Starkers I'm wondering if you caught one of the links in the article you linked in the o/p - hopefully it'll make you feel a little better. It does appear that at least some of the "right" people are aggravated.

http://au.finance.yahoo.com/news/cautious-praise-ireland-closing-apple-082958474.html

It's a step in the right direction, but as several commenters alluded to, it will not do alot to stop multinationals exploiting the 'Double Irish' loophole.

Truth is, the wealthy have the system sewn up so the rich keep getting richer and the poor keep getting poorer.

EDIT:

At the end of the day, though, we are all to blame for the current situation.  We all want bargains and to pay less at the checkout.  We all would rather pay less tax and for other government charges. And we all want to keep as much of our own money to ourselves.  It's human nature, I guess.  However, it's still very much a case of be careful of what you wish/ask for.... because the corporations are more adept at getting what they want, and while the average Joe might be saving a buck or two here and there, these multi-national corporations such as Apple, when they follow Average Bloke's lead. are leaving huge vacuums in the economies of every nation that hosts them.

So, to cut a long story short, the human race is inherently greedy... and what we got is what we asked for.

Government's a beast that needs to be starved anyway - may be the only way to control it.

Okay, so you starve government through everyone withholding/cheating on their taxes.... so who do you propose builds all the necessary infrastructure; funds all the dirty decisions nobody else wants to make; pays for the huge war machine and its ongoing expense accounts?

Private Enterprise?

Sure, and turn the US into one huge 'user pays' society where everything costs... including the roads you travel to work on... and every bullet/missile fired in anger costs the public thrice as much because you've turned from a non-profit organisation to profit motivated corporations who will want to see your last red cent.

Good one!  And Apple is your saviour.

I'm not suggesting that government always spends taxpayer money wisely, far from it. From my own recollection of the Australian government, the waste has sometimes been enormous and almost criminal... like the time it spent 6 mil on a painting to hang in parliament house.

However, governments do things where nobody else can be bothered or wants to get their hands dirty, and that's where paying you dues and not claiming bogus deductions on your tax return is the right thing to do. Government is always going to fund nut-jobs and their wacky study ideas because there'll always be arsewipe politicians with a sympathetic ear, meaning that vital areas will come up short of funding when the majority of taxpayers follow your lead and start claiming on every restaurant meal; gallon of juice; doctors bill; pharmacy bill; etc, etc.

At the end of the day, however, what you and a few million other taxpayers don't pay through various bogus claims, etc, is but a piss in the ocean compared to what Apple and other corporations are avoiding in taxes.... and this is where you begin the fight to bring your own tax rate down, by lobbying government - via a Taxpayers Association -  to amend the tax laws and force the corporations into compliance.  And when they pay their fair share, you pay less and without having to lodge bogus claims.

The one I like to bitch about is that the US sends foreign aid to China!

We stupidly borrow money from them and then turn around and give it back as foreign aid.

They must be laughing their asses off all the way to the bank.

Trust you!

Yes, it is interesting, though quite expected.  While the OP was all about Apple because it is ripping off Australia, I had no doubt that companies like IBM and Microsoft were guilty of the same in the US, and that's what pisses me off.  So much more could be done to ease national debt and to benefit our nations as a whole, if only these corporations invested back into the relevant economies instead of hording trillions to themselves.

So while my original gripe was/is with Apple, I have no love for the other perpetrators who contribute to extremes in inequality regarding wealth, health and other life basics that so many poor people simply have to go without.

There is only one term for it: Extreme Greed at its very worst.

There's no might about it in my book... I consider the architects and perpetrators of these immoral and monetary crimes against humanity evil in the utmost.

For mine, there should be a Corporate Execution Committee that votes daily on which CEO, exec and banker deserves to die most, then line the bastards up against a wall at the end of the week and have a 7 gun salute to rid the world of the world's most heinous businessmen and women.  Nope, no mercy if they're female... the bitches wanted equality so let 'em have it with the same calibre shot the male variety gets.

First female to get it... Gina Rinehart.

First male to get it... Tim Cook.

Yeah, that's right, I'm in a pretty pissed off mood... if only, if only.

Shoot, just one comment after my suggesting a corporate firing squad... thought I'd have gotten a few bites for that one.

I don't actually advocate such a thing in a real sense, though... I mean, let's not stoop to a 'corporate' low.

Tin-foil hat on.

I think the liquidity trap is by design.  The wealth gap is being driven up intentionally (or at least without objection) to enable 'the crisis'.

Tin-foil hat removed.

Bolstering Brad's views about QE.  Figure 1 should scare the hell out you.