by Jack
This is getting ridiculous when even Senator Diane Feinstein thinks Obama is doing too much fundraising instead of working. And no, I’m not upset just because Obama keeps coming to California to milk the liberal cash-cows. This is about the moral principle of such activities from either side, dems or reps.
Currently the President is scheduled to arrive aboard Air Force One at Los Angeles International Airport this afternoon for a planned 24 1/2-hour visit to conduct two more political fundraisers and speak at Los Angeles Trade-Technical College. (Third trip to CA this year)
Los Angeles is the final stop on Obama’s three-day, three-city West Coast fundraising trip, which began Tuesday in Seattle, where he spoke at a Democratic National Committee fundraiser. Next up, San Francisco. Obama will attend a morning fundraiser benefiting the House Majority Political Action Committee then he will speak and answer questions at an early afternoon Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee fundraiser in Los Altos Hills.
Obama’s first stop of his visit to Los Angeles will be at the Hancock Park mansion of television producer Shonda Rhimes for a late-afternoon DNC fundraising reception and dinner. Tickets for the event begin at $1,000, according to an invitation posted on the website, PoliticalPartyTime.org, which tracks political fundraisers. But, the price jumps to $10,000 to attend the reception and for the opportunity to have a photo taken with Obama, and $32,400 — the maximum allowable contribution to a national party committee in a calendar year — to be a co-host of the event. The $32k ticket allows the donor to attend a lavish dinner with Obama in addition to the reception and the photo opportunity.
To my recollection Obama has been on a non-stop fundraising tour since entering office, he’s certainly been distracted from the last, oh half dozen or so crisis’ thanks to his fundraising program.
Every time this guy fires up Air Force One it costs us a couple of million bucks! (doink – idea) Maybe we would be better off to just give the DNC 2 million and cancel his trip so he can take care of White House business? Then again, maybe not…maybe it’s better he’s AWOL from making command decisions? Hmmm…I think I just changed my mind at least when it comes to Obama, fewer of his decisions we have the better. But, I haven’t changed my mind about the fundamental wrongness of a President using his office to extract money for his political party when he ought to be working.
It’s a conflict of interest in my opinion and it ought to be beneath the dignity of the president to run around asking for money while taking away time from his elected duties in Washington. There’s plenty of other people who could do this fundraising without risking national security because of all the distractions. But, both sides do it because money equals power and power equals money and that buys elections, it’s a vicious circle. It’s never going to end, because there will never be enough money…never! And that’s just way it is, from the President all the way down to city council races, with very few exceptions to make a difference.
Finally!
And what do you think John Boehner? ted cruz? or any of them are doing?
All our political system is….
IS A CITIZENS UNITED BUSINESS!
Media is bought out not only because it is owned by the very few and many foreign such as Fox’s Murdoch who not wants to add our time warner to his foreign dynasty……
Media is the recipient of most of this money
All Politicians have to fund raise all the time…
Fundraising to save the senate or house from more Tea party corruption 2014 is ok with me…ya know his office travels.. and we have to make sure the Tea Party does not interfere with any old school Rep or Dem and we will deal with them later
That being said… I guess for some to realize Air Force one is a mobile office and they work all the way there… might be hard for some to imagine…
Rome burning? CONGRESS….. ask those who had their unemployment insurance cut off after 6 months of job looking how they feel about these statements from others receiving social security!
CONGRESS guilty of SEDITION
Congress wasting tax dollars fund raising all day and blocking every populist bill while we pay them a min of $174,000 a year!
LOL To anybody and everybody….If you want to change things on all accounts help us get unlimited and foreign money out of politics or stop complaining
At least he did not shut down gov and hurt American Citizens to fund raise as Ted Cruz did
The GOP is hurting American Citizens playing their games in Congress…Real people are affected and yet their base just complains about the people who are hurt by the 5 years of block everything until the GOP can take over and dictate corporate rule
next will I see a complaint about the senate finally saying something about corporate citizenship?
I am happy the Name Walgreen will be in the news…yet another major company to boycott as they collect millions in medicare payments trying to avoid taxes…buy a swiss company then say you are swiss? Tea Party Politics 101
Hostile Corporate Takeover …. otherwise known as fascism
People get it the Obama bashers…fine who cares! WE are tired of it……too much like WW2 politics of a dictator!
There is a choice be part of the solution or part of the problem
Tea party is not part of any solution and there is no more hiding the Think tanks and orgs buying out democracy for corporations while telling their sheeple their world would be better
Remove all laws and regulation… yea lol lol lol
Nice try Koch Brother’s but we got them!
Dewey: “ask those who had their unemployment insurance cut off after 6 months of job looking how they feel about these statements from others receiving social security!”
