Living in the COVID World ... and Beyond #82: Loop of Destruction

I read an article this week that is not getting very much attention so I thought I would amplify it here.   It’s bad news … so I am warning you before you read on.   It might not be new news to you … but the extent of how blatant the issue is surprised me.

The headline read: “88 Corporations that paid no US Federal Income Tax in 2025 Spent $852million on Recent Lobbying, Elections.”  

How could companies that made no money spend that much trying to influence US government policy?

Well, they did not make no money.   Those 88 companies reported US pretax income of around $105billion.

The federal corporate income tax rate is 21%, indicating that the 88 companies in the report dodged a combined $22.1 billion in taxes last year. Additionally, they received $4.7 billion in tax rebates, bringing their total tax breaks to approximately $26.7 billion.

The 88 corporations that paid no federal corporate income tax in 2025 spent $712 million on lobbying and $140 million on campaign contributions over the last three election cycles.

I think this is a loop of destruction.    Tax codes are written to benefit wealthy corporations, and those same corporations spend millions lobbying and on political campaigns to get more tax breaks.   From the article: “The result is a self-reinforcing loop where corporate cash buys policy, and policy pays cash back."  Later, the author of the report that documents this abuse states: “corporate tax dodgers spend lavishly on lobbying and campaign contributions that feed into more tax breaks, which in turn fund even more political spending on policies that serve to pad corporate profits—and the cycle continues.”

The tax codes for corporations need to change.   The much-quoted rally statement of People over Profits could not be more appropriate.

For more details, see the report, “The Current Price of Zero,” authored by Eileen O’Grady, a researcher at Public Citizen’s Congress Watch division.