Taxing the Multinationals

Making News

One Budget Vote Down, One to Go ()

The budget bill passed yesterday by the Senate and Congress was advertised as cutting $38 billion. Now the Congressional Budget Office says just $352 million will be saved this year. But that’s not the only reason some Republicans are angry at Speaker John Boehner and some liberal Democrats want to challenge the President. David Lightman is a national correspondent for McClatchy Newspapers.

Guests:

• David Lightman: McClatchy Newspapers, @LightmanDavid

Main Topic

Taxing the Multinationals ()

One economics editor says Washington has been running a "fiscal clown show" for the past 10 years by spending more and taxing less. The report that General Electric earned more than $5 billion in profit while paying no taxes at all focused attention on multinational corporations. We hear how they do it, using laws approved by both parties in Congress that allow them to keep their money overseas. Congress could change those laws to help pay down the deficit. Should the world's super-power use its clout to get corporations to pay their fair share?

Guests:

• Daniel Gross: Yahoo Finance, @grossdm
• Jack Ciesielski: Analyst's Accounting Observer
• Edward Kleinbard: University of Southern California
• Ryan Ellis: Americans for Tax Reform
• Eric Schoenberg: Responsible Wealth

Links:

• Office of Management and Budget, Table 1.2
• Business Roundtable-Pricewaterhouse report on global effective tax rates

Reporter's Notebook

Gulf Coast 'Spillionaires' Cash In on BP Payments ()

BP got most of the blame for the Gulf oil spill, the worst in US history. The federal government gave the company control over the clean-up, and BP has spent $16 billion so far to make things right. A report by ProPublica, co-published with the Washington Post, says that gusher of money has created profiteers. ProPublica's Kim Barker explains how these "spillionaires" have cashed in while others got much less.

Guests:

• Kim Barker: ProPublica, @kim_barker