There’s a nasty myth being promoted by the right wing, being heavily circulated and co-signed by the media, and going undisputed by elected democrats.
This is the myth that businesses are hoarding dollars on their Balance Sheets and refusing to hire because the poor darlings are wrought with uncertainty about the economy. Pure crap.
First, with regard to the campaigns: both republicans and democrats have been falling all over each other with vows to maintain or exceed existing aids for businesses (such as tax breaks) and promises to create additional ones (such as reduced or revised regulations). Assurances that businesses are held as a protected class abound and are well advertised. By all, businesses are currently being touted as the very saviors of the America way of life. A business owner, big or small, would have to be brain dead to have missed these positive and well disseminated pledges.
Second where’s the need, just for example, to make capital expenditures when the margin can simply be grown by squeezing the workforce? This is not just people being replaced by automated machinery or computers, this is people being laid off in droves and the remaining work force made to do their work too with no additional compensation; doing it just for the privilege of remaining employed (for now). Albeit lazy, this is hardly a revolutionary approach to growing margin and collecting bonus. Laying people off is a hell of lot easier than hustling market share . . . . margin remains steady or even increases, where’s the uncertainty in that?
This “uncertain economic future” ruse has been cultivated to both explain away increased profits while keeping the work force in a constant state of gratitude for having even the crappiest jobs. Workers are afraid to take sick days, afraid to take vacation days, afraid to take lunch hours, and above all, afraid to complain about anything. Hoorah.
Power to the People
Port Tack 
No Divine Appointment
30 JunWho are we to decide anything in Iraq/Afghanistan? Why because it’s so easy to trash their chronic dictator style of governance as oppressive and unjust? So what, oppressive and unjust circles the globe. Redrawing territories, ousting leaders, medieval laws, get over it, none of our business. Unless, that is, you slip up and get honest about the oil. We have misdirected trillions of dollars away from our dire domestic needs, infrastructure, economic growth, education, you know the list, and blown it instead on private security for BP, Exxon, Occidental Petroleum, Royal Dutch Shell PLC, Chevron, Halliburton and others. But America is addicted to oil you say, and yes we are. Addiction is bad by anyone’s definition. What do experts say you do to eliminating an addiction, you stop using baby. Even Nancy Reagan gets it “just say no”. It’s not rocket science and not an over simplification. Many consider the US to have the most innovative people on the planet. Some alternative energy systems (solar, wind, hybrids) have already, despite all big oil efforts, been successfully introduced into our market place. Imagine the untapped potential. There’s a staggering amount of money to be made with alternative energy but we’ll have to cut the big boys loose to sink or swim, you know, capitalism style. We must stop subsidizing the big boys with corporate welfare: legal tax evasion, trillion dollar protection rackets overseas; it has destroyed their incentive, made them lazy welfare kings eating bon bons and driving Cadillacs on our dime. They have the option to take a chunk of their massive profits and retrofit their companies to alternative energy production or slip into an earned oblivion. To compete they’d have to actually work, build, invest instead of just brokering. The rest of us are constantly expected to adapt to the ever changing world usually with zero disposal income to retrofit a damn thing. The citizens will transition to alternative energy . . . . we moved from radio to TV, movie rentals to Netfix, rabbit ears to cable, land lines to cell phones, typewriters to computers, desk tops to IPads, 8 cylinders to 4 cylinders, leaded to unleaded. The list is endless. These conversions happen at an ever increasing pace. We hardly blink. We love upgrades. We’ve come to expect them. However, by in large our elected representatives are hopelessly indentured to big oil so cutting the cord will have to come from the citizens; we’re going to have to save ourselves from the ever hungry war/oil twins.
Power To The People
Tags: business, capitalism, Congress, Cowards in Politics, Dodging Taxes, Foreign Policy, Military, Money, Political Fortitude, politics, progressive commentary, Tax Breaks, the economy, War