economy viewpoint - POLITICAL

[Dr D]

To All My Valued Employees,

There have been some rumblings around the office about the

future of this company, and more specifically, your job. As you know,

the economy has changed for the worse and presents many challenges.

However, the good news is this: The economy doesn't pose a threat to

your job. What does threaten your job however, is the changing political

landscape in this country. However, let me tell you some little tidbits

of fact which might help you decide what is in your best interests.

First, while it is easy to spew rhetoric that casts employers

against employees, you have to understand that for every business owner

there is a back story. This back story is often neglected and

overshadowed by what you see and hear. Sure, you see me park my Mercedes

outside. You've seen my big home at last years Christmas party. I'm

sure; all these flashy icons of luxury conjure up some idealized

thoughts about my life.

However, what you don't see is the back story.

I started this company 28 years ago. At that time, I lived in a

300 square foot studio apartment for 3 years. My entire living apartment

was converted into an office so I could put forth 100% effort into

building a company, which by the way, would eventually employ you.

My diet consisted of Ramen Pride noodles because every dollar I

spent went back into this company. I drove a rusty Toyota Corolla with a

defective transmission. I didn't have time to date. Often times, I

stayed home on weekends, while my friends went out drinking and

partying. In fact, I was married to my business -- hard work,

discipline, and sacrifice.

Meanwhile, my friends got jobs. They worked 40 hours a week and

made a modest $50K a year and spent every dime they earned. They drove

flashy cars and lived in expensive homes and wore fancy designer

clothes. Instead of hitting the Nordstrom's for the latest hot fashion

item, I was trolling through the discount store extracting any clothing

item that didn't look like it was birthed in the 70's. My friends

refinanced their mortgages and lived a life of luxury. I, however, did

not. I put my time, my money, and my life into a business with a vision

that eventually, some day, I too, will be able to afford these luxuries

my friends supposedly had.

So, while you physically arrive at the office at 9am, mentally

check in at about noon, and then leave at 5pm, I don't. There is no

"off" button for me. When you leave the office, you are done and you

have a weekend all to yourself. I unfortunately do not have the freedom.

I eat, and breathe this company every minute of the day. There is no

rest. There is no weekend. There is no happy hour. Every day this

business is attached to my hip like a 1 year old special-needs child.

You, of course, only see the fruits of that garden -- the nice house,

the Mercedes, the vacations... you never realize the back story and the

sacrifices I've made.

Now, the economy is falling apart and I, the guy that made all

the right decisions and saved his money, have to bail-out all the people

who didn't. The people that overspent their paychecks suddenly feel

entitled to the same luxuries that I earned and sacrificed a decade of

my life for.

Yes, business ownership has is benefits but the price I've paid

is steep and not without wounds.

Unfortunately, the cost of running this business, and employing

you, is starting to eclipse the threshold of marginal benefit and let me

tell you why:

I am being taxed to death and the government thinks I don't pay

enough. I have state taxes. Federal taxes. Property taxes. Sales and use

taxes. Payroll taxes. Workers compensation taxes. Unemployment taxes.

Taxes on taxes. I have to hire a tax man to manage all these taxes and

then guess what? I have to pay taxes for employing him. Government

mandates and regulations and all the accounting that goes with it, now

occupy most of my time. On Oct 15th, I wrote a check to the US Treasury

for $288,000 for quarterly taxes. You know what my "stimulus" check was?

Zero. Nada. Zilch.

The question I have is this: Who is stimulating the economy? Me,

the guy who has provided 14 people good paying jobs and serves over

2,200,000 people per year with a flourishing business? Or, the single

mother sitting at home pregnant with her fourth child waiting for her

next welfare check? Obviously, government feels the latter is the

economic stimulus of this country.

The fact is, if I deducted (Read: Stole) 50% of your paycheck

you'd quit and you wouldn't work here. I mean, why should you? That's

nuts. Who wants to get rewarded only 50% of their hard work? Well, I

agree which is why your job is in jeopardy.

Here is what many of you don't understand ... to stimulate the

economy you need to stimulate what runs the economy. Had suddenly

government mandated to me that I didn't need to pay taxes, guess what?

Instead of depositing that $288,000 into the Washington black-hole, I

would have spent it, hired more employees, and generated substantial

economic growth. My employees would have enjoyed the wealth of that tax

cut in the form of promotions and better salaries. But you can forget it

now.

When you have a comatose man on the verge of death, you don't

defibrillate and shock his thumb thinking that will bring him back to

life, do you? Or, do you defibrillate his heart? Business is at the

heart of America and always has been. To restart it, you must stimulate

it, not kill it. Suddenly, the power brokers in Washington believe the

poor of America are the essential drivers of the American economic

engine. Nothing could be further from the truth and this is the type of

change you can keep.

So where am I going with all this?

It's quite simple.