Two things…pay attention:
1. social Security is a system forced on the citizenry with no option to opt out so taking our social security payout is not a handout like welfare or food stamps.
2. Guess what happened? Employees looked for work and unemployment ddropped dramatically!!!
People went back to work!
Dewey you are dazed and confused.
Presidents have always raised funds for their party and I don’t have a problem with it in general. This president has shown it is the only thing he knows how to do. His Presidency has been one long campaign for the democrat socialist agenda and coffers. He did not come to lead the nation; his oath of office is a fraud.
America won’t die over eight years but we sure have been damaged as have individual citizens, especially the young, the minority and the women, amazingly!
Sure hope they wake up soon.
Count me as one of the damaged. The Great Recession cost me plenty and its cost my kids too. Obama is without a doubt the worst president we’ve ever had and did more to exacerbate the recession than relieve it. He’s done more to fundamentally change America than Russia or China combined.
Regarding fundraising as the president, this is a complex issue and it’s one that I’ve given a lot of thought too over the last 20 years. I’ve come to believe that we have a serious problem with money in elections.
The current presidential campaign contribution system has too many loop holes that only become apparent when a guy like Obama comes along. Then we need to tighten up the rules and I hate that, but it is necessary if we are too keep elections clean.
We’re really headed in the wrong direction when it comes to the amount of money needed to fund an election, even one for President.
Tell me please, and I ask most seriously to all our readers, what is wrong with taking this one elected official (the president) off the fundraising roster while they are in office?
There are a number of good reasons for it, from security/travel costs, risk exposure, conflict of interest, raising the specter of impropriety (bribes)and much more. And we don’t need it!
I’m only asking that the president doesn’t do the fundraising, everyone else can! Both party’s would be equally disadvantaged and that’s good, right? The American people are not clambering for more fundraising to be done by the president are they? I think they would rather he (or she) not do it at all.
Look, we’re are providing that high office with a lot of power, money and perks. We need to protect that office from scandal and national security risks as best we can. We deserve a full time president that delivers quality representation. We also don’t want our president thinking he can behave like a King free to blow through our money for his travelling pleasure or his party’s fundraising benefit. And we sure don’t want it to appear that our president is making backroom deals with people that have deep pockets.
This is why I said the president needs to stay out of the fundraising business, that’s something he can do when he is out of office to his hearts content.
Let me take this a bit further, Obama has abused his office and he’s spent our money like he was an Arab Sheik, the fundraising part is just another abuse. We need to put an end to the Nero-like excesses.
Next, let’s bring the office of president back to reality: The President, like all personnel in armed forces, ought to get 30 days vacation per year. That’s enough! He can divide it up into three vacations, but no more! Why 3 periods? Every single time A.F. One takes off it costs us millions. And it’s an obscene waste of money 90% of the time.
With few exceptions, the first lady ought not get A.F. One privileges unless accompanied by the President and certainly she should not get it for her own private vacation plans. That’s an abused of power and an offense against the America people, because she is showing no regard for us! That’s our money – it’s not hers! We didn’t elect Mrs. Obama and she is not due a damn thing from us. What other job anywhere would do that? It’s always based off the wage earners salary and benefit package and she takes a cut, she doesn’t get to duplicate it in any way. Mrs. Obama is the Marie Antoinette of our day and this needs to stop, along with the presidential fundraising. It’s simply not good for the country and it raises too much controversy and diminishes the credibility and respect of the office.
I am not at all upset over Obama’s fundraising at the expense of doing his job. The more damage he does, the more damage the Democratic party owns. We will rise from the ashes.
I prefer Obummer not do his job and spend his time playing golf and soaking wealthy liberal suckers, except when it costs innocent lives. However, I do understand the hostility of all the “little” people of LA. Let us hope this elitist twit stays away from Chico. (Which is probably not much of a concern given Chico’s potential for raising the big bucks Obama seeks from a concentrate of the wealthy elite.)
http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-obama-social-media-commuters-20140723-story.html
Yet another twisted, bizarre, demented, rambling and incoherent screed from Chris’ doppleganger, Epic Fail Boy. Keep up the good work Dewey! We love you being you.
Jack here’s a good example of why the Supreme court rule that money is speech:
“Fundraising to save the senate or house from more Tea party corruption 2014 is ok with me…”
It has to be open and free because every, Tom, Dick, and Dewey has a special case and will find a way.
Look at the way Soros has funded activism through shadow nonprofits (for decades) putting millions into campaigns without spending a dime on political ads.
I know your hearts in the right place; I just can’t see that trying to control the money is possible beyond the restrictions we have.
As for Obama He is a bird of a different feather. It’s hard to imagine anyone who would be so tone deaf or uninvolved in the job as he has been.
