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Wednesday, April 13, 2011
GE To Donate Entire $3.2 Billion Tax Refund To Feds to Offset Cuts - Psych!
( warning, language NSFW)
You'll remember that there was some outraged publicly when it was revealed that Obama donor and czar Jeffrey Immelt and his very well connected GE Corporation raked in $14.5 billion in profits but paid zero in taxes.
So when this fake press release came over the wires, the AP fell for it like a big, smelly fish:
GE CEO Jeffrey Immelt has informed the Obama administration that the company will be gifting its entire 2010 tax refund, worth $3.2 Billion, to the US Treasury on April 18, Tax Day, and will furthermore adopt a host of new policies that secure its position as a leader in corporate social responsibility.
“We want the public to know that we’ve heard them, and that we know many Americans are going through tough times,” said GE CEO Jeffrey Immelt. “GE will therefore give our 2010 tax refund back to the public and allow the public to decide how to spend it.”
Immelt acknowledged no wrongdoing. “All seven of our foreign tax havens are entirely legal,” Immelt noted. “But Americans have made it clear that they deplore laws that enable tax avoidance. While we owe it to our shareholders to use every legal loophole to maximize returns – we also owe something to the American people. We didn't write the laws that let us legally ahttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifvoid paying taxes. Congress did. But we benefit from those laws, and now we'd like to share those benefits. We are proud to be giving something back to America, and we are proud to set an example for all industry to follow.”
The AP actually ran that story,but yanked it shortly afterwards when someone there realized that this had to be bogus.
It was a decent job too, since genewscenters.com is just one letter off from genewscenter.com, where GE actually hosts its news.
Needless to say, GE ain't gonna be giving anything back to the taxpayers. It's good to be the king...and it's almost as good to be one of the king's loyal toadies and fund raisers.
Actually there are any number of large corporate entities that are in the same boat as GE. Why is GE being singled out by the NY Times here? Might this be the opening salvo in a war against GE by the NY Times? Might the Administration have leaked this to the times as part of the opening campaign of a war against GE? Might this be the opening shot in a war against both GE and the Obama Administration by the NY Times? After all, if the NY Times were going to go after the Obama Administration, they would likely also go after those percieved to be close allies of the Administration. If I were Mr. Immelt or other top GE executives, I would be VERY concerned by this development.
ReplyDelete"We didn't write the laws that allow us to legally avoid paying taxes. Congress did...." Actually had GE executives said this they would be spot on but it is beyond the ideology of news media pudits to understand such things as that. Frankly, GE shouldn't give the money back. I'm thinking they can spend it far more wisely than the Government would.
b.
ReplyDeleteif i may horn in here.
i believe you are getting very warm.
however, what i believe is that this isn't anything like a war on ge.
it is simply the chicago way.
you squeeze the fat cat in public.
when the fat cat kicks back some of the jizyah, or is it baksheesh, i forget, in campaign contributions, the fat cat publications and demonizations go away.
hussein just doesn't think he's getting his fair share from ge.
vladimir putin is grinning ear to ear.