Well, it's about time !!
The poor slobs who have their paychecks automatically drained need an ally. Why should the rich get richer while the poor get poorer?

Awesome

Where can I see a list of the 9,000 Companies who maintain those Cyman accounts?

Believe it or not, countries like Canada or those that make up the European Union have much more generous laws than the US when it comes to moving funds to an offshore location; that's for both corporations and individuals. Bermuda is my favorite

The hoarding mentality of US corporations "make money avoid taxes" hurts everyone. Fat cat CEOS who are the biggest benefactors of corporations and their respective entities should pay their fair share. Paying taxes is part of the cost of doing business in a "free" society. The trickle down effect of tax avoidance by corporations has contributed much to the decaying state of services-health-infrastructurs-education, etc. in this country.

I pray that it passes. But, it's not a real shocker to learn about this.
This administration is about lies, deceit and illegallities to benefit corporations and the filthy rich.
It's time for all to sign up for the impeachment hearings petition started by by Dennis Kucinich.
Duh-Bya and Cheney should at least have the Impeachment attempt on their records.

We must DEMAND as American's that this administration be held accountable for high crimes and misdemeanors committed against the people they are supposed to serve.
Breaks for the corporates is only the tip of the iceberg

Whose cheating who, here? The Government (in all forms, city, state, and federal) takes about 50% of everything most everyone earns.

Protect yourself from the government at all times...the money belongs to you; not them.

Right up the Bush crime family's alley. Turn a blind eye to corporate America as they stick it up the honest taxpayer's ass.

Thats great, man - the Feds can go after my sister-in-law for underreporting her day care income by 967 dollars(an accounting mistake) but they can't get 100 billion from these heavily entrenched Republican patry doners. It's simple, if your headquarters are registered off-shore than you need to pay extra taxes for the privledge of doing business with the United States. If you are manufacturing goods to be sold in the US you need to pay a tariff. That would serve to make it fair for those who would create companies overseas for the express purpose of bypassing labor, health and safety, and environmental regulations to pay their fare share of the US tax burden.

George - the "G" fixes and plows my road, maintains my library, educates my kids, maintains building and development standards, fights diseases, provides job training for those out of work citizens, maintains correctional facilities,...I could go on and on. Please take a moment to think about what you are going to say and post. I don't like paying taxes any more than you do but there is a responsibility one takes as an investment into ones community to establish and maintain a certain livable standard.

50% is a HUGE exaggeration by any standard and I am middle class and live in 'Taxachusetts'. I'm sure there are a good many Central-South American and African nations where you would feel right at home with a non-existent tax base. The effects of the decay of our society are your corporate tax dollars at work. Basically, you get the society you pay for and all the exaggerating and belly-aching in the world won't change that simple fact.

50% is a HUGE exaggeration by any standard and I am middle class and live in 'Taxachusetts'. I'm sure there are a good many Central-South American and African nations where you would feel right at home with a non-existent tax base. The effects of the decay of our society are your corporate tax break dollars at work. Basically, you get the society you pay for and all the exaggerating and belly-aching in the world won't change that simple fact.

What's the "one office building?"
According to the Constitution, "income" is defined as "profit made by corporate activity" and is not money made from labor, which is a trade--your time and effort for money, which makes that money not "income" but private property. Yet, Capital Gains taxes are lower than income taxes, and the truly legal income taxes, as this article points out, are rarely paid.When one is using money to generate money, without any labor, THAT is income-true profit.
Also, (off topic, yeah, but along the same lines of double standards) why is it un-Constitutional for government workers to be drug tested, yet the government encourages private companies to drug test? In fact, they used to--and probably still do--offer tax cuts and other incentives to companies who agree to do drug testing. It's obviously un-Constitutional for any employer to demand pre-employment drug screening, and a violation of the 4th amendment (which does still exist, despite all attempts to destroy it). Now, if the employee starts acting like he's on drugs, that's different. But a person can smoke a joint on the weekend, and come up "dirty" 15 days later, because they do not test for actual THC, but its metabolite, which is stored in fat tissues for long periods, but is no indicator of a drug problem or recent intoxication. This country-this world--is so full of hypocrites.

