Have You Ever Wondered….

About toll roads? Aren’t they, in some way, proof that government is inherently greedy? I mean, we only really need the government to take care of a few basic things such as:

1. Establish Justice (courts and laws).

2. Insure domestic tranquility (police and laws that protect and serve the citizenry).

3. Provide for the common defense (armed forces to protect the BORDERS).

4. Promote the general welfare (provide common use infrastructure such as roads and parks).

5. Secure the blessings of liberty (by not being tyrannical like King George in England, and get the heck out of the lives and ways of the citizens so that they may prosper).

So back to topic- toll roads. When you think about it, government only really has to do a couple things- and providing common use roads is one of them. Yet toll roads exist. And they happen to exist in just about the exact places the population happens to need incremental roads to handle heavy traffic.

Then of course there are the toll roads that lead to toll bridges and toll tunnels and various other toll booths. Roads, bridges, tunnels- these are about the ONLY things government does right (besides armed forces and police), and then it charges EXTRA beyond our unbearable taxes?

To be in alignment with the onerous income tax code, what the toll extracting evil government should do is double all tolls immediately, and only collect it from every other driver so that half the drivers are supporting the other half.

To All My Valued Employees...

...There have been some rumblings around the office about the future of this company, and more specifically, your job. As you know, the economy has changed for the worse and presents many challenges. However, the good news is this: The economy doesn't pose a threat to your job.

What does threaten your job however, is the changing political landscape in this country. Of course, as your employer, I am forbidden to tell you whom to vote for -- it is against the law to discriminate based on political affiliation, Race, creed, religion, etc.

Please vote who you think will serve your Interests the best. However, let me tell you some little tidbits of fact which might help you decide what is in your best interest. First, while it is easy to spew rhetoric that casts employers against employees, you have to understand that for every business owner there is a back story.

This back story is often neglected and overshadowed by what you see and hear. Sure, you see me park my Mercedes outside. You've seen my big home at last years Christmas party. I'm sure all these flashy icons of luxury conjure up some idealized thoughts about my life. However, what you don't see is the back story.

I started this company 12 years ago. At that time, I lived in a 300 square foot studio apartment for 3 years. My entire living space was converted into an office so I could put forth 100% effort into building a company, which by the way, would eventually employ you.

My diet consisted of Ramen Pride noodles because every dollar I spent went back into this company. I drove a rusty Toyota Corolla with a defective transmission. I didn't have time to date. Often times, I stayed home on weekends, while my friends went out drinking and partying. In fact, I was married to my business -- hard work, discipline, and sacrifice.

Meanwhile, my friends got jobs. They worked 40 hours a week and made a modest $50K a year and spent every dime they earned. They drove flashy cars and lived in expensive homes and wore fancy designer clothes. Instead of hitting the Nordstrom's for the latest hot fashion item, I was trolling through the Goodwill store extracting any clothing item that didn't look like it was birthed in the 70's.

My friends refinanced their mortgages and lived a life of luxury. I, however, did not. I put my time, my money, and my life into a business with a vision that eventually, some day, I too, will be able to afford these luxuries my friends supposedly had.

So, while you physically arrive at the office at 9am, mentally check in at about noon, and then leave at 5pm, I don't. There is no "off" button For me. When you leave the office, you are done and you have a weekend all to yourself. I unfortunately do not have the freedom. I eat, ****, and breathe this company every minute of the day. There is no rest. There is no weekend. There is no happy hour. Every day this business is attached to me like a 1 day old baby.

You, of course, only see the fruits of that garden -- the nice house, the Mercedes, the vacations... You never realize the back story and the sacrifices I've made. Now, the economy is falling apart and I, the guy that made all the right decisions and saved his money, have to bail-out all the people who didn't.

The people that overspent their paychecks suddenly feel entitled to the same luxuries that I earned and sacrificed a decade of my life for. Yes, business ownership has is benefits but the price I've paid is steep and not without wounds. Unfortunately, the cost of running this business, and employing you, is starting to eclipse the threshold of marginal benefit and let me tell you why:

I am being taxed to death and the government thinks I don't pay enough. I have state taxes. Federal taxes. Property taxes. Sales and use taxes. Payroll taxes. Workers compensation taxes. Unemployment taxes. Taxes on taxes. I have to hire a tax man to manage all these taxes and then guess what? I have to pay taxes for employing him. Government mandates and regulations and all the accounting that goes with it, now occupy most of my time. On Oct 15th, I wrote a check to the US Treasury for $288,000 for quarterly taxes. You know what my "stimulus" check was? Zero. Nada. Zilch.

