$32,000,000,000,000 and Counting

A recent report by a former chief economist at McKinsey & Co indicates that super rich Americans have stashed away some $32 TRILLION in secret foreign bank accounts to avoid paying taxes on their good fortune. It doesn't surprise me much because everyone knows there are two parts to becoming super rich. One is to make the big, big bucks and the second is to avoid paying taxes on them. Each requires special skills.

Last week Mitt Romney was insisting that he would reveal no more than two years' tax returns in his bid for the presidency. His wife, Ann, said "We've given you people (the press) more than enough." Clearly, they don't want anyone combing through their records because former Gov. Romney knows all the tricks of making big money and taking advantage of every option to keep it. Maybe that explains why the Republican reaction was so strong when President Obama (and Elizabeth Warren) commented that all American entrepreneurs benefit from outside, read that government, help in putting their fortunes together.

 If someone gets super rich, in his mind, it's because he is a genius, able to struggle successfully against labor unions, hostile environmental regulations, foreign competition and a host of other hurdles put in his way by an out of touch government who won't even let him bribe anyone. He is a super hero entitled to 100% of his winnings and indebted to no one, least of all the government at any level. Corporate welfare is a figment of some lousy Democratic leach who doesn't know what it is to meet a payroll. Highways, railroads, international trade organizations, patent protections, special deals that abound, the Commerce Dept. etc. mean nothing. "I did it my way," like Frank Sinatra, and now it's mine and if you're nice, maybe I'll give some of it away to my college or church. Some of these moguls may not truly understand what the government has done to help them, but most do and chose to take a rather haughty stance on the issue. If anyone doesn't like it, too bad. Billionaires don't need anyone. In fact, what the big dogs fear most is being a sucker or being fooled like some common worker who commutes, no matter how nice his office.

Does this sound about right? Believe me, it is. Many really big shots are very generous. They build hospital wings, college dormitories and endow professorships, the arts and and more. They expect thanks and recognition, but they don't want oversight or inquiries about where they put their hard earned money. Like Mr. Romney, they will pay whatever the law demands, but they will work very hard to keep that amount down (it stifles their creativity, you see) and to hide as much as possible. That's just good business isn't it? The answer is no, if you are anything more than an egomaniac who won't or can't see beyond your own interests. "Think not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country," said Jack Kennedy and it was good advice. As for those secret account people and their $32 trillion, let's draft them or force them to do community service, but not until they have been outed and penalized for their lack of loyalty to the country that helped them do so well.