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Thom's blog
The audacity of Apple's "ingenuity"
This week, Apple CEO Tim Cook was questioned in a Congressional Hearing about his company's complex scheme to avoid paying taxes. According to Mr. Cook, the company's stash of billions of dollars in overseas shell corporations was not tax dodging – it was ingenuity. And, just in case anyone actually fell for the tech company's creative explanation, Mark Gongloff of the Huffington Post shared an incredible chart, which illustrates exactly how unjust our nation's tax system has really become.
The chart was produced by the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, and it shows how the sources of federal revenue have changed over several decades. In 1950, corporations contributed over 30 percent to our nation's revenue, and individual income and payroll taxes made up about 45 percent. But today, corporations only contribute 17 percent, and individuals are paying for over 60 percent of federal revenue.
So, despite all the Republican claims about the U.S. having the world's highest tax rate – corporations are contributing less to our nation than ever before. Yet, corporate executives like Tim Cook have the audacity to say we should be celebrating their “ingenuity.” These companies make the huge profits they have been raking in by using the commons that our tax dollars develop and maintain.
Without roads and bridges, communications systems and utilities, corporations couldn't get their products into the hands of hard-working Americans. They should be paying for the privilege to do business here. American tax payers should not be picking up a larger share of the tab, while corporate executives hold on to an ever-increasing share of the profits. Let's tell companies like Apple that we'll celebrate their ingenuity just as soon as they start paying their fair share.
-Thom
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Tonight on The Big Picture on RT TV at 7pm and 9pm... Are we moving away from the war on terrorism? (check your local listings for stations or stream at RT, and catch past shows on Youtube)
Need to Know: Are we moving away from the war on terrorism?- Mike Papantonio, Ring of Fire Radio 
Your Take / My Take Live - Call Thom LIVE at (202) 904-2134 TONIGHT 7-8pm ET (check local listings)
Geeky Science: Why humans need mosquitoes...
The Best of the Rest...
Daily Take: How the electric car saves human lives
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Wednesday's Daily Stack 
Hour One: Thom to conservatives...show us your social welfare programs- Cleta Mitchell, True the Vote
Hour Two: Biometric ID...slippery slope to "permission slip society?"- David Bier, Competitive Enterprise Institute
Speech: " A Rendezvous With Destiny", 27 June 1936 acceptance speech by Franklin D. Roosevelt. " An old English judge once said: "Necessitous men are not free men.""
Do we need a "right to vote" constitutional amendment?- Congressman Mark Pocan (D-WI, 2nd District)
Hour Three: Best of the Rest...
Articles: Ricardo's "On labor" 1814, "On profits" 1816.
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Thursday on The Thom Hartmann Program, 3-6pm ET
Hour One: Are we moving away from the war on terrorism?
Hour Two: How this Administration bungled the IRS issue...- Mike Papantonio, Attorney & Host-Ring of Fire Radio
Hour Three: How racism went to Harvard...and then to Heritage- Zack Beauchamp, Reporter/blogger-Think Progress & Editor-TPIdeas
Geeky Science - Why humans need mosquitoes...
And, the best of the rest of the news and your calls right here on...
The Thom Hartmann Program...your media support group for "we the people"...
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Friday on The Thom Hartmann Program, 3-6pm ET
It's Friday and that means it's "Brunch With Bernie"...America's Senator...Senator Bernie Sanders will be here talking about all the important issues of the week and he'll be taking your calls too...
Plus, it's Anything Goes on Townhall Friday...your chance to sound off about any topic...
And, the best of the rest of the news and your calls right here on...
The Thom Hartmann Program, Occupying The Media 3 hours a day 5 days a week" for "we the people"...Democracy is NOT a spectator sport...it begins with you...
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Thom's Poll
Will Obama end the global War on Terror?
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Watch & Listen to Thom
Donating 23 Million to PBS gets you More than a Tote Bag...
Police Using Tazers Against Peaceful Protesters...
Business sees Value in Autism
Lone Liberal Rumble - Can states force citizens to be safe?
Lone Liberal Rumble - Prosecutes the Leaker, not the Leakee
We don't need a national security provision in the media shield law
Or watch the Full "Big Picture" Show...
Full Show 5/22/13: The Corporate Dictatorship of PBS and NPR
Thom talks with Emmy Award-Winning Journalist David Shuster about the AP scandal and why the first amendment is so important to our democracy. Tonight's "Lone Liberal Rumble" panel discusses the proposed media shield law, whether government should require homeowners in Oklahoma to build houses fit for tornadoes and Pope Francis's tough comments on capitalism. In tonight's "Daily Take" Thom explains how the billionaires have even taken over public broadcasting.
Thom Hartmann on the News: May 22, 2013
Caller: Explain Chained CPI
Pope Francis: A Promising Start
Caller: I Disagree With Punishing Employers
The Affirmative Right to Vote
Thom Vs. David Bier: Employers as Immigration Agents?
True The Vote Sues the IRS
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 Would you like to help give a child with a very troubled background this feeling of peace? Thom and Louise Hartmann founded the New England Salem Children's Village (NESCV) in New Hampshire in 1979. With states delaying payment for the children they entrust to the village, they need help with cash flow. Can you help? Now on Facebook. |
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