Keeping American businesses in business

[UNI88]

One of Cap'n's comments on the Haircut thread made me think about this commentary from the CEO of Caterpillar.

No, it's just another of those stupid ass jokes you get on e-mail from your fat, retired, Conk uncle, or something. Not entertaining in the least.

Bitching about and making fun of the government - how fresh an idea!!!!

With midterm elections coming up, you are sure to hear some politicians vilify big business. Big business has become an easy target for politicians who love sound bites about "the decline of American manufacturing." This rhetoric is counterproductive and could lead to dangerous policies that could harm the competitive position of American companies.

The U.S. tax code is a prime example of an area where we have an opportunity to make or break our economic recovery. Businesses in the U.S. need tax reforms that give us a level playing field around the world. When companies invest in the U.S., they face a tax rate that on average is 57 percent higher than other developed countries, as well as China. To make matters worse, Congress just passed a set of tax increases that will make it cost prohibitive for Caterpillar Inc. to bring our foreign earnings back to invest in our U.S. operations, including in Illinois.
...
And while Congress is moving in a decidedly wrong direction on areas like tax policy, it remains stalled in discussions about true job creation opportunities. Take, for instance, patent reform. A strong, efficient patent system, including a well-funded patent office, is critical to promoting and protecting American innovation. However, in today's world, where speed to market is of the essence, American inventors wait an average of three years for a patent grant, even longer for some technologies.
...
Another economic recovery opportunity is the enactment of international free trade agreements. Caterpillar has a long history of advocacy for free trade, a powerful means for economic growth and global engagement. The facts support our position — the United States has a large trade surplus in manufacturing goods with the 17 countries with which the U.S. has free trade agreements. It's no coincidence.
...

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/opin ... 6051.story

[native]

...Another economic recovery opportunity is the enactment of international free trade agreements. Caterpillar has a long history of advocacy for free trade, a powerful means for economic growth and global engagement. The facts support our position — the United States has a large trade surplus in manufacturing goods with the 17 countries with which the U.S. has free trade agreements. It's no coincidence.
...

QFT

[kalm]

If Enron payed no federal income tax for 5 years, and Exxon actually got money back a couple of years ago, I wonder what our effective corporate income tax rate is?

Don't get me wrong, I don't blame CAT for wanting to pay less in taxes and we should be providing tax incentives to protect domestic manufacturing, but I wonder where many of these large businesses would be without all the advantages they've received over the years growing their companies in the greatest economic machine in the history of world, supported by, you guessed it - taxes.

I suppose now, since they've got there's, it's simply a race to the bottom to see which countries will whore themselves off the most at the expense of their people. All's fair I guess.

[houndawg]

One of Cap'n's comments on the Haircut thread made me think about this commentary from the CEO of Caterpillar.

No, it's just another of those stupid ass jokes you get on e-mail from your fat, retired, Conk uncle, or something. Not entertaining in the least.

Bitching about and making fun of the government - how fresh an idea!!!!

With midterm elections coming up, you are sure to hear some politicians vilify big business. Big business has become an easy target for politicians who love sound bites about "the decline of American manufacturing." This rhetoric is counterproductive and could lead to dangerous policies that could harm the competitive position of American companies.

The U.S. tax code is a prime example of an area where we have an opportunity to make or break our economic recovery. Businesses in the U.S. need tax reforms that give us a level playing field around the world. When companies invest in the U.S., they face a tax rate that on average is 57 percent higher than other developed countries, as well as China. To make matters worse, Congress just passed a set of tax increases that will make it cost prohibitive for Caterpillar Inc. to bring our foreign earnings back to invest in our U.S. operations, including in Illinois.
...
And while Congress is moving in a decidedly wrong direction on areas like tax policy, it remains stalled in discussions about true job creation opportunities. Take, for instance, patent reform. A strong, efficient patent system, including a well-funded patent office, is critical to promoting and protecting American innovation. However, in today's world, where speed to market is of the essence, American inventors wait an average of three years for a patent grant, even longer for some technologies.
...
Another economic recovery opportunity is the enactment of international free trade agreements. Caterpillar has a long history of advocacy for free trade, a powerful means for economic growth and global engagement. The facts support our position — the United States has a large trade surplus in manufacturing goods with the 17 countries with which the U.S. has free trade agreements. It's no coincidence.
...

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/opin ... 6051.story

Same old same old. We can't compete without help from the guvmint


Patent reform.