“Daily Show” host Jon Stewart mocked members of the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations for their lenient approach to Apple CEO Timothy Cook’s testimony in a tax evasion investigation, showing clips of various Senators professing their love of Apple products, including iPhones and Macbooks.
The CEO was being questioned by the committee on Tuesday for Apple’s tax avoidance project that moved billions of dollars away from U.S tax collectors.
Stewart said that the CEO was called in to face the “wrath” of Senators, but then played for his audience, the rather heartwarming words that the committee members offered to the CEO.
“I’m very proud of Apple” Senator Claire McCaskill (D-MO) said. “…I harassed my husband until he converted to a Macbook… I love Apple… I love Apple.”
Michigan Senator Carl Levin (D-MI) echoed Sen. McCaskill proclaiming, “We love the iPhone and the iPad. I’ve got one right here!”
Even Arizona Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) pitched in to praise the tech giant, though he did give them some heat on having to update the apps on his iPhone all the time.
“You’ve managed to change the world, which is an incredible legacy,” the Arizona Senator stated.
The Comedy Central host then berated the Senators for indulging the CEO by questioning his views on the current tax code and tax rate, stating that the hearing was less, “We’re mad at you for breaking curfew,” and more like “What time do you think you should get home?”
“If you were in our position,” New Hampshire Sen. Kelly Ayotte (R-NH) said, “how important do you think it is that we change the tax code? …What rate do you think we have to be at if we want to be competitive?”
In response, the CEO played on the simplistic designs that Apple boasts and denounced the complexities of corporation tax, recommending an elimination of all tax expenditures, lowering corporate income tax rates and the implementation of “a reasonable tax on foreign earnings that allows the free flow of capital back to the United States.”
Unlike the earlier remarks by Senators, Stewart did not hesitate to critique the CEO’s recommendations.
“Corporations are the only reason the tax code is so complicated in the first place!” he shouted. “Those offshore loopholes didn’t get carved out by poor people!”
And he has a point. But so does the Apple CEO. If the system was simplified and all those complexities in the tax code were out of the way, it would be better for businesses and boost profit, which would improve the economy.
Watch Jon Stewart’s remarks here.
