A Word from Wallstreet

Wall St. thinking has made a visit all the way to the Tennessee hills. Sen. Bob Corker of the Baker Machine came to the area a few days ago talking the economy and answering questions.

  Corker says we need to lower the corporate tax structure from 35% to 23-29%. If you’re Wall St., every little bit helps !  Furthermore, Corker says we should not penalize companies with overseas operations, when they brought money earned overseas back to the United States.

  I don’t know if anyone asked Corker what the effective tax rate was for corporations. But, that would certainly be a good question. Our tax code is filled with “goodies” for the corporate world. That is why General Electric has no taxes to pay. I expect all this talk about eliminating loop holes in the tax code in exchange for a lower corporate rate will be met with resistance. Corporations don’t want you to mess with their tax advantages. They might just prefer to keep the higher rate.

  As for taxing overseas corporate earnings, the American government has written or implied legal and moral obligations. I don’t recall seeing where Coca Cola, Emerson Electric, or Wal-Mart had a floating navy or a State Dept. to support. It is a bad world out there and we have many advantages for American corporations.  Of course, corporations can always do like Halliburton and change their residence.

  You have to watch the corporations for tax angles. They spend a lot of money for good accountants and tax attorneys. It seems, you can always count on Wall St. to have their hand stuck out.

  The next time Corker comes to the area, I need to ask him some economic questions !