By Millard Grimes
Harris County Journal/Georgia Trend
Now into the third year of what is being called The Great Recession, the United States still has the largest economy in the world and its people are better off on the whole than the people of any other nation.
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about This, that and the other
Fri, May 24, 2013 - 08:34 PM
testing 1,2,1,2.
i was wondering why my last comment wasn't posted ?
Fri, May 24, 2013 - 05:26 PM
Amen, and I agree! We have served our country in two branches of the military, and w [...]
Fri, May 24, 2013 - 09:55 AM
So your publically stating that the Herald Gazette made this statement up as noted i [...]
Thu, May 23, 2013 - 08:50 PM
A'ja - I'm so proud of you! Mrs. G.
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yes folks go to church on Saturdays, Wednesdays, Sundays and other days and I can't [...]
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By allowing, and even encouraging, companies who produced product in American for American consumers to go over seas our government is greatly responsible for our current problem. Compound that with the fact that we cannot buy our way out of this depression like last time since most of the money will end up overseas or lining big corporation pockets instead of as salaries to American workers.
I think we should enact laws that say we will not stop any company from moving their manufacturing but we certainly won't give them tax breaks. We also should retroactively put tariffs on ALL products where the factories moved overseas in past 20 or 30 years but their products are still sold here. We could make up the difference in lost revenue from taxes on the factories and the workers salaries from tariffs on those products. It will not affect the company's competitiveness overseas, but if they want to continue to sale their product here without regard to the overall welfare of our country, then we should get the lost revenue back by putting high tariffs on their products (and only their products). This would also stimulate domestic competition (or even force the companies to rethink the cost equation that makes it better for them to move and maybe bring some factories back).
A big problem now is big corporations don't have a conscience like they used to have. They only look at the bottom line in the short term to raise stock prices so they will get bonuses and who cares the affect on workers or the country. They will get theirs and be OK even if economy and most suffer.
And I don't think the Republicans who backed this bill helped make our country stronger by facilitating all the companies moving.
There is probably a better argument that they cannot compete internationally because of higher staffing costs here.
In either case, our government, both parties included, gave corporations tax incentives to move their operations overseas. And it made the holy short term bottom line look pretty good. It was irresponsible on our government's part to do this.
I still say with all those companies that moved their manufacturing overseas and that have harmed our economy and tax bases for their own profit that as a country we should be able to recover that revenue some way. And one sure way is to charge a "desertion" tariff on all products that were once built here in the U.S. but are not built elsewhere. Let that tariff offset the tax revenues we lost due to their moving. It will stimulate other US competitors and make the deserters reconsider their moves, or some other company will fill the niche. We can use the power of our national buying power to incent companies to locate manufacturing here.
I for one believe the whole systems and those companies failed to show any civic responsibility (something they used to do in the past) and have basically sold out their own country to make an extra buck.
1. Stifling government regulations that make it easier to move to another country than to make something here
2. US federal government using the Federal Reserve as its own personal piggy bank to create dollars out of thin air. This results in the dollar being worth a 4% today of what it was in the early 1900's.
3. Environmental activism from agencies like the EPA who routinely exercise unconstitutional control over private businesses. These businesses then pass their higher costs to you and me. EPA recently forced a Kansas utility to spend 1/2 billion dollars to reduce emissions. Think that's good for the environment? I wouldn't bet on it.
4. Escalating tax burdens make doing business in the US less inviting.
5. NAFTA and CAFTA, which is initiated by the One World Government cabal entrenched in the US federal government.
There's more. You can blame greedy businesspeople all you want. But it's easy to spot the 800 lb gorilla in the room. It's your government at work - putting you out of work
Another thing is the Harvard School of Business and other Ivy league schools in the 70's and 80' pressed a theory of our economy being a distribution economy, as opposed to a manufacturing economy and we would no longer have environmental problems.