We are all just very weary. It’s bad enough to have a poor leader but a poor leader in a bad economy with the world falling apart with no option for relief any time soon…more than most can bear. I keep thinking of the person that has to step into this mess next. God help him/her!
Instead of flying all over in AF One fundraising it would have been nice if the Pres. would have listened to the warnings from the Kurds and Iran about ISIS. Our State Dept. official just declared ISIS an army, not just a terrorist group.
Question, if Clinton and the CIA were running guns through Benghazi to Syria, is this how ISIS got all of their weaponry to arm their forces?
Whoops! Kurds Warned Obama About ISIS Months Ago – And Even Offered To Help Stop Them:
“The Polish Foreign Minister isn’t the only one who thinks President Obama is a disengaged, “worthless” ally. We can add the Kurdish Prime Minister, Nechirvan Barzani, to the list.
According to the Daily Beast, he tried to warn Obama and Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki that ISIS was planning a blitz across northern and western Iraq. Barzani even proposed a joint military operation against ISIS by American, Iraqi, and Kurdish forces.
What did Obama do? He never even responded to the warnings or the offer.
It’s one thing to receive the warnings and then tell the Kurds you’re not interested in participating in a military operation after you pulled troops out of Iraq. It’s another thing entirely to receive the information and do nothing with it.
That illustrates a president and an administration that are blatantly disengaged from the realities of the world.”
http://www.ijreview.com/2014/06/150596-oops-kurds-warned-obama-isis-months-ago/
Iranian President Blames Obama for ISIS Terrorists, “We Warned the U.S. for Over a Year…”
(videos)
Read more at http://investmentwatchblog.com/iranian-president-blames-obama-for-isis-terrorists-we-warned-the-u-s-for-over-a-year/#7TLZxLpvE3HrGG4c.99
State Dept. Official: ISIS No Longer a Terrorist Group But ‘A Full-Blown Army’:
“A State Department official who just returned from a seven-week trip to Iraq, said the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) – or the Islamic State of Iraq and Levant (ISIL) – is no longer just a terrorist group.
“ISIL is no longer simply a terrorist organization,” Brett McGurk, deputy assistant secretary for Iraq and Iran at the U.S. Department of State, said at a House Foreign Affairs Committee hearing on Wednesday. “It is now a full-blown army seeking to establish a self-governing state through the Tigress and Euphrates Valley in what is now Syria and Iraq.”
http://cnsnews.com/news/article/penny-starr/state-dept-official-isis-no-longer-terrorist-group-full-blown-army?utm_source=Facebook&utm_medium=Marketing&utm_term=Facebook&utm_content=Facebook&utm_campaign=N-ISIS-Army
Bush was blamed for the Iraq war, will Obama get blamed for WWIII? Looks like we’re headed that way.
Bill O’reilly opened his show tonight saying he thought it was wrong for Obama to go jetting around the country raising money for the democratic party when Air Force One is owned by the people, not the democrats. He also said pretty much what I said about the whole fundraising thing… we have such a putz for a prez.
Jack, I agree with a lot of what you addressed especially taxpayers footing the bill for using AF One to fund raise. We should only be paying for official business. If he/she does two fundraisers and one official business the cost should be reflective. Vacations and trips by the First Lady and kids should be on their dime, not ours.
I also like the maximum days for vacation too. Every working adult is limited to a certain number of days and so should the president. The only thing I’d add is vacations must be scheduled for when Congress is recessed.
QUOTE
. This president has shown it is the only thing he knows how to do. His Presidency has been one long campaign for the democrat socialist agenda and coffers. He did not come to lead the nation; his oath of office is a fraud. –
Come on he is almost out of office can we change the channel? Really now…
Fraud? Well let’s pick a subject and talk about it blanket statements 5 years in? 6 yrs in… 8 years of it?…………………Yawn!
Can someone please tell me what the Tea party is doing for the social welfare of human people ?
Solutions?
Why is the Tea party not a fraud? Explain what they have acomplished? Also can we have their accounts on wasted tax payer money spent on fake scandals?
Do people want to fix things or just hate the man in office? GW did such a great job…. I mean he is hiding waiting for pappy’s spot in the NSA profits what a great man!
Jack that’s what I meant about this President…he is a putz because he has no regard for the people, he is not leading as our President and he does whatever he wants on our dime…he’s not typical. I can’t imagine any other person, dem or rep, behaving with the same contempt (overuse of AF1 by him and family).
Dewey: “Come on he is almost out of office can we change the channel? Really now… ”
Really now? Four points:
1. Obama is our President and will be for another two years…you change the channel, we will continue to discuss the person who is accountable to the people.
2. We heard how everything was GWB’s fault for four years after he left office so get used to it, this will go on even after he’s gone to some degree.
