The 1st and 3rd parts of this testimony appeared to be a monolog by Carl Levin... no other Senators spoke (or were present?).
The Apple session had all the Senators get their TV "Face Time".
The other disturbing thing is that while Levin was[B][I] telling questions [/I][/B] to Apple, he repeatedly referred to "shifting" money to Ireland. All 3 Apple participants challenged Levin saying he was mischaracterizing this. Levin interrupted each and every time -- saying that they would get a chance to respond... After blathering on for 30 minutes, Levin called that part of the testimony to an end -- never giving the Apple participants a chance to speak.
[B][I]Again, I am ashamed and embarrassed to be governed by such rude and willfully stubborn and stupid people![/I][/B]
Excellent! Will need to watch it on my Mac, as I can't find a Flash player for my iPad...
Not looking very hard then… a "flash player" is among the top ten most popular free apps on the iTunes store.
You'll use it a few times, then understand why Apple chose not to support it… aside from Flash being buggy, a battery hog and a security risk, you might wonder why it hasn't kept up with the new HTML5/CSS3/JS power trio… really, why bother other than to occasionally view legacy sites like this one…?
I feel McCain especially, and most senators in general, are sock puppets with Corporate(WallStreet) America's hand up their arse, moving their lips. From Keating to now, He's been in the pockets of money and the GOP smoke filled room... his 'maverickism' purely a smoke screen for the times he was left to think on his own... any time he want's to move up, he aligns with the 'master'
I truly feel there is a script master behind the scenes driving every word and every crisis, often to distract from the real issues (benghazi, IRS, AP... vs wall street cronyism, healthcare and real gov't economic reform), to hide the mass migration of money to a very select and silent few, and the kabuki that goes on in senate chambers just drives public opinion away from the true enemies of free enterprise and democracy, the plutocracy.
Shhhhhh nobody is supposed to know all this here in the US.
Not unless Apple wants to bring that money back into the US - then it WILL be taxed. US is the only country on the planet that taxes its citizens on worldwide income - this is a restriction on our freedom to live and work abroad and an infraction to our liberty - basic tenants of our constitutional rights which is now contrarian
Ours is one of the few countries that 'double taxes' its citizen's income.
I lived and worked in Japan for about 12 years. Anything I earned over about $80k was double taxed… first by Japan, then again by the U.S.
Not sure how that's OK by any measure, but there it is...
The 1st and 3rd parts of this testimony appeared to be a monolog by Carl Levin... no other Senators spoke (or were present?).
The Apple session had all the Senators get their TV "Face Time".
The other disturbing thing is that while Levin was telling questions to Apple, he repeatedly referred to "shifting" money to Ireland. All 3 Apple participants challenged Levin saying he was mischaracterizing this. Levin interrupted each and every time -- saying that they would get a chance to respond... After blathering on for 30 minutes, Levin called that part of the testimony to an end -- never giving the Apple participants a chance to speak.
Again, I am ashamed and embarrassed to be governed by such rude and willfully stubborn and stupid people!
You have to wonder if this might come back to bite them ('them' being these self serving, single minded puppets from both sides of the aisle). I suspect few times before has such a hearing had so many smart people watching so intently. I for one am blown away by the shear refusal to actually listen / understand any answer if it didn't suit the questioner's preexisting understanding / game plan. They live in a world where they just keep saying their same few sound bites over and over and let the press parse them according to their own particular dogma.
US citizens residing abroad and working abroad and taxed in their country of residence are expected to pay individual income tax in the US as well. So, it's not totally out in left field that a US corporation would be expected to do the same.....
That's pure nonsense. In no country is it the same.
Moreover, if what you are you saying is that there should be no difference between an individual and a corporation, then you're implying that I should, as an individual, also be allowed to deduct direct expenses (cost of goods sold; e.g., rent and food), indirect expenses (SG&A; e.g., training/intellectual capital building), 'investment' spending (depreciation charges), borrowing (interest payment), or more generally, anything at all directly or indirectly associated with my being able to produce my monthly income.
That is BS. Companies like Apple love to claim they are international companies, yet they want to use the resources of the US overseas. The US supports a huge and expensive diplomatic net around the world that regular US citizens rarely benefit from, but companies like Apple do. If Apple wants to bring its foreign earnings back home, it should pay some to the tax man so it fairly contributes to US diplomatic efforts Apple clearly benefits from.