Oh, I see what they mean by the "one building." I didn't really read the title very carefully, and thought the writer was referring to a single U.S. Corporation with 9,000 Cayman bank accounts.

It's a shame that the author of this article has no idea what he's talking about. The US tax code is incredibly complex and he's tried to throw everyone into a single basket with no idea of what they do or how they do it.

No doubt that there are individuals and/or companies that have bank accounts that they don't declare. That's not what he's talking about and it's pretty clear he has no idea what's going on here.

Well, Mr. Larson, you claim is simply not true. You can make it, of course, but it is not based in reality. Most Americans do not make enough to approach a 15% tax rate, let alone a 50% tax rate. You, "protect yourselves from the government" types and, "government is the problem" Reaganites make me sick. The government is OURS and we the people are in the process of taking it back from the multinational corporate facists. Power is shifting to the people and we will use the government to shift it away from the corporate-welfare state we've had for eight years.

Several years back the president's staff (I don't believe we can credit this president with much of anything competent) switched a significant portion of the IRS staff for corporate taxes to the staff for personal income taxes. The message was clear.

HAHAHAHAHAHA! The Senate Finance Committee!?!?! Sorry, I don't agree with George Lawson's belief on the government but I have little faith in the Senate to enact anything that is going to reverse the damage of the past several decades of ever increasing economic inequality. They're most likely to legalize it like they did with FISA.

In 1999-2001 Europe and America were poised to limit this problem with an agrement with many "tax habor" nations to be slightly more transparent. The change of American administration in 2001 ended this advance as the new administration did not want to finalize this agreement.

OK, Mike, the government fixes your roads, maintains your bridges, your libraries, blah, blah, blah. Have you noticed recently the condition of our country's infrastructure? I don't know about where you live, but our local government pays fancy salaries and fat pensions to its employees, oh, and builds plush new government buildings and JAILS on our dime, while the local libraries go begging for funding and even the bus system is in danger of going under. Look around you.

I believe that the whole point of the article (and of this issue in general) is that those with the money (wealthy folks and corp.'s) are avoiding paying their fair share of taxes, and thus the cost to maintain all of the items listed in the previous post fall upon working stiffs.

State and local taxes as a whole are quite regressive (in my state the bottom quintile pay around 10% to state and local governments, whereas the top quintile pay around 5%). Add to that the regressive nature of FICA (although Obama sounds like he would consider lessening this problem), and the generous loopholes available to the rich on their federal income taxes, and you have an overall unfair system.

When Bush cut rates for the wealthy, it threw a slightly progressiive system into reverse.

Get them that has the money to support the public sector a little more, and you'd be surprised at how overall tax rates can come down, infrastructure will get maintained and the economy will boom.

Neoconomics, of course does the opposite.

Jim Z: Well said.

To that I would add that the largest and wealthiest of our corporations, the ones that rake in tens and hundreds of billions per year, are systematically plundering the land (America and its human and animal inhabitants) for profits that are then pumped overseas, sheltered offshore, or simply not taxed.

Let those who made a profit from Iraq (or are about to) pay for the party and our wounded and dead!

Al of you that have misunderstood George, and are upset because the "rich guys" don't pay there fair share... You only want some one else to pay more so you don't have too.

1. George is correct...50% he did not Say 50% tax rate he said "takes about 50% of everything most everyone earns" but that is likely why n=most of you do not earn a large amount of money, Because you cannot read and compreehend [sic] (someone will get the joke). State tax, Fed tax, Local Tax, Sales Tax, Car Reg tax, Propety Tax, dog license, Permits to build, THESE ARE ALL TAXES, just as the tariff on tea 232 ears ago.

2. the "rich guys" do pay their fair share PLUS... you think they owe more because they did better than you??
15% of your blue collar salary (45,000) $6750 15% of 1,000,000 is $150,000 they/we do pay more already you want us to pay more so you can piss off more money. I don't use the "schools roads, police, military, etc.) any more than you and probably less... I have never needed welfare nor assistance and will never see a dime of Social security.

Why don't you brain dead American Idol/Deal or No deal, audience types do a little reading and whine about the amount (hundreds of billions) that your government rapes you for. roads my ass... why are bridges falling and killing people?