It is now common knowledge that General Electric pays either nothing or very little in federal income tax on the profits it makes. It is also common knowledge that Jeffrey Immelt, the CEO of GE, is on the President’s job council and regularly advices the president on business. Crony capitalism is alive and well in the Obama administration.
Not long ago another billionaire businessman snuggled up to the crony in chief, Mark Zuckerburg was seen meeting with the President on numerous events. Today I came across an interesting story:
Even though Facebook (FB) reported $1.1 billion in pre-tax profits from U.S. operations in 2012, it will probably pay zero federal and state taxes—and even receive a federal tax refund of about $429 million—according to a Feb. 14 statement from Citizens for Tax Justice. (source)
I guess it pays to make friends with Obama. Of course this takes money away from the Federal budget and causes our deficit to be at record levels, but who cares about deficits when you can count another billionaire as your friend.
If anyone really thinks Obama is for helping the middle class and wants to take from the “evil rich” to spread the wealth around, you are lying to yourself. Look what the President is doing for spring break, playing golf with middle class hero Tigger Woods. Michelle was so happy about it that her and the girls are in Colorado skiing.
President Obama does not care about the middle class. He does not care about the poor. He definitely does not care about the United States of America. All he cares about is himself. President Obama is just another selfish politician that will say what ever you want to hear so that you will cast your vote for him. He does not care if you are struggling to pay your bills, as long as he gets to rub elbows with famous people like Tigger Woods, Beyonce and Mark Zuckerburg.
America done right 
Corporations paying little or no tax is a problem of corporate welfare and supported by conservatives (who after all call them job creators). It is the left wing who call for their taxes to be raised and pay their fair share. It is a problem that did not begin under Obama nor is he the reason GE pays no tax.
Also, statistically, Obama has taken less vacation days than either Bush or Reagan and plays less golf than Boehner.
Hey Robert, your making arguments against things I never said. I don’t care who took more vacations or played more golf. What I do care about is when sheeple like you fall for the lies and still defend Obama.
You also make the mistake of thinking Republicans are conservatives.
But, forget those rabbit trails for a moment and think about this… Does it bother you that large corporations like GE and Facebook are paying zero taxes, and in some cases are getting federal tax dollars in subsidies? If it does bother you, then why won’t you criticize this President for contributing to this fraud?
Facebook and GE aren’t the only friends of Obama who has received benefits from their support of Obama. Several green energy companies whose owners are his supporters received millions of dollars of stimulus money, shortly before their companies filed for bankruptcy. It clearly pays to have friends like our current President.
Fl, first let me apologize for not following your blog…..I have rectified that….second, I appreciate the support you have given to my blog….
Now, Obama sees that his friends get paid…..that statement can be made about every prez since Jackson…..the is the cost of being prez….
I will agree that Obama is NO friend to the middle class, but then few of them have been since Kennedy and he needed them for elections….and the next prez will be no friend to the middle class and his friends will get their pay also…..this is typical American politics…
Thanx for stopping by lobotero, and I appreciate you following. I have really enjoyed your blog because even though we disagree on things you discuss things rationally.
I agree with you that most every president uses their position to reward friends and punish enemies, but that does not give a pass for Barack to do the same.
He was supposed to be the one to change Washington and make everything better and all he has done is continued the regression of American politics. He has surrounded himself with retread Clinton advisors, big bankers, big corporate CEOs and lobbiests. Where is the change he promised?
If a Republican wins the white house in 2016 I will be holding them to the same standard. We the people need to demand change in Washington and not give someone a pass just because they play for “our team”.
Strange how we basically feel the same way about Bush-dark, but for different reasons. Granted, I came late to politics (I was too busy working and raising a family to do much more than vote for the typical ‘lesser of 2 evils’), I honestly cannot speak with any knowledge concerning the best way to deal with our deficit, but I am beyond sick of all the crimes Bush-dark and his overlords get away with and think that our window of opportunity for dealing with this is damn close to being gone.
I have noticed that you continue to come over to my blog and comment so I came to yours to see if you are someone I could benefit from ‘conversing’ with :-).
Thanking for stopping by wolfess and I look forward to hearing more from you in the future.
It’s amusing how just a few well chosen word substitutions could change this from an article about 2013 Obama into one about 2007 Bush.