"Wal-Mart China persists in local procurement which provides more job opportunities, supports local manufacture industry and promotes local economy. So far, 95% of merchandising sold at Wal-Mart China store are local products by which Wal-Mart has established business relations with nearly 20,000 suppliers. At Wal-Mart, we treat suppliers as partners and would like to develop with them. In 2008 Wal-Mart won the Supplier Satisfaction published by Business Information of Shanghai for five consecutive years."
Does tat support American export and American jobs....
Remember what Lance Winslow wrote in tat article "The Flow of Trade in a Global Economy"....dang! better yet...jus take the time and read tis ...."Now let us look at Wal-Mart again; you buy a product there, 6% goes to the employees, 10-18% is profit to the company, 25% goes to other costs and 50% goes to re-stock or the cost of goods sold. Of the 50% about 20-25% goes to China, a guess, but you get the point. Now then, how long will it take at 433 Billion dollars at year for China to have all of our money, leaving no money flow for us to circulate? At a 17 Trillion dollar economy less than 40-years minus the 1/6 they buy from us. Some say that if we keep putting money into our economy, it would take forever, but if we do not then eventually all the money flow will go. If China buys our debt then eventually they own us, no need to worry about a war, they are buying America, due in part to our own mismanaged trade, so whose fault is that? Not necessarily China, as they are doing what's in the best interests, and we should make sure that trade is not only free, but fair too."
Also, think for a moment about George Washington....yes the man tat is on the US dollar bill.... "Washington had been reelected unanimously in 1792. His decision not to seek a third term established a tradition that is now embedded in the 22d Amendment of the Constitution.
Take the time to read his farewell address after only eight years of serving his country and than ask yourself tis....How do you think George feels being sent overseas in return for all tat foreign so-call cheap items and being left in a foreign bank because the American worker doesn't make anythig for the foreigners to buy. Cheap items didn't make tis great union of 57...oops! 50 states the greatest place on the face of tis Earth.....the American worker (union and non-union) did.
You can't have a strong country without having a strong currency and you can't have a strong currency unless you keep it floating around within your 50 states. Tis is why the store with the star in the name puts 95% China made items in their stores in China....to keep their "yuan" in their country helping the nice people there. And with only 5% left for all the other 182 country's tat make stuff including the United States of America....tat doesn't produce very many jobs outside of China.
Being an old person myself and knowing how it wus back in the 40's, 50's and 60's in tis union of 50 states....I look at George each time I pull him out of my billfold and make a promise to send him out for items made in America so after floating around helping each hand he touches jus maybe one day he will shake mine again.
oh! and think about those 15 cargo ships tat pollute as much as 760 million automobiles..yes 760 million............
and tat $9 billion a year in hidden taxes tat all Americans pay to clean the fish from ballast tanks of ships.....
Cheap ain't chic! support America if you want change....
"Observe good faith and justice toward all nations. Cultivate peace and harmony with all... The Nation which indulges toward another an habitual hatred or an habitual fondness is in some degree a slave. It is a slave to its animosity or to its affection, either of which is sufficient to lead it astray from its duty and its interest ... Tis our true policy to steer clear of permanent alliances, with any portion of the foreign world." - George Washington, Farewell Address, 17 Sept. 1796.
In the 90's I helped close deals and relocate electronics manufacturing plants for a foreign investor.
I can tell you first hand none of the companies I've been involved with ever moved offshore because of taxes. I can give several specific reasons why things were moved, but the basic reason is our own government sells us out. Taxes were always the least of any worries.
I remember sitting in a meeting at Zenith where we discussed moving certain manufacturing processes to Mexico in hopes of undercutting the Japanese.
Zenith was tied up in courts from the 1970's onward trying to force our own government to stop the Japanese from dumping TV sets here. In December of 1970, the Treasury Department made a general finding that Japan was dumping consumer electronics. The Tariff Commission made a formal finding in 1971. Our own government, because of lobbyists from Japan, failed to enforce laws American companies had to live with.
