Tuesday - March 13, 2007

Moving Out

Fact #1: Companies move their corporate offices offshore to places like Bermuda every day to escape US taxes and allow them to compete with international companies who pay no US tax; Fact#2: Halliburton is moving where their clients are, not offshore to Bermuda so taxes are probably not their main reason for moving if they could just move to Bermuda which is much closer; Fact #3: Democrats have mercilessly harassed Halliburton from the day they found out Dick Cheney used to work there; Fact #4: What we really need to do is convince the bloviating Blotards in Congress to pack up and move themselves offshore - and slam the door behind them when they leave.

The Donks are at it again, pitching a hissy fit because their favorite whipping boy is packing up and moving out. Who will they harass now? No wonder they’re upset. The fact is that only about 10% of government revenue comes from corporate taxes, according to GAO figures. Nearly 80% comes from individual income taxes so unless the Halliburton employees decide to renounce their citizenship the tax revenue reduction will be negligible if even noticed at all in the giant $2 trillion bucket of money the government collects each year.

So what we have here is a tempest in a teapot, manufactured in whole by a political party that is totally bankrupt of ideas, divided and angry at everyone who refuses to accept them as overlords and masters. That would be Democrats. Of course they won’t stop Halliburton from moving out and they shouldn’t even try but their insane base expects them to bash anything associated with Bush/Cheney and so they scream, rant and yell at the EEEEVIL company and make all kinds of threats. Ain’t it sad to watch these alleged grownups behave like this ... ?

Halliburton’s Dubai Move Sparks US Political Ire
_{WASHINGTON (AFP) - Mon Mar 12, 5:44 PM ET}

Halliburton’s decision to move its base from Texas to Dubai sparked a political firestorm Monday as Senator Hillary Clinton and other top Democrats expressed outrage at the oil services giant. Halliburton, headed by Dick Cheney from 1995 to 2000 before he became vice president, said Sunday it was relocating to the United Arab Emirates to capitalize on the Gulf region’s booming energy market.

“Does this mean they are going to quit paying taxes in America?” asked Clinton, a US presidential candidate. “They get a lot of government contracts, is this going to affect the investigations that are going on? Because we have a lot of evidence of misuse of government contracts and how they have cheated the American soldier and cheated the American taxpayer,” Clinton, speaking in New York, said of Halliburton.

The firm and its former KBR subsidiary, which is being spun off, have endured several contracting controversies and investigations since Halliburton was awarded a no-bid 2.4 billion dollar contract to supply the US military on the eve of the US-led invasion of Iraq in 2003.

KBR agreed last year to pay the US government eight million dollars to settle fraud claims related to an Army supply contract. Halliburton’s Nigerian operations have also come under US government scrutiny in recent years. “It’s an example of corporate greed at its worst,” said Democratic Senator Patrick Leahy, chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee.

“At the same time they’ll be avoiding US taxes, I’m sure they won’t stop insisting on taking their profits in cold hard US cash,” Leahy charged. Halliburton spokeswoman Melissa Norcross said, however, that Halliburton would still remain incorporated in the United States and that there would be no layoffs as a result of its move.

“As such, we anticipate absolutely no tax benefits from this decision,” Norcross said. Halliburton’s chief executive, Dave Lesar, will move his office from Houston, Texas, to Dubai, but Norcross said other top officers would remain situated in Houston.

Halliburton said it was relocating to Dubai for business reasons and that Lesar would oversee a ramped-up effort to win regional oil services contracts and related business.

Democratic Senator Byron Dorgan said he would seek a congressional review of Halliburton’s announcement. “I want to know, is Halliburton trying to run away from bad publicity on their contracts? Or are they trying to set up a corporate presence in Dubai so that they can avoid the restrictions that currently exist on doing business with prohibited countries like Iran?” Dorgan questioned.

Karen Lightfoot, a spokeswoman for Democratic Congressman Henry Waxman, said the lawmaker might seek a hearing in the House of Representatives. “This is a surprising development. I want to understand the ramifications for the US taxpayer and national security,” Waxman, the chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, said.

- More ...

Posted by The Skipper     on 03/13/2007 at 08:06 AM   
Filed Under: • Democrats-Liberals-Moonbat Leftists • Middle-East •  
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