CKHustler - MY post was full of logical flaws???
"They are both worried about job security over anything else."... Umm, this is like saying that a person stealing food and a person working for the income to buy it are just the same because "they are both worried about feeding their family over anything else."... Your logic there makes no sense.
"CEO's are beholden to the public to purchase his goods, a politician is beholden to votes." Another major logical flaw. A CEO is beholden to shareholders to deliver a profit, which is not always derived from the sale of goods to the public. More so, it is not always derived from the sale of goods to the U.S. public. Even more so, it is not derived from the sale of goods to the U.S. voting public or to a given jurisdiction's votic public (to whom the politician is accountable). So their audiences are wholly different. And despite what some libertarians assert, people do not (for the most part) "vote with their wallets". Meaning, they do not tend to look at a companies social practices when shopping for every good or service.
Do you really think that the CEO of Halliburton or GE and a local district congressman are answering to the same individuals???? That's absolute lunacy.
You say we aren't even close to capitalism -- please cite who you think is closer to what you are looking for? Are you saying we should have a governmental system more like Canada's (your only citation)? Do you believe that is more capitalist vs. socialized?
"highest corporate taxes in the world" - that is a total fallacy and anyone in business knows it. Tax rates and taxes paid are completely different things. We also have less hidden costs due to non-tax fees and corruption. Look at GE's "effective" tax rate with all the breaks they got.
The U.S. tax rules on depreciation of long term assets, especially debt-financed assets bring down the effective marginal rate significantly. Tax strategies (loopholes, some would call them), deferred taxes, hiding profits overseas, etc. all play a role in making the actual tax bill paid so different that the "rate" is almost meaningless.
Some reading:
http://www.smartmoney.com/...rate-is-misleading-22463/
Check both World Bank and GAO reports here on the difference between a statutory tax rate and an effective tax rate:
http://mediamatters.org/research/201004260006
If you still think the statutory tax rate is what a company pays, I sure hope you don't ever plan to be a CEO (or especially CFO)...