February, 07 2013, 03:16pm EDT
For Immediate Release
Contact:
Nicole Tichon, Tax Justice Network USA, nicole@tjn-usa.org, 202-758-9552
Rebecca Wilkins, Citizens for Tax Justice, rwilkins@ctj.org, 202-299-1066 x 32
Dan Smith, U.S. Public Interest Research Group, dsmith@pirg.org, 202-461-3822
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Stop Big Corporations from Shipping Jobs and Profits Overseas
Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-Ill.) introduce Corporate Tax Fairness Act
WASHINGTON
Today, Senator Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Representative Jan Schakowsky (D-Ill.) introduced a powerful piece of legislation to address the use of overseas tax havens by corporations to avoid paying taxes. The Corporate Tax Fairness Act would end the system that gives corporations tax breaks for shifting operations and profits overseas.
At a press conference with Sen. Sanders earlier today, members of the Financial Accountability and Corporate Transparency coalition, including the AFL-CIO and Citizens for Tax Justice, as well as a Vermont-based small business owner lent their support to the legislation.
The Financial Accountability and Corporate Transparency coalition also sent a letter to lawmakers today urging them to support the Corporate Tax Fairness Act. An excerpt reads:
Policy solutions such as those in the Corporate Tax Fairness Act would not only raise nearly $600 billion in revenues, but also would level the playing field for domestic businesses, both large and small, and keep jobs right here in the U.S. Additionally, by closing these corporate tax loopholes we send a message around the globe that corporate tax avoidance is unacceptable whether it be in the developing or developed world.
Dan Smith, Tax and Budget Advocate with U.S. PIRG and member of FACT stated, "America's largest companies use accounting gimmicks to make their U.S. profits magically appear on the books of bogus shell companies in tax havens like the Cayman Islands. Everyday taxpayers foot the bill for corporate tax dodging in the form of cuts to public programs, more debt, or higher taxes. This legislation tackles the heart of the problem by ending incentives to shift profits offshore."
It is also clear that there is broad support among American voters for closing offshore tax loopholes to deal with budget problems.
In a December 2012 national poll conducted by the Mellman Group and commissioned by Friends of the Earth U.S., American voters said that they overwhelmingly favor closing offshore tax havens as a way of addressing our national budget problems. Support for this proposal was high across party and ideological lines, as well as gender, race, educational background and region.
Respondents were asked: "To help solve our budget problems, do you favor or oppose closing loopholes that allow corporations to declare profits in foreign countries that have a lower tax rate?" Fully three-quarters of voters favored the proposal with nearly two-thirds favoring it strongly.
Karen Orenstein, international policy analyst at Friends of the Earth U.S. said, "Extreme weather events rooted in climate change -- including flood, drought, fire and superstorms like Sandy -- are destroying the lives and livelihoods of millions of people around the world, and taking an untold economic toll. Cracking down on corporate tax dodgers would make billions of dollars available for essential public services, including a fair U.S. contribution to help developing countries deal with climate change."
The FACT coalition has made several reports, resources and survey results available that make the case that corporate loopholes are raiding the U.S. Treasury, hurting small businesses and are kept in place by hefty campaign contributions and lobbying.
A copy of the Friends of the Earth poll on offshore tax havens can be found here.
Read the FACT sheet on tax haven abuse by the numbers.
Read Corporate Tax Dodgers -- 2008 - 2010 -- Citizens for Tax Justice.
Read the Small Business Survey Results on Tax Reform -- American Sustainable Business Council, Main Street Alliance and Small Business Majority.
Read Loopholes For Sale -- U.S. PIRG and CTJ Report.
The FACT Coalition includes a broad range of organizations with an interest in seeing tax loopholes closed due to their impact on jobs, critical programs, small businesses, human rights, corruption and national security. The FACT coalition seeks to achieve greater financial accountability and transparency within financial institutions, corporations and government.
Friends of the Earth fights for a more healthy and just world. Together we speak truth to power and expose those who endanger the health of people and the planet for corporate profit. We organize to build long-term political power and campaign to change the rules of our economic and political systems that create injustice and destroy nature.
(202) 783-7400LATEST NEWS
Sanders, Booker, and Welch Unveil Ban on Junk Food Ads Targeting Kids
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A trio of U.S. senators on Friday introduced what's being billed as first-of-its-kind legislation sponsors say will "take on the greed of the food and beverage industry and address the growing diabetes and obesity epidemics" with a federal ban on junk food ads targeting children.
The Childhood Diabetes Reduction Act—introduced by Sens. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Cory Booker (D-N.J.), and Peter Welch (D-Vt.)—would also require warning labels "on sugar-sweetened foods and beverages; foods and beverages containing non-sugar sweeteners; ultra-processed foods; and foods high in nutrients of concern, such as added sugar, saturated fat, or sodium."
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As the senators noted:
Today, more than 35 million Americans are struggling with type 2 diabetes—90% of whom are overweight or obese. These crises go hand-in-hand and children are severely impacted. Today, 1 out of 5 five kids are living with obesity. A serious illness unto itself, diabetes is also a contributing factor to heart disease, stroke, amputations, blindness, and kidney failure. Unless the U.S. dramatically changes course, these numbers will continue to grow exponentially.
The impact on the economy is enormous: Last year, the total cost of diabetes exceeded $400 billion, approximately 10% of overall U.S. healthcare expenditures.
Meanwhile, the U.S. food and beverage industry spends about $14 billion annually on marketing unhealthy products, with $2 billion of that spent on advertising these products to children.
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"This is the reality that extreme Republicans call 'pro-life.'"
"One year after submitting the request, the federal government agreed to release only some complaints and investigative documents filed across just 19 states," the AP's Amanda Seitz reported. "The names of patients, doctors, and medical staff were redacted from the documents."
"One woman miscarried in the lobby restroom of a Texas emergency room as front desk staff refused to admit her," the journalist detailed. "Another woman learned that her fetus had no heartbeat at a Florida hospital, the day after a security guard turned her away from the facility. And in North Carolina, a woman gave birth in a car after an emergency room couldn't offer an ultrasound. The baby later died."
According to Seitz:
Emergency rooms are subject to hefty fines when they turn away patients, fail to stabilize them, or transfer them to another hospital for treatment. Violations can also put hospitals' Medicare funding at risk.
But it's unclear what fines might be imposed on more than a dozen hospitals that the Biden administration says failed to properly treat pregnant patients in 2022.
It can take years for fines to be levied in these cases. The Health and Human Services agency, which enforces the law, declined to share if the hospitals have been referred to the agency's Office of Inspector General for penalties.
Responding to the reporting on social media, journalist Jane Mayer declared, "This is barbaric."
Texas Poor People's Campaign said that women in the state "are being left to die in ER waiting rooms. We cannot let this policy violence against women continue. Please join us as we mobilize voters for the '24 election."
Going into November, abortion has been a key issue at the state and federal level. Supporters of reproductive freedom are working to advance various ballot measures while Democratic President Joe Biden's campaign has highlighted his support for abortion rights and the presumptive Republican nominee, former President Donald Trump, has bragged about his role in reversing Roe—he appointed three of the six justices behind the majority opinion.
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Slate's Mark Joseph Stern, who covers U.S. legal battles, noted that this "devastating and timely story" from Seitz comes "just days before the Supreme Court considers whether emergency rooms can legally force patients to the brink of death before terminating a failing pregnancy."
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Bush (D-Mo.) joined progressives including Reps. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.), Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.), and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) in opposing the legislation, with centrist Democratic Rep. James Clyburn of South Carolina also voting with the left-wing faction.
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