The power suits making billions off the stock market are always trying to assure us that their trading serves a socially redeeming purpose. They steer money to companies and industries that make our economy more productive, they claim.

In reality, the majority of stock trading today has absolutely nothing to do with helping companies raise capital to innovate and create jobs. Thoughtful investors don’t drive today’s Wall Street. Computers do.

A sustainable, robust New Economy requires us to think more consciously about investing in the ‘good,’ e.g., what we value and need in society and avoiding investing in the ‘bad,’ which computers do because they are just programmed to make money — and occasionally end up crashing the system as they did in May 2010.

As the debate over taxes and revenues heats up this summer along with the temperatures, keep in mind this is not only an important source of potential new revenue but could save us all from another painful crash.

Risks of High Frequency Trading is an article on Wealth For Common Good.

There are so many things wrong with public policies that allow this to happen:

• The inequity it creates for the many domestic companies that do not have big offshore accounts in which to ‘park’ their earnings creates a very unlevel playing field
•  It contributes greatly to our underfunded governments that can no longer provide for the needs of the people and the planet to live healthy, sustainable lives.

As Chuck Collins and Scott Klinger point out in their recent article, Shortchanging America:

When the U.S. economy was healthier, corporations had multiple responsibilities. They provided their employees with good jobs, paid taxes that sustained their communities, and offered valued services to customers. Then, as now, they delivered dividends and profits to shareholders. Corporate leaders and managers understood that meeting these obligations were necessary for long-term success. They built their companies to last.

So much of what needs to be done to create a 21st Century nation can only be done as a community–at the local, state and federal level. Who doesn’t want a water system that provides clean drinking water, an electric grid that doesn’t fail constantly and schools with 21st Century technology, green energy and non-toxic environments where our children can learn and become 21st Century citizens of the world? We can only do that together.

Many corporations are finding angry protesters at their shareholders meeting and there are many reasons for this. Verizon is another recent example coming to light of a low/no tax corporation. Collins and Klinger point out that hopefully citizens will continue to protest until we all face the truth of what we need to do to turn things around:

The angry citizens who are raising their voices at annual shareholder meetings this spring understand that shifting the American business model back to “built-to-last” mode will require new rules that promote dignified work, fair taxes, and a smaller gap between CEO compensation and workers’ paychecks. Unless we change these rules, built-to-loot companies will be a national wrecking ball.

The public is far ahead of politicians in knowing we must end these distortions in our tax code. Let’s hope more of our political leaders begin to heed our voices.

Corporate Tax Rates Take Center Stage is an article on Wealth For Common Good.

By Scott Klinger and Sarah Anderson

Many American families will have paid more in federal income taxes than some of America’s largest and most profitable corporations. AT&T, Boeing, Citigroup, Duke Energy and Ford collectively reported more than $20 billion of US pre-tax income last year, yet none of them paid a dime in federal income taxes. Instead, they claimed refunds of more than $1.3 billion from the IRS.

These corporations are not alone in turning tax dodging into a competitive sport. Last year, US corporations paid an effective tax rate of just 12.1 percent, the lowest level in the last forty years, according to the Congressional Budget Office. Sixty years ago, when Republican President Dwight Eisenhower lived in the White House, corporations paid 32 percent of federal government’s tax receipts; last year they paid 9 percent.

Below are six examples of how large corporations have rigged the tax rules to ensure that those who have the most get to amass even more, at the expense of everyone else. Figuring out how to unrig them is not rocket science, but it will require strong public pressure on lawmakers to ensure that America’s most prosperous corporations pay their fair share.

Boeing’s Double Dip

In each of the past nine years, Boeing has reported at least $1 billion in pre-tax profits, yet in only one did it pay any US corporate income taxes. In fact, the aerospace giant got so much money in tax subsidies that it had an effective tax rate of -7.8 percent during this period.

