Bill, let's be honest, it's hypocritical to suggest taxing banks to reduce the federal deficit while your company Microsoft contributes to Washington State's $2.6 billion deficit with its alleged $728 million evasion of the royalty tax.
You say the federal deficit could be the "next crisis". What about your home state's impending insolvency? What about our current local crisis?
We're just asking for some consistency from you.
The El Erian essay you cite suggests the tax on banks is "understandable and defensible...[but] The advanced economies must urgently shift from a largely cyclical post-crisis response to more holistic structural measures." You'd have more credibility in this discussion if your company Microsoft paid its taxes under existing state law.
We really like your Gates Notes site. It's great to have you in discussion with the rabble but we want to know: what's your take on a corporation's responsibility to its home community, its unmet commitment to transparent business practices and taxation in a healthy society?
Talk to us! Open up Microsoft's state tax records. Engage the Twitter community in a vibrant, open discussion about this issue. Sincerely, @microsofttaxes!
p.s. Coincidentally, that .15 percent bank tax is the same original tax rate of Washington State's royalty tax before the software lobby got the legislature to cut it to .484 percent - just before you opened your accounting office in Reno, Nevada.
