Small Businesses Don't Need Tax Breaks

What small (and large) businesses do need, is business.

Tax breaks aren't a lot of help when you don't have an income. Lower costs are only one way to increase profit. Increased income also increases profit. An investment in our infrastructure, green technology, and basic research will create income for businesses. It could create enough business to generate the need for more businesses.

An investment in our infrastructure and research can also lower costs for business. A good transportation system makes it easier and cheaper to do business. A good education system means that companies don't need to teach basic skills to their employees. Green technologies can lower energy costs for business.

In a strange upside down kind of way, lower business taxes can lead to increased business expenses. When the government invests in our country, we all profit.

Update:
Obviously, this post was hyperbole to make a point. It's the bottom line that counts. No resonable person would turn down increased income, or lowered operating expenses or taxes.

But the often-mentioned Joe the Plumber reminds me that there are people that would turn down lower taxes. Joe acknowledges that he would pay less taxes with Obama's plan, but he doesn't want the tax break. He would rather make sure that his taxes are low when he becomes rich. How he expects to become rich is another story.

First they came for

First they came for the communists, and I did not speak out--
because I was not a communist;
Then they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out--
because I was not a socialist;
Then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out--
because I was not a trade unionist;
Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out--
because I was not a Jew;
Then they came for me--
and there was no one left to speak out for me.
-Martin Niemoeller

If you are neutral in situations of injustice, you have chosen the side of the oppressor. If an elephant has its foot on the tail of a mouse and you say that you are neutral, the mouse will not appreciate your neutrality.
-Bishop Desmond Tutu

The true measure of a man is how he treats someone who can do him absolutely no good.
-Dr. Samuel Johnson

Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.
-Martin Luther King

---

If anyone is subject to being unjustly arrested or imprisoned, we are all in danger.

If anyone is denied access to health care due to poverty or class, we are all in danger.

If anyone is poisoned with unsafe food, polluted water, or toxic waste, we are all in danger.

If anyone can lose their job to an underpaid replacement, just so that the ultra rich can get richer, we are all in danger.

We all need to be reminded from time to time that none of us is so rich, powerful, gifted, experienced, educated, connected, privileged, or healthy, that we are immune to injustice.

Jo Bonner: One week in votes

April 25, 2007
H.R.1591 – Small Business and Work Opportunity Act of 2007
Bonner – no
Final vote - 218 – 208, 2 Present (Roll no.265)
This was the emergency supplemental for Iraq war bill that Bush vetoed. Either Jo didn't want to fund the troops or he believes that accountability is only for school teachers.

H.R.1332 - To improve the access to capital programs of the Small Business Administration
Bonner – yes
Final vote - 380 – 45 (Roll no.263)
Jo supports the Small Business Administration.

H.R. 493 – Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act
Bonner – yes
Final vote - 420 - 3 (Roll no. 261)
It's about time this bill got passed.

H.R.1678 – Reauthorize the Torture Victims Relief Act of 2007
Bonner - yes
Final vote - 418 - 7 (Roll no. 260)
Note that this bill is intended for people tortured by OTHER governments.

H.Con.Res.7 - Calling on the League of Arab States to acknowledge the genocide in the Darfur region of Sudan and to step up their efforts to stop the genocide in Darfur
Bonner – yes
Final vote - 425 – 1 (Roll no. 259)
Always easy to tell someone else to do the right thing. The nay was Rep. Ronald Paul [R, TX-14] (a libertarian)

Apr 26, 2007

H.Res.320 - Congratulating the University of Tennessee women's basketball team for winning the 2007 NCAA Division I Women's Basketball Championship.
Bonner - yes
Final vote - 415 - 0 (Roll no. 266)
Who wouldn't congratulate winners?

Apr 27, 2007

H.R.249 – To restore the prohibition on the commercial sale and slaughter of wild free-roaming horses and burros
Bonner – no
Final vote - 277 - 137 (Roll no. 269)
Why does Jo hate wild horses?

May 01, 2007

H.Res.298: To commend the University of Florida Gators for their historic win in the 2007 National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I Men's Basketball Tournament.
Bonner - yes
Final vote – 415 - 0, 4 Present (Roll no. 272)
John Barrow [D, GA-12], Jack Kingston [R, GA-1], John Linder [R, GA-7], and Zachary T. Space [D, OH-18] are sore losers.

H.Con.Res.112: Supporting the goals and ideas of a National Child Care Worthy Wage Day.
Bonner – no
Final vote - 345 - 73, 1 Present (Roll no. 271)
What is so hard about saying that child care workers OUGHT to have a decent wage?

H.Res.334 – Supporting the goals and ideals of National Community College Month
Bonner - yes
Final vote - 420 - 0 (Roll no. 270)
Jo supports education.

To sum it up; Jo likes to tell other people to behave. He supports small business, winning sports teams and community colleges. He doesn't support wild horses or child care workers. He would rather not fund the troops than set goals. Or maybe not funding the troops is his way of bringing them home now.

I’m a security mom too.

Much has been said about the security moms. They think that George W. Bush will keep them safe, and the Iraq war is a good thing. Well, I’m a mom, and I have a few opinions about keeping my children safe.

Civil Liberties
I want my children to live without fear of the government. They should be able to voice their opinions without looking over their shoulders. They should be able to read what they like without being put on a watch list.

Education
I want my children to have a solid education. I want them to think and ask questions. I don’t want religious zealots choosing their textbooks. School buildings should be clean and maintained. College should be accessible to everyone.

Health
I want my children to be healthy. I want them to have access to health care. They need immunizations and check ups.

Clean Air and Water
I want my children to breathe clean air, and drink clean water. I want them to have wilderness to hike in. I want their food to be safe to eat.

Jobs
I want my children to know that they can earn a living wage doing productive work. I want them to have a roof over their heads, and the time to enjoy friends, family, and hobbies.

War
I want my children to know that their lives won’t be thrown away for a lie. We need to defend ourselves, but war should be acknowledged for the horror it is. And it should be used as a last resort.

George W. Bush has done nothing to make any of our children safer. It’s time to kick the whole lot out.

National Security & Outsourcing

We've had a good look lately at the problems of being dependant on an unstable part of the world. If we didn’t need their oil, we wouldn’t be sending billions of dollars their way. If they weren’t drowning in money, they wouldn’t be able to fund the terrorists.

We have a similar problem coming up. We are sending our manufacturing capabilities to other countries. When a factory leaves the country, we don’t just lose jobs. We lose the ability to make something. What would happen if China decided to stop selling us components for our cars? Our cars would be useless, no matter what the price of oil is. What good is a weapons system if vital components are made by our rivals?

Not only are we exporting the ability to make things, we are also exporting the ability to design new things.

We are funding governments that are as corrupt as the ones in the Middle East. We give them our factories. We give them our technology. We stop buying our own products because theirs are cheaper. Then we borrow money from them in order to buy their products. If they decide to limit supply, or raise prices, we won’t be able to stop importing products any quicker than we have been able to stop importing oil.

We export raw products such as timber and cotton. We import manufactured goods. We are on our way to becoming a colony again.