One of the main reasons Boeing has avoided the taxman is that the rest of us subsidize their research and development spending. Last year this amounted to $137 million. Congress first passed the research and experimentation tax credit during the 1981 recession, intending to provide a temporary boost to America’s sagging economy. Though it has expired for short periods over the years, it has been renewed thirteen times, and Congress is presently considering making the tax credit permanent.

Government investment in basic research and development can be valuable, but the way the current tax credit is structured, much of the support goes to large well-resourced high-tech firms like Boeing that would have conducted the research anyway as a part of maintaining a vibrant business.

What’s particularly disturbing about the Boeing subsidies, however, is that the company already bills the Pentagon for research costs. The third largest defense contractor, Boeing has landed more than $54 billion in government contracts in the past nine years. So essentially, taxpayers are paying for the company’s research — twice.

GE’s Tax-Free Offshore Profits

General Electric employs 975 people to mine the tax code for every possible deduction. One of their IRS returns ran an awe-inspiring 57,000 pages. As a result, GE paid an effective tax rate of just 2.3 percent on more than $81 billion of US income over the last decade.

One of GE’s most lucrative tax breaks is dubbed “the active financing exception.” Under US tax law income earned from interest anywhere in the world is taxable in the United States. That is because interest is consider a “passive business activity” that is easily transferred from country to country. The active financing exception allows corporation that establish captive foreign finance subsidiaries to exclude interest they earn offshore from their US taxes. The 1997 subsidy was meant as a temporary measure to help US banks and manufacturers compete internationally.

General Electric’s lobbyists, who led the fight to create the subsidy, have made sure the “temporary” part was just a joke. Congress has renewed the exemption multiple times over the last fifteen years. And in the meantime, active financing has allowed GE to legally shift much of its US profits to overseas jurisdictions with lower taxes.

The active financing exception is one of sixty tax breaks, known as “tax extenders,” that expired last year. Congress is actively considering reauthorizing them, even while they also consider dramatic cuts to social programs.

AIG’s Stealth Bailout

In 2008, American International Group’s reckless uncovered bets helped lead the global economy to the brink of collapse. Taxpayers bailed out the rogue insurer to the tune of $182 billion.

Less well-known is a perk the US Treasury made available to AIG that allowed the company to retain its losses to offset against future profits. Tapping these tax losses allowed AIG to report more than $17 billion in tax-free profits in 2011, a move Elizabeth Warren, who chaired the TARP oversight panel, labeled a “stealth bailout.” “When the government bailed out AIG, it should not have allowed the failed insurance giant to duck taxes for years to come,” wrote Warren in a statement co-signed by three other panel members.

“This corporate tax break transfers public money to AIG’s private shareholders and inflates executive pay at AIG — both at the public’s expense,” added Damon Silvers, another member of the oversight panel. At least four of the executives who stand to benefit financially from the tax break were leading the company at the time of the massive failure.

Continued At The Nation

The Nation: Six Unfair Corporate Tax Rules is an article on Wealth For Common Good.

Recently, the New York Times interviewed Saez and Piketty on the growing inequality in the United States. “The United States is getting accustomed to a completely crazy level of inequality,” according to Mr. Piketty.  We agree.

Yesterday, we all paid our taxes acknowledging we are bound together in support of the common good. Some of us did not pay your fair share but not because you didn’t want to, but because the tax codes have been rigged to benefit the top 1-2% and the multinationals.

Consider writing a letter to the editor of your local newspaper, telling them why you support the Buffett Rule as a start, a beginning to renewed fairness in this country and to reducing the “radical, crazy levels of inequality” that exist today in the United States.

For talking points, contact Ann@wealthforcommongood.org

Economists Saez and Piketty, Inequality Experts, say Buffett Rule Just a Start is an article on Wealth For Common Good.

Watch ‘Patriotic Millionaires’ Lobby Congress for Higher Taxes on Rich on PBS. See more from PBS NewsHour.

Patriotic Millionaires Lobby Congress for Higher Taxes on Rich (Video) is an article on Wealth For Common Good.