Moreover, Apple is moving money that it earned in the US to overseas to avoid taxes, and then is complaining that it can't move it back without paying taxes. This, however, is the government's fault.
First of all, Apple is a "multinational" company, not "international". By virtue of being "Multinational" things get very complex very quickly from a taxation point of view.
Apple has already said it is both WILLING to bring foreign earnings to the U.S., AND to pay tax when transferred. What they are "avoiding" is a 35% tax levy on those funds (already very heavy, since they can't write anything off against them AND they've already paid taxes to other countries offshore on those funds). They have rightly suggested that a lower rate on "repatriation" would be more equitable.
Your second sentence is simply wrong. If it isn't, Cook and Oppenheimer just outright lied to Congress. How can you declare this, "Apple is moving money that it earned in the US to overseas to avoid taxes"? It's nonsense. If Apple IS moving funds from its domestic earnings it is AFTER tax, not pre-tax. You do get that, right?
Money earned abroad is NOT being RE-patriated… it was never here to begin with. It's no different than taking a job overseas where you are paid (and pay taxes) in the country you are living and working.
Come on. Think this thing through… just a little. You can do it.
Levin is a total fraud. He indicates that Apple Cork has no employees - it built the Mac,Lisa, PowerBooks and iMacs and all the other stuff. I know. I worked there. Since then manufacturing has mostly moved to China but it supports the Eutopean market and builds the OS - clear from its job listings.
I think Apple should pay the 12.5% in Ireland, but far from avoiding tax in the US a lower rate in Ireland allows Apple to , eventually , repatriate and pay tax in the US if and when the tax laws are reformed. Double taxation laws mean repatriated profits are taxed at.
X - Y
Where X is the US rate and Y the foreign rate. Clearly 35% isn't going to cut it but if the tax on repatriated profits were < 12.5% Apple would owe 0% on repatriation. If it paid 12.5% in Ireland. Since it hasn't - given the Bermuda loophole - the US can earn more not less by Apples avoidance if tax in Ireland.
Amazon is allowed to SELL products TAX FREE to US customers.
So where is the real problem?
The US has no national sales tax. If amazon has offices or any physical presence in a given state, they have to register to collect sales tax within that state. There's an important distinction there. In other states you often still owe it, but a company cannot collect sales tax from residents of a particular state unless they're registered to collect in that state. If you purchase something that is shipped from another state, you are supposed to file the sales tax payment. It's often called use tax then. Another common misconception is that this started with the internet. Interstate retail purchases existed prior to the internet. There have been cases where people have been charged with sales tax evasion. It's usually someone rich buying an expensive item and having it shipped out of state to a secondary residence to avoid sales tax. Hopefully that clarifies things.
The 1st and 3rd parts of this testimony appeared to be a monolog by Carl Levin... no other Senators spoke (or were present?).
The Apple session had all the Senators get their TV "Face Time".
The other disturbing thing is that while Levin was telling questions to Apple, he repeatedly referred to "shifting" money to Ireland. All 3 Apple participants challenged Levin saying he was mischaracterizing this. Levin interrupted each and every time -- saying that they would get a chance to respond... After blathering on for 30 minutes, Levin called that part of the testimony to an end -- never giving the Apple participants a chance to speak.
Again, I am ashamed and embarrassed to be governed by such rude and willfully stubborn and stupid people!
You have to wonder if this might come back to bite them ('them' being these self serving, single minded puppets from both sides of the aisle). I suspect few times before has such a hearing had so many smart people watching so intently. I for one am blown away by the shear refusal to actually listen / understand any answer if it didn't suit the questioner's preexisting understanding / game plan. They live in a world where they just keep saying their same few sound bites over and over and let the press parse them according to their own particular dogma.
Good point!
I wonder if it isn't about time for some bold public servant to bring up the subject of term limits [again].
Carl Milton Levin (born June 28, 1934) is an American politician who serves as the senior United States Senator from Michigan, serving since 1979. He is the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Armed Services, and is a member of the Democratic Party.
Born in Detroit, Michigan, Levin is the graduate of Swarthmore College and Harvard Law School. He worked as the General Counsel of the Michigan Civil Rights Commission from 1964 to 1967, and as a special assistant attorney general for the Michigan Attorney General's Office. Levin was elected to the Detroit City Council in 1968, serving from 1969 to 1977, and was president of the City Council from 1973 to 1977.
