Posts tagged "Founding Fathers"

Churchill is a Myth – so Say 1 in 4 Brits

According to many bloggers feeding off a London Daily Mail survey, 25% of Britons believe that Winston Churchill did not really exist. According to the report, ‘Likewise, they think historical figures such as Florence Nightingale, Sir Walter Raleigh, Mahatma Gandhi and Cleopatra were also fictional personalities created for literature or films. On the other hand, they believe Sherlock Holmes was a real person.’

But don’t worry these publicly educated geniuses have plenty of time to watch reality TV, listen to Oprah, or dance to Britney. After all it is all about them, and their self-esteem. Who cares about Churchill if from grade 3 to grade 12 your big obsessions are pulling condoms over cucumbers, learning that queer marriage is good, hating capitalism, endlessly viewing L. Ron Gore’s end of the world idiocy called Globaloney Warming, or learning Arabic and how to cook. Who the hell has time for math, science, Churchill or reality? [see 1 in 4 Brits think Churchill is made up]

Reality in state education is optional. The state exists to desensitise little minds from reality and brainwash little minds. It does not exist to educate. It is not important to learn about real facts, history, rational science or critical thinking. Nope.

It is more important to piss and moan about why you are not happy; why Mother Earth has a fever; and what to do about Gays and polar bears; than to actually understand the modern world, or the reality of the five senses. Why bother with reality in public schools, if the world owes you a living, and MUST, absolutely MUST guarantee your happiness. Oprah is far more relevant in such a little world, than someone like that white war-mongering fascist Winston Churchill.

Did Churchill ever make you happy? Did Winnie make you feel good? Did Winnie understand who you are and your inner struggles to break free of reality’s bondage? Did dear old Winnie commiserate with you and hold your hand while you cried that you were not happy and your self-esteem was not fully developed by age 12 yet? What did Winnie ever do to make you happy eh?

Nothing. Saving the Western world and lifting the scourge of Nazi fascism from Europe is not that relevant or important. Let’s face it the Nazis were doomed anyways and Winnie and his friends were making money off the military-industrial complex and wanted war to fatten their wallets and profits. World War II was a Jew-inspired, Churchill led scam. Get over it.

More importantly where was Winnie on happiness and self-esteem? Did he care? Did he cry over things like Mother Earth, polar bears and ‘native’ Indian rights? Well if he did not, then why bother with Winnie ? And while we are at it, why bother with those other white, fascist, racist, war-mongering, sometimes pro-Jew white British males who claimed they invented the modern world. Those lying white bastards. Who do they think they are? Jackasses one and all of them.

What did the Brits invent anyways? Limited goverment, constitutional division of powers, parliamentary procedure, modern capitalism, scientific rationality, inventions ranging from electromagnetics to railways, to canal locks, to bicycles, to refrigeration, to modern steam engines, to Newtonian physics, to Elizabethan drama, to central banking and extended global trade and commerce?

Piffle. These are not important items. These are only the tools of the crass fascist-white imperialist, racist inspired race of liars and murderers. They are the weapons used by whites to enslave, rape and steal. We all know the modern world and the 2000 year-old Western civilisational story, going back to the days of ancient Jerusalem, Athens and Rome is a crock of steaming bull dung. The Moslems, Chinese and Arabs invented and created everything. It was the whites who retarded human progress. If only we could go back to the pagan days of ‘native’ Indian innocence and natural harmony. Ah, mother earth would be so pleased.

Is it so surprising that in a state run educational ghetto that Churchill is thought by many to be mythical? Of course not. Government workers, called teachers, showing ignorance and being incompetent. Well that is a surprise now. Absolutley shocking darling.

Who cares about Churchill that white racist bastard. So many other things to care about. Let’s see. In place of Western history and British history we can read about Marxian dialectics and why communalism is a superior form of societal organisation. We must re-read for the 4th time, John Reed’s hagiography to Bolshevism, ’10 days Which shook the world.’ Those Bolshies were bold chaps. Howard Zinn’s socialist history of America is far more interesting than Wellington, Nelson, Clive, or Hastings old boy. You know the standard book which hates the US founding fathers for instance, but spends page after page dealing with Black and Marxist history. Now that is real history.

