HERE'S A LIST OF AMERICAN COMPANIES WHO LEFT THE UNITED STATES TO AVOID PAYING TAXES

Via the Washington Post we get a list of American companies that have left the United States to avoid paying their fair share in taxes.

INVERSION YEAR	COMPANY NAME	TYPE	COUNTRY OF INCORPORATION	REVENUE
1983	McDermott International	Engineering	Panama	$2.7 billion
1994	Helen of Troy	Consumer Products	Bermuda	$1.3 billion (FY 2014)
1996	Triton Energy	Oil and Gas	Cayman Islands	Acq by Hess in '01
1996	Chicago Bridge & Iron (CBI)	Engineering	Netherlands	$11.1 billion
1997	Tyco International	Diversified Manufacturer	Bermuda	$10.6 billion
1997	Santa Fe International	Oil and Gas	Cayman Islands	Acq by Transocean in '07
1998	Fruit of the Loom	Apparel Manufacturer	Cayman Islands	private company
1998	Gold Reserve	Mining	Bermuda	N/A
1998	Playstar Corp.	Toys	Antigua	Acq by Premier Mobile in '06
1999	Transocean	Offshore Drilling	Cayman Islands	$9.4 billion
1999	White Mountain Insurance	Insurance	Bermuda	$2.3 billion
1999	Xoma Corp.	Biotech	Bermuda	$35.5 million
1999	PXRE Group	Insurance	Bermuda	Acq by Argonaut Group in '07
1999	Trenwick Group	Insurance	Bermuda	Acq by LaSalle Re Holdings in '00
2000	Applied Power	Engineering	Bermuda	Now called Actuant $494 million
2000	Everest Reinsurance	Insurance	Bermuda	$5.6 billion
2000	Seagate Technology	Data Storage	Cayman Islands	$14.4 billion
2000	R&B Falcon	Drilling	Cayman Islands	Acq by Transocean in '00
2001	Global Santa Fe Corp.	Offshore Drilling	Cayman Islands	Acq by Transocean in '07
2001	Foster Wheeler	Engineering	Bermuda	$559 million
2001	Accenture	Consulting	Bermuda	$28.6 billion (FY 2013)
2001	Global Marine	Engineering	Cayman Islands	Acq by Bridgehouse Capital in '04
2002	Noble Corp.	Offshore Drilling	Cayman Islands	$4.2 billion
2002	Cooper Industries	Electrical Products	Bermuda	Acq by Eaton in '12
2002	Nabor Industries	Oil and Gas	Bermuda	$1.6 billion
2002	Weatherford International	Oil and Gas	Bermuda	$15.2 billion
2002	Ingersoll-Rand	Industrial Manufacturer	Bermuda	$12.3 billion
2002	PricewaterhouseCoopers Consulting	Consulting	Bermuda	N/A
2002	Herbalife International	Nutrition	Cayman Islands	$4.8 billion (sales)
2005	Luna Gold Corp	Mining	Canada	$85.3 million
2007	Lincoln Gold Group	Mining	N/A
2007	Western Goldfields	Mining	N/A	Acq by New Gold in '09
2007	Star Maritime Acquisition Grp	Shipping	N/A	Now Star Bulk $69 million
2007	Argonaut Group	Insurance	Bermuda	$1.4 billion
2007	Fluid Media Networks	Music Distribution
2008	Tyco Electronics	Industrial Manufacturer	Switzerland	Now TE Connectivity $3.4 billion (FY '13)
2008	Foster Wheeler	Engineering	Bermuda	$3.3 billion
2008	Covidien	Healthcare	Ireland	$10.2 billion
2008	Patch International Inc	Oil and Gas	Canada
2008	Arcade Acquisition Group	Financial
2008	Energy Infrastructure Acquisition Group	Energy
2008	Ascend Acquisition Group	Electronics	N/A	Acq by Kitara Media in '13
2008	ENSCO International	Oil and Gas	United Kingdom	$4.9 billion
2009	Tim Hortons Inc	Restaurant Chain	Canada	$3.2 billion
2009	Hungarian Telephone & Cable Corp.	Telecommunications	Denmark	$219 million
2009	Alpha Security Group	Security	N/A
2009	Alyst Acquisition Group	Financial	N/A	Acq by China Networks Media in '09
2009	2020 ChinaCap Acquirco	Financial	N/A	Acq by Exceed Co. in '09
2009	Ideation Acquisition Grp	Private Equity	N/A	Acq by SearchMedia in '09
2009	InterAmerican Acquisition Grp	Business Management	N/A	Acq by Sing Kung Ltd in '09
2009	Vantage Energy Services	Offshore Drilling	Cayman Islands	$732 million
2009	Plastinum Polymer Tech Corp.	Industrial Manufacturer
2010	Valient Biovail	Pharmaceuticals	Canada	$5.7 billion
2010	Pride International	Offshore Drilling	United Kindom	Acq by Ensco in '11
2010	Global Indemnity	Insurance	Ireland	$319 billion
2011	Alkermes, Inc.	Biopharmaceutical	Ireland	$575 million
2011	TE Connectivity	Industrial Manufacturer	Switzerland	$13.3 billion
2011	Pentair	Water Filtration	Switzerland	$7.5 billion
2012	Rowan Companies	Oil Well Drilling	United Kindom	$1.5 billion
2012	AON	Insurance	United Kindom	$11.8 billion
2012	Tronox Inc	Chemical	Australia	$1.9 billion
2012	Sara Lee Corp	Consumer Goods	Netherlands	Now Hillshire Brands $3.9 billion
2012	Jazz Pharmaceuticals / Azur Pharma	Pharmaceuticals	Ireland	$872 million
2012	D.E. Master Blenders	Coffee	Netherlands	$3.5 billion
2012	Stratasys	Printer Manufacturer	Israel	$486.7 million
2012	Eaton/Cooper	Power Management	Ireland	$22 billion
2012	Endo Health Solutions	Pharmaceuticals	Ireland	$2.6 billion
2013	Liberty Global PLC	Cable Company	United Kindom	$17.3 billion
2013	Actavis / Warner Chilcott	Pharmaceuticals	Ireland	$8.7 billion
2013	Perrigo/Elan	Pharmaceuticals	Ireland	$3.5 billion (FY 2013)
2013	Cadence Pharmaceuticals	Pharmaceuticals	Ireland	$110 million
2014	Mallinckrodt Pharmaceuticals	Pharmaceuticals	Ireland	$2.2 billion
2014	Chiquita Brands	Produce	Ireland	$3 billion
2014	Medtronic	Pharmaceuticals	Ireland	$16.5 billion

