Wanna get $100 billion? Hire a congressman turned lobbyist

Pssst.

Wanna make a lotta money? Invest small; reap big?

That’s what a coalition (“cabal” might be a better word) of 60 corporations did. For the minimal investment of $1.6 million to pay a K Street lobbying firm, the corporations saved $100 billion in taxes on overseas profits. (Washington Post National Weekly Edition, Feb. 20-26, p. 12; sorry, no link. See earlier posts here and here.)

The corpokleptocrats paid lobbyists that pittance to seek legislation that would reduce the tax on foreign earnings from 35 percent to just 5 percent. The legislation, the American Jobs Creation Act signed into law by President Bush in 2004, was shepherded through Congress by former Texas congressman Bill Archer. He had chaired the House Ways and Means Committee during the 1990s and had sought a tax-free repatriation for foreign profits.

Look no further for an example of the revolving door between K Street lobbying firms and former senators and representatives and their aides that has paid off so handsomely.

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