Brits don’t know who Churchill is? Why would they? He is out of the standard curricula, replaced by Urdu, Arabic, learning how to cook, and Globaloney Warming. This was announced this past summer by Gordon Brown, former marxist, now Prime Minister. In 25 years maybe 1 in 25 Brits will know who Churchill is and they will all be above the age of 70 and reading books by Churchill in secret underground caves, by candlelight trembling with fear, hoping to escape the thought police. ‘You there put down that book by Churchill….put your arms in the air….recant…..say slowly, I love Mother Earth, I love Mother Earth…..’

Off to the re-education camp with you.

I doubt if any Brit – ANY – out of a public school system could identify:
-Bacon [both of them]
-Watt’s invention
-Harvey’s invention
-James Maxwell
-the point of Shakespeare’s Henry V
-the inventors of the railroad or the canal
-the inventor of the river lock, the bicycle, or refrigeration
-the consolidator of India
-or the creater of De Beers

Reality is optional in public schools.

Churchill? Who cares, he was a war mongering white bastard imperialist. What did he ever do for my self-esteem? What did Western civilisation and the modern world do for MY happiness?

C. Read
http://www.articlesbase.com/news-and-society-articles/churchill-is-a-myth-so-say-1-in-4-brits-697580.html

What Does It Mean To Be Politically Independent?

I have concluded of late that I could only consider myself a political independent if there is such a thing. I do not think I should be labeled Republican or Democrat, on the Left or on the Right or any other affiliation except to be a proud citizen of this United States and live by the principles on which this great nation was founded.

As far as I am concerned, our government, as it stands today, is in great need of an overhaul and a wake up call. I firmly believe that if our founding fathers could see the way our government and institutions run today, they would be greatly disturbed and dismayed on how far We The People have strayed from the principles that our republic was built on.

There was a time long ago and at the beginning of our republic and our experiment in democracy, that to serve in public office was considered a privilege and not a right. To serve in public office often meant financial sacrifice to those who gladly served the people and this great country, sacrifice or not.

Today most who serve in public office expect a windfall financially and are mainly interested in the influence they can gain to increase their wealth in office and for when they leave office. Where is the personal and financial sacrifice to serve? They look at their title as a possession and not a privilege. They pontificate to attempt to bend the will of the people to their ways of thinking instead of deriving their actions from the will of the people to whom they profess to serve. Some politicians become so entrenched in their governmental powers; they often feel themselves above the law.

Today’s politicians are a washed in a tsunami of lobbyists, who bend the ears of those in government in order to influence the politicians’ vote that will most benefit the interests of the lobby they represent. How often do we see politicians, who when they leave office, become pawns; working for one lobby interest or the other? Elected federal government officials need to be banned by law from working for a lobby for at least 5 to 10 years after they leave office in order to stop the habit of influence peddling after they in fact leave public office.

I dare say, I lay a good part of the guilt for the perversion of public office on We The People themselves whom have absolved their responsibility to impose and elect officials on their merit and desire to serve the people. They have abdicated their rights by allowing so-called public servants to make their own decisions of policy and directions for the public servants own benefit. “To hell what the people want!” they say. “We know what is best for them. Where would they be without us?” they say as they puff up their chests and proudly strut.

I always thought that there should be some sort of term limitations for all federal elected positions, not just for the presidency. Change is good, as it allows the government to refresh itself on a regular basis by bringing new ideas and approaches to work for the people.

When will We The People ever wake up and demand that the government of the people, for the people, by the people be truly put into the hands of the people and not political demigods’?

