Nebraska Republicans Support Corporate Tax Evasion

That's right.  When Johanns, Fortenberry, Terry and Smith voted for the Paul Ryan budget plan,  they all voted in favor of allowing corporations to shift their profits to overseas tax havens in order to avoid paying taxes in the U.S. (GOP Senate front runner Jon Bruning is also a supporter of the Ryan plan.) That's because there is a provision tucked away in the Paul Ryan budget plan called a "territorial tax" that is getting virtually no attention.  Just what is a territorial tax and why should we be concerned about it?

Under a territorial tax system, the offshore profits of a U.S. corporation would be exempt from U.S. taxes. The Ryan plan's territorial tax would encourage companies to shift all of their intellectual property out of the U.S. so that even if they actually earn profits in the U.S.,  they then can magically send those profits to some off shore tax have like the Cayman Islands. So even if they are making things here in the U.S., they`ll be able to move profits out of the country by moving their intellectual property out of the country.  In other words, the Ryan plan would allow U.S. corporations to disguise U.S. profits as foreign profits. The IRS would then never see a dime of U.S. corporate profits and corporations would pay the low corporate rates they pay in notorious foreign tax havens like Switzerland and Luxembourg.  

Tax experts also say that the Ryan plan's territorial tax would give corporations a greater incentive to shift actual operations - and American jobs - to other countries.  

The losers in the Ryan plan's territorial tax are the workers, farmers and senior citizens of Nebraska.  Nebraskans would end up paying for this outrageous and unnecessary corporate welfare in the way of larger deficits and the cuts the Ryan plan makes in Medicare and programs that help the poor.  It's obvious that the Ryan plan radically redistributes income upwards.

Why in the world did the Nebraska Congressional delegation vote in favor of this free lunch for U.S. corporations which are making record profits?  Why does Bruning support this ridiculous give away?  Did these guys even read the bill?  Or is this corporate tax give away something they genuinely believe in?  It's time for the voters and the press to ask them about this vote and to get some answers.

It's obvious that once again, the likes of Bruning, Johanns, Fortenberry, Terry and Smith don't represent Nebraska values.  We all here believe in people paying their fair share of taxes, a secure retirement for seniors and a safety net for the less fortunate in our society.  It's clear that these radical Republicans either have rejected the values of the people who sent them to Washington or they negligently failed to read and understand the Ryan plan.  It's time for new leadership in Washington.  Let's send these guys home and replace them with Kerrey, Ewing, Howard and Reiman - who will truly represent us and our values in Washington.