my conservative and well off (rich) friends would once in while email me articles to promote their views........here are two recent ones...
[SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: #333333; FONT-FAMILY: Arial"]A letter from the boss:[/SPAN]
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To All My Valued Employees,
There have been some rumblings around the office about the future of this company, and more specifically, your job. As you know, the economy has changed for the worse and presents many challenges.
However, the good news is this:
The economy doesn't pose a threat to your job. What does threaten
your job however, is the changing political landscape in this country.
However, let me tell you some little tidbits of fact which might help you decide what is in your best interests.
First, while it is easy to spew rhetoric that casts employers against
employees, you have to understand that for every [/SPAN][SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: #333333; FONT-FAMILY: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt"]business owner[/SPAN][SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: #333333; FONT-FAMILY: Arial"] there is a [/SPAN][SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: #333333; FONT-FAMILY: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt"]Back Story[/SPAN][SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: #333333; FONT-FAMILY: Arial"]. This back story is often neglected and overshadowed by what you see and hear.
Sure, you see me park my Mercedes outside. You've seen my big
home at last years Christmas party. I'm sure; all these flashy icons of
luxury conjure up some idealized thoughts about my life.
However, what you don't see is the BACK STORY:
I started this company 28 years ago. At that time, I lived in a 300 square foot studio apartment for 3 years. My entire living apartment was converted into an office so I could put forth 100% effort into building a company, which by the way, would eventually employ you.
My diet consisted of Ramen Pride noodles because every dollar I spent went back into this company. I drove a rusty [/SPAN][SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: #333333; FONT-FAMILY: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt"]Toyota Corolla[/SPAN][SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: #333333; FONT-FAMILY: Arial"] with a defective transmission. I didn't have time to date. Often times, I stayed home on weekends, while my friends went out drinking and partying. In fact, I was married to my business -- hard work, discipline, and sacrifice.
Meanwhile, my friends got jobs. They worked 40 hours a week and made a modest $50K a year and spent every dime they earned. They drove flashy cars and lived in expensive homes and wore fancy designer clothes. Instead of hitting the Nordstrom's for the latest hot fashion item, I was trolling through the discount store extracting any clothing item that didn't look like it was birthed in the 70's. My friends refinanced their mortgages and lived a life of luxury. I, however, did not. I put my time, my money, and my life into a business with a vision that eventually, some day, I too, will be abl e to afford these luxuries my friends supposedly had.
So, while you physically arrive at the office at 9 A.M., mentally check in at about noon, and then leave at 5 P.M., I don't. There is no "off" button for me. When you leave the office, you are done and you have a weekend all to yourself. I unfortunately do not have the freedom. I eat, and breathe this company every minute of the day. There is no rest. There is no weekend. There is no happy hour. Every day this business is attached to my hip like a 1 year old special-needs child. You, of course, only see the fruits of that garden -- the nice house, the Mercedes, the vacations... you never realize the Back Story and the sacrifices I've made.
Now, the economy is falling apart and I, the guy that made all the right decisions and saved his money, have to bail-out all the people who didn't. The people that overspent their paychecks suddenly feel entitled to the same luxuries that I earned and sacrificed a decade of my life for.
Yes, business ownership has is benefits but the price I've paid is steep and not without wounds. Unfortunately, the cost of running this business, and employing you, is starting to eclipse the threshold of marginal benefit and let me tell you why:
I am being taxed to death and the government thinks I don't pay enough. I have state taxes. Federal taxes. [/SPAN][SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: #333333; FONT-FAMILY: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt"]Property taxes[/SPAN][SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: #333333; FONT-FAMILY: Arial"]. Sales and use taxes. [/SPAN][SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: #333333; FONT-FAMILY: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt"]Payroll taxes[/SPAN][SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: #333333; FONT-FAMILY: Arial"]. [/SPAN][SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: #333333; FONT-FAMILY: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt"]Workers compensation[/SPAN][SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: #333333; FONT-FAMILY: Arial"] taxes. Unemployment taxes. Taxes on taxes.20I have to hire a tax man to manage all these taxes and then guess what? I have to pay taxes for employing him. Government mandates and regulations and all the accounting that goes with it, now occupy most of my time. On Oct 15th, I wrote a check to the US Treasury for $288,000 for quarterly taxes. You know what my "stimulus" check was? Zero. Nada. Zilch.
The question I have is this:
Who is stimulating the economy? Me, the guy who has provided 14 people good paying jobs and serves over 2,200,000 people per year with a flourishing business? Or, the single mother sitting at home pregnant with her fourth child waiting for her next welfare check? Obviously, government feels the latter is the [/SPAN][SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: #333333; FONT-FAMILY: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt"]economic stimulus[/SPAN][SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: #333333; FONT-FAMILY: Arial"] of
this country.
The fact is, if I deducted (Read: Stole) 50% of your paycheck you'd quit and you wouldn't work here. I mean, why should you? That's nuts. Who wants to get rewarded only 50% of their hard work? Well, I agree which is why your job is in jeopardy.
