The other day I wrote a post:
A few days later I wrote the following in this post:2009 Survival
So, I offered this to Bill: we have to revise our business taxes and our trade policies to reflect how the world really works... not how some politician-philosopher wants it to work.
- Eliminate most business taxes and focus on achieving the economic prosperity that results from ultra-competitive business and high employment. Here in Michigan, businesses get charged the full amount of property taxes for idle facilities while the businesses that own them are losing money or going bankrupt... how does that help the state's economy?
- Make all trade policies... and practices... reciprocal. If a country charges 15% value added tax for our products... do the same for theirs. If a country manipulates their currency to benefit their industries, address that in terms that discourage such behavior. Trade should be mutually beneficial, not skewed to strengthen the businesses in one country while undermining those in another. [note: this should extend to real practices, not just the wording of the treaty, so that administrative obstructionism is reciprocated until such onerous practices are eliminated]
Today, the Christian Science Monitor included the following statement in this article:The Bear Is Back
Surprise, surprise: Russia halts gas to Ukraine.
Okay, they waited until January... big whoop.
Harry, Nancy, and Barack... are you paying attention yet? Energy self-reliance. Trillions of cubic feet of U.S. natural gas waiting for you to get off your duffs. Billions of barrels of oil, too.As Thomas Paine said: "Lead, follow, or get out of the way." But, then, none of you are exactly another Thomas Paine.
Republicans are urging a recovery plan that is anchored in tax cuts and expanded energy production, including exploration and drilling in previously protected offshore sites. An offshore drilling ban, in effect since 1982, lapsed at the end of the 110th Congress.
Well, at they got two out of three.
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