First let me start by saying that tomorrow morning, whether you are Republican, Democrat, Libertarian or Independent, the one responsibility you have is to go out and vote. If you don’t know where to vote, go to www.gop.com and follow the links on the main page, they’ll get you to at least a phone number and they’ll get you to the right place to vote.

The right to vote, to elect those who represent us, is a rare gift to all of us from our forefathers who made it possible for us to elect our president every 4 years in a peaceful and orderly fashion. It requires that the electorate, you and I, stay informed and believe and trust our own instincts as long as you’ve done your homework.

We are in the process of electing a president in an economy that has no equivalent since the years leading up to the Great Depression. The choices we have are relatively simple when you boil down the rhetoric to the basics, how do you make the economy stronger?

First, you have to understand that businesses provide jobs, not individuals. I was having a conversation at the end of the day today and it was clear to me, that I may hire a plumber for a repair job; someone who was hired by a company to provide service, or a self employed person. But once I’m done, it may be a year or so before I hire them again. Businesses hire people, because people help them provide the services, or make the products or distribute the products that earn money to pay for the salary and to reward the owner for the risk taken, and the good management effort that kept everyone employed and the business making money.

So, what happens if you increase taxes? Keep in mind that words mean things, and from Obama to Beiden and finally to Richardson the level where rich begins continues to come down. At first it was $250,000, then down to 200,000 and then down to 150,000 and the last one was 120,000. So let’s look at a plumbing business and the lowest number. Do you think that a plumbing business could earn (after paying salaries, supplies, and taxes) $120,000 a year? I think it is reasonable to assume that a plumbing contractor would expect to get at least that much per year, if not 2 or 3 times as much.

So what happens to that plumbing business if today they pay 35% income taxes, and in January it goes up to 39.6%? Well, Income taxes reach right to the bottom line and take away from it. Let me put some numbers here:

The McCain Tax Plan for Business
Net Profit before taxes: $150,000
Taxes (35%) 52,500

Net Profit After Taxes: $ 97,500

The Obama Tax Plan for Business
Net Profit before taxes: $150,000
Taxes (39.6%) 59,400

.
Net Profit After Taxes: $90,600
.
The difference is $6,900.00 or 13.1% more cost to run the business before you take into account the economy, the cost of fuel, the cost of supplies, the cost of liability insurance, the cost of training and education. So before a business starts the first day of 2009, they start with a 13.1% hit to the bottom line. Those of you who run businesses know the incredible difficulty you have in increasing your bottom line 5% much less 13.1% just to stay even.

What could GM do with people they have on the production line, if you take 13% of their profit away in 2009 when they are laying off people now? Who is going to buy enough cars to increase their profit year over year by 13% so it can stay in the trouble it is today, and not dig deeper into the meager cash reserves of the Auto Industry.

For those of us who have never owned a business, imagine this, the government reaches into your bosses wallet and yanks 13% out of it. What do you think he’s going to do? Do you think he’s going to just sit there and say, “gee that’s nice that I’m giving my employees some of my profit by passing it through the government first for redistribution” Or do you think, he’s going to start figuring out where he can cut costs, increase business, improve efficiency to try to keep the profit so he can invest in the company and compete better with everyone who wants a piece of their business?

To me, the answer is simple, no one in 2008 believes that 2009 is going to be a growth year to begin with, so to burden 2009 with an additional 13.1% burden is ludicrous and will cost jobs by the hundreds of thousands if not in the millions.

The government will be what we elect to it. It is all of our responsibilities to vote on November 4th and let the best ideas, and the best effort win the election.

The Lee’s Summit Conservative