Well, Duh!

As the Super Congress eyes trillions in budget cuts that will undermine the quality of life for most Americans, here's a stunning fact to contemplate: Twenty-five hugely profitable U.S. companies paid their CEOs more last year than they paid Uncle Sam in taxes.

In other words, the more CEOs dodge their civic responsibilities, the more lavishly they're paid. That's the key finding of a new Institute for Policy Studies report, Massive CEO Rewards for Tax Dodging, which I co-authored.

These artful dodgers include the CEOs of Verizon, Boeing, Honeywell, General Electric, International Paper, Prudential, eBay, Bank of New York Mellon, Ford, Motorola, Qwest Communications, Dow Chemical, and Stanley Black and Decker.
~ from CEOs Rewarded for Tax Dodging Gymnastics by Chuck Collins ~

I have read numerous article in the alternative media about this IPS report. The thing that gets me is that the various authors seem dumbfounded by the revelations contained in the report. They act as if they've uncovered some kind of secret strategy that no one has ever seen before.

The goal of capitalism is to increase short-term profit by holding down costs. Taxes are costs just like material and labor. When the successful CEO keeps costs at their minimum, it means more profit for the corporation. Since the CEO is meeting the corporate mandate, it's not surprising at all that he or she would be lavished with increased compensation.

As Joel Bakan points out repeatedly in The Corporation: The Pathological Pursuit of Profit and Power, the corporation is amoral. It doesn't concern itself with the efficacy or morality of taxes. It doesn't waste any time or thought on the notion that each person and entity has a responsibility to the common good.

All it cares about is profit. Consequently, if it can dodge its tax bill, get away with paying its workers less than subsistent wages or shortchange safety and environmental safeguards, it will do so in a nanosecond!!