3. Obama has been designated as the worst President in modern times. His name will come up in discussions for decades.
4. The TP wants our government to be faithful to the Constitution. Our system of government allowed America to become the envy of the world both in terms of our freedom and rights and in terms of our economic vibrancy and innovation. Adherence to Constitutional principles will make America strong again.
“Can someone please tell me what the Tea party is doing for the social welfare of human people ?”
Where did you get the idea that the TP exists for that purpose? But if I had to speculate:
1. Lower tax rates and reasonable regulation, rather than punishing policy, would spur economic growth, bring companies back to America, and creating opportunity for more and better jobs AND personal savings and wealth building…the most personal and effective way to “help” people ever devised is capitalism and freedom supported by the rule of law.
2. Increases in income, personal savings, and wealth means that citizens have more to spend AND give to charities that help people.
3. Most TPers are conservative and conservatives would like to see more options and better schools. In particular it is vital that we see improved schools in poor communities. Better education for today’s poor young will translate to fewer people in the future requiring government assistance…the will be self reliant and that’s a good thing!
” Also can we have their accounts on wasted tax payer money spent on fake scandals?”
Sure…just as soon as you can give us an accounting of the Alinsky inspired and funded activism and scandals, waste, fraud, and abuse that’s been occurring over the last fifty or sixty decades.
“Do people want to fix things or just hate the man in office?”
It isn’t hate Dewey. It is pointed criticism, disagreement, and anger at what his policies are doing to our nation and the world. We would have to be brain dead not to be thinking and feeling these things!
And we have suggested, many times, what is needed to “fix things.” You just don’t agree with our ideas. However, since the record of the Democrats in control has proven to be an utter disaster for almost six years now on every issue and front, and since we at Post Scripts predicted this would happen if Obama was elected and reelected, it would behoove you to humble yourself just a bit and open your mind to learning a few things that might actually make things better.
“GW did such a great job…. I mean he is hiding waiting for pappy’s spot in the NSA profits what a great man!
Why all the hate Dewey. I mean he’s been out of office for almost six years now. Can we change the channel…really now!
Come out of the confusion and fog…
Re #14: Again Tina cuts through the mire of Deweythink (=Progressive doublethink)and clarifies. The infinite patience of Post Scripts is impressive to say the least.
Pie, my patience for Dewey is over… when he says Gaza was so Israel could test new weapons for sale I know I am dealing with a mad man.
#16 Jack,
My patience for Dewey, Chris and Libby ended weeks ago. I don’t read anything written by Dewey…waste of time. And have decided to not participate in any more of Chris and Libby’s “pissing contest.” If they want to have a civil discussion I’ll participate, but no more dealing with the constant attacks. They’ll never consider anything I/we say as having in value, so not wasting the time with them either.
I like PS because it provides an avenue to learn and discuss what’s going on. But, reading constant attacks, childish rants and bloviating accomplishes nothing.
Keep up the good work, I/we owe you a debt of gratitude for all of your time and effort.
Re #17 Peggy:
“I like PS because it provides an avenue to learn and discuss what’s going on. But, reading constant attacks, childish rants and bloviating accomplishes nothing.
“Keep up the good work, I/we owe you a debt of gratitude for all of your time and effort.”
Ditto.
“Obama is without a doubt the worst president we’ve ever had…”
David Siegel is a sleazy time-share mogul in Flordia. David had major financial troubles following Bush’s 2008 economic crises. He had to stop work on his private home, dubbed “Versailles”, which was to be the largest home in the U.S. Poor guy.
Naturally, Obama was to blame for this. As you may recall during the peak of the presidential campaign, Mr. Siegel penned a letter threatening to fire all his employees and close down his Orlando-based company, Westgate, if Obama was elected. A snippet from the full letter:
“So where am I going with all this? It’s quite simple. If any new taxes are levied on me, or my company, as our current President plans, I will have no choice but to reduce the size of this company. Rather than grow this company I will be forced to cut back. This means fewer jobs, less benefits and certainly less opportunity for everyone.
So, when you make your decision to vote, ask yourself, which candidate understands the economics of business ownership and who doesn’t? Whose policies will endanger your job? Answer those questions and you should know who might be the one capable of protecting and saving your job. While the media wants to tell you to believe the “1 percenters” are bad, I’m telling you they are not. They create most of the jobs. If you lose your job, it won’t be at the hands of the “1%”; it will be at the hands of a political hurricane that swept through this country.
You see, I can no longer support a system that penalizes the productive and gives to the unproductive. My motivation to work and to provide jobs will be destroyed, and with it, so will your opportunities. If that happens, you can find me in the Caribbean sitting on the beach, under a palm tree, retired, and with no employees to worry about.
Signed, your boss”
Yeah, that happened.