The death blow to consumer electronics and Zenith came from Ronald Reagan. In the mid-1980's the Reagan government argued against Zenith, even though there was clear evidence the Japanese were dumping consumer electronics in order to drive US companies out of business.
After Reagan left office he gave a speech to the Fujisankei Communications Group. The Fujisankei Communications Group indirectly spent several million dollars to get Reagan to Japan, and directly gave Reagan two million dollars.
When Sony wanted to buy a Columbia Pictures, they offered Reagan money for his library. The Japanese government even offered or gave him money, and Reagan supported the acquisition.
When you visit the Reagan library, or Clinton's library, please say a prayer of thanks to American workers who gave up jobs to make our presidential library's such nice places.
I always wondered what the industry would have been like today if Zenith has paid Reagan $20 million for a half-hour speech in Chicago, or if Magnavox "donated" $5 million to Reagan's library by giving thousands of $1,000 donation tickets for Reagan's library through its USA workers.
I don't believe for a minute this starts and stops with Reagan or Clinton, but they both were major forces in losing industry.
Think about Wall Street. Nothing at all has changed. Not a single banking law that Phil Gramm fought to have repealed has been put back in place. We are in exactly the same position we were in before the last banking failure, because we have no control over any politician.
They control us....and have for many years
Nafta and Cafta are not free market.
China, Japan, and Europe have one goal - that’s to beat the stuffing out of American business. And your friends in the US federal government are anxious to help!
One group of thugs controlling the federal government is the ultra-rich, characterized by socialist-communists like George Soros. Ultra-rich people simply buy politicians like we purchase eggs at Ingles. Soros is a globalist from Europe. What concern has he about manufacturing jobs in the US?
Also in control are the environmentalists. They’ve never seen a manufacturing plant they like. Through years of patient work, they have created roadblock after roadblock to manufacturing jobs in the US. With all the regulations, it’s simpler for a company to manufacture elsewhere.
Unconstitutional agencies like the EPA. Go their web site www.epa.gov and watch them brag about how they beat up companies and used the power of the federal government to extort billions of dollars from one company after another. They boast about making your air and water cleaner. Meanwhile you’ve gone from making a comfortable middle class wage to flipping burgers at a fast food restaurant because your company moved to China.
One thing is certain: the US federal government is at work - making sure you don’t have work. And every American needs to wake up and ask - WHY?
It was both Dems and Reps who have sold us out to foreign interests. You don't seem to have a comment on Reagan's part?
It is not the ultra socialist who are driving this problem. A socialist would enact tariffs and price controls, etc. to make sure there are folks working to fund the collective. It is the exact opposite that sets up a system that benefits the very few rich and destroys the workers.
Of course we could go back to the days that produced Love Canal and other toxic sites that have cost the taxpayer billions to clean up. So, it seems you would allow companies to do whatever without environmental regulation. Who picks up the bill? The company or us. If it is the company then we all end up paying far more for the product where industry saves a few cents per unit for the enormous clean up costs (or the industry goes bankrupt). If gov't then we pay as taxpayers. Better to avoid the issue by doing the right thing up front, the cost is far less to prevent than clean up.
Do you ever go fishing? Ever eat those fish from local rivers or lakes. You might want to thank the EPA and other environmental groups that you can still do this in a few places relatively safely.
With our current climate of NO business social concious and short term bottom line profits ruling the business world, what do you think managers will do if they have the option to dump environmental hazards or take some "educated chances" that a cheaper solution will probably work as well as a sure fire solution? One in a thousand may choose to look beyond the next quarter or yearly profits. And that is probably optimistic.
Any cost to taxpayers of billions of dollars needs to be scrutinized for accuracy because there is very little credibility when it comes to the federal government and anything they say. But let's pretend it's actually true - that the cost was billions of dollars to the taxpayers. What happened to the assets of the polluters? What happened to the officers and directors? Did they get off scot-free? Is a harsh punishment a detterent to future polluters? Would long jail times and big fines stop most potential violators? And for those who don't care, is an super agency like the EPA going to stop them?
