So Long Economic Patriotism

- August 26, 2014

To view this email as a web page, go here.

Selective Moral Outrage
Over the weekend, 42 people were shot in Chicago . Since Barack Obama became president in January 2009, over 2,000 people have been shot and killed due to gun violence in Chicago. Where's the moral outrage? In cities throughout this country - Chicago, New York, L.A., Detroit - gun violence is a big problem, where innocent people are losing their lives on a daily basis. Yet there are no protests over this travesty. President Obama and others choose to focus on shootings like in the case of Michael Brown for what can only be the purposes of political expediency. The shooting of Michael Brown is concerning because someone has died, but at this point we still do not know the facts surrounding the case. Without knowing the details and circumstances surrounding the shooting, it is difficult to understand how so many people can confidently express moral outrage. Furthermore, it is disappointing that other shootings and violence haven't garnered the same level of outrage throughout our nation. In the case of Michael Brown, it's clear that people have agendas and are whipping up the public without all the evidence. This is an unacceptable race to judgement because they are exacerbating racial tensions in this country and it's not helping.

So Much For "Economic Patriotism"
For a long while, President Obama has preached about "economic patriotism." This means that companies should stop using loopholes within our tax system in order to move their headquarters overseas in order to avoid high U.S. tax rates. Keep in mind that the United States currently has the highest corporate tax rate in the OECD. The federal rate is 35% but averages a combined 39% if you include state and local taxes. In a weekly address earlier this summer, Obama talked about closing the "unpatriotic tax loophole .": But for now, the loophole still exists and one of Obama's buddies decided to jump right through it: Warren Buffett. Buffett similarly preaches about the need for Americans and businesses to "pay their fair share." In fact, the White House named "The Buffett Rule" after him, which is the concept that millionaires shouldn't pay a smaller share of their income than middle class Americans. Today it was revealed that Warren Buffett will help to finance Burger King's acquisition of Canadian company Tim Horton's, which will also result in Burger King becoming a Canadian company. Why? In order to lower its corporate tax rate. It's one thing for Obama and his friends like Warren Buffett to preach about economic patriotism. But apparently that only goes so far, and doesn't apply to their own practices. The hypocrisy is jarring.