Soak the Rich: Apple

Sad to say, propping up America’s entitlement programs will require sacrifice from CEOs and corporations of all stripes. Even good hipster corporations like Apple will need to pay a “fair share” determined by capitalism-hating leftists. If Apple’s executives think the highest corporate tax rate in the developed world is enough, they’re in for a rude awakening!

Remember the depth of the fiscal hole the US government is in: a projected 2011 deficit of $1.62 trillion. You might say excess spending is to blame... if you’re a fascist right-wing nut! Excess spending is not the problem, because Senator Sherrod Brown and President Barack Obama have said so. No, America’s balance sheet is crooked because of greedy CEOs and corporations. Let’s redistribute some wealth!

Now Soaking: Apple

• CEO Timothy D. Cook’s compensation is listed as $58.19 million. Timothy has been an officer on the Apple board since 2002, so he’s got enough money. His $58,190,000 will help fund entitlements and economic “stimulus” programs.
• Apple’s income statement lists $4,527,000,000 in income taxes in 2010. That’s not nearly enough, but let’s be generous and simply double it. $4.527 billion more from Apple will help Sherrod Brown and Barack Obama continue the Keynesian spending that has been so successful these past few years.
• What was a $1,620,000,000,000 deficit has been trimmed to a more manageable $1,615,414,810,000 deficit.

Not to worry – doubling Apple’s income taxes won’t cause undue harm to the corporation’s 49,400 employees or the holders of its 924.8 million outstanding shares of common stock! Increasing Apple’s taxes by more than 1/4 of the corporation’s net income also won’t increase the price of laptops, MP3 players, or anything else. Burgling 100% of CEO Timothy D. Cook’s pay will not send the nation’s business leaders fleeing for safer shores.

We, The People who support Sherrod Brown’s fiscal policies, hold these leftist conceits to be self-evident.

Cross-posted at that hero.