April 1st International News

Ireland to become 1st U.S. State

The Irish are fed up with European Union demands that they raise their corporate tax rate – currently 12.5 percent – if they want some help in repaying the enormous loans the government has assumed to bail out the country’s failing banks.

Newly elected Taoiseach (Prime Minister) Enda Kenny made his first foreign visit to the U.S. only two weeks after being sworn in for a St. Patrick’s Day meeting with President Barack Obama.

The leader of the Fine Gael Party has apparently decided that the best way out of his country’s financial difficulties is a closer affiliation with America. He has proposed that Ireland become the 51st U.S. State.

However, there are difficulties, as the federal government seems to be finished with bailing out U.S. banks. If Ireland became the 51st state, it could conceivably get Washington lawmakers to reopen the TARP program for its banks, but that seems unlikely. In addition, most U.S. States are in dire financial trouble – somewhat like Ireland.

The Irish, however, are very inventive, and they’re now exploring a way around this dilemma. Rather than becoming the 51st state they might be able to incorporate the entire country in the U.S. As Ireland already has a number of what would become offshore subsidiaries, especially in the insurance industry, they could receive generous tax benefits.

To accomplish this, Ireland is rumored to be exploring the possibility of becoming a subsidiary of GE, which is well known for its creative methods of reducing taxes. If the deal goes through, Ireland could not only rescue its banks, but also pay off its debts, and be rewarded by U.S. taxpayers for doing so.

France to Tackle High Gas Prices
The French government is concerned that gas prices at the pump have risen drastically. It has therefore embarked on a plan to help people who use their cars a lot. The current prices for regular are around €1.45 ($2.03) for a liter, or more than $8.00 per gallon.

Basically the government plans to establish a new bureau – staffed by bureaucrats – to review applications for a cash rebate to members of the French public, who can claim that they need their cars for work, and who don’t have an income over a certain threshold (that part hasn’t been worked out yet). Fishermen, farmers, truckers and various and sundry other special groups are also being considered for eligibility.

Some commentators have pointed out that over 70 percent (some have said its more like 92 percent) of the cost of gasoline in France is directly due to the taxes the government levies on it. They’ve even rather unkindly made it clear that simply lowering the tax rates, even temporarily, would give everybody a break. It would also make it unnecessary to set up, staff and fund yet one more administrative bureau.

The commentators were, of course, quickly overwhelmed by a host of government spokespeople, who said that any reduction in revenues would contribute to the financial deficit, and that “non-deserving people” might profit from it.

So far no one has calculated the cost of the bureau, and the rebates it will eventually hand out. They might even exceed the lost revenues.

[IJ Ed. note: The French gas proposal isn’t an April Fool’s joke, but it should be.]

Topics USA