Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.)
says the trove of documents "shows how these billionaires and
multinational corporations get richer by hiding their wealth and profits and
avoid paying their fair share of taxes"
"The major issue of our
time is the rapid movement toward international oligarchy," Sen. Bernie
Sanders (I-Vt.) declared in a statement to
the Guardian on Monday, which noted that "Sanders' intervention in
the debate sparked by the Paradise Papers marks
the most prominent political response to the leak in their opening 24
hours."
Decrying a world "in
which a handful of billionaires own and control a significant part of the
global economy," Sanders said the trove of more than 13 million leaked
documents detailing offshore dealings "shows how these
billionaires and multinational corporations get richer by hiding their wealth
and profits and avoid paying their fair share of taxes."
Sanders said the documents
expose a "major problem not just for the U.S. but for governments
throughout the world." According to the Guardian, he also pointed the
finger of blame for the flourishing of offshore holdings on both Congress and
the Trump administration. He told the Guardian that Republicans in
Congress were responsible for providing "even more tax breaks to
profitable corporations like Apple and Nike."
The same tax breaks, he
said, were being seized upon by super-wealthy members of Trump's cabinet
"who avoid billions in U.S. taxes by shifting American jobs and profits to
offshore tax havens. We need to close these loopholes and demand a fair and
progressive tax system."
Sanders took to Twitter on
Monday to call on Congress to investigate the Paradise Papers, adding his voice
to growing demands for U.S. government action as several members of President
Donald Trump's inner circle continue to be implicated in
the leaked records and subsequent news reports.
