This senator is a super-sized douchebag.

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Doesn't seem to be a problem for presidents or prime ministers. Who cares ?
 
Tax evasion is probably wrong, unless you can get away with it. I'd do the same if I could get away with it.
 
Read my posts on U2 tax move thread. There is nothing wrong or hypocritical about what Bono or U2 did. In a nutshell, the bands company that handles royalties from radio play, album sales, etc, U2 LTD moved to the Netherlands to pay lower artist taxes. Only 1/3 of U2's income comes from this company, the rest they pay a good deal of taxes to Ireland on. Its not like they pay nothing to Ireland, they pay more than most Irish corporations pay to Ireland! Also, most of their money from album sales and royalties is earned outside of Ireland, so they should be able to base the business whereever they want. They earn the money all over, it is an international business, and they based it where the most favorable tax rate was. Nothing illegal or even wrong. The Netherlands gives a significantly greater portion of aid to Africa than does Ireland.

POLITICIANS like this guy always look to the media to help them score cheap political points off things that are completely untrue. Better than talking about the real issues, right? It should be clear given the state we are in as a country that most of these politicians do not know what the hell they are talking about. For example, we have the two weakest candidates, in terms of experience and ability, Hillary and Obama, up against another Bush, McCain, in what is the election that will determine whether we survive as a country or not. There is literally no margin for error. Look who gets kicked to the curb, the 2 BEST MOST QUALIFIED candidates in either party, Biden and Richardson. I digress just to show how stupid the whole process is, sorry! If that guy did any research at all, he would know Bono puts his money where his mouth is in terms of giving. He gives to charities, spends time in Africa helping, lends his fame to the One Campaign, Aids groups, you name it. He has given so much of his time, energy, and money to take risks to start businesses to help farmers and workers in the developing world, etc, I could go on and on, but everyone here knows this. Also, this guy is NOT a senator and will not be. His primary opponent, Merkel, is the real deal and is the guy who will win the seat.
 
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That was /awesome/. We should definitely elect our government officials according to how they feel about Bono. Seriously. :wink:


On a more serious note - I completely and totally agree with U2387's posts about their tax actions. Very well said :up:
 
U2387 said:
Read my posts on U2 tax move thread. There is nothing wrong or hypocritical about what Bono or U2 did. In a nutshell, the bands company that handles royalties from radio play, album sales, etc, U2 LTD moved to the Netherlands to pay lower artist taxes. Only 1/3 of U2's income comes from this company, the rest they pay a good deal of taxes to Ireland on. Its not like they pay nothing to Ireland, they pay more than most Irish corporations pay to Ireland! Also, most of their money from album sales and royalties is earned outside of Ireland, so they should be able to base the business whereever they want. They earn the money all over, it is an international business, and they based it where the most favorable tax rate was. Nothing illegal or even wrong. The Netherlands gives a significantly greater portion of aid to Africa than does Ireland.

POLITICIANS like this guy always look to the media to help them score cheap political points off things that are completely untrue. Better than talking about the real issues, right? It should be clear given the state we are in as a country that most of these politicians do not know what the hell they are talking about. For example, we have the two weakest candidates, in terms of experience and ability, Hillary and Obama, up against another Bush, McCain, in what is the election that will determine whether we survive as a country or not. There is literally no margin for error. Look who gets kicked to the curb, the 2 BEST MOST QUALIFIED candidates in either party, Biden and Richardson. I digress just to show how stupid the whole process is, sorry! If that guy did any research at all, he would know Bono puts his money where his mouth is in terms of giving. He gives to charities, spends time in Africa helping, lends his fame to the One Campaign, Aids groups, you name it. He has given so much of his time, energy, and money to take risks to start businesses to help farmers and workers in the developing world, etc, I could go on and on, but everyone here knows this. Also, this guy is NOT a senator and will not be. His primary opponent, Merkel, is the real deal and is the guy who will win the seat.
Click to expand...

Only a Democrat would besmirch a compassionate person for not paying "enough" taxes.

Republicans, on the other hand applaud Bono on this wise move to give him more freedom to do what he desires with the capital he earned, which if disclosed would probably be proved that Bono has donated more of his time, talent and money to charity, proportionately speaking than both of these fellows running combined.

Word.

dbs
 
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very true diamond.

i wrote this gentleman a letter. Taxes shouldn't be the basis of your giving. Personal responsibility and desire to help your fellow man should be what drives you.
 
diamond said:
Only a Democrat would besmirch a compassionate person for not paying "enough" taxes.
Click to expand...

