Corporate Taxes don't exist.....

Recently, I read a blog comment about the need to raise corporate taxes to help with state and federal budget shortfalls with the recent turn in the economy. The blogger said that since it was corporations that have benefited from the past years of excellent economic times, then they should be the ones to help the individuals who are currently paying the price of the situation we find ourselves in...

Let me provide a little bit of information here....

Corporations have NEVER paid a penny in taxes!!!!

This may come as a shock to some, but here is how corporate taxes work. The federal government, as well as state and local government, imposes whatever tax they wish on corporate entities. This is in the form of sales taxes, excise taxes, payroll taxes, corporate profit taxes, etc.....

The corporation in turn, incorporates these COSTS into the price of their material or service, or reduces the profit per share paid to the shareholders of the corporation. Those costs of doing business that are incorporated into the cost of the material/service are paid, ultimately, by the end user; just like any other cost of a raw material and or service. Those who think that corporations will solve this mess are woefully mistaken. The cost of EVERY GOVERNMENTAL DOLLAR spent is ALWAYS paid for by INDIVIDUALS. ALWAYS, ALWAYS, ALWAYS. Do you get that? ALWAYS.

So who is going to pay for the current cost of this federal government spending? Of course, it will be us, the individual tax payer. Or more accurately, our children and grand-children the individual tax payer.

Folks, do this......
Get out of debt. Save your money. Put it in the bank. Borrow only when absolutely necessary and try to borrow from your local lending banks. Our banking system currently is insolvent due to the lack of fluid DOLLARS in the system. For the past two decades, our financial system has been based on the future values of holdings which is a sure fire way of producing a bankrupt nation. As much as I hate to say this, it is not President Obama's fault, but neither is it President Bush's fault. It is the fault of a system based on greed and the lack of demand for responsibility and respect for future generations.

Premier Wen Jiabao of China made the following comment about his CONCERN of the future credibility of THESE UNITED STATES...

"We have made a huge amount of loans to the United States. Of course we are concerned about the safety of our assets. To be honest, I'm a little bit worried," Wen said at a news conference following the closing of China's annual legislative session. "I would like to call on the United States to honor its words, stay a credible nation and ensure the safety of Chinese assets."


I Want to cry.....

The following is a letter by Greg Knox of Knox Machinery. It was written in response to a letter sent to him and other GM suppliers and employees in an effort to get them to write their congressmen to support the next automotive bailout. I don't know if it is true, but I LIKE IT...



KNOX for President

Gentlemen:

In response to your request to contact legislators and ask for a bailout for the Big Three automakers please consider the following, and please pass my thoughts on to Troy Clark, President of General Motors North America.

Politicians and Management of the Big 3 are both infected with the same entitlement mentality that has spread like cancerous germs in UAW halls for the last countless decades, and whose plague is now sweeping this nation, awaiting our new "messiah", Pres-elect Obama, to wave his magic wand and make all our problems go away, while at the same time allowing our once great nation to keep "living the dream" Believe me folks, The dream is over!

This dream where we can ignore the consumer for years while management myopically focuses on its personal rewards packages at the same time that our factories have been filled with the worlds most overpaid, arrogant, ignorant and laziest entitlement minded "laborers" without paying the price for these atrocitiesthis dream where you still think the masses will line up to buy our products for ever and ever.

Don't even think about telling me I'm wrong. Don't accuse me of not knowing of what I speak. I have called on Ford, GM, Chrysler, TRW, Delphi, Kelsey Hayes, American Axle and countless other automotive OEM's throughout the Midwest during the past 30 years and what I've seen over those years in these union shops can only be described as disgusting.

Troy Clarke, President of General Motors North America, states: "There is widespread sentiment throughout this country, and our government, and especially via the news media, that the current crisis is completely the result of bad management which it certainly is not."

