<story><title>Netflix Posted Biggest-Ever Profit in 2018 and Paid $0 in Income Taxes</title><url>https://itep.org/netflix-posted-biggest-ever-profit-in-2018-and-paid-0-in-income-taxes/</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>AlexB138</author><text>&amp;gt; The answer is to outlaw lobbyists, it would fix a lot of problems. That, and enact term limits for Congress. That will fix even more.&lt;p&gt;When you think there are simple answers to big problems it&amp;#x27;s generally because you don&amp;#x27;t actually understand the problem.&lt;p&gt;How would you outlaw lobbyists? Setting aside the fact that it would be unconstitutional, do you think it should be illegal for you to air your grievances to elected officials? That seems to fly directly in the face of democracy. Or should it only be that businesses aren&amp;#x27;t allowed to lobby? What about a small business that is being unfairly impacted by regulations, or being run out of business by a large company abusing a loophole in the law? Seems like them not having a voice in government would be a path to oligopoly or monopoly. If that&amp;#x27;s ok, where&amp;#x27;s the line in which business is allowed to lobby, and how do you keep a large business from simply hiring a small business to lobby on their behalf?</text></item><item><author>chanandler_bong</author><text>The answer is to outlaw lobbyists, it would fix a lot of problems.  That, and enact term limits for Congress.  &lt;i&gt;That&lt;/i&gt; will fix even more.</text></item><item><author>otachack</author><text>It&amp;#x27;s not that simple. Companies lobby to keep, even coerce, laws that benefit them and allow these sorts of things to happen. What is the common person, or collection of persons, supposed to do when they are against that kind of force? I believe one way is to actually be involved in politics and get into the seats that govern and make the laws. But it&amp;#x27;s easier said than done.</text></item><item><author>driverdan</author><text>Rather than being outraged at the headline, what are the actual details? Why were they able to pay no taxes? Was it due to carried losses or something like that?&lt;p&gt;Anyone mad at a company for not pay taxes is misdirecting their anger. Companies follow the law. If you don&amp;#x27;t like the law elect different politicians. Don&amp;#x27;t get mad at companies that follow the law.</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>undecisive</author><text>Aside from the fact that many countries have ways of limiting lobbyist influence through law, a simple but dramatic way would be to say:&lt;p&gt;0. Lobbying is a right, but one that can only be exercised by individual citizens, not corporations.&lt;p&gt;1. Anyone who wishes to &amp;quot;lobby&amp;quot; congressional candidates or congresspersons must register their financial interests&lt;p&gt;2. Make it illegal to directly accept money for lobbying services (akin to prostitution)&lt;p&gt;Sure, it wouldn&amp;#x27;t make lobbying impossible - but it would make it much harder.</text></comment>
<story><title>Netflix Posted Biggest-Ever Profit in 2018 and Paid $0 in Income Taxes</title><url>https://itep.org/netflix-posted-biggest-ever-profit-in-2018-and-paid-0-in-income-taxes/</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>AlexB138</author><text>&amp;gt; The answer is to outlaw lobbyists, it would fix a lot of problems. That, and enact term limits for Congress. That will fix even more.&lt;p&gt;When you think there are simple answers to big problems it&amp;#x27;s generally because you don&amp;#x27;t actually understand the problem.&lt;p&gt;How would you outlaw lobbyists? Setting aside the fact that it would be unconstitutional, do you think it should be illegal for you to air your grievances to elected officials? That seems to fly directly in the face of democracy. Or should it only be that businesses aren&amp;#x27;t allowed to lobby? What about a small business that is being unfairly impacted by regulations, or being run out of business by a large company abusing a loophole in the law? Seems like them not having a voice in government would be a path to oligopoly or monopoly. If that&amp;#x27;s ok, where&amp;#x27;s the line in which business is allowed to lobby, and how do you keep a large business from simply hiring a small business to lobby on their behalf?</text></item><item><author>chanandler_bong</author><text>The answer is to outlaw lobbyists, it would fix a lot of problems.  That, and enact term limits for Congress.  &lt;i&gt;That&lt;/i&gt; will fix even more.</text></item><item><author>otachack</author><text>It&amp;#x27;s not that simple. Companies lobby to keep, even coerce, laws that benefit them and allow these sorts of things to happen. What is the common person, or collection of persons, supposed to do when they are against that kind of force? I believe one way is to actually be involved in politics and get into the seats that govern and make the laws. But it&amp;#x27;s easier said than done.</text></item><item><author>driverdan</author><text>Rather than being outraged at the headline, what are the actual details? Why were they able to pay no taxes? Was it due to carried losses or something like that?&lt;p&gt;Anyone mad at a company for not pay taxes is misdirecting their anger. Companies follow the law. If you don&amp;#x27;t like the law elect different politicians. Don&amp;#x27;t get mad at companies that follow the law.</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>norswap</author><text>Would it really be unconstitutional? The right of petition cannot abrogated, but surely one can outlaw the exchange of political favors for money or other forms of compensations.&lt;p&gt;Yes, actually showing that political favors were exchanged for money is tricky, but still, it&amp;#x27;s better than nothing and it changes the whole discussion from &amp;quot;it&amp;#x27;s the system&amp;quot; to &amp;quot;who&amp;#x27;s doing something bad and hiding it?&amp;quot;.</text></comment>