And the corporations only hold out for a repatriation holiday because there has been one in the past, and there is a decent chance of there being one in the near future. This is a slippery legislative cliff - once you indicate a willingness to have the holiday, there is no point in not just dropping the tax rate permanently since no one will bring their billions in otherwise.

I wonder what would happen if we passed an un-repealable law (if such a thing existed) that prohibited tax holidays for the next thirty years?