Years prior to the American Revolution, Ben Franklin attempted to explain to Crown officials why taxing the sugar trade to produce more revenue wouldn't work. He told them that if they raised the duty on a barrel of molasses, say, by two pennies, all that the merchants in New England would do was pass along the price increase to their English customers. Thus, the Crown would really be raising taxes on people in England, not the colonials in America.... The British never got it. But that's the essence of the argument that corporations don't pay taxes, they only collect them, acting pretty much as 21st Century tax farmers for the government. The cost of paying taxes is figured into the final cost of the goods or services they sell you, not paid out of profits. Here's an explanation from a small business owner in Delaware: I employ people. I hire new people when I need their services and I think I can keep them working and I think I can cover their costs. I’m not hirin...