I see the slow demise of our republic if We The People are not brought to our senses. Will we follow the demise that history has shown us be-felled other once great nations and peoples? I would say, it is likely, considering the current state of affairs of government and the distance we have traveled from our roots of our democracy and our republic.

Bill Wallmuller
http://www.articlesbase.com/non-fiction-articles/what-does-it-mean-to-be-politically-independent-66814.html

Machinery, a Brilliant Perspective Market in China

China Machinery Industry

The machinery industry has a major bearing on China’s manufacturing industry. In 2004, China’s machinery industry accounted for 17.0% and 10.6% respectively of national sales and exports. Rapid economic development in China has led to a corresponding increase in industrial machinery. Almost all leading international players have formed joint ventures in China including John-Deere, Daewoo, Hitachi, Parker, Sanyo, ABB, Emerson, Siemens and Volvo.

Chinese machine builders are also enhancing their international participation through larger exports as well as a higher degree of internationalization. At an average annual growth rate (AAGR) of 12.0%, in 2010 consumption is estimated to reach $910.14 billion. In the near future, China will be an important player in the global industrial machinery marketplace.

Representative Machinery

1. Agriculture Machinery

Today China’s agriculture is a new era of historical development. In a long period of time from now on, expanding operating scope, industrialized management, sustainable development, and scientific and technical innovation in agriculture shall be the four tendencies and driving forces. The development and adjustment of economic construction in agriculture requires higher level and larger scope of mechanization. Now mechanization has already developed from the traditional growing wheat to rice, maize, from traditional tillage to protecting tillage, from machine for producing grain crops to oil crops and cotton economic crops, from growing to livestock farming, aquatic products industry, fruit growing, garden farmland and manufacturing agriculture products etc. So there is a bright future of market for farm machinery.

2. Construction Machinery

Construction machinery is the largest customer of hydraulic products, which makes up about more than 40% of the total market volume of hydraulic products. The percentage shall further increase in the future. China is in an extensive developing and constructing period, thus the demand of construction machinery in the coming several decades will up, and China will be the largest market in the world.

3. Metallurgical and Mining Equipment

The total demand of steel in China reached 352 million tons in 2005. Therefore steel and iron industry shall speed up the adjustment of product structure. In the next 10?15 years, put stress on manufacturing flat plate steel, especially sheet steel and products with high additional value. State should enlarge the investment for them and make the degree of self-sufficiency of steel reach 90%.

For this reason, China need to use advanced machines to replace the backward machine, to realize continuous and automatic production with equipments in large scale, and upgrade the industry. Meanwhile China will give great impetus to process of group-collection for iron and steel industry, carry out technical reform of manufacturing process for large enterprises, make every effort to raise the utilization rate of steel by 10%?20%, take further steps to save energy by 15%?20%. Consequently, many new continuous casting machine and cold/hot rolling mill etc are needed.

4. Machine Tools

Along with the progress of manufacturing technique, China’s demands for high precision, high-efficiency CNC machines, is getting more and more. By the year 2010, the yearly output of CNC machine tools will be approximately 50,000 units. Now, in China there are about 3 million machine tools in use, and it is expected that about 4 million units machine tools will be in use by the year 2010.

5. Plastic Machinery

The demand for plastic products will increase remarkably to cater for the development in the fields of agriculture, automobile, electronics, light, foodstuff, packaging and construction industries and the improved living standard of the people as well. At present, the total output value of plastic in China has come to the forefront of the world, but the annual plastic consumption per capita is only 14.5 kg, less than the 20 kg world average annual consumption per capita and far from the 50 kg to 100 kg annual consumption per capita in developed countries. It is expected by the year 2010 to be a litter bit higher than the world average annual consumption per capita. The growing consumption of plastic products provides the opportunity for developing plastic machinery. It is expected that the annual demand for plastic machinery will be about 150, 000 units by the year 2010.