In 1978, Levin ran for the United States Senate, defeating incumbent Republican Senator Robert P. Griffin. Levin was re-elected in 1984, 1990, 1996, 2002 and 2008. On March 7, 2013, Levin announced that he would not seek a seventh term to the Senate, and will retire in 2015.[1] Levin has been Michigan's senior senator since 1995. He is the longest-serving senator in the state's history, and the fifth longest-serving incumbent in the U.S. Senate.[2]
The other disturbing thing is that while Levin was telling questions to Apple, he repeatedly referred to "shifting" money to Ireland. All 3 Apple participants challenged Levin saying he was mischaracterizing this. Levin interrupted each and every time -- saying that they would get a chance to respond... After blathering on for 30 minutes, Levin called that part of the testimony to an end -- never giving the Apple participants a chance to speak.
I had repeatedly said here that this is exactly what would happen. This is what these low-lifes do for a living.
It was interesting to watch the stock price: started the day in red, turned green when Ayotte/Portman came on, back to red again when Levin came back on....
Apple's execs, sadly, had a deer-in-the-headlights look. About what I expected.
It was unnecessary and unwise of Cook to agree to do this.
The other thing Apple should say, besides the $6B they pay in corporate taxes, they should also state how much employee withholding they pay the government for salary plus stock option payouts. They also point out how much they collect for SS and pay to the government.
Not only do that pay corporate taxes but all the highly paid employee they employ in the US also pay taxes. This is the part the government never factors in, as long as companies pay their people well the government get more money since individual have far less loop hole.
Brilliant. Corporations are so beneficial their tax rate should just be lowered to 0. Then there wouldn't be any arguments over who is hiding income and there would be no need to offshore. Corporations could get all the benefits of being in America (infrastructure, military, education) and use and abuse hundreds of millions of dollars in taxpayer funded legal system. Their direct burden of the legal system is < 10% of the total taxes collected already, who would miss it? If the government really needs the money just tax the citizens more and let them pay for everything- leave corporations the heck out of it!
The last I checked, the federal government does not collect a sales tax. Amazon has to collect a state sales tax for places it has a physical residence. For everybody else, it is their responsibility to pay the sales tax.
Technically, states can only collect SALES tax on sales made inside their jurisdiction IF the seller and buyer are located in the same state at the time of the transaction (taking delivery) AND the state can prove the seller has nexus (i.e. an office or representative physically located in the state).
Obviously, these laws were written back when that's how pretty much ALL transactions took place (the buyer and seller being in the same physical location); mail-order put a damper on this, and online sales, well...
Obviously, the simplest solution is to view ANY delivery vehicle (even common carrier) as the seller's representative, thus establishing nexus and obligating sales tax. What remains to be seen is if the states actually have that legal right. This would also impact ALL companies that ship products across state borders, not just online companies. And these companies would now have the burden of reporting to potentially 49 other states, collecting money, etc.
In the mean time, states already have USE tax (which is what you're referring to by saying it's the buyer's responsibility; it's known by other terms too) which they enforce mainly during audits and mostly to businesses. But it costs too much to collect (since they don't have corporations acting as their minions) and if they enforced it more, there would be public outrage.
The simplest solution is to require merchants to submit the equivalent of a 1099 to each purchaser and report it to the various states. Then people would have to report it on their state tax return. People wouldn't like this, though.
That is not what the Senators are alleging. They are claiming Apple funnels money out of the US in an elaborate scheme to avoid paying US taxes. Apple does do this. The problem is the government has passed these tax laws, and Apple isn't doing anything illegal.
In Levin's defense, Obama ran on a platform of closing corporate tax loop holes. The Tea Party and Libertarians, however, have filibustered or threatened to do so any meaningful tax reform.
This is false and you clearly have poor comprehension.
Apple does not funnel money that it earns out of the U.S., unless you are accusing them of lying to Congress. They earn money overseas in Eurasia in KEEP it there; Congress wants them to pay taxes on those earnings too.
What Congress is accusing them of is funneling the ECONOMIC RIGHTS on the intellectual property overseas to Ireland, which is totally different but SOUNDS illegal (it's not).
The other disturbing thing is that while Levin was telling questions to Apple, he repeatedly referred to "shifting" money to Ireland. All 3 Apple participants challenged Levin saying he was mischaracterizing this. Levin interrupted each and every time -- saying that they would get a chance to respond... After blathering on for 30 minutes, Levin called that part of the testimony to an end -- never giving the Apple participants a chance to speak.
I had repeatedly said here that this is exactly what would happen. This is what these low-lifes do for a living.
