<smile> Good prank. I hadn't heard of US Uncut until now. Perhaps GE found itself so inundated with praise that they'll think about actually doing this.
Cheers, Lawry On Apr 13, 2011, at 1:14 PM, michael gurstein wrote: > :( > > M > > -----Original Message----- > From: [email protected] > [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of US Uncut, Carl Gibson > Sent: Wednesday, April 13, 2011 9:27 AM > To: gurstein-gmail.com > Subject: GE returns billions... NOT. GE retaliates. > > April 13, 2011 > FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE > Contact: > Blair Fitzgibbon 202-503-6141 [email protected] > Duncan Meisel 512-657-9124 [email protected] > Carl Gibson 601-454-6443 [email protected] > The Yes Lab [email protected] > GE Returns Billions to Public... NOT > USA Today, AP fall for US Uncut ploy; GE stock loses billions > > Washington, DC - US Uncut, a burgeoning grassroots movement pressuring > corporate tax cheats to pay their fair share, posted today a fake GE press > release announcing that they would return their illegitimate (but legal) $3.2 > billion tax refund, and that they would lobby to close the sort of corporate > tax loopholes that had allowed them to skip taxes in the first place. Several > major media outlets, including USA Today, ran the story as true. (Here is a > link to the original USA Today story; here is the first article debunking the > release.) > > US Uncut quickly reacted with another release pretending to praise GE for > this entirely unpredictable, unlikely, and in fact impossible act. > > "This action showed us how the world could work," said US Uncut spokesperson > Carl Gibson. "For a brief moment people believed that the biggest corporate > tax dodger had a change of heart and actually did the right thing. But the > only way anything like this is really going to happen is if we change the > laws that allow corporate tax avoidance in the first place." > > In the period the hoax was believed, GE's stock plunged by .6% (far more than > the value of the supposed return), then quickly recovered as soon as it > became apparent the press had been duped. "Obviously, GE can't possibly be > expected to do the right thing voluntarily; their stock would keep plunging," > noted Gibson. "That's why we must change the law." > > "GE's tax avoidance is unpatriotic, it's undemocratic, it's unfair," said > Andrew Boyd, a US Uncut spokesperson. "It might be legal, but that's only > because GE has used its money and lobbying influence to buy the loopholes > they're now taking advantage of." > > US Uncut developed the project with help from the Yes Lab > (http://www.yeslab.org/). > > US Uncut, a grassroots movement organized through social media, connects > corporate tax cheating to cuts in valuable public services. The group has > lead over 100 actions nationwide against corporations who do not pay their > fair share in taxes, bringing protests directly to the front door of > corporate retail stores. US Uncut will hold more than 80 such events over the > course of the upcoming Tax Day weekend. > > "Billionaire corporations profit from the system of public services set-up by > the government. It only makes sense for them to pay their fair share, just > like everyone else," said Gibson. "No corporation is an island, even if they > hide all their profits in tropical tax havens." > > "While we all pay our taxes this weekend, Congress just passed the largest > spending cuts in US history, much of it to social programs and investments > for our country's future," said US Uncut DC organizer George Taghi, "Instead > of slashing public services like Head Start and Pell Grants, why not go after > corporations who don't bother to pay any taxes at all?" > > Composed of self-organized citizens through social media, including Facebook > and Twitter, the magnetic message of US Uncut has spread like populist > wildfire. Anger is rising as Americans are being forced to endure brutal cuts > at both the federal and state-level, for a budget crisis they did not cause. > Over $100 billion estimated annually could be gained, if corporations ended > practices of tax avoidance. > > "Billionaire corporations have already abandoned America for foreign tax > havens," said US Uncut spokesperson Ryan Clayton, "They pay zero income taxes > here, hold their profits in international banks, and ship millions of > American jobs overseas. That is un-American." > > For more information, please visit http://USuncut.org > For time & locations of all the upcoming actions: http://USuncut.org/actions > > _______________________________________________ > Futurework mailing list > [email protected] > https://lists.uwaterloo.ca/mailman/listinfo/futurework
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