The question I have is this: Who is stimulating the economy? Me, the guy who has provided 14 people good paying jobs and serves over 2,200,000 people per year with a flourishing business? Or, the single mother sitting at home pregnant with her fourth child waiting for her next welfare check?

Obviously, government feels the latter is the economic stimulus of this country. The fact is, if I deducted (Read: Stole) 50% of your paycheck you'd quit and you wouldn't work here. I mean, why should you? That's nuts. Who wants to get rewarded only 50% of their hard work? Well, I agree which is why your job is in jeopardy. Here is what many of you don't understand; to stimulate the economy you need to stimulate what runs the economy. Had suddenly government mandated to me that I didn't need to pay taxes, guess what? Instead of depositing that $288,000 into the Washington black-hole, I would have spent it, hired more employees, and generated substantial economic growth. My employees would have enjoyed the wealth of that tax cut in the form of promotions and better salaries. But you can forget it now.

When you have a comatose man on the verge of death, you don't defibrillate and shock his thumb thinking that will bring him back to life, do you? Or, do you defibrillate his heart? Business is at the heart of America and always has been. To restart it, you must stimulate it, not kill it. Suddenly, the power brokers in Washington believe the mud of America are the essential drivers of the American economic engine.

Nothing could be further from the truth and this is the type of change you can keep. So where am I going with all this? It's quite simple. If any new taxes are levied on me, or my company, my reaction will be swift and simple. I fire you. I fire your co-workers. You can then plead with the government to pay for your mortgage, your SUV, and your child's future. Frankly, it isn't my problem any more. Then, I will close this company down, move to another country, and retire.

You see, I'm done. I'm done with a country that penalizes the productive and gives to the unproductive. My motivation to work and to provide jobs will be destroyed, and with it, will be my citizenship.

While tax cuts to 95% of America sounds great on paper, don't forget the backstory: If there is no job, there is no income to tax. A tax cut on zero dollars is zero. So, when you make decision to vote, ask yourself, who 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 saving your job. While the media wants to tell you "It's the economy Stupid" I'm telling you it isn't.

If you lose your job, it won't be at the hands of the economy; it will be at the hands of a political hurricane that swept through this country, steamrolled the Constitution, and will have changed its landscape forever. If that happens, you can find me in South Caribbean sitting on a beach, retired, and with no employees to worry about.

Signed, Your boss,

Michael A. Crowley,
PE Crowley, Crisp & Associates, Inc.
Professional Engineers 1
906 South Main Street, Suite 122
Wake Forest, NC 27587
_______________________________________________________________

Sir Alexander Fraser Tyler Was Right- We’re In Big Trouble

Here’s an interesting quote that rubs up against every fiber of my being, my whole lifetime of being taught, and believing, that democracy is an almost perfect form of government:

"A democracy cannot exist as a permanent form of government.

It can only exist until the voters discover that they can vote themselves largess of the public treasury.

From that time on the majority always votes for the candidates promising the most benefits from the public treasury, with the results that a democracy always collapses over loose fiscal policy,

...always followed by a dictatorship."

- Sir Alexander Fraser Tyler

So there it is.

We have reached the tipping point. I truly believe now, for the first time in my life, America’s greatest days may be behind her.

As anecdotal evidence, I put forth these advertisements flooding the internet (see image).

We’re in big trouble.

Stephen Moore: The End of Prosperity

I read a great article in The Limbaugh Letter and wanted to post a particularly interesting segment from an interview of Stephen Moore, Wall Street Journal editorial writer and author of the new book, The End of Prosperity. A timely message as we begin a journey with a president and congress hell-bent on taxing us into prosperity:

“The 1990’s was a great decade. Our book (The End of Prosperity) describes when Reagan came in with a new kind of supply-side pro-free-market philosophy- turning around, by the way, the worst decade of the century other than the Great Depression, which was the 1970’s.