Des America need an agency like the EPA which can whatever it pleases virtually without any restraint? Was this the vision of the Founding Fathers of America when they cried Tyranny at the British? Tyranny is the definition of the EPA my friend.
And by the way, I'm no Reagan fan either.
I believe this is pie in the sky wishful thinking that totally discounts current and historical events. I have no doubt that people would buy whatever is cheapest (so long as there was no additional personal value to the product). We see this clearly in how so many shop at WalMart when so many complain about WalMart destroying America by buying Chinese. But that 2 cents savings just means more. History also clearly shows that large (and small) corporations will trim as much cost as possible to have a short term successful bottom line. How could anyone believe the majority of companies would "do the right thing" even if it cost them more and put them at a cost disadvantage to competitors. I doubt even 5% would add the cost, probably less.
So, I work from the assumption, supported by nearly 50 years of seeing what happens at a variety of businesses, the companies cannot be counted on to make decisions for the common good of the country. But then that is not their job--that is the governments. The same government you don't want to regulate these businesses. Gov't is the only entity that can protect an individual citizen against a corporation--but unfortunately out Gov't does just the opposite.
OK, you forced me to learn something. Hooker Company was the original owner, forced to sale to municipality even though they disclosed the "approved" waste. They were found negligent for improper dumping. Don't know if or how much they were fined. The company officers should have been imprisioned in my opinion, but that is never done. But regardless the clean up cost far exceeded the company's resources (as it would most companies) so the taxpayer was left footing the bill, just as we would be at most clean up sites.
One quote you might be interested in: "Eckardt C. Beck, Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency during the Love Canal crisis mentioned that there are probably hundreds of similar dumpsites across the United States."
But hey, we can surely trust business leaders not to do naughty things like that in the future.
Example: The US government has sent thousands of Americans to die in foreign countries - and for what? To fight Islamic terrorism? Or to make billions for a few ultra rich families? Truth be told, I have far more fear of the US federal government than I'll ever have from Muslim extremists.
Example: EPA extorting money from businesses over CO2 emissions - even though the whole issue of man made climate change is so controversial, that sane scientists recommend much more study before making any major decisions. But what does the federal government do? They slap companies with carbon taxes anyway. Why? Because they can. And guess who pays the bill?
Example: Government take-over of the nation's health care industry. Watch the federal government use your money to bribe, steal, and deal to pass this monstrous 2000+ page bill. Hey Scott- just what we need - more thugs running the country.
Example: Efforts by the federal government to shut down legitimate radio stations because they don't like their content.
Example: Federal government branding US citizens as terrorists because they support Chuck Baldwin, 2nd Amendment Gun Rights, the 10th Amendment, Pro-Life....
Example: The federal government in collusion with the federal reserve inflating the dollar to the point it's nearly worthless.
Yeah Scott!!! I want more US federal government - don't you?
And this is just the tip of the iceberg. Either you're a true red socialist or you're very naive.
I'll take my chances with the evil corporations (without Rockefeller if you don't mind) and Al Quada. They're much safer and far more predictable than the US federal government.
Cap and trade. The fake science that claimed man-made changes to the climate threatened our very existence. Global warming, famine, floods, loss of the Rain Forest, and a whole host of other lies perpetrated by 'scientists' whose purpose was to sell an agenda - not to solve earth's environmental issues.
This same group of enviro-thugs worked overtime to block requests under the Freedom of Information Act by real scientists who wanted to see how the data was created. Of course the data was falsified. So it was never turned over. If it wasn't for ClimateGate, the truth would never have come out.
What is the truth?
Cap and trade is designed to pay for the massive federal government take-over of the private health industry.
That is why even after Cap and Trade became 'dead' in the Senate, we have Cap and Trade anyway, thanks to the unconstitutional EPA.
The EPA is busily slapping carbon taxes on anyone they can and businesses are falling into line like a herd of cattle. Cap and trade is now a reality. And of course, it's the citizens of the US who pay for all this. It's truly just another whopping tax on Americans.
