Sunday, March 27, 2011

Thinking Out Loud

Thank goodness you don’t hear it as much as you used to.  You heard it virtually every day during the election process.  And you mostly heard it from the Democrats as they pursued a blitzkrieg of shrieking at the Republican candidates and anyone who supported them.  “Nazis!!  Fascists!!”  You would hear it.  You would see their signs (nice, neat union made signs).  “Fascists!!  Nazis!!” 

Actually, when you are all steamed up and angry they are fun words to say.  You can yell the words out easily with a lot of volume.  The problem that I had with the constant barrage from the Democrats was that it was evident that they did not have the slightest clue about what constitutes fascist beliefs.  They just knew that it sounded bad.  And they knew that if they could brand their enemies (fellow Americans) with it with enough regularity, that it would somehow stick.  The fact that the media would report it as if the label had merit in describing the conservative movement is the biggest crime.  No one in the media would ask those throwing out the words to clarify themselves.  No one would challenge them.  After all they were all on the same side. 

With the end of the first quarter coming, corporations are now reporting their end of year income.  They are also reporting how much income tax they will have to pay this year.  General Electric, with income coming in multiple billions is paying nothing.  Nada,  Zilch.  Zero.  Would you like to guess about General Motors?  Chrysler? 

Here is a new term to learn.  It has been used in Washington for years.  Now we as the citizens of this country need to know what it means.  It sounds good.  It sounds so  . . . well, so fair, so collaborative, so let’s work together.  Public – Private Partnership.  What is it?  It is a connection between the government and a corporation that benefits both.  What benefit can a corporation give a government?   Immense benefits.  More than that, it can give immense support to government’s elected officials.  And what benefits can the government give corporations?  Tax benefits, of course.  In the one country on the planet where corporations are taxed at a higher rate than any corporation in any other country, General Electric paid no taxes this year.  Public – Private Partnership is exactly what National Socialism is.  Public – Private Partnership is the very definition of Fascism.  The cozy and strong relationship between a country and a corporation like GE is exactly what national socialism is.  If a corporation and its employees supports the government then good things happen.  If it doesn’t  . . .  well, the tax man, the regulator, the czar of your industry, the EPA, they all cometh.   

How can General Electric’s competitors compete with GE when they are taxed at 25% and GE is not.  Which corporations will survive in this environment?  The corporation that pays taxes at the highest rate on the planet or the corporation that supports PACS that donate over $6 million to elected officials and gets no tax bill even though it got huge government contracts and over $5 billion in profit? 

You see, the people who do the voting in this country have a tremendous responsibility to fight through the slogans and sound bites.  Those who were pointing their fingers and shouting “Nazis!! Fascists!!”  are indeed the ones who are supporting just that.  It’s a tough assignment to educate the public.  How do you shout “Public-Private Partnership!!”  in a way that makes people recoil in disgust? 

The dream of capitalism is the dream of a level playing field.  It is the dream of equality.  It is the dream of being given an equal chance to be successful whether you are a 3 man company or you are General Electric.    

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