Transnational corporations have a secret they don’t want you to know about
By louisehartmann
America’s biggest transnational corporations have a secret they don’t want you to know about. Arguing that they’ll create jobs in the United States if they just get massive tax breaks – many transnational corporations are refusing to release just how many jobs they have ALREADY created in the United States – and how many jobs they’ve created overseas - over fears that if the American people saw just how much outsourcing they’ve been doing – then they’d miss out on their tax breaks.
When it comes time to report hiring to government statisticians – these transnational do so under anonymity – under the promise that only the aggregate amount of job creation numbers will be released – and not job creation on a company-by-company basis. That aggregate number is troubling in itself – between 2000 and 2009 – transnational corporations cut 2.9 million jobs here at home – and hired 2.4 million workers overseas. And since lawmakers can’t figure out which company is ACTUALLY creating jobs here in American and which ones aren’t – then it’s impossible to determine which should get tax cuts. To make matters worse – the guy heading President Obama’s job creation council – GE CEO Jeffrey Immelt – is one of the biggest job outsourcers around with over half of his workforce made up of foreign workers.
The real problem here is that our lawmakers for almost two decades have been drinking the so-called Free Trade kool aid – and it’s destroying our economy.
Comments
#2
Do we have links to these stats? It would be good to get this out there.
#3
Here's a communication point for you:
When people talk about "gated communities", I think the listener gets the connotation of the wealthy enclaves that have been spreading since the New York bastions of the truly wealthy.
I'm sure the listener doesn't realize that prisons are also "gated communities." Where are we going with this stuff?
#4
News Flash ... it's not a secret any more!
The amount of corporate sludge filling up the community well of discourse in the form of daily misinformation, innuendo and slander has reached DeepWater proportions. If SCOTUS sees fit to protect this as valid 'free speech' we need to see to it that their excess is properly accounted for and addressed!
Like all human activity that leads to excess, it needs to be moderated by means of a SIN TAX. All the corporate payoffs that are laundered through Kstreet and media ad purchasers should be taxed at a sufficiently high level to fund a Super clean up fund that would be up to the task of cleaning up their Toxic waste.
If taxes are enough to drive away this kind of sin full activity, let it be. Move Kstreet to Mogadishu. I am sure they will find it's Libertarian accommodations liberating. There they'll be able to wallow in their own sludge in the open.
Let all the Media moguls run away from this SIN TAX and leave us to our own devices like Truth telling and Fact finding.
#5
The only problem with taxing speech, defined as truths or lies by our government, is the most important Amendment to our Constitution - the First.
Shall we repeal the First Amendment? Has it become such a burden? The fact that it has been assaulted so often tells me that it is a vital part of democracy, and should be strengthened by eliminating the Supreme Court's usurpation of power via the unilateral claim of judicial review.
#6
There should be no tax breaks for any corporation unless they are truly creating jobs for the American people and keeping those jobs within American borders. Those corporations that are honest and honestly report those jobs could get a tax break equaling to the amount of jobs kept within the United States. The reason I just stated 'equaling' is because a corporation would have 80% of their jobs outsourced to slave labor countries. Tax breaks should serve as an incentive to create and keept jobs within the US only. Aside from that, all corporations should never again receive a tax break, especially tax breaks amounting to 3 trillion American dollars.
#7
All anyone has to do to see how much of a problem outsourcing has become is call the customer service department of either their cable company, cell phone company, and so on. Most are based outside of the United States.
-
The casino en ligne world offers great slot machines that you can wager at 24 hours a day and there are more casinos on the way.
#8
Check this website out.
#9
I was just reading from today's Newsletter, the Lewis Powell memo predating his appointment to the Supreme Court.
The following seems contemporarily and ironically observant when one strikes "enterprise system" and replaces it with "working class today", "One of the bewildering paradoxes of our time is the extent to which the enterprise system tolerates, if not participates in, its own destruction.
#10
I am attempting to start a grassroots effort to put pressure on our representitives to take action to stop outsourcing. This is an idea agreed on by the majority of Americans left and right. Please help me organize a campaign to combat this. Check out my blog to learn how.
americanjobspot.blogspot.com
#11
I dont think there is going to be an easy "a tax will fix it" solution. I do agree we shouldn't give people a break for outsourcing jobs, but you have to look at the framework of these coorporations before you start charging them for doing so. They are called transnational for a reason, they have figured out how use every countries laws and resources, i.e labor, to their advantage, and many have set themselves up to move their operations and the drop of a dime, why else would companies operate in 5, 10, or more countries if they could do it all in the US. If you start taxing these companies in the US their just going to leave, plain and simple. So we have to choose which of these two evill we want to take. A few less jobs here at home or no jobs at all.