SOURCE: Source: Ways and Means Committee Democrats. GRAPHIC: Danielle Douglas - The Washington Post. Published Aug. 6, 2014.

- Mark

UPDATE: Here's the story of Caterpillar, who's avoided more than $2.4 billion in U.S. taxes since it moved its corporate offices to Switzerland (where 65 employees out of Caterpillar's 133,000 global workforce work). 

BOEHNER DRINKING HIS LUNCH (AGAIN)?

From last week. The only thing missing here is the tin hat ...

- Mark

AMERICA'S BENGHAZI REALITY

At the end of the day, the real story in Benghazi will still be ignored by the far right.

Worse, these numbers probably won't change much either ...

Sigh ...

- Mark 

WEEKLY READING (August 5, 2014)

Marilyn Monroe passed away 52 years ago today ... August 5, 1962.

Overdraft fees usually cost more than the item being bought (Huffington Post).

Outrageous vintage cigarette ads (CBS News).

The Russia that's being left behind (NY Times).

Health care costs in 2013 were lowest in a decade (Insurance Journal).


MARILYN MONROE NOTES
Marily Monroe changed the career of Ella Fitzgerald by telling the owner of Hollywood's popular - and segregated - Mocambo Club that if he booked Fitzgerald she would take a front table every night Ella played (Elephant Journal / Ellafitzgerald.com).

Was Marilyn really a size 16? Nope (Huffington Post).

The number of suicides increased in New York, and hit a record of 12 in one day, a week after Marilyn Monroe died (Vanity Fair).

THINGS WE SHOULD NOT BE PROUD OF ...

America's long history of immigrant scare mongering (Slate).

Total cost for the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq: Over $4 trillion, and counting (U.S. News & World Report).

Religious children have trouble distinguishing between magic and reality (Slate).

Republicans vote to kill American jobs by protecting tax breaks for firms that ship jobs overseas (ATTP).


EBOLA ON MY MIND
World Ebola fears grow with Europe and Asia on alert (Yahoo).

7 facts you should know about the Ebola outbreak (Vox).


GRAPHICS & VIDEO WORTH CHECKING OUT
Cool graphics ... your life in weeks (Huffington Post).

The richest person in each state is ... (Huffington Post).

Understanding the Sunni-Shia Divide (Council on Foreign Relations).


MEANWHILE IN CRAZYLAND
President Obama using Obamacare and "Obamaphones" to recruit Central American kids to become child soldiers (Right Wing Watch).

President Obama ignores persecution of Christians (and hates them too) because Malcom X just might be his father (World Net Daily).

Watch seccessionist Maryland Republican sing "Dixie" with fellow secessionists (Gawker).

Louisiana Republican flees interview when asked about Obama's birthplace (Yahoo).


MORE CRAZY TALK
Furious at being called "crazies" Republicans go crazy(er) and sue President Obama (The New Yorker).

