Not a rotten Apple

[Commentary] You know the world’s gone mad when I think Sen Rand Paul (R-KY) is the only one who made sense at the Senate grilling of Apple CEO Tim Cook. Cook’s crime?

Making sure his firm pays as little in taxes as the law allows. Sen Paul said he was “offended by the spectacle of dragging in executives from an American company for doing nothing illegal.” If you saw the screaming front-page headlines in every major newspaper pegged to the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigation’s report, you would be forgiven for thinking Cook would be ushered straight from the hearing to jail. Why are we publicly browbeating an iconic U.S. firm in an era in which we should be encouraging every innovative company to locate and expand high-value work in America? What kind of message do hearings like this send to firms overseas (or U.S.-based multinationals weighing their capital plans) about America being open for business and hungry for job-creating investment? Common sense has given way to easy grandstanding.