This wasn’t the first time either. In 2000, Siegel did something just as slimy. He put negative articles about Gore in every paycheck, and also forced his managers to conduct an inappropriate survey on who was voting for Bush and Gore. Those that said Bush were “required” to register to vote. Ironic, considering how Bush’s economy almost put him out of business.
Fortunately for everyone, this time, his despicable letter threatening to fire everyone if Obama was elected backfired. Obama won Florida handily. The press mocked Siegel. We all expected this time-share sleazeball to retire and close his company. But then a funny thing happened…
Instead of his company being dragged down by the evil black man in the Oval Office, his company started flourishing again. The Obama recovery saw companies make record profits, and Siegel’s was no exception. Today, they are doing better than ever. Under Obama, we also have had the best stock market in history, so investors like Siegel made out like bandits. (Obama=worst socialist ever).
Instead of firing, Siegel has had to hire more people. Since his employees were finally able to get reasonably-priced health insurance, he was free to invest his money in all kinds of things. He bought the Orlando Predators. He also bought a massive casino in Las Vegas. Saints be praised, he was even able to finally start work again on his gaudy, 90,000 square foot housecomplete with a bowling alley, a 30-car garage, and a roller-skating rink.
Turns out that he never had any intention to flee to the Caribbean.
Turns out Obama has been great for him.
Turns out he was just another rich, entitled a$$hole.
Jim, Do you realized your comment just showed how the Obama economy has been good for the 1% who have gotten richer off of the stock market, while hurting the middle and lower income earners who have lost on the average of $3,000 since Jan. 2009?
The average retiree who lost the value of their IRAs don’t have the money to invest in the stock market. It’s being pumped up by unions and those with lots of $ to invest, not the average Joe and Jane.
That’s what socialism does. The rich elites get richer, while the middle and poor get poorer.
Wake up!! Just look at the increases in the number of people on some form of public assistance. They are at all time highs in both number and percentage of population.
Chart(s) of the Day: Median income:
“Financial adviser Doug Short has published his take on Sentier Research’s monthly look at median household income for February. The condensed version: Nearly five years after the Great Recession officially ended, median income is up, but it’s still not up to where it was at its peak in January 2008, just after the recession began. Here’s one way to look at the numbers:
As can be seen, the trend has been upward since late 2010, 16 months after the National Bureau of Economic Research says the Great Recession ended. In fact, as Short notes, the “latest monthly gain was the second largest of the 170 data points in this series since the turn of the century.”
But there is a big difference between nominal dollars (the red line) and real dollars (the blue line), that is, inflation-adjusted dollars. We all know from personal experience that a 2001 dollar is not worth the same as a 2014 dollar. There’s considerable dispute over exactly how inflation should be calculated, but even using the Consumer Price Index, which some critics say underestimates the true inflationary increase, the damage can be seen. Median annual inflation-adjusted income is 6.8 percent lower—about $3,892—than it was in January 2008. Not chicken feed unless you’re a one-percenter.
We know why. Fewer people are working. On average, those who are working, even if they are employed at quite similar jobs as they were before the recession clobbered them, are getting paid less. (Their benefits are lower, too, but that’s a chart for another day.)
Short says that he also likes to view the median income changes through a different lens:
The next chart is my preferred way to show the nominal and real household income—the percent change over time. Essentially I have taken the monthly series for both the nominal and real household incomes and divided them by their respective values at the beginning of 2000. The advantage to this approach is that it clearly quantifies the changes in both series and avoids a common distraction of using dollar amounts (“How does my household stack up?”). […]
The stunning reality illustrated here is that the real median household income series spent most of the first nine years of the 21st century struggling slightly below its purchasing power at the turn of the century. Real incomes (the blue line) hit an interim peak at a fractional 0.7% in early 2008, far below the nominal illusionary peak (as in money illusion) of 27.2% six months later and now at 30.3%, an all-time high. In contrast, the real recovery from the trough has been depressingly slight, although at first blush the latest monthly data, as I mentioned above, is the second largest of the century so far.
Just one more example of how the guys who wrecked the economy keep taking their toll on the rest of us.”
continued w/ charts..
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2014/04/01/1288929/-Chart-s-of-the-Day-Median-income#
Your story doesn’t impress me much Jim. When Bush was in office all kinds of people threatened to leave the country and take their millions with them too. Democrats aren’t known for their kindness when it comes to political discourse either.
You may be right that this one person is an a$$hole…they exist in both parties and at every level of wealth and poverty.
Jim you wrote: “The Obama recovery saw companies make record profits, and Siegel’s was no exception. Today, they are doing better than ever. Under Obama, we also have had the best stock market in history, so investors like Siegel made out like bandits. (Obama=worst socialist ever).”
Companies made record profits despite Obamas miserable policies and lackluster economy…imagine the jobs and wealth building opportunities ALL Americans would have IF the President were business friendly.