It was interesting to watch the stock price: started the day in red, turned green when Ayotte/Portman came on, back to red again when Levin came back on....
Apple's execs, sadly, had a deer-in-the-headlights look. About what I expected.
It was unnecessary and unwise of Cook to agree to do this.
Yeah, I was watching that, too...
"It was unnecessary and unwise of Cook to agree to do this."
I disagree... I think Tim and Peter did well... This will be all over the financial news -- and Levin and McCain look like exactly what they are...
I had repeatedly said here that this is exactly what would happen. This is what these low-lifes do for a living.
It was interesting to watch the stock price: started the day in red, turned green when Ayotte/Portman came on, back to red again when Levin came back on....
Apple's execs, sadly, had a deer-in-the-headlights look. About what I expected.
It was unnecessary and unwise of Cook to agree to do this.
It wouldn't have mattered if Cook et. al. were there or not, pretty sure Levin would have just talked anyway. That's basically what he did: ask (himself) questions, answer them (himself), rinse, and repeat.
I agree with the comments of Senator Rand Paul...Apple has done nothing illegal or immoral. If Congress wants someone to blame for the way corporations (especially large multinationals) handle their finances, they need only look in the mirror at the tangled web of confusing and often contradictory tax policy they have themselves created! If they want to simplify things, they should lower the U.S. corporate tax rate (which is the highest in the civilized world) and take out all the loopholes to make it fairer and flatter for ALL companies!
It wouldn't have mattered if Cook et. al. were there or not, pretty sure Levin would have just talked anyway. That's basically what he did: ask (himself) questions, answer them (himself), rinse, and repeat.
Ha! I surfed, but couldn't find a reference...
Sometime in the 1980s, Steve Jobs (among others) went before the US House of Representatives... Each member of the panel had a small sign with his name preceded by "Rep."... e.g. "Rep. Mr. Jones".
Steve was unaware/unconcerned about politics -- when asked a question, Steve respectfully responded: "Republican, Mr. Jones..."
Edit: Flash ahead to today... Maybe it would have been appropriate for Tim to have answered respectfully "Senile, Mr. Levin"!
Comments
The 1st and 3rd parts of this testimony appeared to be a monolog by Carl Levin... no other Senators spoke (or were present?).
The Apple session had all the Senators get their TV "Face Time".
The other disturbing thing is that while Levin was[B][I] telling questions [/I][/B] to Apple, he repeatedly referred to "shifting" money to Ireland. All 3 Apple participants challenged Levin saying he was mischaracterizing this. Levin interrupted each and every time -- saying that they would get a chance to respond... After blathering on for 30 minutes, Levin called that part of the testimony to an end -- never giving the Apple participants a chance to speak.
[B][I]Again, I am ashamed and embarrassed to be governed by such rude and willfully stubborn and stupid people![/I][/B]
Quote:
Originally Posted by PhilBoogie
Excellent! Will need to watch it on my Mac, as I can't find a Flash player for my iPad...
Not looking very hard then… a "flash player" is among the top ten most popular free apps on the iTunes store.
You'll use it a few times, then understand why Apple chose not to support it… aside from Flash being buggy, a battery hog and a security risk, you might wonder why it hasn't kept up with the new HTML5/CSS3/JS power trio… really, why bother other than to occasionally view legacy sites like this one…?
Shhhhhh nobody is supposed to know all this here in the US.
Quote:
Originally Posted by eat@me
Not unless Apple wants to bring that money back into the US - then it WILL be taxed. US is the only country on the planet that taxes its citizens on worldwide income - this is a restriction on our freedom to live and work abroad and an infraction to our liberty - basic tenants of our constitutional rights which is now contrarian
Ours is one of the few countries that 'double taxes' its citizen's income.
I lived and worked in Japan for about 12 years. Anything I earned over about $80k was double taxed… first by Japan, then again by the U.S.
Not sure how that's OK by any measure, but there it is...
You have to wonder if this might come back to bite them ('them' being these self serving, single minded puppets from both sides of the aisle). I suspect few times before has such a hearing had so many smart people watching so intently. I for one am blown away by the shear refusal to actually listen / understand any answer if it didn't suit the questioner's preexisting understanding / game plan. They live in a world where they just keep saying their same few sound bites over and over and let the press parse them according to their own particular dogma.
Quote:
Originally Posted by anonymouse
US citizens residing abroad and working abroad and taxed in their country of residence are expected to pay individual income tax in the US as well. So, it's not totally out in left field that a US corporation would be expected to do the same.....