If any new taxes are levied on me, or my company, my reaction

will be swift and simple. I fire you. I fire your co-workers. You can

then plead with the government to pay for your mortgage, your SUV, and

your child's future. Frankly, it isn't my problem any more.

Then, I will close this company down, move to another country,

and retire. You see, I'm done. I'm done with a country that penalizes

the productive and gives to the unproductive. My motivation to work and

to provide jobs will be destroyed, and with it, will be my citizenship.

So, if you lose your job, it won't be at the hands of the

economy; it will be at the hands of a political hurricane that swept

through this country, steamrolled the constitution, and will have

changed its landscape forever. If that happens, you can find me sitting

on a beach, retired, and with no employees to worry about....

Signed, Your boss

[rhaskins]

With all due respect, what a crock. No offense meant.

Rick

[utahcarver]

Thanks, Dr D.

Several years ago my brother opened a restaurant which stayed in business for just over a year. His wife got sick and he had to sell. The month before he opened he paid over $5,000 bucks in fees, taxes and permits to the city government. He got nothing in return for the $5,000 dollars but a kick in the pants.

The confiscatory fees that the local governments (aka corporations) levy upon business owners serve little or no purpose but to fatten the general budgets of the city fathers who, don't have any problem spending money like a drunk sailor on leave.

Mark

[Rammy]

If you vote left your taxes are going up!!!!!!!!!

[BobD]

Thanks, Dr D.

Several years ago my brother opened a restaurant which stayed in business for just over a year. His wife got sick and he had to sell. The month before he opened he paid over $5,000 bucks in fees, taxes and permits to the city government. He got nothing in return for the $5,000 dollars but a kick in the pants.

The confiscatory fees that the local governments (aka corporations) levy upon business owners serve little or no purpose but to fatten the general budgets of the city fathers who, don't have any problem spending money like a drunk sailor on leave.

Mark

If your brother had payed no fees and had been able to make a go of it, there might have been some consequences. When another guy puts up restaurant next to your brother's place with a menu at half the price. He could do it because his kitchen equipment is ancient and unsafe, he has no fire prevention/safety and unsafe occupancy/fire exits. His staff don't waste time cleaning the kitchen and he buys out of date food. Your brother would be complaining that the other guy should not be allowed to get away with it. unfortunately there would be nobody to do anything about it because there were no fees to pay for any officials to write and enforce the codes.

I don't know where this was, but generally there has been a trend for States to lower taxes, with the consequence that fees like these have gone up. This is a case of lower taxes making it harder for businesses.

BobD

[utahcarver]

If your brother had payed no fees and had been able to make a go of it, there might have been some consequences. When another guy puts up restaurant next to your brother's place with a menu at half the price. He could do it because his kitchen equipment is ancient and unsafe, he has no fire prevention/safety and unsafe occupancy/fire exits. His staff don't waste time cleaning the kitchen and he buys out of date food. Your brother would be complaining that the other guy should not be allowed to get away with it. unfortunately there would be nobody to do anything about it because there were no fees to pay for any officials to write and enforce the codes.

I don't know where this was, but generally there has been a trend for States to lower taxes, with the consequence that fees like these have gone up. This is a case of lower taxes making it harder for businesses.

BobD

Good points, Bob. The little restaurant was here in Logan, Utah. Those fees are there for a reason: to protect the public health and to keep the playing field level. However, it is the trend in government to use money from one source for needs in another. Thus, the intended protections are no longer in force. In the case of my brother, the other guy's restaurant was under constant surveillance by the cops for drug distribution.

There was little or no oversight by the local health dept. on food handling. They just wanted the money, period.

Mark

[Dr D]

between the banks, insurance companies and the nice government men I still don't get to take any home even though my gross has increased 30% in each of the last three years.

Its a little different for me than this example since the I personally generate the income. If I am not there there isn't an income.

[Jack M]

If your brother had payed no fees and had been able to make a go of it, there might have been some consequences. When another guy puts up restaurant next to your brother's place with a menu at half the price. He could do it because his kitchen equipment is ancient and unsafe, he has no fire prevention/safety and unsafe occupancy/fire exits. His staff don't waste time cleaning the kitchen and he buys out of date food. Your brother would be complaining that the other guy should not be allowed to get away with it. unfortunately there would be nobody to do anything about it because there were no fees to pay for any officials to write and enforce the codes.

That scenario is 100% imaginary. Sketchy unclean restaurants like that go out of business in the free market.

[Dr D]

That scenario is 100% imaginary. Sketchy unclean restaurants like that go out of business in the free market.

+1:biggthump

would you eat at the sketchy restaraunt next door?

I think thats what they call fuzzy logic!:lol:

The freemarket will always correct that kind of stuff

[bobdea]

right where they want you.

there's nothing the corporate ruling class loves more than a small business getting ****ed, you are very vocal and help them justify why they should get paid to hide their money or to outsource.

