Conservatives and Big Business

By: American Decency Staff

by Chris Johnson One of the accusations that has always been thrown at conservatives is that we are on the side of "big business." We want to give all these tax breaks to big corporations rather than to the average, middle class, working American. Well, let me be the first to just come out and say it. That is absolutely true. I think big business is great! Not only am I in favor of letting oil companies and other big companies and corporations keep the tax breaks they have now, I think they should receive even more. And I think they should use that money to make even more money. How can I be so evil as to want to give more money to the people who already have plenty rather than help out the poor folks who don't have enough, you ask? Let me answer that question with another question. What do the people who are opposed to these "tax loopholes" think that these rich people are going to do with the money that they are "allowed to keep?" Let's look at one example. President Obama in a recent speech targeted the tax breaks received by corporate jet owners. In one speech, the president referred to these tax breaks six times, indicating that it is a big issue for him. Bloomberg reports that over ten years, closing up this "loophole" would put $3 billion in the country's coffers. By my math and the numbers of usgovernmentspending.com, we spend about $17 billion dollars per day. $3 billion in a decade, also by my math, is $300 million per year. Incidentally, it is also about 0.021% of the federal deficit. I realize that "a billion here and a billion there and pretty soon you're talking real money," but $300 million dollars is a drop in the bucket for our government. So the president wants to give the government not even a fifth of its daily spending more each year, but who is he taking that $300 million a year away from? That may not mean much to the federal government, but it means a lot more to private sector businesses and companies. Google won't tell me how many corporate jets there are in this country, but each one costs a company at least $10 million dollars to buy and $500,000 a year to maintain. I think if you ask anyone, they'll tell you that is a pretty good chunk of economy stimulation. Which is exactly why that tax break is there. Here's how I see it. Businesses literally exist to make money. So, if a company is making enough money to think that a $10 million dollar jet that will cost half a million dollars every year to maintain is a wise business decision and a good investment, they are probably making a whole lot of money. And if they are making a whole lot of money, they are probably paying a whole lot of people to work for them. That's why conservatives love big business – because the thing about big businesses is that they are big! They employ a lot of people! So let's say this corporate jet tax break is cut, and it puts a company back a million dollars. Is the company just going to accept a loss that big? No. Is the company going to sell off a $10 million dollar investment to save a million dollars a year? Probably not. Might they let a few employees go to close the gap? Maybe. They will have to adjust for the loss somehow and whether it's through laying people off or cutting back somewhere else, it will stunt the growth of the company and therefore result in fewer jobs. That's just the direct effect of the closing the "tax loophole," but lowering the incentives to buy corporate jets would hurt more than just the executives of big companies. There is an essay written by Leonard Read called "I, Pencil" that was brought to my attention by talk show host Mark Levin and to his attention by Milton Freedman. With the suggestions of those folks, you know it is worth a read. "I, Pencil" tells of the vast array of knowledge and experience that is put into a simple wooden pencil. Here is an excerpt. "My family tree begins with what in fact is a tree, a cedar of straight grain that grows in Northern California and Oregon. Now contemplate all the saws and trucks and rope and the countless other gear used in harvesting and carting the cedar logs to the railroad siding. Think of all the persons and the numberless skills that went into their fabrication: the mining of ore, the making of steel and its refinement into saws, axes, motors; the growing of hemp and bringing it through all the stages to heavy and strong rope; the logging camps with their beds and mess halls, the cookery and the raising of all the foods. Why, untold thousands of persons had a hand in every cup of coffee the loggers drink! The logs are shipped to a mill in San Leandro, California. Can you imagine the individuals who make flat cars and rails and railroad engines and who construct and install the communication systems incidental thereto? These legions are among my antecedents. Consider the millwork in San Leandro. The cedar logs are cut into small, pencil-length slats less than one-fourth of an inch in thickness. These are kiln dried and then tinted for the same reason women put rouge on their faces. People prefer that I look pretty, not a pallid white. The slats are waxed and kiln dried again. How many skills went into the making of the tint and the kilns, into supplying the heat, the light and power, the belts, motors, and all the other things a mill requires? Sweepers in the mill among my ancestors? Yes, and included are the men who poured the concrete for the dam of a Pacific Gas & Electric Company hydroplant which supplies the mill's power! Don't overlook the ancestors present and distant who have a hand in transporting sixty carloads of slats across the nation. Once in the pencil factory—$4,000,000 in machinery and building, all capital accumulated by thrifty and saving parents of mine—each slat is given eight grooves by a complex machine, after which another machine lays leads in every other slat, applies glue, and places another slat atop—a lead sandwich, so to speak. Seven brothers and I are mechanically carved from this "wood-clinched" sandwich. My "lead" itself—it contains no lead at all—is complex. The graphite is mined in Ceylon. Consider these miners and those who make their many tools and the makers of the paper sacks in which the graphite is shipped and those who make the string that ties the sacks and those who put them aboard ships and those who make the ships. Even the lighthouse keepers along the way assisted in my birth—and the harbor pilots." The essay goes on for another full page discussing all the different nations and industries that contribute to constructing the individual parts for a simple pencil. Read goes on to explain what is so astounding about the pencil. "There is a fact still more astounding: the absence of a master mind, of anyone dictating or forcibly directing these countless actions which bring me into being. No trace of such a person can be found. Instead, we find the Invisible Hand at work." There could be no pencil had not industrious people around the world decided to start their own business – to cut timber, to mill wood, to mine graphite, etc. – and not for the love of the job (or not solely for the love of the job), but for the purpose of making money. Most of the companies probably started small, with few employees, then hired more workers as they acquired more contracts. Maybe they even eventually had enough people employed to produce enough of their product to buy a jet so they could fly around the world to discuss contracts with international partners or fly to board meetings or between the company's different sites. If it takes so many different producers to create a pencil, imagine how many different factories supply the parts for a jet. Every bolt, every, nut, every seatbelt, every light bulb in the cockpit, every flotation devise under the seat, every window, every roll of carpet, etc. represents a company that would be negatively affected if a private jet company had to cut back production because their clients had to give their money to the government instead of private industry. So, yes, I am for big business because big businesses pay a lot of people, and the more money they have, the more people they pay. On top of that, they buy products from other businesses who pay people. What's wrong with that? ========================================================== Register for our summer event featuring Gary Bauer, Friday, July 29, at 7:00 pm https://secure4.afo.net/ada/registration.php?eventno=28 ****************** Your support is important to our ability to make a difference. Donate online at: https://secure4.afo.net/ada/donate.php American Decency Association is a member of the Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability. American Decency Association Bill Johnson, President P.O. Box 202 Fremont, MI 49412 ph: 231-924-4050 www.americandecency.org http://www.twitter.com/billwjohnson

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