Forum Post: This Capitalist Republican wants to tax the very rich & Corporations and see most subsidies cut

I have been a republican for 25 years and believe in capitalism. Our society’s Entitlement Mentality and demand for Instant Gratification has been a peeve of mine for quite a few years now. I believe a person should pull his or her own weight and live within their means (if you make $15 an hour, you can’t afford a $300,000 home). The government doesn’t “owe you” a living. Life is not fair – never has been. Mother Nature / Fate / Kismet (tornadoes, hurricanes, floods, blizzards, disease, famine, oil spills….) don’t care if you are rich or poor, black or white, republican or democrat, or who your family is. Most people make good in this world through hard work – the rest from luck or connections – familial, political or criminal.

But I am really angry at Corporate America right now. I had believed the republican theory of giving corporations tax breaks, subsidies, concessions and incentives because “corporations created jobs.” But way too many corporations are like the average greedy “give me everything I want, damn the consequences, I am entitled to my bailout” living beyond our income American. I work for a “mid sized” company that has been in business for many years and wins many accolades, including those for ethics. But now I am wondering why companies like this should be given tax breaks. It’s moved it’s IT department to India, Accounting to the Philippines, and most of its manufacturing to Mexico, China, Korea, and Slovenia. Most people hired here in the US are hired as temps – no benefits. But the CEO’s compensation tripled last year and doubled this year. He is up to $8 million now. “Oh, but this wonderful company gives a lot to the community.” How about giving people jobs and benefits so they don’t need your charity – which you write off anyway? Quality is going down, attrition and hiring freezes cause workers to do the work of two or three people, and the average worker gets little or no pay increase. Every action is planned with the immediate bottom line in mind – short term profit. My colleagues and I are so stressed, tired, frustrated and burned out but no one wants to speak up for fear of losing their jobs and benefits.

Much of the company’s profit is from smoke & mirrors – currency exchange and acquisitions – not product or services. It reminds me of the 80s leveraged buy outs – buy a company you know nothing about, rape its resources and sell it for a profit – devastating hundreds of businesses and thousands of workers – just by signing papers – no work, no ingenuity, no innovation, no product or service. Although some, especially the Gordon Gekkos of the world, would argue that the LBO concept itself is a work of ingenuity. Clearly, ingenuity is not always good.

My company has over $500 Million just sitting in the bank – not circulating in the economy. If they hired more people and paid workers more or gave them full benefits, their workers would be spending more money – which grows the economy. The more goods and services purchased by the extra workers or existing workers with more money, the more other companies grow, producing still more jobs and disposable income. This is what fueled America’s economy over the last 50 years.

I thought the media fervor about the fiscal irresponsibility of corporations like Enron, Halliburton, Nortel, Arthur Andersen, Goldman Sachs, Bank of America, and WorldCom would make corporations shy away from bad behavior. Why should oil companies like Exxon, making BILLIONS of Dollars PROFIT every THREE MONTHS qualify for tax breaks or subsidies at all??

I don’t have answers on how to fix this – but great change is desperately needed. This country’s politics, economy and moral compass is spinning wildly out of control. Change, in the form of ethics, hard work, and fiscal responsibility is urgently needed to prevent this country from total collapse. How can our protests bring about this change?