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Call me a Crackpot
Call Me a Crackpot
Call me a crackpot, call me an alarmist, an idiot or a fool, I don’t really care. I am a poet and as such I deal a lot in feelings and emotions, but I am also a man and as such I also deal a lot in realities and facts.
Since I deal a lot in both I am going to give you a lessons in feelings vs facts.
Feeling: Big oil and big business are unfeeling, irresponsible, greedy bastards out for every penny they can get. They should not be permitted their ungodly profit margins and salaries and the government should do something about it!
Fact: In a lot of cases they are unfeeling and they are greedy. In all cases they are out for profit because without profit then they don’t keep producing and they don’t hire workers which means less jobs and less money for the rest of us. The big salaries are in response to big responsibilities. Do you think you could run these big multinational corporations that provide products and services for millions upon millions of people? If you do then by all means go do it. You deal with the responsibility, the headache, the long hours, dealing with not only different countries governments and laws, but the government and laws of your own country. Take the USA for example. Every roadblock that can be thrown at them to make them fail has been done so. You have Federal Laws and all their subsidiaries, the EPA, DOT, NAFTA, OSHA, IRS and myriad others. You have to deal with State laws and its subsidiaries like State Income Tax, State taxes, State Environmental laws, State Labor laws, State Safety laws, State License requirements, State transportation laws, and many others. Then you have to deal with County laws and all its forms, County transportation laws, County License requirements, County safety laws, County taxes, County License laws, County taxes, County transportation taxes. Then we get down to the city. You have to deal with City Transportation Laws and taxes and Licenses, City environmental laws and on and on. These easiest way to do something about a company, business or anything else along those lines is “Don’t buy their product, use their services or anything else.” That way YOU are in control not our all powerful government.
Feeling: People are in need of healthcare and the government should provide for everything we need. It’s only right and we feel that everyone deserves healthcare whether they can pay for it or not.
Fact: It is easy to feel that way, but have you ever thought about how it will get paid for. The government is a parasite. It does not manufacture anything or make a profit on anything. The money the government has comes from all of the people that work. It comes in the form of taxes, license fees, permit fees etc. I could give you a list of some of the taxes each and every working individual pays, but it would take several pages to post it. This comes directly out of your pocket. Right now with all the taxes we pay, we work about 3 months per year free of charge only to support the government. Also, the rich provide anywhere from 50 to 75% of the taxes, with the middle class making up the rest except for about 5% that the poor pay. For free heath care are you willing to work for 6 months or 8 months out of the year for the government? I don’t see that as being free. We already pay for myriad programs that provide free medical care for those who need it and can’t provide for themselves. Do you want to pay for the drug addicts, the lazy, the drunks or the ones that could afford it but don’t get it? Do you want the government to decide who can have healthcare and who can’t? The already control that to an extent. If you’re too old or you have a terminal disease they are allowed to deny you the medication you need to stay alive. Do you want this on a massive scale? The feeling sounds good doesn’t it? The reality is much more sobering.
Feeling: The government should make the rich and the big business pay more taxes so we can have more. This way everyone will have a bigger slice of the pie and we will be much better off. The oil companies are gouging us so make them pay for it. The rich are living high on the hog while we suffer, we should get more of their money. It was won off the sweat of our brows anyway. Time they added to the pot.
Fact: Big business makes money. They hire people to work for them to make more money, which translates to more jobs or higher salaries which in turn makes us pay more taxes.
Big oil in the case of Exxon Mobil made record 10.8 billion dollar profit. That was their net profit. That translates to app. 8.5% profit margin. The government, in the form of taxes off their gross made almost 27% profit while doing their best to keep them from staying in business. Wal Mart profits average around 17% or higher. Who is reaping the benefit, them or the government? If you add more taxes to them what do you think will happen? I’ll tell you since so many can’t grasp so simple a concept. More taxes equals less profit for them. Less profit for them means they have to make it up somehow. You might ask, how will they make up profit loss? They will raise prices, cut employees, lower wages of those that are still working. That means less jobs, less money in our pockets and more to the government. BTW; Just for the record, since the economy has tanked and people are using less gas because they can't afford it, the government is not getting as much money off of it so they are discussing a 50 cent a gallon extra tax on each gallon of gas. YAY!
That works the same way across the board with all companies and all people who hire others to do their labor. THAT is the main problem with the socialist manifesto. You equalize the wealth between the rich and the poor. Does that make sense to you? If it does, then do some real thinking here. Tell you what, I’ll tell you what the problem is. Sooner or later you run out of people to steal money from. (Does anyone object to me using the word steal? I could use confiscate if you think it sounds nicer.)Then there is no more money. The source has dried up. What happens then? Again I’ll tell you. Those that produce will cease producing because it has reached the point where it is no longer worth their time and effort so they sit on their backsides like everyone else while everything falls down around their ears.
THAT my friends is the difference between feeling and fact. This is just ONE LITTLE area I have applied this to. It effects many other things in a different way, but it all trickles down to this one fact.
More taxes equals less profit means less jobs, less salary and less money except in the pocket of the almighty government. Eventually the government runs out of places to get money from so you are worse off than you ever was. We are well on our way there now if we don’t nip this in the bud. It cannot continue. Oh well, some of you are saying to yourselves, “This is one stupid crackpot!” So be it, cling to your feelings until this country goes down the tubes. The only sorrow I will have about it is that you will take this crackpot with you. *sigh* That is what a poet gets for dealing in facts instead of feelings. No one wants to hear it.