Obama has raised the cost of doing business and that has resulted in few jobs, low paying jobs, and lost opportunity for the most vulnerable Americans, women, the young and minorities. That’s not much to be proud about in terms of his economic record.
Wall Street is fabulous; too bad for main street?
Come on Jim. You know better than this.
I hope one day you will scratch the shiny surface and learn the real legacy of Obama’s policies on American business. Do you ever read investor articles or watch business news?
I don’t have much time now but will counter more later tonight depending on any reply you might have.
Peggy: “Jim, Do you realized your comment just showed how the Obama economy has been good for the 1% who have gotten richer off of the stock market, while hurting the middle and lower income earners who have lost on the average of $3,000 since Jan. 2009?”
Yes I do. Ironic isn’t it. Big business has done very well under Obama, while us working slaves haven’t. That is the way the US has been going since Reagan. Even under Clinton, the top 1% continued to thrive. Meanwhile it’s been getting harder and hard for the rest of us. Over the past 30 years both the Republicans and Democrats have screwed the working people. It was worse under Bush, who got us into two wars, while cutting taxes on the wealthy, which also pushed us into the recession. I also feel that it we would be worse off if Romney were president.
However I agree with you, Obama isn’t the champion of the common worker. Not even close.
The only way to turn this around is to stop allowing corporations to offshore profits and raise taxes on the 1%. These two things alone will force them to reinvest in America, creating more jobs, boosting the economy. But that ain’t going to happen with the current bunch we have running the government.
Tina: “Obama has raised the cost of doing business and that has resulted in few jobs, low paying jobs, and lost opportunity for the most vulnerable Americans…”
Maybe I have had my head in a hole, but I don’t really understand what Obama has done that is do business unfriendly. Big business is doing well, small business not so well.
Please tell me what you think the President should do to help.
Jim imagine if you can that you are the president/CEO of a large corporation. As such you have not just a moral obligation but a LEGAL obligation to be profitable. Every decision a company makes involves a certain amount of risk so the atmosphere created by our government either adds to that risk or limits it.
Now consider the following:
1. America taxes corporations on all profits from sales globally. No other country does that. In other countries a business pays taxes only on profits generated in that country.
2. America has the highest tax rate in the world. Some companies operate from a high tax state like California and have to pay those taxes as well.
3. Companies already faced pretty hefty compliance costs prior to the Obama presidency. As of September of 2012 regulation costs rose to $488 billion:
We’re almost two years down the road. It’s even worse now. All of those billions represent monies that cannot be spent on employees who generate product and sales. It is money that cannot be spent for expansion or innovation. The Weekly Standard puts this in perspective that anyone can get:
4. Big businesses usually try to plan over at least a ten year period. Since even before he took office the President has threatened to keep energy costs high, and he’s succeeded, creating uncertainty about energy costs. This adds to shipping costs for anyone that ships product including on purchases made to create the product. Some companies use a lot of energy to produce products. All of the devices that are made just for the healthcare industry alone require massive amounts of energy to produce. The higher the energy cost the more hospitals and patients are charged.
He first passed the healthcare law, adding regulatory burden, and since it passed the law has been changed, altered or delayed nineteen times, adding uncertainty.
5. The administration embraced a Fed that chose
Quantitative Easing (QE) to stabilize banks and fight off inflation. We have continued this strategy through 4 (I believe) long sessions. Although this keeps interest rates artificially low, who wants to borrow in this atmosphere? What good to business are low interest rates when risk taking is unwise? (Wealthy foreign investors have taken advantage of it to buy up US properties…most young families are renting now.)
And what will happen when the fed stops pumping money into the system? We’ve never done this before, at least not for this long. Many people expect a crash…some fear it will be the mother of all crashes. Once again, this creates uncertainty.
Banks are reporting that the government has made helping business very difficult. Interest rates have been kept very low artificially for an extended time. Its hard to make money with interest rates this low both for banks and for savers. And between the massive cost involved in absorbing failing banks, the fines assessed for their bad balance sheets, legal fees, some to defend against false charges of wrongdoing, and the new regulations that require much higher cash reserves, and pages and pages of new paperwork with high compliance costs big banks are being strangled. Just to make life interesting Forbes reports that after four years regulation under Dodd-Frank is still a “guessing game,” concluding:
What Dodd-Frank is doing to community banks is almost criminal.
I’ve probably missed a few things but we have enough to come back to the original thought. You have a legal obligation to make money and keep your company viable. Ireland has very attractive tax rates, a strong and able work force, and ports from which goods can be shipped easily. It is also an English speaking nation [more or less ;-)] and the scenery is beautiful! bonus…the government wants to attract business to its shores so regulatory and other costs are stable…this certainty adds to the attractiveness of low tax rates. Yes, you love your country and you would like to be able to keep you company in the states but you have a fiduciary responsibility (A serious legal obligation) to investors to make the best possible profit. Be honest…what would you do? I want to know what the thinking man, the adult man, the responsible man would do.
