Listen to this: profitable companies with more than ten million dollars in assets paid an average tax rate of twelve point six percent of their global profits in the year 2010. That's the latest data available, according to a new study by the Government Accountability Office. Now, I need you to remember that conservatives and Republicans always complain that the corporate tax rate in the United States needs to be cut because, according to them, it is just too high. In fact, they claim it is the highest in the world. This is their main talking point, along with the argument that it is anti-competitive and encourages businesses to move overseas. However, it is important to understand that these companies are not actually paying the thirty-five percent statutory rate that the Republicans are referring to. The actual rate that they are paying averages at twelve point six percent, and this is after taking advantage of various loopholes, deductions, and tax havens. Multiple organizations, such as the Center for Tax Justice, the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development, the Office of Management and Budget, and even the Census Bureau, have all conducted studies and determined that the United States has the second lowest corporate tax rate in the world. Therefore, the argument from the right is completely false. If anything, our corporate tax rate is too low. Only Iceland has a lower corporate tax rate. This issue relates to a conversation that we have on the show almost every day - the shifting of the tax burden from corporations and the wealthy to the middle class and the poor. Warren Buffett, for example, challenged CEOs on Wall Street to prove that they paid a higher federal income tax rate than their secretaries, who made between sixty and eighty thousand dollars a year. None...