> Date: Fri, 11 Oct 1996 15:13:53 -1000 > From: Jay Hanson <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > To: Cybernews Publish listserv <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > Subject: CEOs DEMAND CORPORATE WELFARE (fwd) > > Date: Fri, 7 Jun 1996 10:16:35 -0400 (EDT) > From: Janice Shields <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > Subject: CEOs Want Balanced Budget; Won't Give Up Corporate Welfare > > > CEOs DEMAND BALANCED BUDGET BUT WON'T GIVE UP > CORPORATE WELFARE > > > CEOs of 91 companies signed a letter to President Clinton, > Senate Majority Leader Dole, House Speaker Gingrich and all members > of Congress last December, calling on the President and Congress to > balance the budget. Consumer advocate Ralph Nader responded by > sending letters to all of the signatories of the CEOs' letter, > asking them to identify federal subsidies and tax breaks that > benefit their corporations and to select the subsidies and tax > expenditures that the CEOs would agree to begin to forego > immediately in order to help balance the budget. More than five > months later and after Ralph Nader's Corporate Welfare Project > contacted a second time the signatories to the balanced budget > letter, none of the 91 CEOs have identified even one federal > subsidy or tax break that their companies would give up to help > balance the budget. > > "This is the ultimate form of corporate hypocrisy," said Ralph > Nader. "Wealthy CEOs demand a balanced budget, but refuse to take > their snouts out of the federal corporate welfare trough," added > Nader. > > Ralph Nader pointed out in his letter to the CEOs that if > Congress abolished only five subsidies* for corporations, $5.12 > billion in federal spending would be saved in fiscal year 1996. If > only five tax breaks* for businesses were eliminated, $46.4 billion > in additional federal revenue would be collected in 1996. These > ten subsidies and tax breaks will total $51.52 billion in 1996; in > its annual report, Aid for Dependent Corporations (AFDC), the > Corporate Welfare Project identified 153 examples of 1995 federal > corporate welfare totalling $167 billion. > > The Corporate Welfare Project has identified several examples > of subsidies and tax breaks enjoyed by specific companies whose > CEOs were signatories to the balanced budget letter. For example, > Eastman Kodak was able to reduce its 1995 U.S. taxes by $37 million > due to export sales and manufacturing tax credits; Kodak's 1995 > profits were $1.252 billion. Chevron had deferred payment of more > than $4 billion in taxes as of the end of its 1995 fiscal year, by > using accelerated depreciation; Chevron's 1995 profits were $930 > million. Union Carbide received $200 million in Overseas Private > Investment Corporation insurance in 1995 for its investment in > Kuwait; Union Carbide's 1995 profits were $925 million. > AlliedSignal was awarded an Advanced Technologies Program grant for > $1.2 million in 1995; AlliedSignal's 1995 profits were $875 > million. "CEOs of profitable corporations call for balancing the > federal budget, but won't give up their federal subsidies and tax > breaks," said Janice Shields, Coordinator of Ralph Nader's > Corporate Welfare Project. "Does this mean that these wealthy CEOs > want the budget balanced on the backs of low and moderate income > families?," she asked. > > *The subsidies come from the Export-Import Bank, the Overseas > Private Investment Corporation, the Export Enhancement Program, the > Market Promotion Program and the Foreign Military Financing > Program. The tax breaks include accelerated depreciation, reduced > rates on the first $10 million of corporate taxable income, the > exception to the source rule for the sale of inventory property, > tax credits for corporations with income in U.S. possessions and > expensing rather than amortizing research and development costs. > > ### > > TO SUBSCRIBE TO THE CORPORATE WELFARE LIST: > > Send message to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > In the message section, write: > > Subscribe Corporate-Welfare YourFirstName YourLastName > > ----- > Janice Shields > Center for Study of Responsive Law > P.O. Box 19367, Washington, DC 20036 > 202-387-8030 | Internet: [EMAIL PROTECTED] >
