Follow Up

I have been told that I have offended some with my last post. I am glad there were people to offend. That being said, I thought a bit of follow up and explanation was in order. First, I do not think being a democrat makes you inherently any worse or any better than being a republican or an independent (of which I am one). In fact, the current republicans are not much (if any) better in practice than the democrats. Given the history of control (see the last post for details) where the democrats have controlled Congress for the vast majority of the post WWII era, I do feel the democrats and their core beliefs to be flawed greatly. Some current commentary - see this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_MGT_cSi7Rs The democrats are going on and on about how the George Bush policies of deregulation caused the financial mess we are in. - B.S. The problem has been of "half ways". The financial sector (like the airline and transportation sectors, and others) have never been "deregulated". In fact, one could argue that there are more regulations now for all areas of our economy and business than ever before. The problem was lack of enforcement, and possibly oversight. Just like with illegal aliens - (I love when this is called an "immigration problem" - I have said here before - calling the illegal aliens an immigration problem is like called bank robbery a withdrawal problem!) - and gun control - there are too many laws on the books not too few. There is no will to enforce the laws. Banks and other mortgage institutions were made to write loans to people that had no business getting them. These were people that were turned down for loans under normal circumstances. I hear people say this was caused by greed. How is it greedy to loan money to a person that you know cannot pay you back? Banks and lending institutions loan money to be paid back with a profit. That is what they do. That is what their shareholders and owners require them to do. The government and local activist organizations made them out to be benevolent societies - doing "good" for the undeserving vs doing their best for the investors. As for the democrats, the video above shows how THEY kept the regulators from being appointed to give the oversight to the lenders. Now, on taxes (I have a LOT of old post here, so read them if you want a more thorough picture) - Obama and the democrats say they want to tax corporations and "windfall profits". Read this carefully - CORPORATIONS DO NOT PAY TAXES - they collect taxes and pass them on to the government. YOU PAY corporate taxes. If the taxes on a company go up by ten percent, they raise their prices by ten percent - or cut their payroll by ten percent, OR GO OVERSEAS! Our corporate tax rates are some of the highest in the world. That, combined with labor unions that outlived their purpose thirty or more years ago, is the reason that companies are moving overseas. Remember, corporations have a legal duty to make money for their shareholders. If they cannot make a profit here due to high taxes and/or high salaries - they are mandated to adjust to make a return. Corporations do NOT exist to pay salaries, or to pay taxes, or to build pension funds - they exist to MAKE MONEY! If the ability to make money is taken away - they will go away. Then, NO JOBS! As for the rest of the tax story - read the old posts. One last comment on the above - If you are upset at the money a corporation is making - BUY IT! That's right, buy it. Almost every well known corporation is a publicly traded on one or more stock markets. Buy some stock. Share the wealth. You will then get a piece of the profits they earn (and maybe have a greater understanding of why corporate taxes are bad, when your shares fall due to lower earnings caused by a high tax burden). A lot of people have whined about the oil companies of late and their grossly inflated profits. Buy stock! You will share the profits. Of course, the years and years that the oil companies do NOT make those high profits (which are numerous - the oil companies are one of the LOWEST in profits over the long haul historically) you will not either. If you don't like the money Wal-Mart makes - BUY STOCK! If you had bought stock in Wal-Mart when you first heard of it, you would have made one of the best returns on your investment that you can make. Instead, people would rather lament how Wal-Mart takes away from the Mom and Pop stores and ruins small towns. (all while shopping there - more people shop at Wal-Mart than any other store - and on the subject of Wal-Mart - they are blasted for selling more Chinese made goods than any other retailer. That is true - but did you know they sell more American/U.S. made goods than any other retailer? True - THEY ARE THE LARGEST RETAILER IN THE WORLD BY A HUGE MARGIN - they sell more of ALL types of goods than almost anyone else) I am rambling now. Not even sure I made my point. Just watch the video, read the older posts. and do NOT vote for a democrat for any national office. Change is voting the democrats OUT.