General Electric Super Bowl commercial boasts of "revitalizing U.S. manufacturing," for hiring workers at Louisville's Appliance Park but leaves a few things out...
February 6, 2012

General Electric's Super Bowl commercial boasts of "revitalizing U.S. manufacturing," for hiring workers at Louisville's Appliance Park but leaves a few things out...

After numerous concessions by plant unions, starting GE workers in Louisville now make about $25,000 per year – or barely above the poverty line for a family of four – or the foreseeable future.

Via:

In an earlier era, that would have been a source of friction, perhaps protest. Now it isn’t, and in an interview William Masden, 62, earning $31.78 an hour after 42 years at Appliance Park, attempted an explanation. The younger workers still get annual raises, he noted, and by the time they top out, he and his peers — the oldest baby boomers — “won’t be here any longer to remind them of what they are missing.”

Linda Thomas, 37, one of the first to be hired in 2005 under the new arrangement, amends that explanation. Her hourly wage, $18.19, has almost topped out, although it is nearly $14 an hour less than Mr. Masden’s. But she keeps silent. Too many unemployed people, she explained, would clamor for her job and her wage if she were to protest.

“You don’t want to rock the boat,” Ms. Thomas said. “You take a chance on losing everything you have if you do.”

GE takes huge subsidies from Louisville taxpayers, including a multimillion 2009 tax rebate.

GE made $5.1 billion in profit in the U.S. in 2010, paid $0 in federal taxes, and claimed a $3.2 billion credit.

Via:

General Electric, the nation’s largest corporation, had a very good year in 2010.

The company reported worldwide profits of $14.2 billion, and said $5.1 billion of the total came from its operations in the United States.

Its American tax bill? None. In fact, G.E. claimed a tax benefit of $3.2 billion.

That may be hard to fathom for the millions of American business owners and households now preparing their own returns, but low taxes are nothing new for G.E. The company has been cutting the percentage of its American profits paid to the Internal Revenue Service for years, resulting in a far lower rate than at most multinational companies.

Its extraordinary success is based on an aggressive strategy that mixes fierce lobbying for tax breaks and innovative accounting that enables it to concentrate its profits offshore. G.E.’s giant tax department, led by a bow-tied former Treasury official named John Samuels, is often referred to as the world’s best tax law firm. Indeed, the company’s slogan “Imagination at Work” fits this department well. The team includes former officials not just from the Treasury, but also from the I.R.S. and virtually all the tax-writing committees in Congress.

Unfortunately, the 99 percent don't have their own lobbyist.

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