Senate Proceeding on Apr 29th, 2009 :: 6:07:00 to 6:19:00
Total video length: 10 hours 21 minutes Stream Tools: Stream Overview | Edit Time

Note: MetaVid video transcripts may contain inaccuracies, help us build a more perfect archive

Views:44 Duration: 0:12:00 Discussion

Previous speech:

Next speech:

6:06:58 to 6:07:19( Edit History Discussion )

Kent Conrad: let's recognize the reality and the importance of small business business. i yield the floor. the presiding officer: the senator from north dakota. mr. conrad: mr. president, let

6:07:00 to 6:19:00( Edit History Discussion )
Speech By: Kent Conrad

6:07:20 to 6:07:40( Edit History Discussion )

Kent Conrad: me take a moment to review what is with respect to taxes, because i think it's important to go over. the actual basis in this package are a reduction from current law of $764 billion.

6:07:41 to 6:08:01( Edit History Discussion )

Kent Conrad: we have $512 billion of middle-class tax relief. all of the 2001 and 2003 provisio provided for for the next five the 10% bracket, marriage penalty relief, all the other

6:08:02 to 6:08:23( Edit History Discussion )

Kent Conrad: 2001 including the child tax credit the education of them are in this budgetment budgetment -- budget. we also have alternative minimum tax reform for three the senator indicated. estate tax $7 million a couple,

6:08:24 to 6:08:44( Edit History Discussion )

Kent Conrad: fr any estate tax. that means 99.8% of estes are all included of tax on the other side, we have

6:08:45 to 6:09:09( Edit History Discussion )

Kent Conrad: $97 billion of tax raises. that closers offshore tax havens and abusive tax shelters. let me just taxpayers with business income are affecd by the changes in

6:09:10 to 6:09:30( Edit History Discussion )

Kent Conrad: the top rate. because again, all the 2001 and 2003 tax cuts are extended here for those earning less than $250,000 a year. only 2% business income are the top rate changes. that means 98% are not. under the definition being used

6:09:31 to 6:09:54( Edit History Discussion )

Kent Conrad: by our colleagues across the aisle, former vice president cheney would qualify as a businessman. as small business people are -- is anybody who has on income tax there are a lot of people who are very big business people, have big businesses who show small business income on their

6:09:55 to 6:10:16( Edit History Discussion )

Kent Conrad: returns vice president definition used by our the aisle, any taxpayer with any small business income as a small businessman. now, 20 $3 millionment he had $180,00

6:10:17 to 6:10:37( Edit History Discussion )

Kent Conrad: of small business income. small businesses that he apparently has an interest in. under their definition, he's a small businessman. now, i'd say that's a definition. and there are people greater wealth u under their definition -- much greater wealth. under their definition, bill

6:10:38 to 6:10:59( Edit History Discussion )

Kent Conrad: gates is a small busin richest or the second richest businessman. under their definition, warren buffett is a small businessman. now, you know, mr. president, in the bush tax

6:11:00 to 6:11:22( Edit History Discussion )

Kent Conrad: cuts in 2007, people averaging over a million dollars a year in income got on average a tax reduction year. a year. the vast majority of people got next to nothing, as this chart shows. but those with average incomes of more than a million got

6:11:23 to 6:11:45( Edit History Discussion )

Kent Conrad: reductions averaging $120,000. that's in the deep hole we're in. my assertion is on the loophole closers that we have, we can over -- go after money that is owed that is not now being collected. the tax gap in year for which there is a

6:11:46 to 6:12:06( Edit History Discussion )

Kent Conrad: calculation $3 money that's owed that's not being collected. so tha ought to focus before we talk about a tax increase for the second place we ought to look is these offshore tax havens and

6:12:07 to 6:12:28( Edit History Discussion )

Kent Conrad: ar here is the conclusion from our own homeland security gove subcommittee on investigations. this is from their work experts have estimated the total loss to the treasury from

6:12:29 to 6:12:49( Edit History Discussion )

Kent Conrad: offshore tax evasion alone $100 billion a year in these offshore tax haven including $40 billion to $7 billion from individuals, another $30 billion from corporations offshore tax evasion, abusive

6:12:50 to 6:13:10( Edit History Discussion )

Kent Conrad: tax shelters at tens of billions of dollars more abusive tax shelters. and we don't have to wonder if our own permanent subcommittee on investigations knows what they're talking about we can just go to the newspaper. here's february 20 of this year "the new york times"