You're right Mr. Clarke, it's not JUST managementhow about the electricians who walk around the plants like lords in feudal times, making people wait on them for countless hours while they drag assso they can come in on the weekend and make double and triple timefor a job they easily could have done within their normal 40 hour work week. How about the line workers who threaten newbies with all kinds of scare tacticsfor putting out too many parts on a shiftand for being too productive. (We certainly must not expose those lazy bums who have been getting overpaid for decades for their horrific underproduction, must we?!?)

Do you folks really not know about this stuff?!? How about this great sentiment abridged from Mr. Clarke's sad plea: "over the last few years we have closed the quality and efficiency gaps with our competitors." What the hell has Detroit been doing for the last 40 years?!? Did we really JUST wake up to the gaps in quality and efficiency between us and them?
The K car vs. the Accord?
The Pinto vs. the Civic?!?
Do I need to go on? What a joke!

We are living through the inevitable outcome of the actions of the United States auto industry for decades. It's time to pay for your sins, Detroit.

I attended an economic summit last week where brilliant economist, Alan Beaulieu, from the Institute of Trend Research, surprised the crowd when he said he would not have given the banks a penny of "bailout money". "Yes, he said, this would cause short term problems," but despite what people like politicians and corporate magnates would have us believe, the sun would in fact rise the next day and the following very important thing would happenwhere there had been greedy and sloppy banks, new efficient ones would pop upthat is how a free market system worksit does workif we would only let it work"

But for some nondescript reason we are now deciding that the rest of the world is rig ht and that capitalism doesn't work - that we need the government to step in and "save us"Save us my ass, Hell - we're nationalizingand unfortunately too many of our once fine nation's citizens don't even have a clue that this is what is really happeningBut, they sure can tell you the stats on their favorite sports teamsyeah - THAT'S really important, isn't it

Does it ever occur to ANYONE that the "competition" has been producing vehicles, EXTREMELY PROFITABLY, for decades in this country? How can that be??? Let 's see Fuel efficient Listening to customers Investing in the proper tooling and automation for the long haul
Not being too complacent or arrogant to listen to Dr. W. Edwards Deming four decades ago when he taught that by adopting appropriate principles of management, organizations could increase quality and simultaneously reduce costs. Ever increased productivity through quality and intelligent planning Treating vendors like strategic partners, rather than like "the enemy" Efficient front and back offices Non union environment Again, I could go on and on, but I really wouldn't be telling anyone anything they really don't already know down deep in their hearts.

I have six children, so I am not unfamiliar with the concept of wanting someone to bail you out of a mess that you have gotten yourself into - my children do this on a weekly, if not daily basis, as I did when I was their age. I do for them what my parents did for me (one of their greatest gifts, by the way) - I make them stand on their own two feet and accept the consequences of their actions and work through it. Radical concept, huh Am I there for them in the wings? Of course - but only until such time as they need to be fully on their own as adults.

I don't want to oversimplify a complex situation, but there certainly are unmistakable parallels here between the proper role of parenting and government. Detroit and the United States need to pay for their sins. Bad news people - it's coming whether we like it or not. The newly elected Messiah really doesn't have a magic wand big enough to "make it all go away." I laughed as I heard Obama "reeling it back in" almost immediately after the final vote count was tallied"we really might not do it in a yearor in four" Where the Hell was that kind of talk when he was RUNNING for office.

Stop trying to put off the inevitable folks That house in Florida really isn't worth $750,000 People who jump across a border really don't deserve free health care benefits That job driving that forklift for the Big 3 really isn't worth $85,000 a year We really shouldn't allow Wal-Mart to stock their shelves with products acquired from a country that unfairly manipulates their currency and has the most atrocious human rights infractions on the face of the globe
That couple whose combined income is less than $50,000 really shouldn't be living in that $485,000 home Let the market correct itself folks - it will. Yes it will be painful, but it's gonna' be painful either way, and the bright side of my proposal is that on the other side of it all, is a nation that appreciates what it hasand doesn't live beyond its meansand gets back to basicsand redevelops the patriotic work ethic that made it the greatest nation in the history of the worldand probably turns back to God. Sorry - don't cut my head off, I'm just the messenger sharing with you the "bad news". I hope you take it to heart.

