corporate taxes

It's widely known that millionaires and billionaires pay taxes at a lower rate than those of us who make much less. But did you know that Americans collectively pay far higher income tax rates than many U.S. companies with billions of dollars in profits?

Thirty large American corporations -- all of them profitable -- spent more money on lobbying than they paid in federal taxes from 2008 to 2010, according to a report from the nonpartisan reform group Public Campaign.

With the 2012 election season looming, the retail sector is getting vocally political for the first time. The National Retail Federation has launched "Retail Means Jobs," a year-long, $10 million advocacy campaign designed to push for retail-friendly policies in Washington.

Twenty five CEOs of America's top companies earned more money than their companies paid in taxes last year, according to the Institute for Policy Studies' Executive Excess report. See which firms and CEOs made the list.

Some Street-related dispatches from last week's entry in the Human Comedy: Kim Kardashian filed a silly sounding but well-grounded lawsuit against Old Navy's use of a lookalike; gaming magnate Steve Wynn went all FOXNews on a conference call; and Barnes and Noble surged, nonsensically, on Borders' liquidation.

Republicans pushing for spending cuts in the 2011 federal budget may be ready to shut the government down to get their way. But is anyone ready to do what it would take to really make a dent in the federal budget: raise taxes on the rich and close corporate tax loopholes?

By accounts, last night's State of the Union address was one of the more inspirational, optimistic speeches given by President Obama. (There were no boos or nasty shout-outs, as in speeches past). But what does all the rhetoric (62 minutes' worth) mean to you and your future? Here's some of what...

It took about 10 years of decisions for the federal budget to get more than a trillion dollars out of whack, and it's going to take at least five years to balance it again. The only way to do it is piece-by-piece, with equal sacrifices from both Republicans and Democrats.

The U.S. government started the new fiscal year on the right foot, posting $140.4 billion deficit in October, the first month of the new fiscal year. That was substantially lower than the $148 billion deficit that had been forecast.

Investors received another sign Friday that the U.S. economy is continuing to heal: The 2010 U.S. budget deficit came in at a smaller-than-predicted $1.29 trillion. Though it was still the second-highest deficit on record, the numbers reflect growth in tax revenues, and thus in the economy.