That's pure nonsense. In no country is it the same.
Moreover, if what you are you saying is that there should be no difference between an individual and a corporation, then you're implying that I should, as an individual, also be allowed to deduct direct expenses (cost of goods sold; e.g., rent and food), indirect expenses (SG&A; e.g., training/intellectual capital building), 'investment' spending (depreciation charges), borrowing (interest payment), or more generally, anything at all directly or indirectly associated with my being able to produce my monthly income.
That would be living in la-la land.
Quote:
Originally Posted by TBell
That is BS. Companies like Apple love to claim they are international companies, yet they want to use the resources of the US overseas. The US supports a huge and expensive diplomatic net around the world that regular US citizens rarely benefit from, but companies like Apple do. If Apple wants to bring its foreign earnings back home, it should pay some to the tax man so it fairly contributes to US diplomatic efforts Apple clearly benefits from.
Moreover, Apple is moving money that it earned in the US to overseas to avoid taxes, and then is complaining that it can't move it back without paying taxes. This, however, is the government's fault.
First of all, Apple is a "multinational" company, not "international". By virtue of being "Multinational" things get very complex very quickly from a taxation point of view.
Apple has already said it is both WILLING to bring foreign earnings to the U.S., AND to pay tax when transferred. What they are "avoiding" is a 35% tax levy on those funds (already very heavy, since they can't write anything off against them AND they've already paid taxes to other countries offshore on those funds). They have rightly suggested that a lower rate on "repatriation" would be more equitable.
Your second sentence is simply wrong. If it isn't, Cook and Oppenheimer just outright lied to Congress. How can you declare this, "Apple is moving money that it earned in the US to overseas to avoid taxes"? It's nonsense. If Apple IS moving funds from its domestic earnings it is AFTER tax, not pre-tax. You do get that, right?
Money earned abroad is NOT being RE-patriated… it was never here to begin with. It's no different than taking a job overseas where you are paid (and pay taxes) in the country you are living and working.
Come on. Think this thing through… just a little. You can do it.
I think Apple should pay the 12.5% in Ireland, but far from avoiding tax in the US a lower rate in Ireland allows Apple to , eventually , repatriate and pay tax in the US if and when the tax laws are reformed. Double taxation laws mean repatriated profits are taxed at.
X - Y
Where X is the US rate and Y the foreign rate. Clearly 35% isn't going to cut it but if the tax on repatriated profits were < 12.5% Apple would owe 0% on repatriation. If it paid 12.5% in Ireland. Since it hasn't - given the Bermuda loophole - the US can earn more not less by Apples avoidance if tax in Ireland.
And Ireland gets jobs. Win win.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Winnie
Amazon is allowed to SELL products TAX FREE to US customers.
So where is the real problem?
The US has no national sales tax. If amazon has offices or any physical presence in a given state, they have to register to collect sales tax within that state. There's an important distinction there. In other states you often still owe it, but a company cannot collect sales tax from residents of a particular state unless they're registered to collect in that state. If you purchase something that is shipped from another state, you are supposed to file the sales tax payment. It's often called use tax then. Another common misconception is that this started with the internet. Interstate retail purchases existed prior to the internet. There have been cases where people have been charged with sales tax evasion. It's usually someone rich buying an expensive item and having it shipped out of state to a secondary residence to avoid sales tax. Hopefully that clarifies things.
Good point!
I wonder if it isn't about time for some bold public servant to bring up the subject of term limits [again].
Quote:
Originally Posted by Dick Applebaum
The other disturbing thing is that while Levin was telling questions to Apple, he repeatedly referred to "shifting" money to Ireland. All 3 Apple participants challenged Levin saying he was mischaracterizing this. Levin interrupted each and every time -- saying that they would get a chance to respond... After blathering on for 30 minutes, Levin called that part of the testimony to an end -- never giving the Apple participants a chance to speak.
I had repeatedly said here that this is exactly what would happen. This is what these low-lifes do for a living.
It was interesting to watch the stock price: started the day in red, turned green when Ayotte/Portman came on, back to red again when Levin came back on....
Apple's execs, sadly, had a deer-in-the-headlights look. About what I expected.
It was unnecessary and unwise of Cook to agree to do this.
What on earth is with this country?
Another slam against Apple!
Guess the U.S. hates success.
This is the first time I've agreed with Rand Paul.
