This is a protest anyone, regardless of political affiliation, can get behind. Most large corporations in the US pay little or no federal income tax. US Uncut is targeting Bank of America, who received billions from the government last year yet pays less taxes than the average US household. If this happened in any other country, we’d call it corruption of the government by corporations, wouldn’t we?
I was at one of these. It was pretty small – maybe a dozen people at most. There was also a several hundred strong pro-choice rally organized by World Can’t Wait in Philly and a 1000 or so strong workers’ rights rally, all in the same area, around the same time. I was at the workers’ rights rally for most of it – it was very energetic, although the MoveOn people there kept trying to control who could speak and they tried to ignore the Green Party.
Well, of course they would. MoveOn is a PAC that raises money for Democrats. People (not necessarily you!) tend to forget that.
Have a look at the UK, Vodafone ripped off the UK taxpayer to the tune of £6billion+ in unpaid tax, Philip Green, owner of British Home Stores, pays next to nothing in tax, you see he doesn’t actually own it, it is his wife, and she happens to live in Monaco, nice little arrangement. I could go on and on, it is the pattern, big companies don’t pay tax, little people pay a lot of tax, it’s called capitalism. I have absolutely no doubt this is repeated across the developed world and of course we all know how the big corporations rip off the Third World. Which country in the world collects all the tax they are due or anything near what they are due, from the big corporations?
Ireland has 20% corporate tax so some big companies here funnel money through Irish shells so they can pay minimal tax before the money speeds off someplace else. This includes companies like Google.
No matter what the corporation tax is in any country, through clever, deceitful and downright cheating methods of accountancy, the big boys don’t pay their full whack. They pay good money to avoid paying taxes. Let’s face it, the corporations are not very patriotic!!
I think they’re with the terrorists!
They’re certainly not with the people.