Corporations Are People, Too

There was a big to-do several years ago when General Electric reported a billions in profits yet paid zero Federal income tax. “Those deductions that we took were valid. We paid no more than was due like any good corporate citizen. (Those Congressmen that we bought off came through in writing the Tax Code that gave us those deductions, but don’t tell anyone).

Then, Trump’s 2017 tax cut really paid off for American corporations. Their maximum tax rate was reduced from 36% to 21%. Corporate America received a cool $150 million back from Uncle Sam on every $1 billion in profits. Now, Trump’s “Project 2025” proposes further reducing the maximum corporate tax rate to 15% (or maybe even lower! Keep those “dark money”contributions to the Trump campaign rolling in and we’ll see what we can do! Contribute $1 billion and you can drill anywhere you want except maybe Mar-a-Lago!)

We should be kind to our corporations. As Mitt(ens) Romney said during the 2012 campaign, “Corporations are people, too.”

No they aren’t, Mitt(ens). People have empathy. Corporations don’t.

An article in yesterday’s local paper noted that Gardner Cryogenics in Bethlehem, a subsidiary of Air Products, went on strike this week. Gardner’s employees are skilled machinists and welders currently earning $25 to $36 per hour. The top guys make about $6 K per month before taxes. Take home pay is about $4 K per month. Air Products decided to smack Gardner employees with a $10 K annual medical insurance premium for the same coverage that they have now. Take home pay is now 20% less than it was before.

By the way, Air Products made about $2 billion in profit last year.

If corporations are people, they are dicks.

By Ed Dufton