05.24.10
Microsoft Receives More Tax Exemptions (for Data Centres), Leeway on Environmental Issues
Summary: Microsoft finds more ways to reduce expenses and let the public fill the gap; hypocrisy eludes Microsoft staff as it harps about “keep[ing] your data center cool enough”
EARLIER this month we explained why Bill Gates’ father was lobbying the government on the issue of tax (which Microsoft is avoiding). He and his son are already exempted from tax to some extent because money that’s put inside the Gates Foundation is conveniently shielded from tax law. Sadly, a lot of the mainstream press (e.g. [1, 2, 3]) missed this important point and pretended that the Gates family calls for higher taxes to be imposed upon itself. Not true.
Now, watch the Microsoft boosters from Seattle seemingly cheering Microsoft’s latest exemptions from tax [1, 2].
The company had previously been shifting resources away from its Quincy data center, citing the end of a previous tax break.
This tax break simply means that citizens are left to pay what greedy corporations like Microsoft would not (later on, Waggener Edstrom spins it on Microsoft's behalf to deceive the public on this issue). Here’s more:
Lawmakers say Microsoft is cashing in on the tax exemption they provided this year.
That’s what happens when the law is written by/with lobbyists. Watch how Microsoft also instructs on the issue of environmental impact in the datacentres:
“There is a freight train coming that most people do not see, and it is that you are going to run out of power and you will not be able to keep your data center cool enough,” Rob Bernard, the chief environmental strategist for Microsoft, told attendees at the conference.
[...]
Bernard used Microsoft as an example.
Does Microsoft want to be a policy maker on the environment too? They would be hypocrites if they ever did this because, among many offences, Microsoft is known for harming the environment [1, 2]. Energy savings are just not a big priority when Microsoft has debt to repay. █
dyfet said,
May 24, 2010 at 8:59 am
Isn’t socialism in America wonderful?! If your wealthy enough you can get your business losses, even your ordinary business expenses, or your taxes, “socialized” to the general population! It’s just everyone else (outside the wealthy) that is denied such benefits in the United States…