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There is going to be a rush to judgement, but I'm not convinced that the government is going to use the tax money wisely. There are too many people in the busin

There is going to be a rush to judgement, but I'm not convinced that the government is going to use the tax money wisely. There are too many people in the business of defrauding our government, trillions are wasted on wars, and millions on earmarks. The government knows how to bail out wall street, but they can't turn the economy around. Out of all big international corporations in the US, I would argue that Google and Apple are the most socially responsible (apart from privacy concerns). It won't make sense to bring it back to USA so it can sit in bank accounts and accumulate interests, because those funds are currently accumulating interest as we speak. The obvious uses would be for spending, perhaps for acquisition and growth. The money would eventually be taxed. Keeping the Government in the pinch has forced them to crack down on waste and fraud. It would be much harder for them to bail out wall street this time around.

othermaciej 15y ago
The money wouldn't just be taxed eventually, it would also be taxed immediately, though at a reduced 5.25% rate instead of the usual corporate tax rate. And if a corporation repatriating income uses it to pay dividends, or for share buybacks (resulting in capital gains), this will result in taxable income for the shareholders.
- deleted 15y ago
  [deleted]
- Retric 15y ago
  Shares owned by people outside the US would not pay any capital gain to the US gov on any dividends.
bmj 15y ago
I would argue that Google and Apple are the most socially responsible Can you present that argument? I understand that Google does what it can design and build environmentally responsible data centers, but what else does it contribute to the public good?
georgefox 15y ago
> There is going to be a rush to judgement, but I'm not convinced that the government is going to use the tax money wisely.... Keeping the Government in the pinch has forced them to crack down on waste and fraud. It would be much harder for them to bail out wall street this time around. Do you really mean to say that the solution to our budget problems is less revenue? The current deficits are the result of simultaneous decreases in revenues and increases in spending (http://www.taxpolicycenter.org/taxfacts/displayafact.cfm?Docid=200 http://www.taxpolicycenter.org/taxfacts/displayafact.cfm?Doc...). To get back to a balanced budget, we need more revenue and (eventually) less spending. And I don't know to what extent the government has been forced to crack down on "waste and fraud." Certainly, that's not exclusively what's being cut.

othermaciej 15y ago

The money wouldn't just be taxed eventually, it would also be taxed immediately, though at a reduced 5.25% rate instead of the usual corporate tax rate. And if a corporation repatriating income uses it to pay dividends, or for share buybacks (resulting in capital gains), this will result in taxable income for the shareholders.

deleted 15y ago
[deleted]
Retric 15y ago
Shares owned by people outside the US would not pay any capital gain to the US gov on any dividends.

bmj 15y ago

I would argue that Google and Apple are the most socially responsible Can you present that argument? I understand that Google does what it can design and build environmentally responsible data centers, but what else does it contribute to the public good?

georgefox 15y ago

> There is going to be a rush to judgement, but I'm not convinced that the government is going to use the tax money wisely.... Keeping the Government in the pinch has forced them to crack down on waste and fraud. It would be much harder for them to bail out wall street this time around. Do you really mean to say that the solution to our budget problems is less revenue? The current deficits are the result of simultaneous decreases in revenues and increases in spending (http://www.taxpolicycenter.org/taxfacts/displayafact.cfm?Docid=200 http://www.taxpolicycenter.org/taxfacts/displayafact.cfm?Doc...). To get back to a balanced budget, we need more revenue and (eventually) less spending. And I don't know to what extent the government has been forced to crack down on "waste and fraud." Certainly, that's not exclusively what's being cut.