Corporate welfare vs. general welfare

Via Ritholtz, a synopsis by ataxingmatter of the social welfare vs. corporate welfare components of the fiscal cliff deal and of the tax code. It’s fascinating how so-called conservatives demand that we give money to companies, something that they themselves call “socialism.” All of Social Security and most of Medicare are paid for with taxes, while things like the R&D tax credit are not.

The tax subsidies to 27 companies for 2008-11 alone were larger than what is needed for Hurricane Sandy relief, so I guess you could say those companies are worse than a major natural disaster for this country. Depreciation, depletion, deferral and the R&D tax credit (which is supposed to help small hi-tech businesses) account for most of the tax dodging.

Let’s call this what it is: corruption.