In my estimation, although it is tragic, the only responsible solution open to quite a few businesses is to seek greater certainty.
Tina
1)1. Obama is our President and will be for another two years…you change the channel, we will continue to discuss the person who is accountable to the people. –
Than discuss an issue with facts…
Not my fav president but that meeting in caucus room is well documented and Captain moonbeam grinrich is proud of it. GOP promises to block everything in Congress to ruin his presidency at the peril of citizens!
Accountable? CONGRESS wasteful spending? They do it all day long! Obama not my fave but I have to defend against this sedition
I do not care to spend more time on the rest Tina… point is I do not care if you hate PBO, not my fav but I am embarrassed by this constant game, Also hate is not Christian…
Jack..Pie, my patience for Dewey is over… when he says Gaza was so Israel could test new weapons for sale I know I am dealing with a mad man.
That is true statement… There are other factors such as The foreign Minister’s statements on wanting to ethnically clease Gaza.. Fox news is a mouthpiece.. Israel has it’s own politics as does the rest of the world.
We have stood tall with Israel and defend it’s right to defend. hamas is a bad org, Gaza learmed the consequence of elections.
gaza has been surrounded by a Blockade for years digging tunnels just to bring in food and goods… Nothing has been settled in that area for decades. Sooner or later rockets were going to fly again…That does not mean you get to massacure a population. The number of Gaza Civilians to Israel military dead is against International porportion laws and war crimes…
Where in the Bible does it say Thou shat Kill…
Just because we stand with Israel does not mean they get to commit war crimes… Why not go into Gaza via the internet and watch livestreams…. I have and it is wrong
But I do realize all that foreign Pro Israel election money politicins get is more important
Are you seriously calling me out? That is a fact…. many Many International news sources are aware,,,
American news on TV is a laugh… controlled …
A Cease Fire must happen the only solution is political it is a massacre and I will not be silenced when something is wrong.
It will not be long before we are attacked at this rate
Military contracts, banks and war are a business, when there is no real war they create one…What Biz is Cheney in? Come on
…we have real problems like the praised Putin, North Korea and China…
With all due respect I prefer to deal with issues not blindly follow media
Jim if you do have your head in a hole you are not alone and no one can blame you. Economics and business affect our lives greatly and yet most Americans know very little about either. This is a shame because it is vital for our nation that its citizens have the tools they need to acquire their own nest eggs and to make smart decisions about the people who lead our country, states, and local communities.
Economics has been left out of our educational system. It should be a high priority.
You wrote: “…small business not so well.
Please tell me what you think the President should do to help.”
Small businesses require many of the same things large corporations do to succeed. The most important thing they need is a lot of customers with extra money to spend. High unemployment, part time employment, and low participation in the job market is a real drag there. The policies we have now are causing this. Rising food prices and energy costs take more out of individual and family budgets and that means there is less discretionary money left in the wallet each month. Businesses that offer services and trifles really struggle in this environment. Low economic growth spells a sluggishness that dampens all business.
The only way to help small business is to create certainty and the willingness to risk. Imagine a grouping of gears…the little gears depend on and benefit from the movement of the bigger gears and vice versa. When heavy restraints are placed on big companies the big gears slow…main street (little gears) also bog down.
Big business is managing to meet its fiduciary responsibility to its stock holders through careful planning, consolidation, cutting costs, pulling back expectations and investment. The stock market reflects this good management; it does not reflect vibrant and expanding growth. You will know when business is doing very well across all sectors when your cereal box is thick enough to keep it from collapsing and tearing again. You will know when customers come in smiling and feel free to spend rather than always looking for a bargain or a sale or just not coming at all. There are thousands of indicators all around us.
Obama could do many things to help all business. A few ideas:
Simplify the tax code.
Dump the ACA and enact simple reforms to bring premiums and costs down and create more competition among insurers (Let Insurers create policies that people want and let them sell across state lines. Young men don’t need insurance that covers pregnancy…nor do most people in their forties.)
Lower corporate tax rates and simplify the tax code to give big companies a more competitive edge. They are in the best position to start expanding and growing. The people they employ will then have money to spend and that will help to get those wheels turning. These people eat lunch out, buy clothing, get haircuts, take their wives out to dinner, put in a new deck and that money flows to smaller businesses.
Streamline regulations to make them work for the people, businesses and the government. With costs down that money is freed up for investment to grow the economy.
Adopt an energy policy that will make America energy independent and cut the cost of doing business as well as the cost to consumers (more cash to spend in main street businesss).
