Democrats Giving Out Lessons On How To Mislead On Tax Policy
The Government Accountability Office published a report recently that had Democrats steaming about corporations not paying their fair share of taxes. The problem? The report didn’t say what the Democrats wanted us to believe it said.
The report had the unassuming title of ``Comparison of the Reported Tax Liabilities of Foreign- and U.S.-Controlled Corporations, 1998-2005.’’ It is hard to imagine that such a dry topic could set off a firestorm, but it did.
The problem was the first chart in the report. It showed that 60 percent to 70 percent of companies in the U.S. pay no taxes. That led to an Associated Press story with the startling headline, ``Most Companies in U.S. Avoid Federal Income Taxes,’’ and to a frenzy of business bashing by leading Democrats.
Byron Dorgan, the Democratic senator from North Dakota, said in a statement, ``It’s shameful that so many corporations make big profits and pay nothing to support our country.’’ House Speaker Nancy Pelosi piled on, arguing that the data revealed a fundamental unfairness in the U.S. system, and called for reform.
``When two-thirds of corporations pay no taxes,’’ Pelosi said, ``American workers are forced to pay too much in taxes even as they cope with rising prices and falling wages.’‘
The study seemed to play right into the Democratic us- against-them playbook. Evil corporations rake in the cash and then play dirty tricks to avoid taxes. That leaves the little guy with the bill for our government.
The problem is, the study showed no such thing.
So the Democrats either didn’t read past the first page of the report or they did and decided to lie to Americans about it.
Either way, the biggest why our tax code is broken is that Democrats treat American businesses as though they were the enemy.