Remember, today in 2010, when you cannot pass a bill legitimately in the US, the federal government simply hands it over to one of the 'Agencies' for quick enforcement action.
That is not American. Nor is it constitutional. This is tyranny.
I don't know a thing about the climate and long term climate changes, so I defer to the true experts. They are our best chance for truth.
Scientists studying climate changes are almost unanimous in believing man and greenhouse gasses are playing a significant role. When the vast majority of people who spend their working careers looking at long term climate changes change their opinion, so will I.
Many scientists today are looking at sun spot activity, variations in earth orbit, and other cyclical causes. They are actually collecting their own data and running their own numbers.
Much of the data dispensed by the climate change 'scientists' couldn't be duplicated. Much of it was stretched. There were outright lies.
I don't see the vast consensus that you do Tom.
Even our own NASA agrees we have a problem.
http://www.giss.nasa.gov/research/news/20100121/
The only place I can find disagreement or controversy is if I look at non-applicable education or background, emotional, industry funded, or non-scientific sources. For example, most geologists who work for the energy industry and don't study climate change think we don't have a problem.
and using
today's unlimited power of the federal government to bully, tax, and regulate people for politic agenda.
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aNZe4JWeV1aw
Portions: (web addresses evidently not permitted here as I've tried for the past 2 days to post web sites)
excerpt: "he has spent much of his career studying the interaction of visible and infrared radiation with gases, one of the driving forces of the greenhouse effect, which posits that CO2 in the atmosphere absorbs and redirects infrared radiation, causing temperatures to rise. Happer joined the Princeton faculty in 1980, leaving in 1991 to become director of energy research at the U.S. Department of Energy, where one of his responsibilities was to supervise the department’s work on climate change. In 1993, however, shortly after President Clinton took office, Happer testified at a House hearing that he believed that “there has been some exaggeration” concerning the dangers of ozone and climate change, an act of apostasy that he says led to his being replaced."
Since returning to the faculty, Happer has gained distinction for his work in other fields. He helped patent an invention that provides high-resolution images of the human lung. From 1995 to 2005, he led the University Research Board, which advises the University president on all research conducted at Princeton. He currently runs a lab in atomic physics and is chairman of the board of directors of the George C. Marshall Institute, an Arlington, Va.-based think tank founded by Frederick Seitz, himself a climate-change dissenter before his death in 2008."
“While substantial concern has been expressed that emissions may cause significant climate change, measured or reconstructed temperature records indicate that 20th- and 21st-century climate changes are neither exceptional nor persistent, and the historical and geological records show many periods warmer than today.”
Excerpt:
"An Example Of Why A Global Average Temperature Anomaly Is Not An Effective Metric Of Climate
Roy Spencer and John Christy of the University of Alabama at Huntsville have reported in their Global Temperature Report that February 2010 was the 2nd warmest February in 32 years (e.g. see Roy’s summary).
Their spatial map of the anomalies, however, shows that most of the relative warmth was in a focused geographic area. The global average is based on the summation of large areas of positive and negative temperature anomalies.
What is the Importance to Climate of Heterogeneous Spatial Trends in Tropospheric Temperatures?,
it is the regional tropospheric temperature anomalies that determine the locations of development and movement of weather systems [which are the actual determinants of such climate events as drought, floods, ect] not a global average temperature anomaly.
US states sue EPA to stop greenhouse gas rules
By Timothy Gardner
WASHINGTON, March 19 (Reuters) - At least 15 U.S. states have sued the Environmental Protection Agency seeking to stop it from issuing rules controlling greenhouse gas emissions until it reexamines whether the pollution harms human health.
Florida, Indiana, South Carolina and at least nine other states filed the petitions in the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Washington, D.C. on Thursday, states said.
They joined petitions filed last month by Virginia, Texas and Alabama.
The states have complained that the EPA relied too heavily from reports by the U.N.'s climate science panel which included information that exaggerated the melting of Himalayan glaciers.