Bloomberg News is reporting that President Obama will not return campaign contributions from those who have profited or benefited from so-called "corporate inversion" deals that he has called "unpatriotic." Bloomberg uncovered more than 20 individuals who are advisors, executives or directors from corporations that reduced their tax burden with offshore mergers and have made large political contributions to Obama and raised additional money from others.
Obama deputy press secretary Eric Schultz confirmed the money would not be returned at a press conference on Martha's Vineyard where the president is vacationing, and defended the decision as not a double standard since the president was "attacking" the problem while keeping the money garnered by what he deems "unpatriotic" means. President Obama has called them "corporate deserters" while accepting campaign contributions from them.
The radical left-wing magazine The Nation, a reliable cheerleader for all things Obama, today calls for ending the practice, and credits Obama: "Because politicians depend on these same tax dodgers for their campaign funds, Congress isn't going to do anything about this problem. But President Obama has promised to do so." No mention is made of the fact that President Obama is the highest ranking of those politicians who depends on these campaign donations."
Interestingly, Nation editor and publisher Katrina vanden Heuvel used her column space on the website of The Washington Post to further rail against corporate inversions (without offering any proposals to lower corporate tax burdens that could result in job creation), and further patting Obama on the back: "In the absence of legislation, President Obama refuses to sit still. He's exploring a range of potential executive actions, regulations that could stem the growing tide of inversions."
The left-wing pundit again fails to reveal that Obama has received the political donations.
