| Facebook’S Tax Deduction |
May 17, 2012 |
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Carl Levin, D-MI
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"Some Facebook defenders claim the company’s nonpayment of taxes is offset by the taxes paid by its executives. But first of all, Facebook demands and receives government services that its executives don’t—from patent protection to cybersecurity to trade enforcement. Second, the fact that executives pay taxes doesn’t mean corporations shouldn’t pay taxes. Facebook should be paying its fair share, and it is only through a tax loophole that it won’t be. Adding insult to injury is that one of its founders recently renounced his U.S. citizenship just to avoid paying his taxes."
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| Export-Import Bank Reauthorization Act Of 2012—Motion To Proceed |
May 15, 2012 |
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Mitch McConnell, R-KY
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"What my colleagues and I have been saying for 3 years is that it doesn’t have to be this way. Give us an opportunity to play a role in the process and we will work together on bipartisan solutions. Just look at the record. When Democrats blocked all debate and amendments on the Export-Import Bank legislation, it went nowhere. When they agreed to our reasonable requests for input on the bill, that changed. They could have accepted this offer, actually, much earlier, but they didn’t because it didn’t fit the story line. The same thing on the postal bill—when Democrats blocked all amendments and debate, the bill stalled. When they agreed to a reasonable list of amendments, it passed. The same could be said about trade adjustment assistance, patent reform, FAA reauthorization, the highway bill, unemployment insurance, the doc fix, the payroll tax holiday, and others. It is the same story every time: Poisoned pills are removed, Republican input is allowed, and then things happen."
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| Stop The Student Loan Interest Rate Hike Act Of 2012—Motion To Proceed—Continued |
May 8, 2012 |
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Jim DeMint, R-SC
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"Our policies should make the United States the best place in the world to buy, sell, farm, manufacture, patent, invent, invest, innovate, and educate—for everyone in every industry."
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| Recognizing Thom Haubert |
March 27, 2012 |
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Steve Stivers, R-OH
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"Thom is one of Battelle’s “go-to” mechanical engineers for ideation aspects of many health and life sciences programs. Over the years, he has been able to quickly identify creative, inventive, practical, and unique solutions to difficult problems. As a result of the ingenuity of his thinking and tenacity of his work, Thom has 20 issued patents, 21 patent applications pending, and is a Battelle Distinguished Inventor. Five of his patents are for an early screening cancer detection system where rare cancerous cells can be identified through simple blood tests. This simple blood test can also be used for tracking post cancer and remission. Thom’s research in this area will hopefully lead to earlier cancer detection and eventually to tests for other diseases."
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| Jumpstart Our Business Startups Act—Continued |
March 15, 2012 |
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Mary Landrieu, D-LA
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"When these security laws were written 40 years ago, 50 years ago, 60 years ago and amended, the Internet wasn’t what it is today. So that is why this crowdfunding bill—which is, in essence, a way for the Internet to be used to raise capital that is illegal generally today, and there are very specific rules about how people can raise capital for their businesses. Some of those regulations are too onerous; some of them are right on. But this whole idea of, oh, my goodness, now the Internet is here—look what opportunities could be. We can get our ideas to the marketplace without having to go through middlemen. We have a great idea, a wonderful patent. We want to be able to raise money. We are very excited about this. But there is a right way to do this and there is a wrong way to do this."
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