Wingnut Blogosphere Screams ‘UN Conspiracy!’
I can hardly believe what I read over at Hot Air sometimes, and usually its from the lesser dunce, Tina Korbe, but today started on a weird note when the Editor-In-Chief decided to publish this ridiculous piece: Next great Obama administration idea: A ‘global minimum tax’.
So, let’s start with what Director of the National Economic Council said about Obama’s new tax reform plan that will be released:
‘He supports corporate tax reform that would reduce expenditures and loopholes, lower rates for people investing and creating jobs in the U.S., due so further for manufacturing, and that we need to, as we have the Buffett Rule and the individual tax reform, we need a global minimum tax so that people have the assurance that nobody is escaping doing their fair share as part of a race to the bottom or having our tax code actually subsidized and facilitate people moving their funds to tax havens,’ Sperling said.
The White House adviser then said that more details would be forthcoming, though ‘not in gory detail.’
This prompted the following thought provoking analysis from Mr. Morrissey:
Actually, it already sounds a little Gore-y … as in Al Gore and his push for a UN-run cap-and-trade system. Who, pray tell, would enforce this ‘global minimum tax’? If not the UN, then who? And what happens when emerging economies like China and India either don’t agree to the GMT or refuse to enforce it — as will be the case? These nations understand that it’s their job to make their economies competitive, not to render them neutral to investment. That’s a lesson that this administration and its Utopian globalists seem to have missed in three-plus years at the helm.
Instead of worrying about what the rest of the world is doing and proposing new taxes to handicap American firms, how about just fixing our own system to allow American firms to compete better? That’s only ‘a race to the bottom’ for those who see government confiscation as the measure of success.
Apparently there is a single definition of the word global that must mean applied world-wide. Of course, there’s no way of telling for sure, is there…?
“He was referring to our proposal in the Blueprint for an American Built to Last that removes tax incentives for companies that ship jobs overseas,” a White House official said.
Called the international minimum tax, the White House proposal aims “to eliminate tax incentives to ship jobs offshore by ensuring that all American companies pay a minimum tax on their overseas profits, preventing other countries from attracting American business through unusually low tax rates.” Essentially, it’s a domestic tax mechanism that would ensure American companies pay taxes on their overseas profits.
Regardless of this, the echo chamber goes all out. Don’t expect a retraction anytime soon.
BigGovernment - Obama Economic Adviser: ‘We Need a Global Minimum Tax’
ZeroHedge - White House Wish List: Minimum Global Tax & Financial Crisis Responsibility Fee
Brietbart - WH ADVISOR WANTS ‘GLOBAL MINIMUM TAX’
And, of course, Fox News - White House Economic Adviser: ‘We Need a Global Minimum Tax’