, of course:
"Still, the White House tax proposal aimed at foreign profits for U.S. companies is far more ambitious than what GOP lawmakers, now in control of Congress, are likely to approve."
Ha! Like this baby will ever be passed, eh? Looks like Obama has hit the presidential end-game strategy: push for legislation you're certain will never go through, but since your two terms are nearly up, you couldn't give a rat's ass anymore. Afaik Clinton pulled quite a few of those at the end of his presidency too, only for them to be overturned by Bush. Not sure what Bush did in that regard. I vaguely recall him doing something similar with a bill or two, bit I can't be sure. Will need to check.
...Though I'm almost certain that if you look at any president who served two terms post FDR and not named Nixon, you'd find something similar.
Anyway. From a first sight, the whole thing might sound like a reasonable idea - at least to a leftie. After all, billions of dollars get leaked out of the US economy every year through the well-known offshore scheme - that doesn't seem very "American" now, does it. But sure, by the time the actual law gets written, it will be full of so many loopholes, whether intentional or not (I'm betting on the former), that for a large corporation with a sophisticated tax department it won't make any difference anyway. And by the time the law approaches anywhere near the stage of being discussed by a legislature, it will have so many other unrelated spending items attached to it that it would by far outweigh the expected tax income.
Conversely, to a conserva-guy, I'm sure if there ever was the perfect occasion to fuckin' IMPEACH the Kenyan bastard, then this must be it. Am I close?
To the more neutral outside observers like yours-truly, this whole thing looks more like a case of grandstanding about something Obama knows full well isn't going to happen either in this or in a few neighboring parallel universes. In any case, I say good luck with that undertaking, Obama. You must've realized a long time ago that there are big-money interests on BOTH sides of what looks like the partisan divide (but in reality, isn't), who won't tolerate that sort of shit even for a minute. I'm sure as usual the corporations will continue to have a good laugh at the US taxpayers' expense for a long time to come.
White House proposes new foreign profits tax
"On Monday, President Barack Obama will use his budget plan to propose spending $478 billion on America's roads, bridges and mass transit systems, with half of that steep bill financed by new taxes on U.S. corporate profits that are squirreled away overseas, White House officials said."
But then, there's a catch, of course:
"Still, the White House tax proposal aimed at foreign profits for U.S. companies is far more ambitious than what GOP lawmakers, now in control of Congress, are likely to approve."
Ha! Like this baby will ever be passed, eh? Looks like Obama has hit the presidential end-game strategy: push for legislation you're certain will never go through, but since your two terms are nearly up, you couldn't give a rat's ass anymore. Afaik Clinton pulled quite a few of those at the end of his presidency too, only for them to be overturned by Bush. Not sure what Bush did in that regard. I vaguely recall him doing something similar with a bill or two, bit I can't be sure. Will need to check.
...Though I'm almost certain that if you look at any president who served two terms post FDR and not named Nixon, you'd find something similar.
Anyway. From a first sight, the whole thing might sound like a reasonable idea - at least to a leftie. After all, billions of dollars get leaked out of the US economy every year through the well-known offshore scheme - that doesn't seem very "American" now, does it. But sure, by the time the actual law gets written, it will be full of so many loopholes, whether intentional or not (I'm betting on the former), that for a large corporation with a sophisticated tax department it won't make any difference anyway. And by the time the law approaches anywhere near the stage of being discussed by a legislature, it will have so many other unrelated spending items attached to it that it would by far outweigh the expected tax income.
Conversely, to a conserva-guy, I'm sure if there ever was the perfect occasion to fuckin' IMPEACH the Kenyan bastard, then this must be it. Am I close?
To the more neutral outside observers like yours-truly, this whole thing looks more like a case of grandstanding about something Obama knows full well isn't going to happen either in this or in a few neighboring parallel universes. In any case, I say good luck with that undertaking, Obama. You must've realized a long time ago that there are big-money interests on BOTH sides of what looks like the partisan divide (but in reality, isn't), who won't tolerate that sort of shit even for a minute. I'm sure as usual the corporations will continue to have a good laugh at the US taxpayers' expense for a long time to come.