I leave FYM and I STILL can't get away from the bullshit.
 
diamond said:


Only a Democrat would besmirch a compassionate person for not paying "enough" taxes.

Republicans, on the other hand applaud Bono on this wise move to give him more freedom to do what he desires with the capital he earned, which if disclosed would probably be proved that Bono has donated more of his time, talent and money to charity, proportionately speaking than both of these fellows running combined.

Word.

dbs
Click to expand...

As you may have guessed from my support of Biden and Richardson, I am a Democrat. The 'only a Democrat' comment is not true. I have heard mostly Republicans use Bono as an example of 'liberal hypocrisy.' Of course, Bono is doing good things with the capital he earns, not just Republicans, also Democrats, believe it or not, applaud that! Charity is not a one party thing, despite what some would have you believe. (Clinton donated $10million to charity since 2000) Of course, Bono has probably donated more time, money, etc than any of those real hypocrites running on either side! However, the fact of the matter is, Bono also advocates for government expenditures, which I support and Democrats are more likely to support than Republicans. He also insists on effective controls on corruption with the money and makes economic arguments for why we should use our tax dollars- we can reap the substantial benefits of increased trade and market activity when Africa is healthy, educated and productive. As a Democrat, I love that position- a combination of PERSONAL and GOVERNMENTAL responsibility that makes us all better off in the long run. I think what Democrats are mostly concerned about are US based companies using offshore Cayman tax loopholes to shelter profits that should be declared in the US. That is what they have given the most attention to- Charlie Rangell's tax reform of 2007, Hillary, Obama have spoken about this as an example of where not enough taxes are paid. This U2 LTD deal is so different from that I do not even know where to start- they changed where they were based, for one, were honest about it, and there is no loophole really being exploited, all it is is a legitimate move of headquarters to a more favorable tax climate. Nowhere near all of their money is made in Ireland. That is nothing like the egregious loopholes we have here that allow US based companies to pretend they are headquartered in a phone booth in the Caymans. The loopholes here that Democrats (and plenty of Republicans) are concerned about should be shut and we can use the money to cut the corporate tax rate for all businesses, as it is a little high compared to most countries. The present system distorts market incentives by having companies make investment decisions based on tax reasons rather than sound economic ones. The guy who made the comment about Bono is a conservative, anti tax Democrat who is bitching about Bono as some kind of 'liberal elite' who is just like all those calling for higher taxes in the US. In other words, a position more in line with Republicans these days!

Thats ok for that idiot, lets change the subject to Bono, who is paying his fair share of taxes to be sure, and forget about why we NEED a tax increase and responsible spending cuts now: 9 billion dollars in debt that I do not exactly want to pay w/ interest my whole life! We cant keep cutting taxes and increasing spending like the Republicans have done, we need to responsibly raise taxes to pay for all that we have put on the credit card. We have 2 wars going on, no draft, no sacrifice from anyone but the troops, just tax cuts, which is unprecedented. We need to pay for the war at some point. Republicans have brought us no tax cuts as they were not met with cooresponding spending cuts. All we have gotten is one major tax shift!

Bottom line: we need to choose between Bush's spending increases and tax cuts, we can not have both. Unless of course, we want to pay the bill with interest later. Something to ponder:
non partisan economists have estimated that $9 trillion in debt will ultimately leave us all with $70,000 less in net worth than if we had not had the debt! If I were rich, I would trade my $15,000 tax cut in to prevent a $70,000 loss of net worth, would you?
 
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GRRRRR people like that really piss me off.

Im not jumping into the politics of this seeing as i have no idea about American politics, but these statements alone have really upset me.

Do they not realise that this is a problem that needs to be tackled at a financial level by governments such as the USA NOT individuals like Bono!

What an Asshole! :wink:
 
The guy's guilty of hyperbole, yeah...but the base statement is true. Bono is a hypocrite on this particular issue. Not a big deal, it's not the worst thing to be...but I hope those who support what U2 did also support tax evasion in the business world, not just when it involves a band you like. Because otherwise, well, you're a hyp...never mind :wink:
 
quadcaster said:
GRRRRR people like that really piss me off.

Im not jumping into the politics of this seeing as i have no idea about American politics, but these statements alone have really upset me.

Do they not realise that this is a problem that needs to be tackled at a financial level by governments such as the USA NOT individuals like Bono!

What an Asshole! :wink:
Click to expand...

Very good! Agree 100%. Read my posts here and on U2 tax move thread to see why Bono as an individual is actually not a hypocrite.
 
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