He Is A Job Creator October 2, 2012October 1, 2012 I like this so much, I’ll just hand the mike to Steven Pearlstein here in the Washington Post (I couldn’t resist bolding a few key sentences): I am a job creator: A manifesto for the entitled By Steven Pearlstein I am a corporate chief executive. I am a business owner. I am a private-equity fund manager. I am the misunderstood superhero of American capitalism, single-handedly creating wealth and prosperity despite all the obstacles put in my way by employees, government and the media. I am a job creator and I am entitled. I am entitled to complain about the economy even when my stock price, my portfolio and my profits are at record levels. I am entitled to a healthy and well-educated workforce, a modern and efficient transportation system and protection for my person and property, just as I am entitled to demonize the government workers who provide them. I am entitled to complain bitterly about taxes that are always too high, even when they are at record lows. I am entitled to a judicial system that efficiently enforces contracts and legal obligations on customers, suppliers and employees but does not afford them the same right in return. I am entitled to complain about the poor quality of service provided by government agencies even as I leave my own customers on hold for 35 minutes while repeatedly telling them how important their call is. I am entitled to a compensation package that is above average for my company’s size and industry, reflecting the company’s aspirations if not its performance. I am entitled to have the company pay for breakfasts and lunches, a luxury car and private jet travel, my country club dues and home security systems, box seats to all major sporting events, a pension equal to my current salary and a full package of insurance — life, health, dental, disability and long-term care — through retirement. I am entitled to have my earned income taxed as capital gains and my investment income taxed at the lowest rate anywhere in the world — or not at all. I am entitled to inside information and favorable investment opportunities not available to ordinary investors. I am entitled to brag about my investment returns. I am entitled to pass on my accumulated wealth tax-free to heirs, who in turn, are entitled to claim that they earned everything they have. I am entitled to use unlimited amounts of my own or company funds to buy elections without disclosing such expenditures to shareholders or the public. I am entitled to use company funds to burnish my own charitable reputation. I am entitled to provide political support to radical, uncompromising politicians and then complain about how dysfunctional Washington has become. Although I have no clue how government works, I am entitled to be consulted on public policy by politicians and bureaucrats who have no clue about how business works. I am entitled to publicly criticize the president and members of Congress, who are not entitled to criticize me. I am entitled to fire any worker who tries to organize a union. I am entitled to break any existing union by moving, or threatening to move, operations to a union-hostile environment. I am entitled to a duty of care and loyalty from employees and investors who are owed no such duty in return. I am entitled to operate my business free of all government regulations other than those written or approved by my industry. I am entitled to load companies up with debt in order to pay myself and investors big dividends — and then blame any bankruptcy on over-compensated workers. I am entitled to contracts, subsidies, tax breaks, loans and even bailouts from government, even as I complain about job-killing government budget deficits. I am entitled to federal entitlement reform. I am entitled to take credit for all the jobs I create while ignoring any jobs I destroy. I am entitled to claim credit for all the profits made during a booming economy while blaming losses or setbacks on adverse market or economic conditions. I am entitled to deny knowledge or responsibility for any controversial decisions made after my departure from the company, even while profiting from such decisions if they enhance shareholder value. I am entitled to all the rights and privileges of running an American company, but owe no loyalty to American workers or taxpayers. I am entitled to confidential information about my employees and customers while refusing even to list the company’s phone number on its Web site. I am entitled to be treated with deference and respect by investors I mislead, customers I bamboozle, directors I manipulate and employees I view as expendable. I am entitled to be lionized in the media without answering any questions from reporters. I am entitled to the VIP entrance. I am entitled to everything I have and more that I still deserve. Are a few of these zingers unfair? I think so. And are most CEOs and business owners outstanding, decent people. I think that, too. But c’mon. An awful lot of it calls for vigorous head nodding. Remember: Mitt Romney, the standard bearer of this crowd, wants to reduce the estate tax on billionheirs from 45% to zero. And a lot of my Wall Street and business friends feel abused by the Obama Administration, and insufficiently valued. Never mind that the President played a major role in preventing a complete collapse, or that corporate profits are at record highs, or that they are still making millions, or that their stock portfolios have doubled; they feel more comfortable with Mitt Romney. He feels their pain.
Yo Mama October 1, 2012September 30, 2012 WELCOME TO 1936 In this 60-second clip, FDR speaks of the opposition party’s “smooth evasion.” Just as relevant today. [I posted this Friday but bobbled the link.] EIGHT THINGS YOU MAY NOT HAVE KNOWN ABOUT IRAN Less to worry about here than we think? A strong case NOT to jump the gun? Here is a different perspective on Iran. ARIZONA Mike Martin: “Virginia? How about Arizona! I just got home from a Women for Carmona breakfast with my wife when I read your reader’s appeal for funds in Virginia’s Senate race. Dr. Richard Carmona is running for the U.S. Senate seat vacated by John Kyl and is tied in the polls with his opponent. Dr. Carmona is the former Surgeon General of the United States who stood up against the Bush Administration that had appointed him to complain about political pressure ‘preventing him from speaking out on certain public health issues such as embryonic stem cell research, global climate change, emergency contraception, and abstinence-only sex education,’ (per Wikipedia). What the national Republicans figured out back in the early 1950s with the China Lobby is that a senator is a senator is senator and it is a lot cheaper to fund campaigns in smaller states where they can overwhelm the locals. So I would suggest you encourage people to fund Dr. Carmona where they can receive a great return on their money because only a little could push him over the top.” Yes! Yes! I met Dr. Carmona when he first started running and wrote him a check on the spot. He . . . is . . . a- . . . mazing. Mike again: “He started out as a poor Hispanic kid who dropped out of high school and went in the Army. The Army made him a Special Forces medic. As a Green Beret in Vietnam he won two Bronze Stars and got two Purple Hearts. After leaving the Army he went to medical school on the G.I. Bill and became a trauma surgeon in Tucson, Arizona, as well as Pima County Deputy Sheriff and a leader of the Sheriff’s SWAT team. He won a national award for a dramatic rescue where he rappelled from a helicopter to a downed medevac helicopter on a mountainside.” YO MAMA “When you look at the Ryan budget, tax hikes for the rich can’t be on the table, but we can put on the table Social Security, we can put on the table Medicare, we can put on the table Medicaid. So we’re really saying: we can’t touch the rich, we can’t touch the elite, but seniors and those that are most vulnerable — they’re up for discussion. That’s why this election is not about Obama. It’s about yo mama.” — Al Sharpton, MSNBC