Hightower Lowdown

Back in 2002, when George W. was posing as a corporate reformer, he said he was sending "a clear message to every dishonest corporate leader: You will be exposed and you will be punished." .

But as so often with W., he talks big but wilts when it comes to action. Researchers at Syracuse University analyzed IRS data and found a sharp decline in action against corporate tax cheats under Bush, with fewer audits, fewer prosecutions, and fewer penalties. During the last decade, IRS audits of the largest corporations have fallen almost by half, and the agency's enforcement focus in Bush's tenure has shifted from corporations and wealthy investors to you-know-who—us ordinary working stiffs. .

The General Accounting Office reports that in the four years prior to Bush's term, 60 percent of large corporations paid no income taxes—zero. Since then, George has given them even more. His latest boondoggle slashes corporate taxes by another $170 billion —including special loopholes for TV and movie producers, liquor distillers, drug companies and even Oldsmobile dealers. The wealthy elite is shirking its responsibility to help maintain the society that makes their wealth possible.