CORPORATE WELFARE - “I don’t care if it’s legal,” Obama declared. “It’s wrong.”

Obama wants limits on tax-driven mergers by US companies overseas

AP - July 24,2014

Caribbean Business

LOS ANGELES — Staking out a populist stand ahead of the midterm elections, President Barack Obama on Thursday demanded “economic patriotism” from U.S. corporations that use legal means to avoid U.S. taxes through overseas mergers.

“I don’t care if it’s legal,” Obama declared. “It’s wrong.”

Obama and congressional Democrats are pushing to severely limit such deals, a move resisted by Republicans who argue the entire corporate tax code needs an overhaul. At issue are companies that enter into arrangements with foreign companies, shifting their tax addresses overseas while retaining their U.S. headquarters.

“They’re technically renouncing their U.S. citizenship. They’re declaring they are based someplace else even though most of their operations are here,” Obama said at a technical college in Los Angeles. “You know, some people are calling these companies corporate deserters.”
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