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The online protest movement UK Uncut has spawned a new group here in the US, called US Uncut. Anchor Lisa Mullins speaks with the group’s founder, Carl Gibson, who explains the group’s mission. Download MP3
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Carl Gibson: My name is Carl Gibson. I’m the founder of US Uncut.
Lisa Mullins: That’s right, US Uncut, the British movement Laura Lynch just told us about, has already spawned an offshoot here in the States. US Uncut is based in Jackson, Mississippi.
Gibson: US Uncut is a very simple premise. It is stating before you fire one more teacher; before you cut one more benefit; before you freeze one more salary – I think our leaders have an obligation to the rest of us to make sure the richest of the rich pay their fair share in taxes, like everyone else.
Mullins: So what prompted you, just about a week ago?
Gibson: Well, I had heard about folks in the U.K. organizing in very small groups and deciding that they should do something about the austerity cuts that are cutting jobs and salaries. And I was inspired by the people who said, you know, before you take away my housing subsidy or raise my college tuition, how about you make Vodafone pay income taxes? The story especially about them blockading Vodafone and refusing Vodafone to earn income until they paid income taxes – that really rang true for me. And I think two-thirds of American corporations don’t pay taxes. So I wanted to do something like that in the United States.
Mullins: So what does you organization look like right now?
Gibson: Right now I’m helping coordinate protests in 12 states, from the West Coast to the East Coast. Each state chairman coordinates with me, and we’re all coordinating a day of protest on February 26th with UK Uncut. And we’re all going to protest the big banks together on that day.
Mullins: Where do you intend the protest to be?
Gibson: Right now it’s going to be at, probably a Bank of America branch here in Mississippi. I’m getting other folks to organize fund targets, like Bank of America, Citibank, Wells Fargo – banks that have paid little to no income taxes in the last two years despite making billions in revenue. Those are our main targets right now.
Mullins: Two points on that: One is that in some cases tax avoidance can be legal. Are you making the distinction between those who are finding tax loopholes and doing things that are actually legal, and those who aren’t?
Gibson: Oh well see, yeah, that’s the whole source of the problem, is that these corporations are legally allowed to stash away income in offshore tax havens. And because of that the United States loses about a hundred billion dollars in tax revenue every year, according to the GAO. And while that’s legal, I would hope to see legislation introduced in Congress that makes offshore tax havens illegal, and makes these corporations pay income taxes to the United States if they earn income here.
Mullins: The GAO being the Government Accountability Office. I wonder if you could respond to the business leader who we heard in Laura’s piece, who said this is really a matter of concern right now because the whole emphasis is on job creation in this country (meaning, in England) over the next year or two, and it’s going to have to come from business investment. Are you concerned that this same thing could be said of the United States in terms of job creation?
Gibson: I absolutely sympathize with the business owner. I understand that a business has an obligation to their shareholders to lower their costs and make sure that their share is as valuable as possible. But I think at the same time corporations have an obligation to pay income taxes accordingly. A lot of these businesses don’t do that.
Mullins: All right. Thank you. Carl Gibson in Jackson, Mississippi, thanks again.
Gibson: Thank you.
Mullins: US Uncut is just getting off the ground now, but you can find a short documentary on UK Uncut on our website, which is theworld.org
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