There's no real way for people who work legally or a small business to evade taxes like there is for a global company.

If we could get wal mart and other giants to actually pay their taxes the federal budget would look at least 15% better. If you could get all the illegals working and paying into state and federal tax systems things would look much better for the border states.

the IRS is ****ed, the biggest issue I see is that the tax man only goes after the people and businesses in the middle income brackets.

Look at the banks for example.......

THEY GET BREAKS FOR OVER LEVERAGING THEMSELVES and then to top it off they did not get any conditions on how they needed to spend the money.

[Erik J]

If your brother had payed no fees and had been able to make a go of it, there might have been some consequences. When another guy puts up restaurant next to your brother's place with a menu at half the price. He could do it because his kitchen equipment is ancient and unsafe, he has no fire prevention/safety and unsafe occupancy/fire exits. His staff don't waste time cleaning the kitchen and he buys out of date food. Your brother would be complaining that the other guy should not be allowed to get away with it. unfortunately there would be nobody to do anything about it because there were no fees to pay for any officials to write and enforce the codes.

I don't know where this was, but generally there has been a trend for States to lower taxes, with the consequence that fees like these have gone up. This is a case of lower taxes making it harder for businesses.

BobD

As a restaurant owner and chef, I will say from my experience that this could not be farther from the truth. I could write pages here but I'm going riding soon.

To Dr. D - I can relate to a lot of that "dear employee" letter. I have worked my @ss off for my business to grow, I have literally bled for it, worked 60 hours in 3 days, given up a lot to have my own place and run it my way. This year, some of my startup costs will be paid off and the fruits of my labor wll begin to ripen nicely - and to protect that I am cutting hours as well as a few staff. As captain of this ship, I decide where it goes. I also go down with it if the poop hits the fan - but I will not let it get to that point.

[BobD]

That scenario is 100% imaginary. Sketchy unclean restaurants like that go out of business in the free market.

and we don't need all the other inspectors and codes (building, electrical, safety, health, etc) for the same reason ? The damage is already done when a business closes down because people have been sickened or hurt.

The electrical inspectors I work with are hardly covering the cost of their visits with the permit fees. I know most electrical contractors would cut corners if they were able to and I'm sure the same applies to commercial kitchens.

BobD

[Dr D]

and we don't need all the other inspectors and codes (building, electrical, safety, health, etc) for the same reason ?

BobD

EXACTLY

There is recourse available for anyone who is injured.

It is not the governments job to save me from my own stupidity or anyone else's as far as that goes. I can function quite nicely on my own and actually make a living. We only need one law Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.

[bobdea]

EXACTLY

There is recourse available for anyone who is injured.

It is not the governments job to save me from my own stupidity or anyone else's as far as that goes. I can function quite nicely on my own and actually make a living. We only need one law Do unto others as you would have them dounto you.

why is it that people confuse ideology with reality.

ummmm, tainted milk?

Slavery?

What happens when a company has the rights of a living person?

Free market theory is flawed but people who live on pure ideology can't see it. see Jack's post.

[Dr D]

LOL

welcome to life everything is flawed.

If I buy tainted milk at bob's market I won't be buying it there again. If it kills me my family goes after bob for damages. Treble damages if you understand common law.

Obviously there is a happy medium between no rules and fees and what we have now. Most people just can't come to grips with the fact that the world isn't black and white. Our current political scene is so polarized there is no room for 85% of us who see life in shades of gray:lurk:

[Dan]

Yes, rather than spending tax revenue to stimulate the domestic economy, we should borrow money from China and pay it to Halliburton to fight two wars that we can't afford. With all due respect, it's tax cuts that got us one trillion dollars into debt. How exactly do more tax cuts help the situation?

[Dan]

+1:biggthump

The freemarket will always correct that kind of stuff

Dr D, I love you and your approach skis that you sold me last week, but the free market didn't correct all the mortgage lenders that lent tens of thousands to marginally employed homebuyers. (heh, at least not in time.)

Our economic incentives are out of whack because executives get compensated for short-term performance, not long-term success. Take a rational person who has a choice between a $2 million bonus this year for pumping and dumping on an institutional scale, or looking out for the long term health of their company, with, say a $10 million payoff ten years down the road. Which option are they going to pick?

I think government regulation does have a role to play in pushing large businesses to take a long term view (for instance, setting minimum limits for when stock options can be cashed out), rather than the get-rich-quick approach that's proved so disastrous.

[LeeW]

Look at the banks for example.......

THEY GET BREAKS FOR OVER LEVERAGING THEMSELVES and then to top it off they did not get any conditions on how they needed to spend the money.

Not to mention that retarded thing in regards to Wells Fargo spending a govt stimulus bucks for a ... Vegas trip ?