George Zimmerman claims to be a security guard, except the owner of the store he's guarding says he's not (Gawker).

Rick Scarborough: God would be perfectly justified in nuking America over gay ambassadors (Right Wing Watch).

Want to know the exact day the world will end? Then send $5 to World Net Daily (Right Wing Watch).


MISCELLANEOUS
The Pentagon claims to have successfully tested self-guided bullets (Business Insider).

7-body language tricks to make anyone like you (Business Insider).

Lies from the World Bank and the IMF, on parade (Nation of Change).

The big lie of the day: Republicans balance budgets (National Memo).

House conservatives buck new leadership on border bill (U.S. News).

- Mark 

THE MORAL CRISIS OF OUR AGE

- Mark

SOME OF THE MOST IGNORANT STATEMENTS MADE BY THE FAR RIGHT ABOUT THE CHILD REFUGEES

For many conservatives, America is no longer a place where the world can send "your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free." In fact, there's a xenophobic strain running through our nation's conservative population that reminds me of America's 19th century "Know Nothings" - a group of people who would have blocked America off from the rest of the world long ago.

Today they want to re-write the spirit of America.

As I read through all the ugliness coming from the most conservative and right wing elements of the Republican Party, one thing is clear: They don't understand American history, and pretty much have nothing but contempt in their hearts for anyone who doesn't look like "us" (whoever "us" are).

Anyways, here's a small collection of some of the most confounding and utterly ignorant statements made by the far right when it comes to dealing with the child refugees showing up on our border from Central America.

*****************

One of the more interesting statements comes to us from Texas.

Lone Star state representative Dennis Bonnen argues that there's a difference between allowing Central American refugees and displaced Hurricane Katrina students from Louisiana to attend schools in Texas. Teaching Louisiana students only required finding "a teacher who could do 'coonass' in English" while accommodating students from Central America requires a "higher marker" (whatever that means).

Via National Memo we get a list of the 5 worst things that politicians have said about Central America's child refugees. These three stick out:

* A Republican congressional candidate from Arizona was so wound up that he confused a bus load of kids from the YMCA for a bus carrying Central American kids. He told a TV news team how he saw "fear in their faces." The reporter had to tell candidate the bus was full of YMCA kids (National Memo2). 

* Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-TX) claims President Obama and the Democrats are really the ones waging a "war on women" because they are allowing migrants to enter when their only goal is to "sexually assault American women" (National Memo3). 

* Rep. Phil Gingrey (R-GA), who is a medical doctor and should know better, is upset because children from Central America are coming and will bring the "swine flu, dengue fever, Ebola virus, and TB" with them (National Memo4).

Perhaps the most repulsive comment comes from Rep. Rich Nugent (R-FL). Rep. Nugent is worried that the older kids hiding among the Central American hoards are importing a gang culture since, you know, "these kids have been brought up in a culture of thievery ... a culture of murder, rape" (National Memo5).

We also have Rep. Michelle Bachmann's (R-MN) insights on the dangers from the migrants that confront us all.

Rep. Bachmann claims people carrying Ebola and people from "terrorist nations" are now part of the immigrant "invasion" (Right Wing Watch). Worse, Rep. Bachmann is worried about Central American children getting licenses and driving into buses since an "illegal alien" in her state drove into a school bus and killed 4 innocent children (National Memo6).

There's more, but you get the point.

The "Know-Nothings" of our past are still here.

- Mark

TEDDY ROOSEVELT ON WAGES & SOCIETY

- Mark 

THE TWO FACES OF CORPORATE AMERICA ... AN ALLEGORY OF OUR ECONOMIC JECKYLL & HYDES

- Mark 

ANTI-AMERICAN, TAX DODGING, CORPORATE DESERTERS ... BY THE NUMBERS

Continuing from my previous post ...

Here's a chart from the Congressional Budget Office showing how many American firms have left the country (75) to avoid paying taxes in the U.S. over the past 30 years.

In the FYI Department: According to the Financial Times, by moving abroad firms have been able to stash at least $1 trillion away, and perhaps as much as $1.7 trillion. This is dead cash, though, since it can't be used to invest back in the United States, nor can it be redistributed back to shareholders.

Using figures from the CBO, Senator Bernie Sanders found that if just 29 U.S. corporations were to repatriate their tax avoiding dollars to the United States that the federal government could rake in about $128 billion (i.e. before the tax accountants and lawyers do their magic).

If all of the Fortune 100 brought back the more than $1.7 trillion it appears that the CBO suggests they have stashed abroad we're looking at about $500 billion in new tax revenue (or about what our federal deficit will be this year).

So, yeah, even though the bill is not retroactive - and probably won't pass - the "No Federal Contracts for Corporate Deserters Act" is a good idea that deserves broader discussion ... if no other reason than to shame the GOP for being corporate lackeys.

- Mark