Question about money spent lobbying politicians.

redqueen

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Wed Nov-30-05 11:44 AM
Original message

Question about money spent lobbying politicians.

When corporate fatcats and/or lobbyists spend lots of money trying to get more money from taxpayers, courtesy of their whores in DC, can they claim the money they spend as business expenses - and deduct that money from the taxes they have to pay?

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blm

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Wed Nov-30-05 11:51 AM
Response to Original message

1. That's a GREAT QUESTION. I hope some of the tax experts here at DU have

an answer, because I sure would be interested.

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redqueen

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Wed Nov-30-05 11:57 AM
Response to Reply #1

2. I'm hoping the subject line attracts the attention we need

in order to get an answer.

:hi:

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blm

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Wed Nov-30-05 12:01 PM
Response to Reply #2

3. Maybe FLAG the tax experts or political finance experts?

Like hailing a cab...heh

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serryjw

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Wed Nov-30-05 12:14 PM
Response to Original message

4. Half the answer

You probably know that any donation YOU make to any entity that lobbys Congress is NOT a tax deductible donation for YOU....my guess is, it isn't for the Corporations either...BUT they can bury these expenses so easily......and how many PAY taxes any way!

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blm

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Wed Nov-30-05 12:27 PM
Response to Reply #4

5. But it must show up on some expense report, right?

And expense reports usually count for deductions, right?

It really is an interesting question.

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serryjw

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Wed Nov-30-05 12:34 PM
Response to Reply #5

6. Can you even imagine what a tax

return for Philip Morris looks like?....It can probably fill a football statium.

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blm

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Wed Nov-30-05 01:06 PM
Response to Reply #6

8. But do their lobbying politician expenses get written off or not?

Company execs who hire whores and strippers for clients usually write those off their expenses as "entertainment" for clients, don't they?

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serryjw

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Wed Nov-30-05 02:20 PM
Response to Reply #8

9. Legally, I say NO

but I'm sure they do!.Where are our tax experts?

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blm

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Wed Nov-30-05 02:30 PM
Response to Reply #9

10. Is there a tax forum? Maybe crosspost and ask them to visit this thread?

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redqueen

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Wed Nov-30-05 04:00 PM
Response to Reply #9

11. That's the thing...

As tempting as it is to write this off as something that isn't legal, I'm just as sure as you that it's done, and it angers me sooooo much.

Why don't repukelicans ever get upset by corporate abuse of the public trust? Why do they only focus on abuse by the poor?

Oh yeah, that's right. They're pharisees, and in order to interpret Jesus' teachings completely ass-backwards, they have to hate the poor. I forgot about that part.

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redqueen

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Wed Nov-30-05 12:34 PM
Response to Reply #4

7. That's what I'm thinking... since they're expenses...

I have to wonder.

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