Amazingly , the left is rewriting the history of the 70’s: “If only we hadn’t had Reaganomics, we could go back to those wonderful years of the 1970’s”- when we had gas lines and 25% mortgage interest rates and 14% inflation.”

In any case, Reagan did two things. He cut tax rates very significantly from 70% all the way down to 28%. And he slayed inflation. The inflation rate went from 14.5% down to 3%. We had the greatest boom for 25 years in the history of civilization. No country had ever seen anything like what happened in American from the early 1980’s through 2007. We created $40 trillion dollars of net new wealth over that period. It was an awesome experiment in prosperity.

Now, Bill Clinton’s tax increase did hurt the economy, The evidence is that in the first two years in the Clinton Administration, the economy actually slowed down. But once you had the Republican Revolution in 1994, once you had the combination of Newt Gingrich and Dick Armey running the Congress, then Clinton moved back to the right. That’s when he gave his speech, “the era of big government is over.”
We had welfare reform, we had the capital gains tax cut, we balanced the budget. Those were all pro-growth Regan ideas.

But a lot of the economists that I talk to in the Obama camp look at that period and say, “Look, we can raise taxes through the roof and its not going to hurt the economy.”

That’s a very dangerous idea at a time when the rest of the world is going the other way. China, Sweden, India, my goodness, Russia has a 13% flat tax. How are we going to compete with them with a 40% income tax? It’s a really dangerous idea to be talking about raising taxes right now in the face of the worst economy we’ve had in 25 years.”

One Of The Many Reasons I Despise Government

Check out this lame story:

City To Cut Back On Plowing Snow On Side Streets
CHICAGO (CBS) ― Mayor Richard M. Daley said Tuesday that city crews will cut back on plowing side streets this winter in an effort to save money. The mayor said the city will only plow side streets during weekday union business hours this winter, rather than during overtime hours

But as CBS 2's Derrick Blakley reports if there's one city service Chicagoans demand, it's outstanding snow removal.

"I expect for the streets to be cleaned for my tax money," said Chicago resident Sarah Lockhart.

"That's the kind of spending we need to maintain," said Chicago resident Madeline Norris.

"That's not an area I'd like to see services get cut in because it would affect a lot of people," said Chicago resident Howard Williams.

Despicable. This government blackmail is becoming more and more common. Find the essential services the community relies on and limit or cut back on the service, crying poor all along the way and whining about needing more tax dollars. All the while, spending away on non-essential services (and new government cars, desks, office improvements, Barack Obama’s multi-million dollar block party in Chicago, pay raises, extra vacation days and new Blackberry’s for the whole government office gang).

Imagine how this would go down at home:

My wife calling me on my new iPhone while cruising in the 2009 F-150 truck I just bought headed to a Titans game, club level, with the flatbed packed with steaks and imported beer for the big pre-game tailgate party:
“Hi sweetie. I’m at Kohl’s with the girls and wondering if we have enough money in the checking account to get a new jacket. Little Sally’s winter coat from last year is too small."

Me, responding to my wife in Kohls:
"Honey- things are real tight right now. When I checked Quicken this morning I noticed we were over budget on clothes. I think you should hold off for a month or two, and also you might want to cut out your weekly lunch with your friends. We should build up enough in the clothes budget to maybe get her a light jacket by March or so."

Can We Drill Ourselves Out Of This Problem?

70 miles from picturesque Key West, Florida, China is actively exploring oil fields and pumping “American oil” right from our backyard.

And so is Canada.

U.S. companies are barred from working in this area because of Democrats. Furthermore, they are preventing us from drilling in remote and human-less arctic Alaska... and of course we can't build any new refineries or nuclear plants.

If I hear one more goofy politician or pundit say "We can’t drill ourselves out of this problem” one more time I think I'm going to have blood spurt from my eyeballs.

Pardon me… we have global demand exceeding supply and driving oil and gas prices up, and we can’t drill for more oil that our nation owns and doesn’t have to import, and that wont help the problem?

Saying we can't drill ourselves out of this problem sounds about as stupid to me as if someone said “We know you have several small painful cuts and scrapes on your body, but you cant just put a Band-Aid on the problem.”