The Buffett Rule bill will be voted on next Monday, April 16 – on the eve of Tax Day. Please call your two Senators today and urge them to vote for tax fairness and support S. 2230, The Paying a Fair Share Act.

** Call the US Capitol switchboard: 202-224-3121 **

Let your senators know you are a constituent and if you are business owner or leader of a business organization. Say that you value the public infrastructure and services that the Buffett Rule would help pay for. The real economy depends on strong communities, not tax breaks for the successful few. If you have prospered such that you would be subject to the new tax, let them know that and you are happy to pay it.

One objection to the Buffett Rule is that it will hurt job creators. If you are a business person, whether you will pay the tax or not, your opinion is valuable. Very few small business owners have incomes over $1 million. Senator need to hear from as many business people as possible.

• Ensure that taxpayers with more than $1 million in annual income paid at least as much as middle-class households in federal income taxes. More than 1,400 millionaires paid no federal income taxes in 2009 (most recent data). Thousands more used loopholes and preferential tax rates on capital gains and dividends to pay a fraction of what less well-off Americans pay.
• Phase-in an effective tax rate of at least 30 percent on incomes over $1 million. The full 30 percent rate does not kick in until income reaches $2 million. The bill also includes language to preserve the incentive for charitable giving.
• Senator Whitehouse noted, “The Joint Committee on Taxation has estimated that the bill would generate $47 billion in new revenue over the next decade. Other organizations have placed that estimate even higher, including Citizens for Tax Justice, which projected that the Buffett Rule would generate $171 billion over the same time period.”

Related Petition on Income Taxes

This petition calling on Congress to let the high-end Bush tax cuts expire is still open if you have not yet signed and would like to add your support.

CLICK HERE TO SIGN PETITION AGAINST HIGH-END TAX CUTS: Tell Congress and President Obama to let the Bush-era top bracket tax cuts for those with taxable incomes over $200,000 (individual) and $250,000 (couple) expire no later than Dec. 31, 2012, as now scheduled, without another extension.

Call Senators Today to Urge them to Support the Buffett Rule is an article on Wealth For Common Good.

The focus of the worldwide Occupy protests is creating a world that works for 99% of people and businesses, not just the richest and most powerful 1%. But who are the 99%? Who are the 1%? How extensive and systemic is inequality in different areas of society? What are its causes and consequence? How is inequality changing in our world? And what can be done about it?

You can catch him on the road as he goes on a nation wide book tour.

See more about the book and the tour dates here.

If you don’t see your town on the list, you petition him to come here.

A new book on inequality by Chuck Collins: 99 to 1 is an article on Wealth For Common Good.

• The Buffett Rule will soon come up for a vote in Congress.
• Americans are learning the truth about unequal treatment of wealth and work in our tax code—how capital gains and investment dividends get preferential treatment over income from work.
• A majority of all Americans, including a stunning 52% of Republicans, support raising taxes on the wealthy.

Now that’s progress!!! Our network of individuals like you, who have spoken out over and over, have made a big difference in getting these issues on the table—from kitchen tables to conference tables!

This is a critical moment for our work together.

This Spring, we will see a variety of visible actions – people speaking out, marching, and meeting with legislators.

How you can get involved:

• Join the Tax Day Rally in Washington, DC on April 17th. Wealth for the Common Good is part of a national coalition that is planning the event, and we are looking for a good turnout and visible solidarity between the 99% and the 1%. Visit the rally website for details.
• Write an Op-Ed. We’ve got the talking points all ready to go. You can draft your own and we’ll help edit and get it placed OR we will conduct a brief interview with you and draft a letter for your revision/approval. Contact Ann Manning at ann@wealthforcommongood.org.
• Participate in Creative Actions. The young people who launched We are the 1%. We stand with the 99% are cooking up some fun, consciousness-raising actions in cities around the country. Visit the campaign site, or you can contact Ann Manning at ann@wealthforcommongood.org.

Take Action this Tax Day is an article on Wealth For Common Good.