6. Petrochemical Equipment

Energy problem shall be the restricted factor in a long period of time in developing national economy. Accelerating the development of energy industry is of great urgency. State need to accelerate the development of petroleum and natural gas, except the project to deliver natural gas from the west to the east and other petrochemical projects are under construction, in the period of 11th five year plan shall be built 5000 km high pressure crude oil pipeline. Besides, in this period the demand of oil refining, ethylene and three synthetic materials (synthetic resin, synthetic rubber, synthetic fibre) shall increase at the rate of 6%?9%. So, there need collection and delivery equipment for oil and gas and large-scale and high-efficiency petrochemical equipment with the emphasis laid on the development of large-scale petroleum prospecting and drilling equipment for desert and ocean, large complete equipment with a yearly output of 600 000 ton ethylene, 450 000 ton synthetic ammonia, 800, 000 ton urea and chemical fibres etc.

8. Food-stuff, Packaging, Electronics, Light-industry and Textile Equipment

The emphasis is laid on the development of various high-efficiency, energy saving, multifunctional and automated complete sets of equipment and production lines, such as various liquid filling lines, production lines of fast foods and puffed foods, sterile medicine production lines and packaging lines, bag-making and bag-filling lines, suitcase making lines, high-speed tobacco processing machinery, air-jet looms, automatic winders and production lines of various household electrical appliances and electronic apparatus.

9. Harbor Terminal Facilities

In order to meet the demand of domestic construction and enlarged export and import trade, task for building coastal port and inland port is very heavy, a great number of ship loaders, car dumpers, stacking machines and container cargo handling equipment will be additionally provided or updated.

10. Ship-building and Ocean Engineering Equipment

By the year 2010, the total yearly production capacity of ship building industry will be about 10 million ton, account for 30% of the world annual output, with the emphasis laid on the development of large ocean-going tankers, LPG ships, container ships, engineering vessels, bulk ships, high-speed passenger liners and ocean-going fishing vessels. Ocean engineering equipment shall be put stress on building large engineering facilities for recovering ocean petroleum, such as large self-rising drilling ship, deep sea drilling machine, heavy-load lift, large crane and piping erection ship.

11. Power Generating Equipment

At present, electric supply has become the bottle neck, which restricts the development of economy. In the coming 20 years, the largest power-building market will be in China. Water, coal, nuclear and gas are the four pillar for power generating in China. It is estimated that the installed capacity by the year 2020 will be 960 000 megawatt, but the installed capacity per capita only 0.67 kW, less than half of that in developed countries. In future, every year need to add new installed capacity of more than 200 000?300 000 megawatt.

12. Environmental Protection Equipment

In order to keep the development of economy, society and environment well coordinated, and make the ecological damages and environmental pollution well controlled, environmental quality and comprehensive utilization of resources are raised further, state will add the investment for ecological preservation and environmental protection. China is putting emphasis on developing: urban sewage and solid wastes disposal and comprehensive utilization equipment, urban and industrial noise control equipment and atmospheric pollution control equipment.

Machinery Trade Shows

The 12th China Xiamen Machinery and Electronics Exhibition (CXMEE)

The 12th China Xiamen Machinery and Electronics Exhibition (CXMEE), authorized by China’s Ministry of Commerce, is jointly organized by the China Chamber of Commerce for Import and Export of Machinery and Electronics Products, the Taiwan Electrical and Electronic Manufacturers Association, the Xiamen Municipal People’s Government. It will take place in Xiamen, China on April 8-11, 2008.

7th China (Hangzhou) International Machine Tool and Mould Expo

The 2008 China (Hangzhou) International Industrial Fair (formerly “Zhejiang International Industrial Fair”) was originated in 2002, it is held at Hangzhou Peace International Exhibition and Conference Center every May. It has experienced six years of persistent, healthy and stable development. It was listed in the formal exhibition of “China Hangzhou West Lake Expo” in 2006, becoming a large exhibition and conference project specially supported by the municipal government of Hangzhou.

