US Uncut.org: Time to make tax dodger corporations pay their share

I wrote a post on February 3 - USA Uncut? Can we finish what UK Uncut has started? - and apparently some other people were thinking the exact same thing. Or, I’m just brilliant, and these other folks caught on. I’ll go with the former to be safe. UK Uncut.org was such an obviously grand scheme that we had to give it a go on this side of the pond.

Thanks to Wall Street, there’s no doubting that our country is in a heap o’ trouble paying the bills. To try and balance these budgets on the backs of taxpayers, public employees, teachers et al who’ve already been brought to the brink by Wall Street’s antics is ludicrous. This is especially so when you remember that middle-class wages have, essentially, ‘flatlined’ over the last 30 years (also when adjusted for inflation).

For some bitter icing on the cake, corporate profits have ballooned over the last couple of years - while the middle-class is going down for the third time.

American businesses earned profits at an annual rate of $1.659 trillion in the third quarter, according to a Commerce Department report released Tuesday. That is the highest figure recorded since the government began keeping track over 60 years ago, at least in nominal or noninflation-adjusted terms. New York Times. November 23, 2010

You are now making - adjusted for inflation - about 1% more than your parents did 30 years ago, or about $280. You say “Hey, my family was doing better, and buying more than my parents were.” That’s probably because both of you are working - harder and longer. For less. And, barely hanging on.

Thanks to the Desert Beacon! And the Economic Policy Institute

Yet, as Robert Reich points out, the American economy is twice is large as it was back in the day. Huh? So, where has all the money gone? Certainly not to the states and localities. Was Wall Street able to steal that much? Well, Wall Street was able to steal a lot. And, whatever was left over, went to the upper 1% of earners - I know, the word ‘earners’ makes me laugh, too. It’s hard to imagine the like of John Harrah - heir of casino mogul, Bill Harrah, an ‘earner’. The lad has probably never exactly sweated a mortgage payment on the $75 million, 36,000 sq. ft RancHarrah estate in Reno, Nevada.

Between the Bush tax breaks, and Obama’s extension of same, the slashing of the estate tax rates and lower capital gains taxes - it’s been one big, long payday for America’s wealthy.

It’s time to pay the piper.

You and I are expected to pay up on April 15th.  It’s time the rich - and their corporations - do the same. UK Uncut.org … and it’s colonial upstart, US Uncut.org are here to help them see the light.

While protesting the absurd cuts to public employees in Wisconsin - which is not based on fiscal reality, and is merely a GOP strategy to kill union support for the Democratic party - why not pair up to protest corporate tax dodgers at the same time?

On the US Uncut.org website,  you can find all the handy tools and information you need to get out there and hold the corporations accountable for their unpaid taxes.

Here’s what US Uncut has to say About themselves:

US Uncut is about taking action against unnecessary and unfair cuts to public services across the US. Washington’s proposed budget for the coming year sends a clear message: The wrath of budget cuts will fall upon the shoulders of hard-working Americans.

US Uncut is a new movement inspired by UK Uncut, the anti-austerity movement that has swept the UK.

See you on the streets.

Also remember to visit UK Uncut for some inspiration.

US Uncut is a horizontal movement. There are no centrally planned protests. If you want one in your town or city, you’ll have to take it on yourself. Read our blog about what to do next.

Obama seeks to trim $1.1 trillion from the budget in the next ten years by cutting or eliminating over 200 federal programs, many dedicated to social services and education. For instance, it cuts in half funding to subsidize heating for low-income Americans; limits an expansion of the Pell grant program for students; and decreases Environmental Protection Agency funding by over 12%.

Meanwhile, Republicans are using their new House majority to slash spending even more brutally. The GOP has made it clear that they are bent on raiding funds for Social Security, Medicare, education; determined to kill health care reform; and gut needed investments in infrastructure, climate change and job creation, at a time when America needs it most.

These cuts will come on top of very painful austerity measures made at the state-level across our nation–-worth hundreds of billions—since the recession began.

In short, budget cuts demonstrate that Washington has abandoned ordinary Americans.

But there is an alternative: Make corporate tax avoiders pay.

Enjoying record profits and taxpayer-funded bailouts as the economy slowly recovers from a financial crisis, nearly two-thirds of US corporations don’t pay any income taxes, instead opting to abuse tax loopholes and offshore tax havens. According to this study from the non-partisan Government Accountability Office, 83 of the top 100 publicly traded corporations that operate in the US exploit corporate tax havens. Since 2009, America’s most profitable companies such as ExxonMobil, General Electric, Bank of America and Citigroup all paid a grand total of $0 in federal income taxes to Uncle Sam. Tax havens alone account for up to $1 trillion in tax revenue lost every decade, money that could be invested in K-12 education, colleges, public health, job creation and hundreds of other worthy public programs.

If we pay our taxes, why don’t they? If corporations profit here, shouldn’t they pay here?

It’s time for ordinary Americans to fight back and demand an end to the corporate tax avoidance. Join US Uncut and together let’s make corporate tax avoiders pay.