Then people will say "well lets bolster the true American firms to take on these global giants" through things like stimulus, or higher tariffs. Thats great, but what happens when the money runs out because even with stimulus we cant compete with $1 a day wages in places like India, China, and Brazil. All of which Thom said have "figured it out", well if he can persuade Americans to work for that much he should be president. This is one of the biggest problems we are facing and no one person, or candidate is going to fix it. right or left. Why should I buy an HDMI cable from a US firm for $30 when I can scour the world on Amazon and get it from China for $2. We can't just keep subsidizing production, just look at the sugar industry for that lesson, it doesn't work. Globalization after the WWII boom, and the Internet as cliche as it is, has slowly killed America, not a party or company. If anyone has any ideas on how to turn that around please let me know, otherwise learning to to cut things out of the budget we don't need, and learning to live within our means is going to be the best option for our future.
#12
The Twain Report
All The News That Mark Twain Says He Would Write If He Was Alive Today
8-25-11
In a surprise move yesterday, Groucho Marx possessed the body of
Speaker of the House John Boehner during a session of congress.
Puffing on a cigar, he said, "I came in here and all I found was this cigar and an otherwise empty brainpan."
Members of congress, unsure of what was happening but nonetheless
responding positively to the first true words that have ever come out
of Speaker Boehner's mouth, began applauding wildly.
"Thank you, thank you," said Groucho. "I have always wanted an
appreciative audience. Imagine my dissapointment when I opened this
miscreant's eyes and realized that you were here."
Dick Cheney, who happened to be present, sneered so hard that he had
another heart attack.
"Look at that," said Groucho, "I'm still killin' 'em."
Groucho then extemporaneously composed and sang this song, with Harry
Reed playing beat-box accompaniment with two 1-quart bottles of Mountain Dew on
Cheney's chest:
THE REPUBLICAN'S MOTTO SONG
We don’t care what the little people say
It makes no difference anyway –
Whatever it is, we’re against it!
No matter what it is or when you commenced it,
You gotta know that we’re against it!
You progressives are oh-so-good
But let’s have one thing understood-
Whatever it is, we’re against it!
You want a living wage and a decent retirement
But that’s another sin by great big government-
And we’re against it!
You want protection from unfair terminations
Oh you liberals, so full of recriminations-
And we’re against it!
You want the social security that you paid for
Ok, that’s real nice, but we’re busy with our whores-
And we’re against it!
You want the unemployment that you paid for, too
Well, walk a mile in our Manolo Blahnik shoes,
Because we’re against it!
You want a political party that hasn’t sold its soul
Where you gonna go, with such a foolish goal?
Because we’re against it!
You want health care that’s perfectly free?
Bend over and we’ll give you a free colonoscopy!
Because we’re against it!
You want a Speaker of the House who isn’t a tan cretin
Well, talk to his boss, his name is satan-
And we’re against it!
You want banks that don’t steal your money?
Well, we want blonde trophy wives who call us honey-
Because we’re against it!
You want a mortgage that’s written in plain English?
So move to Pennsylvania and do business with the Amish-
Because we’re against it!
You want gays to have rights, like being able to marry?
Yeah, well we want to smoke crack with Debby Harry-
And we’re against it!
You’re tired of God not forgiving you?
Join us and God will do whatever you tell Him to!
Because we’re against it!
(With a disrespectful, thieving bow to the Marx Brothers' movie,
"Horsefeathers.")
Thom's Blog Is On the Move
By webmaster
Hello All
Thom's blog in this space and moving to a new home.
Please follow us across to hartmannreport.com - this will be the only place going forward to read Thom's blog posts and articles.
Images of Thom
From The Thom Hartmann Reader:
"Right through the worst of the Bush years and into the present, Thom Hartmann has been one of the very few voices constantly willing to tell the truth. Rank him up there with Jon Stewart, Bill Moyers, and Paul Krugman for having the sheer persistent courage of his convictions."
From The Thom Hartmann Reader:
"With the ever-growing influence of corporate CEOs and their right-wing allies in all aspects of American life, Hartmann’s work is more relevant than ever. Throughout his career, Hartmann has spoken compellingly about the value of people-centered democracy and the challenges that millions of ordinary Americans face today as a result of a dogma dedicated to putting profit above all else. This collection is a rousing call for Americans to work together and put people first again."
From The Thom Hartmann Reader:
"Through compelling personal stories, Hartmann presents a dramatic and deeply disturbing picture of humans as a profoundly troubled species. Hope lies in his inspiring vision of our enormous unrealized potential and his description of the path to its realization."
I will vote again for President Obama, but doesn't he know that putting people in certain positions of authority hinders the very thing that he says he wants to do? He needs to have people working to create jobs here in the United States that don't get payoffs from corporations that send jobs overseas? I thought he was smarter than that? I hope he doesn't live to regret these decisions.