So Goldman Sacks is making big fat gobs of money off the financial crisis.
It plans to give out $23 billion, yes, that’s billion with a B, in “bonuses” (hm, we used to call that “embezzlement”) for it’s beloved employees hard work in milking a failing US economy to the ridiculous benefit of The Firm.
Last year, Goldman Sacks paid only 14 million dollars in taxes. Worldwide.
Okay, what is wrong with this picture ….?
And why can’t the government do something about it?
Oh right. The government is owned by Golden Sacks. Geithner? Nobody can get him on the phone EXCEPT for Golden Sacks. They call him all they want, and he calls them, too. They’re BFF’s!
How much is $23 Billion dollars?
For one thing, it’s enough to send 460,000 full paying students to Harvard University for one year, or 115,000 for four years.It’s enough to pay the health insurance premium for the average American family ($13,375) 1.7 million times.
It’s enough to upgrade 191 million computers to Windows 7 operating system (priced at $119.99), or to buy 115 million iPhones at $199.99 (provided the recipient was willing to sign a two-year contract).
Or, apparently, it’s enough to reward the employees of Goldman Sachs for a bonanza trading year, at a firm where average employee compensation was recently $622,000 — and likely to be greater this year.
The $23 billion figure could leave some American taxpayers woozy — the US government bailed out Goldman Sachs with a multi-billion payment last year, which the firm has since repaid.
But while Goldman is likely to pay its biggest bonuses ever to employees, the firm pays very little in taxes worldwide. In 2008, the company was said to have paid just $14 million in taxes worldwide, and paid $6 billion in 2007.
The firm’s corporate tax rate? About 1 percent. According a prominent tax lawyer, “They have taken steps to ensure that a lot of their income is earned in lower-tax jurisdictions.”
A 1 percent tax rate?
This is the very epitome of “laughing all the way to the bank”.
I suppose it’s good to be King. And the King of the world right now is Goldman Sachs.
They own the place.