Targeting tax havens, and more

Targeting tax havens

President Obama has proposed outlawing offshore tax-avoidance techniques that U.S. corporations use to avoid billions in taxes. Obama called for limits on corporations’ ability to defer U.S. taxes on foreign profits and to shift profits to low-tax countries, out of reach of U.S. tax collectors. U.S.-based multinationals paid $16 billion in taxes on foreign profits of $700 billion in 2004—a 2.3 percent tax rate. The top corporate tax rate is 35 percent.

Pentagon propaganda

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

In a rare retraction, the Pentagon’s internal watchdog has withdrawn a report that cleared the Bush-era Defense Department of spreading propaganda. Under the program, the Pentagon recruited retired officers to serve as analysts on news programs, and then fed them with talking points. This week, the inspector general said the original report clearing the Pentagon of any wrongdoing was riddled with inaccuracies.