*cough* Halliburton *cough* Blackwater *cough*
You know, just saying..
Also, I saw it somewhere else in the comments down here, but it’s worth noting that
(A) Obama has spent far less time on vacation or golfing than Bush or Clinton (if memory serves, Saint Reagan, too)
(B) The President is never “really” on vacation – ever. He has people around him at all time, I promise you that, at best, a “vacation” means a change of scenery with a slightly less hectic schedule and meetings over skype instead of in person. Probably 3 or so hours of actual honest downtime a day. This is not Obama specific. It was probably every President since the advent of the telegraph.
(C) Cheap shots at the President’s wife and daughters taking a vacation are just that: cheap shots. Your articles (from what I’ve seen) tend to suggest that you can do better. This is a weak ad hominem attack and you know it. It only serves to lessen the impact of your otherwise strong points. My two cents.
Finally, President Obama does not care about the middle class. He does not care about the poor. He definitely does not care about the United States of America. All he cares about is himself. President Obama is just another selfish politician that will say what ever you want to hear so that you will cast your vote for him. He does not care if you are struggling to pay your bills, as long as he gets to
rub elbows with famous people like Tigger Woods, Beyonce and Mark Zuckerburg.be in power.This, of course, is true of 99.9999% of politicians. I voted for Obama (’08) and would have voted for Obama (’12) if I didn’t live in New York so that my vote is irrelevant. I considered him the better of two options. All the (viable) alternatives were equally soulless pandering self obsessed manipulative gasbags, but at least O generally seemed to lean more in my direction which is to say that his interests were (better) aligned with mine, thus he got my vote.
But I don’t doubt for 2 seconds that he would flip on any position, no matter how core, if he felt that his political power was threatened. But then again, so would have virtually every other President, Rep, Senator, Governor, Mayor, and public school principal in history. They’re all the same, it’s just a question of whose side they pretend to be on.
Meet the new boss!
Same as the old boss!
So you addressed this at Robert, but I’ll take a shot:
You also make the mistake of thinking Republicans are conservatives.
I don’t know Robert from a hole in the ground, but I’ll say that I sure as hell know this.
That said, I think this cuts both ways: Obama “leans” liberal on “some” issues – as a liberal, I can say that I am well to the left of him on several important issues (and way to the right of him on others).
I think it’s a mistake to appoint yourself as the unilateral arbiter of what it means to be “conservative” or “liberal.” I understand what you’re saying here – you’re saying they’re not “real” conservatives, but I don’t think that’s for you to decide anymore that the folks at the Westboro Baptist Church should be allowed to decide who is a “real” Christian.
A fairer was of saying this might be to say: elected Republican politicians tend not to fall completely or squarely within my personal definition of what it means to be conservative. Not quite as eloquent, but far more fair and accurate. And, if you’re going to apply that standard to “your side,” then it’s only fair to apply it to Obama and recognize that we don’t view him as a perfect representative of our ideals either.
But, forget those rabbit trails for a moment and think about this… Does it bother you that large corporations like GE and Facebook are paying zero taxes, and in some cases are getting federal tax dollars in subsidies?
Yes, this bothers me.
If it does bother you, then why won’t you criticize this President for contributing to this fraud?
I can, do, and will continue to criticism this President (as well at the entirety of Congress and the eligible voting population of America) for this fact.
But the truth is, that the politicians do what The People are riled up about. And The People have been far too willing to be distracted with sideshow issues (Trayvon Martin, Terry Shivo, abortion, gay rights, IRS whistle blowers, fast and the furious, gun rights, et cetera) to focus pressure on something as snooze-inducing as corporate tax reform.
The only way to make things change is for The People to demand said change, and The People just don’t care enough. So, yes, blame Obama, blame congress, but whose fault is it really? When was the last time any of us bothered to call our congressman? Hell, I’d bet fewer than 1-in-100 people even know the name of their congressman. So why should we expect them to do our bidding, exactly?
It’s like sitting on the board of a corporation, hiring a CEO, never checking in or providing feedback, perpetually renewing his contract, but then being annoyed that he isn’t running the company the way you want. Yes, be annoyed at the CEO, sure, why not? But really, it’s the director’s fault, no?
I’ll be lurking 🙂
FLP, post your new stuff on SUFA with a link, or just a link!