>>APPLE IS OBVIOUSLY A MASSIVE CORPORATION SO THE BENEFITS THAT
THEY GET FROM ANY SORT OF TAX AVOIDANCE OR TAX CUTS COULD ALSO
BE POTENTIALLY QUITE MASSIVE.
THIS WEEK, BECAUSE OF A
COMBINATION OF BOTH THE RELEASE OF THE PARADISE PAPERS, WHICH WE
REPORTED ON EARLIER THIS WEEK, AND THE WORK OF TYT
INVESTIGATES, WE HAVE SOME WAYS THAT APPLE IS CURRENTLY BENDING
THE RULES TO SAVE THEMSELVES ABSOLUTELY TREMENDOUS AMOUNTS OF
MONEY WITHOUT THOSE SAVINGS APPARENTLY EVER BEING PASSED ON
TO EITHER AMERICA AND GENERAL OR TO PEOPLE LIKE YOU IN
PARTICULAR.
SOME MIGHT CALL THIS A CON JOB.
>>THERE WAS SUPPOSED TO BE A THING THERE.
>>I DIDN'T ALREADY FEEL AWKWARD ENOUGH DOING THAT TRANSITION.
ANYWAY -- AND WE'RE GOOD.
LET'S JUMP INTO THIS.
YOU MIGHT'VE
HEARD IN THE NEWS THE PAST COUPLE OF DAYS THAT APPLE GOT IN
A LOT OF TROUBLE BECAUSE THEY HAD BEEN HARBORING A LOT OF
THEIR MONEY IN IRELAND, WHICH HAD MORE FAVORABLE TAX RATES --
>>SO --
>>THAT SOUNDS LOOK A GREAT SITUATION.
NOW --
>>THAT'S PLAUSIBLE, THEY CELL PHONES ALL OVER THE PLACE, AND
OTHER THINGS --
>>IN THE U.S. IT WOULD HAVE BEEN HIGHER, UNTIL REPUBLICANS GET
DONE DECIMATING U.S. TAXES.
SENATOR JOHN MCCAIN SAID AT ONE
POINT --
>>I DON'T BELIEVE THAT'S THE REPUTATION THEY REALLY HOLD.
GENERALLY PEOPLE HAVE A PRETTY FAVORABLE VIEW OF THIS COMPANY,
OTHER THAN THE FACT THAT THERE IS THE OBSOLESCENCE OF THEIR
TECHNOLOGY AS THEY UPDATE IT.
BUT THAT'S THE CURRENT
SITUATION.
NOW WE HAVE THIS POTENTIAL TAX-CUT SITUATION
COMING UP --
>>IT'S HIGHER NOW, IT'S 35, BUT EVEN UNDER THE CURRENT SITUATION
THEIR EFFECTIVE TAX RATE WAS SCARCELY HIGHER THAN IT WOULD BE
WITH THE CHANGE, AND SINCE THE LOOPHOLES AREN'T BEING TAKEN
AWAY, THE VARIOUS FORMS OF TAX AVOIDANCE AREN'T BEING TAKEN
AWAY DOMESTIC LEAK, THAT WILL DROP EVEN MORE.
NOW --
>>AND WITH THOSE SORTS OF SAVINGS POTENTIALLY COMING TO
THEM YOU MIGHT UNDERSTAND WHY THIS YEAR ALONE THEY'VE SPENT $5
MILLION LOBBYING CONGRESS ON TAXES, LAST YEAR THEY SPENT
ALMOST AS MUCH.
THIS YEAR IS NOT EVEN DONE YET.
THAT'S A HUGE
SITUATION.
WE HAVE A LITTLE MORE COMING OUT OF TYT INVESTIGATES.
>>THAT IS GOOD NEWS THOUGH, WE ARE ALL LEAVING TYT, WE ARE ALL
GETTING JOBS AT APPLE.
IF THEY ARE GETTING 60 BILLION IN
REPATRIATION MONEY, EVERYBODY GETS SIX-FIGURE JOBS, DON'T
THEY?
>>OR THEY WILL PASS ALONG THE SAVINGS TO THE CONSUMER.
>>ABSOLUTELY.
>>HOW MUCH THOSE NEW PHONES COST?
OVER $1000?
>>THERE IS SOMETHING WITH A GLITCH, A TYPING THING --
>>YOU CAN'T PUT A CAPITAL "I," I THINK.
>>IF YOU CAN FIGURE IT OUT YOU GET A SIX-FIGURE JOB AT APPLE.
>>I HAVE NOTHING AGAINST THEIR PRODUCT, I HAVE AN APPLE LAPTOP
HERE, THEY ARE PERFECTLY GOOD PRODUCTS.
>>THAT IS WHY THEY ARE THE WORLD'S MOST VALUABLE
COMPANY, BECAUSE WE ALL HAVE THEIR STUFF.