Take advantage of Russia’s threat to Europe (blunder)…sell more American energy to Europe.
Build the pipeline.
Create a budget that will lower our debt.
Reform SS and MCare.
Expand/increase trade agreements
To be successful people have to find the best way to do things. When cumbersome and unnecessary restraints are removed the people work things out…freedom, Jim, is at the heart of a vibrant economy…the people, free to do what they need to do for themselves, their families and their businesses will create a vibrant economy.
A vibrant economy results in more money flowing to government.
Money isn’t corrupting; it is the love of money that corrupts. Most business men in Americas don’t love money. They enjoy making money, collaborating with others to build products or make sales. The few who do love money will eventually do themselves in one way or another even if the law doesn’t catch up with them. And, they have their reward. But our lives, and the quality of our lives don’t depend on them. Our lives and livelihoods do depend on the people who enjoy and know how to grow a business and make it profitable. The war on business, the animosity toward business is based on faulty notions and political gaming and it has harmed all Americans.
As we find our footing again, and as the wheels begin to turn again, we need to take a serious look at education so we can get our kids better prepared for jobs they want and can do well.
Once again I’ve probably missed a few things.
What are your ideas? (Maybe you are someone that could explain how they would work?)
Jim: “while cutting taxes on the wealthy, which also pushed us into the recession.”
Cutting taxes across the board and raising the child credit for families brought us out of the recession Bush inherited after the dot com bubble burst at the end of Clinton’s term. It took only 18 months (the average) to come out of that recession. (We still have not come out of this recession) Bush was prepared to make more reforms that would have helped our economy but, as always reforms were resisted, and when 911 happened his focus was turned to defense of the nation. The wars did not cause the expanding debt; our unfunded liabilities for SS and MCare are the big culprits. It will get worse now that the boomers are retiring unless we reform those old, unworkable programs. I wish we could have an honest discussion and get it done for all of us but mostly for our kids.
The housing crash was driven by bad government policy, blindness in Congress to act, regulators that didn’t do their jobs, exuberance in the market and no good way to track the danger. Dodd-Frank isn’t the answer. Big government and more government control isn’t the answer. The wealthy invest their wealth…set them free to invest and the economy will follow.
This study spells out who won and who lost under this administration.
The Typical Household, Now Worth a Third Less:
“Economic inequality in the United States has been receiving a lot of attention. But it’s not merely an issue of the rich getting richer. The typical American household has been getting poorer, too.
The inflation-adjusted net worth for the typical household was $87,992 in 2003. Ten years later, it was only $56,335, or a 36 percent decline, according to a study financed by the Russell Sage Foundation. Those are the figures for a household at the median point in the wealth distribution — the level at which there are an equal number of households whose worth is higher and lower. But during the same period, the net worth of wealthy households increased substantially.
The Russell Sage study also examined net worth at the 95th percentile. (For households at that level, 94 percent of the population had less wealth and 4 percent had more.) It found that for this well-do-do slice of the population, household net worth increased 14 percent over the same 10 years. Other research, by economists like Edward Wolff at New York University, has shown even greater gains in wealth for the richest 1 percent of households.
For households at the median level of net worth, much of the damage has occurred since the start of the last recession in 2007. Until then, net worth had been rising for the typical household, although at a slower pace than for households in higher wealth brackets. But much of the gain for many typical households came from the rising value of their homes. Exclude that housing wealth and the picture is worse: Median net worth began to decline even earlier.
“The housing bubble basically hid a trend of declining financial wealth at the median that began in 2001,” said Fabian T. Pfeffer, the University of Michigan professor who is lead author of the Russell Sage Foundation study.
The reasons for these declines are complex and controversial, but one point seems clear: When only a few people are winning and more than half the population is losing, surely something is amiss.”
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/07/27/business/the-typical-household-now-worth-a-third-less.html?_r=0
One of the contributing factors for the wealthy getting wealthier is young entrepreneurs like Mark Zuckerberg who went from being a college student to a billionaire through the explosion of the internet and new technologies. Zuckerberg is now the 16th wealthiest person on the planet at $33.1 billion.
Facebook shares are up more than 130% over the past year. A deep correction could put a bit of a temporary hole in Marks net worth.
Americans don’t seem to understand that Zuckerberg’s wealth didn’t come out of their pockets but it does skew the statistical numbers and they can be used to create class envy.
The loss in wealth that the middle class has endured and the loss of wealth building years for young people is real…our government’s politics and policy is the cause and our government has it within it’s power to dramatically change the dynamic! We will need another set of lawmakers.
When will the American people wake up and wise up?
Peggy: “That’s what socialism does. The rich elites get richer, while the middle and poor get poorer.”
No, that’s what communism does. This hasn’t happened in any of the socialist countries of Europe, all of which have lower income inequality than we do.