Angulo Fu
http://www.articlesbase.com/international-marketing-articles/machinery-a-brilliant-perspective-market-in-china-380086.html

Invest In China: Equity Markets

China’s economy may be growing at the rate of almost 10% a year but its domestic capital markets are in a dismal state, forcing the private sector to disproportionate reliance on foreign investment for capital (particularly hard currency). Its domestic bond market is underdeveloped, its banks are saddled with bad debts, and both the Shanghai and Shenzhen stock markets have performed poorly in recent years.

China’s stock exchanges (excluding Hong Kong’s) were originally created with the idea of raising funds for inefficient, poorly performing state-owned entities (SOEs) that the government for political reasons did not wish to abandon. In this way the stock exchanges could shoulder the burden previously borne by domestic banks (who would extend SOE loans that were often never repaid). Because of this history, we now see listings dominated by inefficient SOEs that free float no more than one-third of issued shares, thus ensuring continued government control. It also ensures that private shareholders have no say in management, leaving SOEs with fewer incentives to reform. Foreign investors are hampered by the bifurcation of shares into two types (leaving about two-thirds of shares off-limits to foreign investment) and rigid investment quotas that China imposes on overseas capital.

China is caught between two unpalatable alternatives – if it offers up its stake in the SOEs, it cedes control of to private interests and faces the possibility that those who cannot market their shares will fail (since a government bail-out would defeat the purpose of listing in the first place). This would increase already high unemployment rates and lead to unpredictable political consequences. On the other hand, as long as it maintains control of the SOEs and uses the equity markets to fund them, share prices are likely to remain anemic, depriving China’s private sector of the capital in needs to thrive at home and invest overseas. Foreign investors are hoping that China will soon take decisive action to resolve this dilemma.

Despite these difficulties, China’s equity markets have recently attracted a surprising amount of interest from institutional investors abroad who see buying opportunities in low share prices and are persuaded by government promises of reform. China has raised some overseas investment quotas recently (they are specific to each investor), and there is talk in the air of unifying the share market to allow foreign investors greater access. Many analysts predict a brisker pace of reform as soon as China’s banking sector is opened up to foreign competition in 2007 in response to China’s WTO commitments.

David Carnes
http://www.articlesbase.com/business-articles/invest-in-china-equity-markets-64109.html

How To Build Investor Confidence Through Good Corporate Governance

Corporate Governance, once relegated as a nice-to-have, has never been higher on the agenda of companies than it is now. Tough new regulations have been drafted, originating in the US, to try and restore investor confidence that has been eroded not only by the volatility of the stock market but by a string of public governance failures such as those at Enron, WorldCom, Martha Stewart etc

The Sarbanes-Oxley Act (the Act), named after the two US senators who proposed the bill, is designed to restore investor confidence through the implementation of strong prescriptive measures centered around Corporate Governance.

The most important outcome of the Act is to make Directors personally and criminally liable for infringements of the Act, notably the misstatement of information within financial statements (referred to as Section 404), and roles and responsibilities of a firms Board of Directors.

Evidence of the enforcement of this Act is best illustrated by a number of high profile cases, brought to court prior to the Act’s enactment, such as the ex-CFO of Enron, Andy Fastow, who has had his assets frozen and has been indicted him on 78 federal charges of money laundering, fraud, conspiracy and obstruction of justice.

The Act affects all companies listed on any U.S. Exchange, including non-US companies, but is being adopted throughout the world by countries such as Brazil, Mexico, Canada and to a certain extent almost every other country in the world. Companies hoping to list or be acquired would also do well to adopt many of the tenets within the Act if they wish such a move to be fruitful.

Though the Act is seen by many as a knee-jerk reaction to the scandals that have plagued the markets in recent years, much of what is being recommended is just good business practice with the oversight role of a companys board and its audit committee in achieving an effective control environment being promulgated by the COSO (Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission) internal control framework. COSO details that the control environment is influenced significantly by a firms board of directors and audit committee.

Boards should, and must, be held accountable for their actions and the influence they have on the ethical behaviour of Company employees.

