Senator Obama plans to punish corporations that send jobs abroad and reward those who create new jobs here. This is government at it’s best. At the same time he will increase corporate taxes and taxes on corporate dividends. Let’s see. Tax on dividends is already double taxation. First, the corporation pays 35%, really 40% with state taxes. Then the shareholder pays an additional 25% under his tax plan. In the grand scheme of things, which will get the attention of the CEO and CFO? The big reward of a few thousand to create new jobs here? The amount is less than the cost of processing a new employee. Or, the big penalty for paying dividends here in the U.S.?
If you are a business executive, what do you do? The U.S. is already the second highest nation in the world for corporate taxes. You are a global corporation. Why not move and take all the jobs with you? Why not list your corporation on a foreign stock exchange. Why not pay your dividends in foreign currency? What’s the draw to stay here?
With card check you will probably be unionized if you aren’t already. The dollar is going to be worth less since we are printing them at record rates. Why pay inflated dollars for wages and materials?
We have been hanging the not welcome sign out for business for many years now. The Obama plan will step that up.
Just as they have in California and New York where corporate taxes are the highest here and business and residents with high net worths have been fleeing. The same will be true for the whole country. We are adopting the same practices on a national level.
Want to invest in corporate America? Why? Because Warren Bufffet says so? Have you seen the deals he’s making when he buys stock in a corporation? It’s convertible preferred and it pays 10% dividend guaranteed. If you or I could buy the same stock he’s buying, we would be lecturing the country to be greedy when everyone is fearful and fearful when everyone is greedy.
Be advised that Obama is not good for business period. Nor are Pelosi or Reid. Nor is a Democratic majority. Don’t jump too fast.
Bill,
One of the things that I find curious about this business tax arguement is this: yes, taxes in Ireland (John McCain’s example on MTP yesterday) are lower than the US but the US defense budget dwarfs that of Ireland or any other country on the map. We gotta pay for all that high-tech weaponry and all those soldiers somehow!
I think it would be great to cut taxes on corporations (or any other tax paying "group" you’d care to name) but then where do you get the money to run the government? John McCain says "cut earmarks". That is BS cuz earmarks, as bad as some of them are, are a small small portion of the federal budget. But you can’t cut Social Security or AARP will be at your throat. You can’t cut defense or you’ll be labeled "weak". You can’t cut Medicaid or you’ll be labeled "heartless". With Sarah Palin near the White House, the parents of special needs children have been told that they’ll never have a better friend and McCain/Palin has proposed increased spending for special needs kids. That is great but where does the money come from, if not from taxes?
Our country spends more money on defense than almost the rest of the world combined!! That money has got to come from somewhere.
Chris
Chris:
I thinks any businsesman given the same latitude you have in the corporate world could cut government expenses by 50%. Privatize Amtrak, the Post Office, federal prisons, the administration of social security and other government programs, etc. No one else spends $100 for toilet seats.
Bill
Chris,
Times are tough in Washington, but don’t worry, Obama will take care of those millionaires in Congress and maybe they can help fund the war by spreading the wealth. They should start by taking a 50% salary cut and help pay off the national debt they have created.
Their collective wealth grew by 13 percent last year, leaving them in better shape than most Americans to make it through an economic downturn, according to a new analysis of personal financial reports.
Overall, nearly two of every three senators are millionaires. That includes presidential candidates Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., and Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill. In the House, 39 percent of all members belong to the exclusive club.
Only 1 percent of all Americans are considered millionaires.
"With a median net worth of $746,000, most members of Congress have a comfortable financial cushion to ride out any recession," said Sheila Krumholz, executive director of the nonpartisan Center for Responsive Politics, which conducted the study.
In the House of Representatives, Rep. Jane Harman, D-Calif., ranks No. 1, with $397 million, followed by Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., with $343 million. Rep Robin Hayes, R-N.C., ranks third, with $173.4 million. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., ranks sixth, with $62 million.
In the Senate, the two Democrats from Massachusetts claimed two of the top three spots.
Sen. John Kerry led the pack, with $336 million, while Sen. Edward M. Kennedy ranked third, with $104 million. Sen. Herb Kohl, D-Wis., ranked second, with $241.5 million. Overall, senators had a median net worth estimated at $1.7 million.
The 535 members of Congress, who earn average annual salaries of $169,000 and receive cost-of-living pay increases, had a total net worth of $3.7 billion last year. Although some are likely to take a hit from Wall Street’s woes, their average net worth soared by 61 percent from 2004 to 2007.
However, not all members are wealthy and some appear to be bankrupt. The study found that 16 House members and three senators had an average net worth of less than zero.
Obama ranked as one of the biggest financial winners, with his net worth increasing from $800,000 in 2006 to $4.7 million last year, thanks mainly to royalties from his two best-selling books.
McCain had a net worth estimated at $28.5 million, with most of the wealth attributed to his wife Cindy’s family fortune.
Authors of the study said it’s impossible to give a precise net worth for members of Congress because their individual assets and liabilities are disclosed in broad ranges.
To conduct the study, the Center for Responsive Politics determined a member’s minimum net worth and maximum net worth and then calculated an average, which was used to rank the members.
Because the law does not require them to do so, members of Congress don’t disclose the value of their homes unless they produce income. As a result, a member’s true net worth is likely to be much higher than what gets reported.
"Members of Congress don’t make it easy for the public to keep tabs on their personal holdings and any conflicts of interest those holdings present," said Dan Auble, who manages the center’s database of lawmakers’ financial information.
Who’s the wealthiest of them all?
A new study suggests that members of Congress are in much better shape than most Americans to make it through an economic slowdown.
Here’s a list of the members who had the highest average net worth last year:
Senate
1 John Kerry (D-Mass.)……..$336,224,883
2 Herb Kohl (D-Wis.)……..$241,545,513
3 Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.)……..$103,560,020
4 Jay Rockefeller (D-W.Va.)……..$93,715,011
5 Frank Lautenberg (D-N.J.)……..$89,509,099
6 Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.)……..$84,171,162
7 Gordon Smith (R-Ore.)……..$46,127,014
8 Olympia Snowe (R-Maine)……..$33,308,537
9 Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.)……..$32,428,089
10 Elizabeth Dole (R-N.C.)……..$31,421,472
House of Representatives
1 Jane Harman (D-Calif.)……..$397,412,077
2 Darrell Issa (R-Calif.)……..$343,457,521
3 Robin Hayes (R-N.C.)……..$173,409,173
4 Vern Buchanan (R-Fla.)……..$165,748,714
5 Michael McCaul (R-Texas)……..$64,073,077
6 Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.)……..$62,468,047
7 Carolyn Maloney (D-N.Y.)……..$50,297,547
8 Rodney Frelinghuysen (R-N.J.)……..$47,350,092
9 Nita Lowey (D-N.Y.)……..$43,716,445
10 Gary Miller (R-Calif.)……..$39,978,021
Source: Center for Responsive Politics
Bill,
W’s federal budget proposed over $3 TRILLION in spending for fiscal year 2009. Are you seriously suggesting that you or any other "businessman" could cut $1.5 TRILLION from our government’s spending? Come on…. be realistic.
Chris
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