cut corporate welfare, not the safety net

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http://www.nationofchange.org/cut-corporate-welfare-not-safety-net-1357655126

In Congress’ latest “fiscal cliff” deal that supposedly had to be passed in order to avoid economic calamity, we spent $30 billion on extending unemployment benefits for a year, and $205 billion in corporate tax breaks, subsidies and excessive tax loopholes. Most of these Christmas gifts for corporate America are benefiting major, multi-billion dollar corporations that haven’t paid a dime of US income taxes in years, like GE and Boeing. In other words, taxpayers spent 6 times more on giving free money to companies making record profits than we did to making sure the people who were laid off by these corporations can still feed their families. $205 billion in corporate goodies was okay with Speaker Boehner, but $60 billion in Hurricane Sandy relief apparently wasn’t.

One of the most egregious giveaways included in the New Years Eve fiscal cliff deal negotiated between Joe Biden and Mitch McConnell is an extension of a loophole that allows corporations to book US profits in overseas, tax-free bank accounts. Today, US companies have up to $2 trillion offshored thanks to loopholes like the one in this deal, at the same time Congress is talking about raising the Medicare eligibility age to avoid a fiscal meltdown. Instead of making us give up the pensions and healthcare that we paid for, why not hold rich companies to the same standards as everyone else when it comes to paying taxes?

The dominant topic in the news media for the next few weeks will be raising the debt ceiling. But what likely won’t be talked about is the fact that our debt can be easily taken care of by lowering unemployment. The whole reason the economy is in the tank is because of less demand due to more people spending less money. When more people are working, more people are spending money at local businesses, who will then hire more workers to meet demand, meaning less government money is spent on sending unemployment checks, meaning less debt. It's basic math.