Gregory J. Knox, President Knox Machinery, Inc.
Franklin, Ohio 45005

WDWLIVE.COM

THERE'S HOPE for the ignorent

I just read where congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee was quoted as saying...

"I was riveted....it became very, very real and sobering to me that our task (of) dealing with terrorism is still ongoing."

Ms. Lee, a democrat from TX (the Houston metropolitan area), was visiting the terrorist detainment facility at Guantanamo Bay Cuba under authority of the Attorney General to review the status and conditions of the prisoners held there.

I am surprised that she did not offer them the keys to their jail cells and an offer of a ride back to America. Ms. Lee is one of my most despised members of congress due to her absolute lack of any ability to think of America first (A common problem with today's congressional membership). My hope is that when people like Ms. Lee see that there is an enemy out there, an enemy that wants to remove this great country from the population of nations, MAYBE, just maybe there is hope for her.... and for the rest of us as well.

God Bless this country and all who fight for it.

I can't believe I saw this on CNBC of all channels. Rick Santelli is my new hero. LOGIC RULES.......

http://www.cnbc.com/id/15840232?video=1039849853

I GOT MY 1099 FROM MORGAN KEEGAN TODAY.......YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!

Not to vent on Morgan Keegan, but for the past three years, they have filed an extension for delivering their 1099 forms. Last year, it was late February before they got them out. But this year, they are ON THE BALL. Only 18 days after they were supposed to go out....... Now if I can get in my state form before the state of Georgia delays their tax payments......

Pray for me!

God Bless the American Financial System.

Exactly what is a TRILLION dollars

If you had a stack of 1 dollar bills, (at 0.0043 inches per bill), your stack would reach over 67 thousand miles into the air. That's enough to go around the world almost three times.

If you had a pile of 1 dollar bills, (at 0.0022 lbs per bill), your pile would weigh 2,200,000,000 pounds. THATS 2.2 BILLION lbs. That roughly equivalent to 200,000 full grown african bull elephants.

Your congress is passing a bill to spend almost a trillion dollars of YOUR MONEY...... WITHOUT EVEN READING THE SPENDING BILL.

http://cnsnews.com/public/content/article.aspx?RsrcID=43478

How did we get into this financial mess……..?

The American public is being fed a massive amount of false information on how this country has gotten into the current financial mess. Somehow, and I CAN NOT figure out how they have gotten away with it, the media is espousing that President Bush is solely responsible for the current mess. WHOA. BS. There are a lot of straws that have gone into breaking this camel’s back, but very darn few of them are attributable to GB. The facts are that this whole debacle can be traced back to a little change in the Community Reinvestment Act of 1977. This was a law that pressed local banks to make every effort to fulfill the needs of the communities in which they were located. (I.E. it was a way of pushing banks to make sure that their services were made available not only to the wealthiest in the community, but also to the average John Q. Public. In 1997, the Clinton administration pushed a change in this law which made two major changes. The first was a change in which the banks were graded on their success in achieving the goals pressed forward by this law. Originally, banks were graded on their EFFORT to reach into all areas of the local community. Advertising, development of programs to assist in savings for lower income customers, etc. etc. were originally used as measuring sticks to grade the banks efforts. This 1997 change turned the yard stick from an effort based system to a results based system. I.E. the banks’ grades would now be based on the total mortgages issued to lower income customers, dollars loaned to low income customers. The change basically made it MANDATORY that banks issue mortgages which they KNEW would be given to borrowers who would be more likely to default on them. (YOUR government at work folks) The second major change was to make it easier to file claims and suits against banks using their bad grades as justification that the banks were not meeting their obligation to the Fair Housing Act. Most of these claims started coming in from….. Guess…..THAT’S RIGHT…… most of these claims came in from urban, low income neighborhoods; and guess which CHICAGO based group was one of the main litigants in these suits……YOU WIN AGAIN…… Jessie Jackson’s Rainbow/Push community activist group. So guess what; banks were forced, by the U.S. Government no less, to placate to these extortionist groups (left wing – Democratic Party) by issuing bad loans to individuals and businesses that the banks knew would not be able to pay them back. And the locals loved it and Clinton and his ilk got all the credit.
Fast Forward to 1999. Bill Clinton (I still have a hard time calling him “President”) appointed Franklin Delano Raines to head up the newly privatized Fannie Mae. Raines set about making sure that congress would take a hands off approach in Fannie Mae’s efforts to enlarge their portfolio holdings by acquiring huge amounts of under qualified home loans. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are “supposed” to be monitored by the House Financial Services Committee. And guess who was the ranking member of the Democratic Party on that committee…….Rep. Barney Frank who is now being lauded by his fellow party members as the savior of our economy.