The committee and many others, including Wall Street, owe Apple an apology.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Maestro64
The other thing Apple should say, besides the $6B they pay in corporate taxes, they should also state how much employee withholding they pay the government for salary plus stock option payouts. They also point out how much they collect for SS and pay to the government.
Not only do that pay corporate taxes but all the highly paid employee they employ in the US also pay taxes. This is the part the government never factors in, as long as companies pay their people well the government get more money since individual have far less loop hole.
Brilliant. Corporations are so beneficial their tax rate should just be lowered to 0. Then there wouldn't be any arguments over who is hiding income and there would be no need to offshore. Corporations could get all the benefits of being in America (infrastructure, military, education) and use and abuse hundreds of millions of dollars in taxpayer funded legal system. Their direct burden of the legal system is < 10% of the total taxes collected already, who would miss it? If the government really needs the money just tax the citizens more and let them pay for everything- leave corporations the heck out of it!
Quote:
Originally Posted by TBell
The last I checked, the federal government does not collect a sales tax. Amazon has to collect a state sales tax for places it has a physical residence. For everybody else, it is their responsibility to pay the sales tax.
Technically, states can only collect SALES tax on sales made inside their jurisdiction IF the seller and buyer are located in the same state at the time of the transaction (taking delivery) AND the state can prove the seller has nexus (i.e. an office or representative physically located in the state).
Obviously, these laws were written back when that's how pretty much ALL transactions took place (the buyer and seller being in the same physical location); mail-order put a damper on this, and online sales, well...
Obviously, the simplest solution is to view ANY delivery vehicle (even common carrier) as the seller's representative, thus establishing nexus and obligating sales tax. What remains to be seen is if the states actually have that legal right. This would also impact ALL companies that ship products across state borders, not just online companies. And these companies would now have the burden of reporting to potentially 49 other states, collecting money, etc.
In the mean time, states already have USE tax (which is what you're referring to by saying it's the buyer's responsibility; it's known by other terms too) which they enforce mainly during audits and mostly to businesses. But it costs too much to collect (since they don't have corporations acting as their minions) and if they enforced it more, there would be public outrage.
The simplest solution is to require merchants to submit the equivalent of a 1099 to each purchaser and report it to the various states. Then people would have to report it on their state tax return. People wouldn't like this, though.
Quote:
Originally Posted by TBell
That is not what the Senators are alleging. They are claiming Apple funnels money out of the US in an elaborate scheme to avoid paying US taxes. Apple does do this. The problem is the government has passed these tax laws, and Apple isn't doing anything illegal.
In Levin's defense, Obama ran on a platform of closing corporate tax loop holes. The Tea Party and Libertarians, however, have filibustered or threatened to do so any meaningful tax reform.
This is false and you clearly have poor comprehension.
Apple does not funnel money that it earns out of the U.S., unless you are accusing them of lying to Congress. They earn money overseas in Eurasia in KEEP it there; Congress wants them to pay taxes on those earnings too.
What Congress is accusing them of is funneling the ECONOMIC RIGHTS on the intellectual property overseas to Ireland, which is totally different but SOUNDS illegal (it's not).
Yeah, I was watching that, too...
"It was unnecessary and unwise of Cook to agree to do this."
I disagree... I think Tim and Peter did well... This will be all over the financial news -- and Levin and McCain look like exactly what they are...
Apple will benefit from this!
Quote:
Originally Posted by anantksundaram
I had repeatedly said here that this is exactly what would happen. This is what these low-lifes do for a living.
It was interesting to watch the stock price: started the day in red, turned green when Ayotte/Portman came on, back to red again when Levin came back on....
Apple's execs, sadly, had a deer-in-the-headlights look. About what I expected.
It was unnecessary and unwise of Cook to agree to do this.
It wouldn't have mattered if Cook et. al. were there or not, pretty sure Levin would have just talked anyway. That's basically what he did: ask (himself) questions, answer them (himself), rinse, and repeat.
He's correct way more times than most of the other DC windbags.
Ha! I surfed, but couldn't find a reference...
Sometime in the 1980s, Steve Jobs (among others) went before the US House of Representatives... Each member of the panel had a small sign with his name preceded by "Rep."... e.g. "Rep. Mr. Jones".
Steve was unaware/unconcerned about politics -- when asked a question, Steve respectfully responded: "Republican, Mr. Jones..."
Edit: Flash ahead to today... Maybe it would have been appropriate for Tim to have answered respectfully "Senile, Mr. Levin"!