GE's Tax Bill? ZERO.

General Electric, the nation’s largest corporation, had a very good year in 2010.

The company reported worldwide profits of $14.2 billion, and said $5.1 billion of the total came from its operations in the United States.

Its American tax bill? None. In fact, G.E. claimed a tax benefit of $3.2 billion.

Read the rest here. Set aside the recent Democrat extension of the Bush tax giveaways to the wealthy. Just focus on the G.E. thing for a moment. When the Democrat-apologists trot out their tired arguments for why you should hold your nose and spend money, political energy, time and votes getting Democrats elected to office... just remember that this appalling class tax disparity went unchallenged by a Democrat-controlled House, a super-majority Senate, and a popular young President who talked big about change. It remains unchallenged, in fact, as the article makes clear, Obama applauds this kind of thing:

In January, President Obama named Jeffrey R. Immelt, General Electric’s chief executive, to head the President’s Council on Jobs and Competitiveness. “He understands what it takes for America to compete in the global economy,” Mr. Obama said.

That's the political face of the Democrats, folks. That's supposed to be the best we've got. Now, I would never deny that the Dems are often less offensively right-wing than the hapless Republicans. But let's not kid ourselves about who the Democrats are and who they represent. If you are truly on the Left, then you have to believe that there is a irresolvable contradiction between where we need to get to and what the Democratic Party (as a national, heavily business-influenced organization) aims to accomplish. We have to ask: where do progressives want to go, and can the Democrats take us there? You only have to think rather modest things like "we should have a national health care program (e.g. like Canada) that covers everyone unconditionally from cradle to grave" to find yourself in a position where you have to answer "no".