Bono understands your plight. He knows you pay a lot in taxes. He wants you to pay more:
Tuesday on MSNBC’s Morning Joe, U2 frontman and anti-poverty activist Bono called for the U.S. to send more assistance to Europe to shore up the European Union as it buckles under the Third World migrant crisis, even though Americans are struggling to bear their own tax burdens.
“I know the American taxpayer is really hurting at the moment and the same in Europe,” Bono said. “But I think between Europe and America there is a consensus building that, you know, the corruption that’s killing as many kids as disease can be dealt with by structuring these concessional loans on the conditions that these countries that we give them to reform.”
Bono’s MSNBC segment was meant to draw attention to his upcoming testimony Tuesday before a U.S. Senate subcommittee, where he is expected to discuss violent extremism and the role of foreign assistance.
Bono is reported to have a net worth of $600 million.
Part of that is due to U2’s fleeing from Ireland- fleeing from taxes in their home country.
U2 HAVE begun pulling their multi-million business empire out of Ireland and moving it to Holland as a result of the cap on the artists’ tax exemption which came into existence earlier this year.
Arts chiefs warned that the ?250,000 cap announced as part of last December’s budget would mean many of the biggest earners such as U2 would leave Ireland because they now face sizeable tax bills on their incomes.
From June 1, U2 moved some of their business affairs to the same Dutch finance house used by the Rolling Stones to avail of a virtually tax-free status on their multi-million Euro royalties.
The northside Dublin rockers were the world’s biggest musical earners last year, taking in a whopping ?217m. According to industry sources, they faced a potential multi-million Euro tax bill had their business remained in Ireland this year as a result of royalty earnings from their ongoing Vertigo world tour.
Holland’s virtual tax-free status is a great attraction for big players such as the Stones and U2 because there is no direct tax on royalties, unlike in most other countries.
Bono offered a bullsh*t rationale for their departure:
It is not an intellectually rigorous position unless you understand that at the heart of the Irish economy has always been the philosophy of tax competitiveness. Tax competitiveness has taken our country out of poverty. People in the revenue accept that if you engage in that policy then some people are going to go out, and some people are coming in. It has been a successful policy. On the cranky left that is very annoying, I can see that. But tax competitiveness is why Ireland has stayed afloat. When the Germans tried to impose a different tax regime on the country in exchange for a bailout, the taoiseach said they would rather not have the bailout. So U2 is in total harmony with our government’s philosophy.
What a load of crap. Ireland has economic troubles and could use the tax revenues.
Years later, the criticism hasn’t diminished. Former Irish Junior Health Minister Roisin Shorthall voiced her opinion of the move this year, saying:
“I think there is that issue about loyalty to the country you are born in and I think it would show a tremendous example to everybody if they were to bring back their tax affairs to Ireland. In any modern democracy people pay their fair share of tax.”
How many times have we seen this? These execrable hypocrites lecture us about helping while they won’t help their own brethren. How much of Bono’s fortune is being expended on “immigrants”?
Probably about as much as Springsteen’s or the Clinton’s. I always enjoyed Laura Ingraham’s advice for these liberals:
DrJohn has been a health care professional for more than 30 years. In addition to clinical practice he has done extensive research and has published widely with over 70 original articles and abstracts in the peer-reviewed literature. DrJohn is well known in his field and has lectured on every continent except for Antarctica. He has been married to the same wonderful lady for over 30 years and has three kids- two sons, both of whom are attorneys and one daughter on her way into the field of education.
DrJohn was brought up with the concept that one can do well if one is prepared to work hard but nothing in life is guaranteed.
Except for liberals being foolish.