“Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) on Monday accused Apple of ‘throwing pennies at a housing crisis’ that it ‘helped create’ after the tech giant announced it will spend $2.5 billion on affordable housing in California,” Justine Coleman for The Hill:
The presidential candidate released a statement ripping Apple’s “hypocrisy” and saying he would require large companies to pay “their fair share” in order to make “investments that guarantee Americans affordable housing.”
California has faced scrutiny for its rate of homelessness, particularly from President Trump’s administration, which cited the population when calling on the state to address its air and water quality.
MacDailyNews Note: Sanders’ announcement via Facebook, verbatim:
Apple’s announcement that it is entering the real estate lending business is an effort to distract from the fact that it has helped create California’s housing crisis – all while raking in $800 million of taxpayer subsidies, and keeping a quarter trillion dollars of profit offshore, in order to avoid paying billions of dollars in taxes. Today, more than 134,000 Californians are homeless and renters need to earn $34.69 per hour to afford the average two-bedroom apartment. We cannot rely on corporate tax evaders to solve California’s housing crisis. When we defeat Donald Trump, we are going to make companies like Apple start paying their fair share, so that we can finally start making massive long-term investments that guarantee Americans affordable housing.
See also: Apple commits $2.5 billion to combat housing crisis in California.
MacDailyNews Take: Relax, Bernie! Don’t have a… mmm.
Well, suffice to say, it’ll certainly be interesting to see Apple employees’ political contributions this cycle.
FYI: Apple has long been the United States’ largest taxpayer. Apple has paid $39.591 billion in U.S. income taxes over the past three fiscal years alone. In 2018, Apple announced the company’s direct contribution to the U.S. economy will be more than $350 billion over a five year period including a record tax payment due to repatriation of overseas profits that accounts for approximately $75 billion of Apple’s direct contribution. Apple is not “keeping a quarter trillion dollars of profit offshore” nor does the company “evade” taxes. Apple pays every tax dollar it owes in every country around the world.