>>BUT WE HAVE TO MAKE SURE THAT THEY PAY THEIR FAIR SHARE AND I
DON'T KNOW THAT THEY ARE DOING THAT.
IN THE LINK DOWN BELOW IF
YOU
ARE
WATCHING ON YOUTUBE YOU CAN READ THE TYT INVESTIGATES
ARTICLE ABOUT THIS WHICH HAS A TON OF DETAILS, AND EVEN IN THAT
STORY THEY ACKNOWLEDGE THAT APPLE IS STEADILY GROWING IN
TERMS OF HOW MANY EMPLOYEES IT HAS, WHICH IS PERFECTLY FINE,
AND IT WILL CONTINUE TO INVEST DOMESTICALLY AND ABROAD IF THERE
IS DEMAND FOR IT, BUT THE PROBLEM IS THAT IN THIS LOBBYING
AND IN THE CONVERSATIONS WE ALWAYS HAVE ABOUT CORPORATIONS
AND THEIR POTENTIAL ACTIVITIES IN THE U.S., THERE IS ALWAYS
THIS MYTH THAT IF WE SIMPLY SHOWER THEM WITH MORE MONEY THAN
THAT WILL MAGICALLY CREATE JOBS.
BUT ANYONE WHO HAS BEEN THROUGH
EVEN A HIGH SCHOOL LEVEL ECONOMICS CLASS KNOWS THAT IS
NOT THE WAY IT WORKS, AND THAT IS EVEN IF YOU DON'T KNOW THAT
THE MAJOR CORPORATIONS IN THE U.S. ARE SITTING ON HUGE PILES
OF CASH ALREADY THAT THEY AREN'T INVESTING WITH.
AND THE REASON
IS THAT YOU DON'T CREATE NEW JOBS JUST BECAUSE YOU HAVE MONEY
BURNING A HOLE IN YOUR POCKET, YOU DO IT WHEN CREATING THE JOBS
IS NECESSARY TO SELL MORE OF YOUR PRODUCTS THAT THERE IS A
DEMAND FOR.
THE EXTRA MONEY WE SHOWER ON YOU HAS NOTHING TO DO
WITH IT, AND COMPANIES LIKE APPLE AND COMPANIES THAT ARE
EVEN WORSE IN SOME ASPECTS, THEY WANT YOU TO BELIEVE THESE MYTHS
THAT IF ONLY WE ENRICH THEM, THEY WILL ENRICH US IN TURN.
THE
SECOND PART NEVER HAPPENS BUT THE FIRST CYCLICALLY DOES IN
U.S. HISTORY.
>>THEY ARE NICE GUYS, THEY LOVE AMERICA, SO THEY WILL GIVE IT
RIGHT BACK IN MANY DIFFERENT WAYS OBVIOUSLY.
AGAIN, IT HAS TO
BE BASED IN ONLY GOING FOR YOUR SITE.
IF THEY KEEP LYING TO US
AND TELLING PEOPLE WHAT ABOUT THAT GREAT, MASSIVE NUMBER OF
JOBS YOU GOT LAST TIME THIS HAPPENED, BUT THEN COMPLAIN
ABOUT JOB NUMBERS AND ON EMPLOYMENT RATES AND LOOK AT
THIS WELFARE SYSTEM, YOU WANT YOUR HANDOUTS -- WHICH ONE IS
IT?
IS IT BEING SHOWERED AMONGST EVERYONE FOR THE PAST 20 YEARS,
OR HAS IT BEEN HORRIBLE ONLY WHEN CLINTON OR OBAMA WERE IN
OFFICE?
IT CAN'T BE BOTH, BUT YOU CAN GO WITH THIS LACK OF LOGIC AS
LONG AS YOUR TEAM IS WINNING.
>>I'M GLAD YOU MENTIONED THE WORD HANDOUTS, THESE ARE
CORPORATE HANDOUTS, THIS IS CORPORATE WELFARE BEING
INSTITUTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, AND TIM COOK, THE
CEO OF APPLE, HE MET WITH TRUMP AS SOON AS HE BECAME PRESIDENT,
HE STARTED RIGHT AWAY LOBBYING.
THESE GUYS ARE CONCERNED WITH
THEIR BOTTOM LINE, AND JOHN SO PERFECTLY DESCRIBED, THESE
COMPANIES ONLY CARE ABOUT THE BOTTOM LINE.
THEY AREN'T IN THE
BUSINESS OF EMPLOYING PEOPLE UNLESS IT HELPS THEIR BOTTOM
LINE.
THIS IS ABSOLUTE CORPORATE WELFARE, AND THEY ARE ABOUT TO
REALLY BLOW THE FENCE OPEN ON CORPORATE WELFARE IF THIS
TAX-CUT GOES THROUGH.
>>ONE OF THEIR BIGGEST PRIORITIES.