Friday, August 14, 2009

Want to Stimulate Job Growth?


THEN CUT CORPORATE TAXES! Who reading knows what the U.S. corporate tax rate is these days? Are you guessing 25%? maybe 30%? Wrong.

Next question: how high is our rate relative to other similar competitive and developed countries? Think it's comparable? Guess again.

Out of countries belonging to the OECD, the Organization for Economic Co-Operation and Development, the U.S. has the second highest corporate tax rate at 39.1% after Japan's 39.54%! Nearly 40% in taxes just to create jobs, goods and services!

Lots of talk these days about "stimulating the economy", but mostly action that is doing just the opposite. Keeping corporate taxes high, or disincentivizing job creation, for one. Interestingly, most OPEC countries, even the most socialist leaning, have been cutting their corporate tax rates. That, along with allowing ours to creep up, is how the U.S. ended up on the wrong side of the spectrum.

Further, there's lots of talk in our country right now about NEW taxes, and not so much about lowering taxes. Most often, the debate is about which sized "man" to tax -- the "big man", the "middle class man" or the "least advantaged man". Who's looking out for the very large companies that are paying the bulk of the taxes in the country (i.e., much more than individuals relatively)?!!

How can you continue to raise taxes on the very people creating jobs and ask them to create more? In the great words of Will Ferrell, "I feel like I'm taking crazy pills!"

Wine Pairing: Grab a Gruner (i.e., Gruner Veltliner) -- these crisp, citrus prominent Austrian white beauties are not only delicious, but support a country with a much lower corporate tax rate of 25%!

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