Yes, rather than spending tax revenue to stimulate the domestic economy, we should borrow money from China and pay it to Halliburton to fight two wars that we can't afford. With all due respect, it's tax cuts that got us one trillion dollars into debt. How exactly do more tax cuts help the situation?

Not just that -- we shouldn't be counting on countries we -LENT- money to pay us back down the road. Defaulting seems to be the best way for them to avoid their debt obligation to us. Or, we're just simply stupid to hand out our hard-earned money to other countries.

[shawndoggy]

LOL, I'm glad I don't work for this guy! It sounds like government owes him and he owes nothing to government. He doesn't mention, but I wonder, when he was starting out in business did he get a federally guaranteed loan for startup capital? Was he able to rely on courts to enforce his contracts as his business grew? Could he rely on the police and fire departments to keep his business safe? Did the local schools turn out educated individuals worthy of being employed?

Many of my clients are small business owners. I appreciate their entrepreneurial spirit and willingness to work hard for a long term payoff. But I also find that they willingly ignore that their government(s) and the services they provide create and preserve the stable society where their businesses can grow and prosper. Each feeds the other; each needs the other to survive.

So I wish him well as he sets off on his adventure to the unregulated utopia beyond our borders, and I hope he writes again to let us know how it's going.

[Dr D]

Dr D, I love you and your approach skis that you sold me last week, but the free market didn't correct all the mortgage lenders that lent tens of thousands to marginally employed homebuyers. (heh, at least not in time.)

Our economic incentives are out of whack because executives get compensated for short-term performance, not long-term success. Take a rational person who has a choice between a $2 million bonus this year for pumping and dumping on an institutional scale, or looking out for the long term health of their company, with, say a $10 million payoff ten years down the road. Which option are they going to pick?

I think government regulation does have a role to play in pushing large businesses to take a long term view (for instance, setting minimum limits for when stock options can be cashed out), rather than the get-rich-quick approach that's proved so disastrous.

What made you think we have a free market??????

[Dr D]

Yes, rather than spending tax revenue to stimulate the domestic economy, we should borrow money from China and pay it to Halliburton to fight two wars that we can't afford. With all due respect, it's tax cuts that got us one trillion dollars into debt. How exactly do more tax cuts help the situation?

We should be stimulating local economies not global economies and we should absolutely not be borrowing money from china. If the taxpayers money is to be spent on an "economic incentive package" it should be spent on small business not global corporations and certainly not on unnecessary wars and foreign entanglements.

I don't believe I ever mentioned those things above curious how they came up.

[Dr D]

LOL, I'm glad I don't work for this guy! It sounds like government owes him and he owes nothing to government. He doesn't mention, but I wonder, when he was starting out in business did he get a federally guaranteed loan for startup capital? Was he able to rely on courts to enforce his contracts as his business grew? Could he rely on the police and fire departments to keep his business safe? Did the local schools turn out educated individuals worthy of being employed?

Many of my clients are small business owners. I appreciate their entrepreneurial spirit and willingness to work hard for a long term payoff. But I also find that they willingly ignore that their government(s) and the services they provide create and preserve the stable society where their businesses can grow and prosper. Each feeds the other; each needs the other to survive.

So I wish him well as he sets off on his adventure to the unregulated utopia beyond our borders, and I hope he writes again to let us know how it's going.

:lol::lol:

The truth lies in between

For the record The SBA defines small business loans as 1.5 million plus. Most small business fall into what is known as the microloan class and they are very difficult to get. Personally I got no help from banks other than my personal credit cards and thats more harm than help. The general feeling of people like the man above is "government leave me alone I don't need your rules or your help" self reliance is a dying art.

[Dr D]

ATLAS SHRUGGED by Ayne Rand

Its a must read to understand the concepts described herein:biggthump

[shawndoggy]

The truth lies in between

On that we can agree.

For the record, I agree with the random sentiments about profligate spending. The rub is that for many struggling small business owners (esp. those in retail) those profligate spenders were their bread and butter. The RV sellers, the boat shops, the independent general contractors... many of those guys, even if they managed their own personal wealth wisely, willingly relied on people spending more than they had.

The users have dried up and now many of those pushers... err... "self reliant" small business owners... are looking for their own bailouts.

shades of grey.

[John Gilmour]

So which other country will this business man choose to start a business??? Sweden??

Ironically the stimulus checks likely went to paying late mortgages or credit card bills... fattening the banks..

I think they should have been coupon based.. and primarily for service related industries that reside in the USA so profits could not funnel directly to places like Wal-Mart (and other big box stores) which increases our trade deficit.

those service industries could have expanded quickly needing little capital expediture for expansion and creating instant jobs.... those salaries would have been spent quickly- and again creating more tax revenue as the velocity of the same dollar spent quickly... within 2 business quarters ...could recoup the stimulus checks cost in taxes.

my .02