In an unprecedented last-ditch effort to stop Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump, his two remaining rivals announced Sunday night they are divvying up the upcoming primary states to try to block the New York businessman’s path to the GOP nomination.
Top officials from the Ted Cruz and John Kasich campaigns announced the alliance in a pair of statements late Sunday night. The deal will keep Mr. Kasich, the Ohio governor, on the sidelines for Indiana’s May 3 primary, while Mr. Cruz, the Texas senator, won’t compete in contests in Oregon on May 17 and New Mexico on June 7.
“Our campaign will focus its time and resources in Indiana and in turn clear the path for Gov. Kasich to compete in Oregon and New Mexico, and we would hope that allies of both campaigns would follow our lead,” Cruz campaign manager Jeff Roe said.
Mr. Kasich’s top strategist, John Weaver, made an explicit call for super PACs devoted to stopping Mr. Trump to follow the two campaigns’ lead.
“We will focus our time and resources in New Mexico and Oregon,” Mr. Weaver said. “We would expect independent third-party groups to do the same and honor the commitments made by the Cruz and Kasich campaigns.”
The Cruz-Kasich alliance marks a phase both candidates have resisted for months. Both men have rejected calls that they ask supporters to strategically back other candidates in order to stop Mr. Trump, who is the lone Republican with a statistical chance of winning the party’s nomination on the first ballot at the GOP’s national convention, to be held in July in Cleveland.
The agreement comes as Mr. Trump is in the midst of a successful run of states. He won 89 of New York’s 95 delegates on Tuesday and stands to carry all five northeastern states due to vote this week.
If the arrangement is successful, it stands to benefit both men. Mr. Cruz’s campaign is now arranged around the idea that he can clinch the GOP nomination on a second or third ballot at the convention, once delegates bound to Mr. Trump on the first vote become free to vote how they wish. Mr. Kasich’s hope is that not only does Mr. Trump fall short, but Mr. Cruz does too, and eventually Republican delegates choose him as the most electable candidate.
Republican candidates need 1,237 delegates at the party convention to become the presidential nominee.
Mr. Trump responded on Twitter Sunday night Messrs. Cruz and Kasich “are going to collude in order to keep me from getting the Republican nomination. DESPERATION!”
Mr. Trump’s spokeswoman didn’t respond to a request for comment.
The deal will also likely add fuel to Mr. Trump’s long-running argument that the presidential contest is “rigged” against him. Mr. Trump has for weeks claimed the GOP nominating rules are fixed to benefit other candidates.
Sunday, April 24, 2016
Apple should pay more tax - Fortune
Posted: 22 Apr 2016 04:16 AM PDT
Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak thinks the company — and all other companies — should be paying a 50% tax rate.
Woz told the BBC that he doesn’t like the idea that Apple is not paying taxes the way he does as an individual, saying he was worried its tax practices may be “unfair.”
“I do a lot of work, I do a lot of travel and I pay over 50% of everything I make in taxes, and I believe that’s part of life and you should do it,” Wozniak said. Asked if Apple should be paying such a rate, he replied: “Every company in the world should.”
Not that Woz, who left Apple over three decades ago, can do anything about it.
“I would not have any power and I don’t think it would be right for me, Steve Wozniak, to try to influence how Apple handles it, and I would have no effect anyway,” he said. “They’re going to take the thing that saves the last little penny. Apple’s so huge they don’t have to give in to anything.”
Apple recently paid $348 millionto settle a dispute with the Italian tax authorities, over the way it funnelled Italian profits through an Irish subsidiary in order to minimize its taxes.
It could also face a bill for billions in back-taxes if the European Commission concludes that Ireland gave it preferential treatment with its tax deal there, in a way that amounted to illegal state aid.
The company (like others) has made use of complex arrangements involving Ireland and Bermuda to cut its tax bill.
However, Apple CEO Tim Cook recently said the accusation that it was avoiding taxes was “total political crap” and the idea of bringing profits back to the U.S. was not “reasonable” because it would “cost me 40% to bring it home.” He also claimed Apple is already the biggest corporate tax payer in the U.S.
This article originally appeared on fortune.com
Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak thinks the company — and all other companies — should be paying a 50% tax rate.
Woz told the BBC that he doesn’t like the idea that Apple is not paying taxes the way he does as an individual, saying he was worried its tax practices may be “unfair.”
“I do a lot of work, I do a lot of travel and I pay over 50% of everything I make in taxes, and I believe that’s part of life and you should do it,” Wozniak said. Asked if Apple should be paying such a rate, he replied: “Every company in the world should.”
Not that Woz, who left Apple over three decades ago, can do anything about it.
“I would not have any power and I don’t think it would be right for me, Steve Wozniak, to try to influence how Apple handles it, and I would have no effect anyway,” he said. “They’re going to take the thing that saves the last little penny. Apple’s so huge they don’t have to give in to anything.”
Apple recently paid $348 millionto settle a dispute with the Italian tax authorities, over the way it funnelled Italian profits through an Irish subsidiary in order to minimize its taxes.
It could also face a bill for billions in back-taxes if the European Commission concludes that Ireland gave it preferential treatment with its tax deal there, in a way that amounted to illegal state aid.
The company (like others) has made use of complex arrangements involving Ireland and Bermuda to cut its tax bill.
However, Apple CEO Tim Cook recently said the accusation that it was avoiding taxes was “total political crap” and the idea of bringing profits back to the U.S. was not “reasonable” because it would “cost me 40% to bring it home.” He also claimed Apple is already the biggest corporate tax payer in the U.S.
This article originally appeared on fortune.com
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