6:13:11 to 6:13:31( Edit History Discussion )

Kent Conrad: "the u.b.s. memo wa the swiss solution could help affluent americans that message sent to the bank's executives referred to a u.b.s. plan to evade taxes by hiding money in offshore bahamas. the memo, along with dozens of

6:13:32 to 6:13:54( Edit History Discussion )

Kent Conrad: e-mail messages like it, were disclosed on thursday in a blistering court document filed by the justice department which substitute compel u.b.s., based in switzerland, to divulge the identities of 52,000 americans whom the authorities suspect of using secret at the

6:13:55 to 6:14:16( Edit History Discussion )

Kent Conrad: mr. president, use our imagine nations stretch to figure out -- imagine nations very much to figure out what's going on -- imaginations very much to figure out on. here's a little five-stor building in the cayman islands called ugland home be the home of you can see them there in this little five-story building? do you see them doing their

6:14:17 to 6:14:37( Edit History Discussion )

Kent Conrad: business out of this building, 18,000 supposedly doing business out of this little building down in cayman islands? they're not doing any business out of that they're engaged in monkey business they are scam, much of it revealed in ubs

6:14:38 to 6:14:58( Edit History Discussion )

Kent Conrad: court documents, much more revealed in the collapse of stanford shown that there are loads o companies and loads of individuals who are engaged in dodging what they legitimatel owe the united establishing these offshore tax haven locations where they claim they do business. and all they're doing is

6:14:59 to 6:15:19( Edit History Discussion )

Kent Conrad: taxes. let me say, most of u.s. companies have subsidiaries in tax 83 of the 100 traded companies subsidiaries and tax 4 26 these companies subsidiaries in ten or more tax havens. ten or more.

6:15:20 to 6:15:41( Edit History Discussion )

Kent Conrad: 63 of 100 largest contractors have tax companies ten or more tax havens. look, anybody that what's going on is now, here's a picture hope people to.

6:15:42 to 6:16:02( Edit History Discussion )

Kent Conrad: this is a sewer system europe. a sewer system in europe. what does that get to do with the budget well, it turns out to, increasingly, have a lot to with the this is a sewer system bought by a united states

6:16:03 to 6:16:24( Edit History Discussion )

Kent Conrad: business; they bought this sewer system in europe to depreciate it on their books in the united states to suppress what legitimately owe here. you know what they after they bought it so they could depreciate it, they leased it bacto the european city that bought it and paid for it in the first place. mr. president, if we don't

6:16:25 to 6:16:46( Edit History Discussion )

Kent Conrad: down and stop this kind of scam, shame on us. shame on and some of our friends over here say that's well, sign me if that's a tax i down this kind of scam where the vast majority of us pay what we owe, but a few get by establishing these accounts

6:16:47 to 6:17:08( Edit History Discussion )

Kent Conrad: these offshore tax havens engaging in these unbelievably abusive tax so we need tax reform. we've got a tax system that's out of date and hurting u.s. competitivenes right now about 75% of what's actually due under the country

6:17:09 to 6:17:30( Edit History Discussion )

Kent Conrad: so without could completely close the structural gap and revenue in this country if we just collected what the country system says is owed. the fact is the vast majority us on tax day pay but increasingly we've get big companies, wealthy individuals,

6:17:31 to 6:17:55( Edit History Discussion )

Kent Conrad: who are not. let's end let's end the a.m.t. problem threatening millions of middle-class taxpayers which we haveddressed. we have a which must be embraced between spending and revenue and we simplification and reform to keep rates low for the vast

6:17:56 to 6:18:16( Edit History Discussion )

Kent Conrad: mr. president, i've heard the argument on the other side that we've got the highest corporate rate in the world. well, what's true is one of the highest nominal tax rates, stated tax rates, but our effective tax rate on

6:18:17 to 6:18:37( Edit History Discussion )

Kent Conrad: corporations is because while the stated 35%, the companies actually pay, is 13%, and when you tak account here is where we stack up. here are the maj industrialized cpanies in the world.

6:18:38 to 6:18:58( Edit History Discussion )

Kent Conrad: here is the average. here's where the united states is. the only countries lower effective rate than united poland,

6:18:59 to 6:19:00( Edit History Discussion )

Kent Conrad: everyone else has a effective corporate tax rate