It's been in the news that many U. S. corporations don't pay taxes on earnings in foreign countries. Consider that U. S. citizens living in other countries must file and pay U. S. income tax every year!
"If you are a U. S. citizen or resident alien, the rules for filing income, estate, and gift tax returns and for paying estimated tax are generally the same whether you are in the United States or abroad."
- Publication 54, Tax Guide for U.S. Citizens and Resident Aliens Abroad
Showing posts with label individuals. Show all posts
Showing posts with label individuals. Show all posts
Wednesday, May 04, 2011
Tuesday, April 19, 2011
Tort reform? Let's cover all the bases
Many are calling for tort reform, meaning that judgments against corporations should be limited in what is payed to individuals. However, there are three other kinds of tort cases - corporations vs. corporations, corporations vs. individuals, and individuals vs. individuals.
The amounts that corporations ask against each other dwarf by a couple orders of magnitude the amounts that individuals ask against corporations - billions against millions or less. The amounts that corporations ask against individual often exceed the individuals ability to pay. And suits of individuals against individuals are often settled in small claims court (or by Judge Judy).
The judgments against corporations in favor of individuals are not completely paid to the individuals. Yep, much of the money goes to "greedy trial lawyers". But why otherwise? Many suits against corporations are done on a contingency basis; that is, the lawyers only get paid if the judgment is made in favor of their client. On the other hand, many corporations have deep enough pockets to hire legal firms outright on an hourly basis, both for court time and research. Aren't the trial lawyers for corporations as greedy as the lawyers working for individuals? Isn't one of the reasons for a democratic government to give the Davids a chance against the Goliaths?
The amounts that corporations ask against each other dwarf by a couple orders of magnitude the amounts that individuals ask against corporations - billions against millions or less. The amounts that corporations ask against individual often exceed the individuals ability to pay. And suits of individuals against individuals are often settled in small claims court (or by Judge Judy).
The judgments against corporations in favor of individuals are not completely paid to the individuals. Yep, much of the money goes to "greedy trial lawyers". But why otherwise? Many suits against corporations are done on a contingency basis; that is, the lawyers only get paid if the judgment is made in favor of their client. On the other hand, many corporations have deep enough pockets to hire legal firms outright on an hourly basis, both for court time and research. Aren't the trial lawyers for corporations as greedy as the lawyers working for individuals? Isn't one of the reasons for a democratic government to give the Davids a chance against the Goliaths?
Wednesday, February 25, 2009
Which is most important? Individual, community, or capital?
The answer is none of the above. Without individuals there are no communities. Without communities, individuals cannot thrive. Without individuals and communities, there is no capital. Without capital, individuals and communities cannot increase their material and social wealth.
I was inspired to write this blog after listening to Catherine Austin Fitts on "The Dismal Science" January 30, 2009 podcast of "To the Best of Our Knowledge" from Wisconsin Public Radio.
She spoke about the "Popsicle Index" as a better measure of the financial health of a community than any other measure. That is, how willing are parents in a community to let children go off by themselves to get a Popsicle or other treat?
She also spoke about capitalism versus communities. Think about BigBox coming into a community. BigBox promises jobs to induce the community to allow BigBox to have its way. But BigBox builds out in the middle of nowhere so that people must drive to shop rather than walk. The community is also required to build new water mains, sewer lines, roads, and other amenities. Then BigBox decides that it didn't make enough profit from the store and leaves town.
But capitalism is also members of the community pooling their resources to build a business, say a tomato canning plant. Maybe the local plant doesn't have all the whizbang efficiencies that a BigFoods plant has, but the plant will be controlled by members of the community, not by some overpaid executive forty floors above the streets of a city a thousand miles away.
Communities can be overbearing, enforcing codes of conduct that have no relation to the welfare of the community. An overbearing community can stifle innovation and creativity. Think of all the people who went to the "big city" to get away from a real or imagined controlling environment.
Individuals can be cantankerous and dangerous. Some take individual freedom to ridiculous lengths, taking freedom from others. Think of speeders. They rush down the highway, damning anyone who dares to go the speed limit. In fact, our culture tends to reward the speeders by claiming those who obey the law are holding up traffic. Aren't the speeders pushing traffic?
Unfortunately, neither "major" party seems to understand the need for balance among these three "interests". Both favor certain categories of individuals to the detriment of other categories of individuals; both favor certain corporations over others; and both favor communities only when it serves their parties' agenda.
When, oh when, will those who understand the need for this balance bolt the "major' parties and form a long overdue "third" party with wide support?
I was inspired to write this blog after listening to Catherine Austin Fitts on "The Dismal Science" January 30, 2009 podcast of "To the Best of Our Knowledge" from Wisconsin Public Radio.
She spoke about the "Popsicle Index" as a better measure of the financial health of a community than any other measure. That is, how willing are parents in a community to let children go off by themselves to get a Popsicle or other treat?
She also spoke about capitalism versus communities. Think about BigBox coming into a community. BigBox promises jobs to induce the community to allow BigBox to have its way. But BigBox builds out in the middle of nowhere so that people must drive to shop rather than walk. The community is also required to build new water mains, sewer lines, roads, and other amenities. Then BigBox decides that it didn't make enough profit from the store and leaves town.
But capitalism is also members of the community pooling their resources to build a business, say a tomato canning plant. Maybe the local plant doesn't have all the whizbang efficiencies that a BigFoods plant has, but the plant will be controlled by members of the community, not by some overpaid executive forty floors above the streets of a city a thousand miles away.
Communities can be overbearing, enforcing codes of conduct that have no relation to the welfare of the community. An overbearing community can stifle innovation and creativity. Think of all the people who went to the "big city" to get away from a real or imagined controlling environment.
Individuals can be cantankerous and dangerous. Some take individual freedom to ridiculous lengths, taking freedom from others. Think of speeders. They rush down the highway, damning anyone who dares to go the speed limit. In fact, our culture tends to reward the speeders by claiming those who obey the law are holding up traffic. Aren't the speeders pushing traffic?
Unfortunately, neither "major" party seems to understand the need for balance among these three "interests". Both favor certain categories of individuals to the detriment of other categories of individuals; both favor certain corporations over others; and both favor communities only when it serves their parties' agenda.
When, oh when, will those who understand the need for this balance bolt the "major' parties and form a long overdue "third" party with wide support?
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