Georgia Mountain Beacon

Guest Column by Gary Meier

More bits of this and that 

As the American economy continues in a free fall without a parachute, Democrats continue to show their penchant for self, ideology and a wacko base by playing politics with the economy.  The Republican led House has sent bill upon bill dealing with healing the economy to the Democrat led Senate. Each has been DOA.  A particularly egregious example of a bill going down the tubes was Sep. 23 when the Senate defeated, 59 to 36, a spending bill to fund the government through November 18.  Democrats are the party of “no” and need to be replaced.  This is imperative for the very survival of our nation.  We need honorable people representing us in Congress  who put the country first. 

Lawsuits contesting the constitutionality of Obamacare wound their way through the court system until the Supreme Court agreed to hear the case.  The newest member of the Court, Justice Elena Kagan, needs to recuse herself from those proceedings.  While a member of the Obama administration, she helped coordinate the defense of Obamacare when she served as Solicitor General.  The stakes are too high too have a biased judge deliberating on this matter.

Two groups of people, no explanation needed.  Group 1:  Walter Williams, Clarence Thomas, Condoleezza Rice, Allen West, Martin Luther King, Herman Cain, Thomas Sowell, Bill Cosby.   Group 2:  Jessie Jackson, Rev. Jeremiah Wright, Alcee Hastings, Maxine Waters, Al Sharpton, Bertha Lewis, Charles Rangel.

Pollina Corporate Real Estate, Inc. is an international firm that has advised Fortune 500 clients on six continents since 1981.  Pollina Corporate provides comprehensive Economic Development Consulting Services to cities, counties, states, and economic development organizations. Annually they do a comprehensive study to ascertain which states are the most pro-business.  This means creating jobs, being business friendly and  providing a pro-business environment. The study is based on 32 factors, including taxes, education, energy costs, infrastructure spending and workers compensation laws. The top ten, led by Virginia are:  Utah, North Dakota, Wyoming, Nebraska, Kansas, South Dakota, Missouri, South Caroling and Indiana.  Republicans are governors in nine of these states.  There is a huge message in these statistics. 

We’re number 1 in the world with jobs going to other countries.  That’s because we’re also number 1 with the highest corporate tax rate in the world among the 34 advanced nations with economies most comparable to the US.    The combined federal and state rate in the US is 39.2% of corporate profits according to the Tax Foundation.  “United States companies are now in the position of trying to compete in the 21st-century world economy with a 20th-century tax system,” said Scott A. Hodge, the Tax Foundation’s president and author of the new study.  Why can’t the tax and spend crowd understand the message thattaxation equals ruination?

“Everyone should pay their fair share of taxes” says Obama and his liberal Democrat cohorts. This is one area where liberals and conservatives alike are in agreement.  Today, according to the Congressional Budget Office, the top 1% richest persons pay 37% of all federal income taxes.  The top 10% pay 70%.  It’s time for the tax code to be replaced so that the bottom 80% pay their fair share. 

Tags: Gary Meier, Guest Column