Here is what many of you don't understand ... to stimulate the economy you need to stimulate what runs the economy. Had suddenly government mandated to me that I didn't need to pay taxes, guess what? Instead of depositing that $288,000 into the [/SPAN][?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" /][st1:State w:st="on"][st1:place w:st="on"][SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: #333333; FONT-FAMILY: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt"]Washington[/SPAN][/st1:place][/st1:State][SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: #333333; FONT-FAMILY: Arial"] black-hole, I would have spent it, hired more employees, and generated substantial economic growth. My employees would have enjoyed the wealth of that tax cut in the form of promotions and better salaries. But you can forget it now.
When you have a comatose man on the verge of death, you don't defibrillate and shock his thumb thinking that will bring him back to life, do you? Or, do you defibrillate his heart? Business is at the heart of [st1:country-region w:st="on"][st1:place w:st="on"]America[/st1:place][/st1:country-region] and always has been. To restart it, you must stimulate it, not kill it. Suddenly, the power brokers in [st1:State w:st="on"]Washington[/st1:State] believe the poor of [st1:country-region w:st="on"][st1:place w:st="on"]America[/st1:place][/st1:country-region] are the essential drivers of the American economic engine. Nothing could be further from the truth and this is the type of change you can keep.
So where am I going with all this? It's quite simple.
If any new taxes are levied on me, or my company, my reaction will be swift and simple. I'll fire you. I'll fire your co-workers. You can then plead with the government to pay for your mortgage, your SUV, and your child's future. Frankly, it isn't my problem any more.
Then, I will close this company down, move to another country, and retire. You see, I'm done. I'm done with a country that penalizes the productive and gives to the unproductive. My motivation to work and to provide jobs will be destroyed, and with it, will be my citizenship.
So, if you lose your job, it won't be at the hands of the economy; it will
be at the hands of a political hurricane that swept through this country, steamrolled the constitution, and will have changed its landscape forever. If that happens, you can find me sitting on a beach, retired, and with no employees to worry about....
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[SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: #333333; FONT-FAMILY: Arial"]Signed, THE BOSS
__________________[/SPAN]
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[SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: #333333; FONT-FAMILY: Arial"][?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" /][o:p] [P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"][FONT face="Times New Roman" color=#000000 size=3]Our Tax System Explained: Bar Stool Economics
Suppose that every day, ten men go out for beers and the bill for all
ten comes to $100. If they paid their bill the way we pay our taxes, it
would go something like this: The first four men (the poorest) would
pay nothing. The fifth would pay $1. The sixth would pay $3. The
seventh would pay $7. The eighth would pay $12. The ninth would pay
$18. The tenth man (the richest) would pay $ 59. So that's what they
decided to do.
The ten men drank in the bar every day and seemed quite happy with the
arrangement, until one day, the owner threw them a curve. 'Since you are
all such good customers,' he said, 'I'm going to reduce the cost of your
daily beer by $20.' Drinks for the ten now cost just $80.
The group still wanted to pay their bill the way we pay our taxes so the
first four men were unaffected. They would still drink for free. But
what about the other six men - the paying customers? How could they
divide the $20 windfall so that everyone would get his 'fair share?'
They realized that $20 divided by six is $3.33. But if they Subtracted
that from everybody's share, then the fifth man and the sixth man would
each end up being paid to drink his beer. So, the bar owner suggested a
plan to reduce each man's bill, and he worked out the amounts each
should pay.
And so: The fifth man, like the first four, now paid nothing (100%
savings). The sixth now paid $2 instead of $3 (33% savings). The seventh
now pay $5 instead of $7 (28% savings). The eighth now paid $9 instead
of $12 (25% savings). The ninth now paid $14 instead of $18 (22%
savings). The tenth now paid $49 instead of $59 (16% savings). Note that
the tenth man got the smallest percentage reduction and now paid 61.25%
of the total bill, where he previously paid 59% of the bill.
While I'm struggling to remain in the middle class with today's soaring
energy prices, I realize that I am better off than a lot of folks. I
also understand that without the economic opportunity that comes with
the investment of the rich people far outweighs the supposed unfair tax
breaks they get. Read on. This is where it gets good.
Each of the six was better off than before. And the first four continued
to drink for free. But once outside the restaurant, the men began to
compare their savings. 'I only got a dollar out of the $20 declared the
sixth man. He pointed to the tenth man, 'but he got $10!' 'Yeah, that's
right,' exclaimed the fifth man. 'I only saved a dollar, too. It's
unfair that he got ten times more than I!' 'That's true!!' shouted the
seventh man. 'Why should he get $10 back when I got only two? The
wealthy get all the breaks!' 'Wait a minute,' yelled the first four men
in unison. 'We didn't get anything at all. The system exploits the
poor!' The nine men surrounded the tenth and beat him up.
The next night the tenth man didn't show up for drinks, so the nine sat
down and had beers without him. But when it came time to pay the bill,
they discovered something important. They didn't have enough money
between all of them for even half of the bill!
And that, ladies and gentlemen, journalists and college professors, is
how our tax system works. The people who pay the highest taxes get the
most benefit from a tax reduction. Tax them too much, attack them for
being wealthy, and they just may not show up anymore. In fact, they
might start drinking overseas where the atmosphere is somewhat
friendlier.
For those who understand, no explanation is needed. For those who do not
understand, no explanation is possible.[/FONT]
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