  
 Supporting American-Made Products and Services from American-Owned Companies 
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It appears there is some sanity in a
post-September 11 world
after all. Stanley Works, after taking the heat from about
every
conceivable corner for their tax-avoidance scheme to
re-incorporate in
Bermuda, has finally backed off. Both the U.S. Congress and
consumers
questioned the patriotism of the proposed move.
The New Britain, Connecticut company could not
even take
advantage of super-intense lobbying on Capitol Hill to stop
Congress
from threatening to yank all future government contracts
from Stanley or
any other company that might try to move their mailing
address offshore.
Even the dozen or so companies that have already moved
offshore to
Bermuda or the Cayman Islands now face retroactive
penalties. Fruit of
the Loom moved to the Cayman Islands years ago.
Utah Senator Orrin Hatch was quoted as saying "We
need to
overhaul our tax laws to level the playing field, which is
presently
tilted in favor of companies headquartered outside the
United States."
Do I hear a reactionary "America First" tone?
Although the Senator gave no specifics, the truth
is that
American companies pay over three times as many taxes to our
government
than comparable foreign-owned firms. That means Ford and
General Motors
pay three times as many taxes as Toyota and Honda,
Harley-Davidson pays
three times as many taxes as Kawasaki, and Marriott pays
more taxes to
our government than Holiday Inn. We Americans need to
remember this the
next time we hear public schools are under-funded, the
Health Care
system is in crisis, or that there really is no Social
Security Trust
Fund. Actually, such a fund exists. It's just that it has
"no assets"
according to current U.S. Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill.
Now if only Orrin Hatch and the rest of Congress
could see
that we also need to level the playing field in
manufacturing, which is
presently tilted in favor of foreign producers. Every
individual reading
this article should call Orrin Hatch's office and ask him to
apply his
truthful quote above to the manufacturing sector as well.
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