The Cost of Compliance

The cost of the Act to all businesses has been high. Many firms have had to increase the size of their internal audit departments to cope with the provisions of Section 404 or recruit more members to the Board to comply with the governance requirements. Key-man or Directors & Officers (or Professional Indemnity) premiums have risen between 200 and 400% to guard insurance companies and underwriters against the increased likelihood that lawsuits may be brought against Directors.

Audit fees have jumped between 15 and 30% to cover auditors costs of increasing the size of audit teams needed to perform audits with extra assurance and to guard themselves about making incorrect judgments regarding the accuracy of financial statements.

For a start up business why is this important?

Traditionally in a start up phase the direction of a company is guided by its founding fathers. In the case of BioTech companies these are usually scientists with a basic understanding of finance. In order to gain the trust of either the market or Venture Capital firms an experienced financial practitioner, such as an ACA or CPA should be sought to add credibility and to enact control over the organization. The Act stipulates the need to have an expert on the Audit Committee with an expert being defined as someone who has the knowledge and experience to give assurance over both the internal controls and financial reporting environment.

It is never too early to start enforcing controls in spending at an organization. The inability to control costs or to come up with a sound business plan has caused the downfall of many firms. Most notably this has been seen in the dot-bomb bubble where billions of dollars of Venture Capital was spent on companies who had no experience in drawing up business plans that would ever generate a profit or had no controls over how the capital raised was to be spent.

Building a Board of Directors who have industry expertise and business acumen is just good practice. Diversification of these risks will only enhance a firms ability to navigate its way to success and avoid the pitfalls that plague start up firms.

The importance of good governance

1. Reputational impact mitigants – Reputational risks in terms of ethical behavior, restatement of financial statements (and any failures caught by Venture Capital firms in their due diligence work) can adversely affect a companies valuation

2. It will easier to attract good non-executive directors if they perceive that the likelihood of loss arising from taking a position is small (as they can be legally liable for non-ethical behavior of a firm). In fact there is a severe shortage of good non executive director candidates because the potential cost to them in case of legal actions outweighs the benefits associated with the position (i.e. the salary)

3. Good governance and a disciplined approach to financial controls can save you money (especially in control of expenditure)

4. Leads to potential reduction in both audit fees and insurance premiums through changing the control mindset of an organization

5. By implementing a more formal methodology for evaluating business risks and controls will enable CEOs to run their business more efficiently and effectively whilst reducing the likelihood of operational breakdown, litigation and fraud

Julian Fisher
http://www.articlesbase.com/management-articles/how-to-build-investor-confidence-through-good-corporate-governance-102371.html

An Investor’s Eye View of the Corporate Income Tax

The Investor’s Eye view of politics is a simplistic, practical, “dot-connecting” approach to sorting things out so that positive (win/win) change can be considered. Real World politics is not concerned with such things, and that is one of the most serious problems facing investors today. As outlined in “Investment Politics 2008″, there are at least ten issues that require government action if we are to maintain our competitive position in the World Economy. Most of these are interrelated and need to be acted upon simultaneously… thus causing a major political dilemma. Politicians are much more interested in talking about change than they are in actually legislating it; they prefer to champion just one specific issue at a time so as not to appear too independent; and they can’t keep themselves from back sliding into the now archaic distinction between investors and poor people. Rich or poor, most Americans have investments. For the small investor to become wealthier, his or her efforts must be encouraged by the tax code… the wealthy will become wealthier in spite of the tax code! And, believe it or don’t, the vast majority of the wealthy (even corporate executives) are good, productive, caring-about-the-environment, people.

