Reflections

Microsoft Threatens U.S. Government

Posted by on Jun 3, 2009 | 7 Comments

During this past year it has become quite evident that U.S. corporations were allowed to run amok. While behind the scenes, greed, corruption and irresponsible behavior became the norm. Our current economic situation affects all of us no matter where one is on the economic scale. In this time of distress and uncertainty, one would hope that corporations would assist in helping our nation and not threaten our government.

When I read a statement by Microsoft, which came from the lip of their CEO Steve Ballmer, in which this man actually had the audacity to threaten the U.S. Government, I stopped in my tracks.This man stated that if Congress enacted President Barack Obama’s tax plan for higher taxes on U.S. companies foreign profits, Microsoft would move some employees offshore.

I have a better idea.

First the President should have the I.R.S. take a microscope and investigate every single Microsoft employee’s tax returns for the past 3 years. In particular Steve Ballmer’s tax returns should be checked extensively. Second Mr. Ballmer should be provided with a free passport so he can leave the country with his employees.

I personally applaud the European Union for taking Microsoft to task and to continuely punish this ruthless company.

What do you think?

  • http://www.goretsky.com/ Aryeh Goretsky

    Hello,

    It would be interesting to see what Steve Ballmer actually said, and in what context. Can you provide a link to the document in question?

    Regards,

    Aryeh Goretsky

  • Jirah

    I found the comments here
    http://bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aAKluP7yIwJY

    Many other sites also site Bloomberg as their source for the information as well.

    J’irah

  • thomas

    This is the most ignorant article I have ever read. If I was the president of microsoft I would leave the country also. The taxes that Obama is laying on big business is insane. People need to stop expecting hand outs and work for their money and STOP relying on the sucessful people in the US to pay for them.

  • OffshoredAlready

    OMG OMG! He “threatened” the almighty government!!!!

    And now you want to harrass every single employee at the company???

    Oppressive taxes are only part of the reason they’re sending our jobs away. The bigger problem is oppressive laws and massive litigations. These things don’t happen in poor countries, so now they’re getting the jobs.

    I hope we figure out a way to eat taxes and litigations, because I’m getting hungry.

  • http://myspace.com/ophiuchus89 michael s mortimer

    I do not think that is wrong to threaten the U.S government. They need to be threatened, not exactly in the way that Microsoft has, but they certainly need to be threatened by the people. Corporations need to be threatened too. If war-corporatism, and “fascist in disguise”, anti-constitutional presidents like Barack Obama are allowed to continue their agendas, we will all be dead in a year.

  • RuthieGix

    I agree, I think Obama should use the IRS as a tool to hammer more CEOs. That’s what LBJ did, and it worked. That’s how the gov’t got Al Capone.

  • Gary Bing

    Microsoft’s proverbial slip is showing. We declared the phone company a monopoly. We made a stance but where did it get us. If Microsoft doesn’t mind it’s Ps and Q’s we just might do it for them. Our state attorney generals let all of our grocery stores merge to the big three. But when it came down to one of the small fry “Wildoats” (on shaky financial ground) to merge with Whole Foods they cried monopoly. What did they do about Albertson’s purchase of Bristol Farms? They apparently forgot a little piece of recent history: Alpha Beta, Lucky’s Albertsons. Hello. Wake up and smell the coffee. That decaf your drinking is really regular relabeled. In the UK Microsoft was taken to task over a “little thing” called Internet explorer. So those people in Redmond “in their glass houses shouldn’t throw stones.” We just might bull doze the house like they do in a certain country for a certain crime..