So the US economy goes about it’s merry way for a while. Everybody is happy; everybody is getting mortgages, house values are going out of the roof, people are refinancing every few years…..paying less and less of their principal and eventually guess what happens. THE HOUSING MARKET STOPS DEAD IN IT’S TRACKS. NO SH$@# SHERLOCK.

Money Managers as early as 2005 realized that the money funds which held these papers were borrowing more and more good money to maintain the bad loans that had been issued over the years. And as long as house values continued to trend upward, it wasn’t a problem. But in 2005, the housing market started to actually lose value. So now, people who had borrowed $500,000 dollars against a house that was appraised at $400,000 (the loan being made on the perception that the house would be worth $700,000 in a few years) were being forced to make payments on a house that was actually being valued at $300,000. Just take a look at the math in the last few sentences to see that it don’t add up (pardon my atrocious English skills). The preverbal chicken had come home to roost. Now, let’s don’t think than the powers that be did not see this coming. In fact some in power actually tried to prevent it. On May 25th of 2006. John McCain said…”I join as a cosponsor of the Federal Housing Enterprise Regulatory Reform Act of 2005, S. 190, to underscore my support for quick passage of GSE regulatory reform legislation. If Congress does not act, American taxpayers will continue to be exposed to the enormous risk that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac pose to the housing market, the overall financial system, and the economy as a whole.” So what is this Federal Housing Enterprise Regulatory Reform Act of 2005? The act had eight primary areas of concern. From the congressional summary page…

”Sets forth operating, administrative, and regulatory provisions of the Agency, including provisions respecting:
(1) assessment authority;
(2) authority to limit nonmission-related assets;
(3) minimum and critical capital levels;
(4) risk-based capital test;
(5) capital classifications and undercapitalized enterprises;
(6) enforcement actions and penalties;
(7) golden parachutes; and
(8) reporting.”

Areas 1,2,3 were an effort to fix the way that Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac had cooked their books to make their asset list look more viable. Areas 4 and 5 changed the way banks qualified loan prospects. Areas 6 and 8 are obvious and area 7 finally put some oversight on the multi million dollar payments to the top managers of these money funds.

Again, sounds good, right? Well by this time the Democratic Party owned both the House and the Senate and Chris Dodd never let this act get out of committee. Chris Dodd, by the way is the largest single recipient of moneys from Fannie Mac and Freddie Mae. “FOLLOW THE MONEY”.

So now, tell me who is to blame?

A few follow up on this.

Three gentlemen who were key players in the build up to this fiasco…

Franklin Delano Raines (see above)
Tim Howard (CFO of Fannie Mae until his “retirement” in 2004 under pressure from federal regulators who were investigating Fannie Mae’s bookkeeping and reporting integrity. His Golden Parachute was worth an estimated 20 MILLION Dollars)
Jim Johnson (former Lehman Brothers executive who also headed up Fannie Mae immediately following Raines and currently under investigation for making illegal loans via Countryside. His Golden Parachute was worth an estimated $28 million).

All three of these were key consultants to the Obama ’08 campaign.

If you think things are bad now, just wait until the top cats in the democratic party start divvying up the “bailout” money.