At the root of the problem is the tremendous investment the major parties have in nurturing divisiveness, jealousy, and misunderstanding in the electorate. The Republicans or Democrats in power are (always) ruining the country and, of course, the guys who are seeking power, will undoubtedly do the same. Perhaps the most obvious example of misguided political handiwork is the negative attitude of most individuals toward corporations, big business, and international economic collaboration. As non-voting but taxable entities, corporations are easy to blame for all that is wrong in society, easy to sue frivolously with no remorse or control, and popular to tax… by both parties! The sad thing is that most people don’t take the time to appreciate just how important business success and profitability are to their own financial interests, short and long term. Mutual Funds, for example, perform better when businesses, large and small, prosper. Profitable businesses produce more jobs, provide higher salaries, and (once all the extra fees, mandates, taxes, and handouts are eliminated) lower prices.

Politicians have neither been shy about dictating “proper” behavior to individuals nor hesitant in shamelessly picking the pockets of businesses to fund their projects. Self-employed business owners, for example, pay a minimum 35% Federal Income Tax, State and Local taxes of various kinds, and the usual Workers Compensation, Medicare, and double Social Security Taxes. It adds up to better than 50% quickly, and, at every level, all taxes, fees, subsidies, assessments, withholdings, compliance costs, etc. are: 1) added to the price of goods and services, 2) considered in hiring decisions at all levels in all business entities, and 3) factored into decisions regarding new plant locations and service function outsourcing. Businesses will only produce jobs in an environment that recognizes the importance of the contributions they make. Meaningful Tax Reform needs to begin where the jobs begin. Reforms to the Individual Tax Code and the Social Security/Retirement System can then be integrated into the business framework…

Just as Congress picks corporate pockets, Corporations pick those of their shareholders. The compensation of corporate officers is a clear example of how this has gone totally out of control, even if it is understandable under existing tax codes… both corporate and individual. Million Dollar salaries, bonuses, deferred compensation and option packages are all designed to avoid and/or to defer taxes while, at the same time, they are deductible on a dollar for dollar basis from business taxes. Changes on the personal side could clean this up quickly but, for now, politicians need to focus more on protecting shareholders from these creative, and excessive, compensation schemes. Eliminating the Corporate Income Tax, and all tax deferral/option/bonus mechanisms that are not available to all employees at all levels, would be an excellent start. Then cap total compensation packages at a specific number… any excess being paid only in the form of dividends to all shareholders.

The Corporate Income Tax is a non-productive weight on business decision makers, causing expenditures that would not be considered were they not tax deductible. Ironically, salaries are not increased to reduce the tax bite because every dollar of salary brings with it an additional 40% or so in overhead! All the actual costs of doing business (and all the perceived risks associated with doing business) wind up in the price of goods and services. The fact that governments can raise corporate costs so much more easily than they can raise individual’s taxes is perhaps the biggest shell game threatening our economic well being today. If instead, Congress would cultivate the profitability of corporations, while focusing regulatory efforts on the economic abuses of shareholders, employees, and consumers, a whole new era of economic expansion and productivity growth would ensue… and we’re just getting started.

Investors need to impress upon candidates that they expect meaningful change throughout the tax code, and that a second term just won’t happen without it. After the Corporate Tax environment changes, politicians will be able to devote their energies to defining “proper corporate and non-corporate business behavior”, and monitoring compliance with a whole new set of rules and regulations. Converting the United States into a Free Trade Zone, by eliminating all nuisance assessments from all levels of government, would: increase employment, reduce prices, and multiply distributable dividends. Making it happen should not be that difficult, particularly with the growing outrage concerning the obscene compensation of high level corporate executives, and considering how successful the FTZs have been on the local level. Managers will make these changes work because the incentives are where they belong… on the bottom line instead of the tax return. Small businesses would benefit from the reduction in taxation, and fees, and would be less constrained in their efforts to grow. If they don’t do the right thing, they will become less competitive in the marketplace, and that is the way capitalism is supposed to work. But, don’t be naive. Publicly held companies will need direction, guidance, and policing… an excellent new career for displaced accountants and lobbyists!

Steve Selengut
http://www.articlesbase.com/taxes-articles/an-investors-eye-view-of-the-corporate-income-tax-140141.html