These 30 companies have paid a combined negative $10.6 Billion in taxes over the last 3 years while reaping massive profits...in other words they have received tax return checks despite earning a combined $163.7 Billion! Their highly paid lobbyists have bribed Congress to give them tax breaks the average US citizen would steal for.
The amount of money these company’s lobbyists slipped under the table averaged out to almost $1 million for each member of Congress. Who said favors come cheap? Citizens take heed…your elected "representatives" are selling their favors for much more than a song…
Wake Up America!
General Electric spent the most on lobbying - $84 million - and got the biggest tax breaks - $4.7 million
A report by a corporate watchdog group has revealed 30 major US corporations that spent more money to lobby Congress than they paid in federal taxes in 2008, 2009 and 2010.
Many of the companies are household names -- massive conglomerate General Electric, aircraft maker Boeing and telecommunications giant Verizon Communications, as well as a dozen local utility companies.
Verizon Communications, parent company of the wireless provider, was near the top of the list of lobbying influence and corporate tax breaks
Instead of adding to the federal government's coffers, tax payers actually gave these 30 companies $11 billion in rebates and refunds over three years despite $164 billion in profits, according to Public Campaign, a nonprofit interest group that seeks to reduce the power of corporate money in politics.
During the same period, these companies spent more than $475 million on lobbyists - both their own staffers and outside firms - and another $22 million on direct contributions to campaigns and parties.
Out of the 30 companies selected by Public Campaign, only one - the package carrier Federal Express - paid any taxes. FedEX shelled out just 1 percent of its profits for the period, well below the minimum corporate tax rate of 35 percent.
The biggest recipient of federal tax breaks was General Electric, which claimed a profit of about $10.5 billion and, instead of paying any taxes, received $4.7 billion in net rebates from the federal government.
Pacific Gas and Electric (PG&E), which supplies natural gas and electricity to two-thirds of California, raked in the second-biggest taxpayer payoff with slightly more than $1 billion. Verizon Communication raked in just shy of $1 billion in tax breaks.
These three companies also paid the most for lobbyists. GE spent $84 million, PG&E $79 million and Verizon Communications $52 million.
Public Campaign draws a straight line between the money spent on lobbying and the taxes that these companies avoided.
"At a time when millions of Americans are still unemployed and millions more make tough choices to get by, these companies are enriching their top executives and spending millions of dollars on Washington lobbyists to stave off higher taxes or regulations," the group's report says.
Several major utility companies, which are government-regulated monopolies in their markets, top the list. In addition to PG&E, they include: American Electric Power - an electric company with customers in nine states across the country, Potomac Electric Power Company - the utility provider for Washington, DC and CenterPoint Energy - which operates in six states in the Midwest and southwest.
In all, 12 of the 30 companies on the list are utilities that provide electricity and natural gas to homes and businesses around the nation.
Companies That Spent More On Lobbyists Than They Paid In Taxes
Company | US Profits | Taxes Paid | Lobbying Expense |
General Electric | $10.46 billion | - $4.737 billion | $84.35 million |
PG&E | $4.855 billion | - $1.027 billion | $78.99 million |
Verizon Comm. | $32.518 billion | - $951 million | $52.34 million |
Wells Fargo | $49.37 billion | - $681 million | $11.04 million |
American Electric | $5.899 billion | - $545 million | $28.85 million |
Pepco Holdings | $882 million | - $508 million | $3.76 million |
Computer Sciences | $1.666 billion | - $305 million | $4.39 million |
CenterPoint Energy | $1.931 billion | - $284 million | $2.65 million |
NiSource | $1.385 billion | - $227 million | $1.83 million |
Duke Energy | $5.475 billion | - $216 million | $17.47 million |
Boeing | $9.735 billion | - $178 million | $52.29 million |
NextEra Energy | $6.403 billion | - $139 million | $9.99 million |
Con. Edison | $4.263 billion | - $127 million | $1.79 million |
Paccar | $365 million | - $112 million | $760,000 |
Integrys Energy | $818 million | - $92 million | $710,000 |
Wisconsin Energy | $1.725 billion | - $85 million | $2.45 million |
DuPont | $2.124 billion | - $72 million | $13.75 million |
Baxter International | $926 million | - $66 million | $10.45 million |
Tenet Healthcare | $415 million | - $48 million | $3.43 million |
Ryder System | $627 million | - $46 million | $960,000 |
El Paso Corp. | $4.105 billion | - $41 million | $2.94 million |
Honeywell | $4.903 billion | - $34 million | $18.3 million |
CMS Energy | $1.292 billion | - $29 million | $3.48 million |
Con-Way | $286 million | - $26 million | $2.29 million |
Navistar | $896 million | - $18 million | $6.31 million |
DTE Energy | $2.551 billion | - $17 million | $4.37 million |
Interpublic Group | $571 million | - $15 million | $1.30 million |
Mattel | $1.02 billion | - $9 million | $840,000 |
Corning | $1.977 billion | - $4 million | $2.81 million |
FedEx | $4.247 billion | $37 million | $50.81 million |
Total | $163.79 Billion | - $10.6 Billion | $475.67 Million |
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