Obama Thwarts Pirates

With the announcement today that he intends to close loopholes in the tax code that have allowed large corporations to shelter their earnings in off-shore accounts, President Obama has signaled a new direction against international pirates.

These modern buccaneers, transnational corporations that seek to evade the laws and the tax codes of various nations in order to further their bottom lines, are just as surely pirates as those skulking off the coast of Somalia. They steal from everyone through evading taxes. It was predicted that closing these loopholes would generate over $200 billion in the next ten years.

Willing accomplices to this theft can be found in the various tax havens around the world. From secret Swiss accounts to phony corporate headquarters (NBC reported that 18,000 corporations have "headquarters" in the same building in the Cayman Islands). The truly shameful accomplices are the U.S. politicians who allowed such shelters to exist for so long. Sen. Dick Durbin statement that the Congress was "bought and sold" by the banks seems almost obvious. Who are these corporations that have been stealing from the collective good? Follow the money.

The real question: Why has it taken until now for a politician to step forward and challenge this institutionalized theft?