6o Minutes Story

[rothenbj]

I don't know how many saw the 60 minute story on our major corporations and their move to overseas locations to avoid US taxes, but it has me wondering why the FDA protects their interests so much.

The story was about all the companies moving jobs and profits overseas because of the tax advantages. The money must stay overseas and amounts to 1.2 trillion dollars and counting, much of which is made from sales in the US. They showed three companies average tax rate from 2007 to 2009- Pfizer 17%, Merck 12.5% and GE to 3.6%. Yup, buy American. If they bring the money home they get taxed at 35%. Then you wonder why this country is going in the hopper.

 

[Vocalek]

No wonder Pfizer can afford all those televison ads for Chantix, not to mention the cost of law suits by those who were injured, and the families of those who died. Any other product would have been pulled off the market by now. Their reasoning is that smoking is so terribly harmful that a few deaths from Chantix are OK. Well, if smoking is so terribly harmful, why do the same people think that it is OK to tell smokers they must refrain from using e-cigarettes until the products have been through years of testing to prove they are safe.

Well they did those years of testing on Chantix. Fat lot of good it did.

 

[Cat_in_the_Playground]

No wonder Pfizer can afford all those televison ads for Chantix, not to mention the cost of law suits by those who were injured, and the families of those who died. Any other product would have been pulled off the market by now. Their reasoning is that smoking is so terribly harmful that a few deaths from Chantix are OK. Well, if smoking is so terribly harmful, why do the same people think that it is OK to tell smokers they must refrain from using e-cigarettes until the products have been through years of testing to prove they are safe.

Well they did those years of testing on Chantix. Fat lot of good it did.

I was thinking the same thing. I've been lazing around this Sunday emptying my DVR. I swear there was at least 1 Chantix ad for every show I watched! I can practically repeat those stupid commercials verbatim. The commercials don't seem to mention the possible nasty side effects, tho.

 

[cracker75]

Not exactly on-topic, when but looking at corporate tax-rates for US based companies, in relation to their actual contribution to US GDP (what they add to our "total value", versus how much they pay into the system that allows them to succeed), you will find that the US promotes it's own perception of wealth, even though that wealth is held by relatively few people, and is achieved through rather unethical means (like tax evasion).

And for anybody who believes we are a "wealthy nation", try to remember that if the top 20% decided to leave the country and take their money with them, the other 80% of us would be left fighting for the 7% of our GDP we actually own.

 

[dave8944]

Not exactly on-topic, when but looking at corporate tax-rates for US based companies, in relation to their actual contribution to US GDP (what they add to our "total value", versus how much they pay into the system that allows them to succeed), you will find that the US promotes it's own perception of wealth, even though that wealth is held by relatively few people, and is achieved through rather unethical means (like tax evasion).

And for anybody who believes we are a "wealthy nation", try to remember that if the top 20% decided to leave the country and take their money with them, the other 80% of us would be left fighting for the 7% of our GDP we actually own.

I think we are a rich country because the average wage in the world is close to 8K a year, but here in the US it is double or triple that. My grandmother lived through the depression and spent the rest of her life eating yesterday's toast because she didn't want to waste a piece of bread. So, yeah, I think we've gotten rich and soft in this country. Everyone has a cell phone, a color tv, and a microwave in their house. The richest person in the world couldn't have had such luxury 50 years ago.

 

[Traver]

I think we are a rich country because the average wage in the world is close to 8K a year, but here in the US it is double or triple that. My grandmother lived through the depression and spent the rest of her life eating yesterday's toast because she didn't want to waste a piece of bread. So, yeah, I think we've gotten rich and soft in this country. Everyone has a cell phone, a color tv, and a microwave in their house. The richest person in the world couldn't have had such luxury 50 years ago.

What really matters is not the average wage but the median. If you average my wages with Bill Gates I am a very rich man. We are still a rich country but as far as the standard of living goes for the average person we are at the bottom of the top ten among industrialized nations.

 

[MoonRose]

No wonder Pfizer can afford all those televison ads for Chantix, not to mention the cost of law suits by those who were injured, and the families of those who died. Any other product would have been pulled off the market by now. Their reasoning is that smoking is so terribly harmful that a few deaths from Chantix are OK. Well, if smoking is so terribly harmful, why do the same people think that it is OK to tell smokers they must refrain from using e-cigarettes until the products have been through years of testing to prove they are safe.

Well they did those years of testing on Chantix. Fat lot of good it did.

Ummm ... e-cigs have been through years of actual use testing, just not years of clinical testing. Of course the FDA won't allow the years of actual use testing that have had 0 deaths and 0 severe negative adverse reactions to be admissable.

 

[CJsKee]

Ummm ... e-cigs have been through years of actual use testing, just not years of clinical testing. Of course the FDA won't allow the years of actual use testing that have had 0 deaths and 0 severe negative adverse reactions to be admissable.

Of course they won't....they want testing performed by the anti-tobacco zealots so the results can be spun and doctored to fit their agenda!

 

[Ande]

It's a revolving door. Polititians work hard to preserve the interests of wealthy corporations because, when they finish in office, they go work for those corporations.

Best,
Ande

PS- YOu could argue that most of them are already working for the corporations WHILE they're in office.

 

[rerere55]

Governments and politicians are like mothers only changes the address, always favoring large corporations at the expense of the population, what matters are the taxes, interests, people are only puppets in their hands. Both commitment to ban e-cigs, both favoring the pharmaceutical industry with its Champix, nicotine patches and gums, I do not know, but I think that these pharmaceuticals are doing more harm than e-cigs. Many people go wrong with chewing gum, nicotine patches and Champix, but do not go wrong with e-cigs.
The body does not lie!

 

[kristin]

Governments and politicians are like mothers only changes the address, always favoring large corporations at the expense of the population, what matters are the taxes, interests, people are only puppets in their hands.

As a mother, I take issue with that analogy! lol

 

[rothenbj]

This might be a Portuguese to Engrish issue, I presume.