I love U2 - and really like this album (I bought the remastered JT instead on the day it came out)
but
I (and I know this has been discussed in at least one other thread here) am more than a little annoyed at Bono for seeming to take a do as I say not as I do asking money from me (through my government) when he seems to do whatever it takes to avoid paying his share:
Bono Criticizes Canadian Government
Apr 26, 2005
Bono, lead singer for U2, took the Canadian government to task in a radio interview, citing lagging contributions to international aid.
Although U2’s on tour to support its most recent, How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb (Interscope) (read Aversion’s review), the outspoken rocker used his air time to level critique at Canadian Prime Minister Paul Martin in a Canadian Broadcasting Company interview. Martin hasn’t increased Canada’s aid contribution contributions to match the country’s growing GNP, as he previously promised.
Bono gave the number to Martin’s office to listeners and urged them to call and complain.
Fast-forward to 2006 and he does something that really seems to be against what he is asking of me:
Dublin, Ireland - The band that loves to rail against global corporate malfeasance is being criticized at home over allegations of tax dodging.
U2, whose new album, "No Line on the Horizon," is being released Tuesday in the United States, has lately found itself the focus of protests in Dublin over global tax avoidance.
The controversy stems from 2006, when the band moved its publishing company to the Netherlands to avoid a potential multi-million-euro tax bill after the Irish government capped artists' tax-free earnings at €250,000 ($315,000). By basing its operations in Amsterdam, U2 is only liable for a nominal royalty tax.
"U2 might publicly support development aid to Africa, but it is taking advantage of the same tax avoidance schemes that multinational companies use to deprive developing countries of important revenue," says Hans Zomer, director of Dóchas, an association of Irish development organizations. A report by Christian Aid, titled "Death and Taxes," estimates that developing countries lose $160 billion per year through multinational corporations' shifting of profits to avoid tax.
I understand that this is a business decision that affects all of U2 - not just Bono. But if he is going to ask COUNTRIES to give more, why shouldn't he have resisted and had U2 not move their business to avoid paying taxes that go to the causes he is asking others to give more to?
