Stewart: No Taxes for GE? I Give Up

The GOP often argues that "we're making it harder and harder for good, honest corporate citizens to create jobs here" thanks to a stiff corporate tax rate, Jon Stewart noted last night. "Can you blame a company like GE for not wanting to do business in America when it has to pay 35% of its profits back to America?" Stewart opined. Then he discovered that last year, despite $14.2 billion in profits, GE paid no federal income tax: "Whaa? But I thought the corporate tax rate needed to be lowered, and I'm not sure you can lower it from nothing."

Then he discovered that GE actually got a $3.2 billion tax benefit: "I stand corrected. That is a corporate tax rate of negative 60%." Even so, GE cut one-fifth of its US jobs in the last nine years, while creating more overseas jobs. "You know, I know the Supreme Court ruled that corporations are people, but what I didn't realize is that those people are assholes," Stewart noted. Luckily, President Obama is here, "hopin' ass and takin' change." Or not: Obama has actually praised GE, and given its CEO Jeff Immelt a leadership position. "Yeah, you ripped Immelt a new—wait, chairmanship?" Stewart cried. "I give up!" (More General Electric stories.)