Political Football

Amazing…. simply amazing.

http://www.courant.com/business/hc-att0123.artjan25,0,5747793,print.story

The State of Connecticut has discovered a method of preventing job layoffs.

Blumenthal Wants Connecticut Regulators To Block AT&T Job Cuts – The Hartford Courant

“AT&T (T) said last month that it would pare its Connecticut workforce, which totals about 6,800, by 400 jobs and transfer another 60 jobs to Michigan. A day after the news broke, Attorney General Richard Blumenthal, flanked by union leaders, implored state regulators to block the cuts with the force of law while the state investigates the impact on customer service.”

“This is not about AT&T. This is not about Blumenthal. This is about the kind of message Connecticut is sending to business — a state that has no positive job growth and [has] people who are falling over themselves to prove that they’re pro-consumer by showing they’re anti-business,” AT&T spokesman Dave Mancuso said.

State regulators have so far denied Blumenthal’s requests, without listing specific reasons.

Blumenthal’s call for a stay on layoffs has only intensified AT&T’s growing frustration with operating in Connecticut. During an economic conference in September, AT&T’s eastern regional manager urged government officials to scale back regulation and let the company do its job. “We don’t need policy-makers stepping in and telling us how to do it or where to do it,” Chad Townes said at the conference.

Though parts of AT&T are regulated, the company is increasingly operating in a competitive marketplace that demands lower costs and lower prices.

“In order for them to be competitive with other carriers, this is what they have to do,” Kagan, the telecom analyst, said. “If they have to start worrying about how many jobs they have to leave in how many states … the company would be doomed.”

Layoff Bans Are Counter Productive

Under the guise of preserving customer service the Attorney General’s attempt to block job cuts will only further destroy Connecticut’s ability to draw new businesses to the State. The Attorney General should know better and his actions seem more directed to pandering for votes rather than improving the business climate in Connecticut.

If prohibiting job layoffs is a great idea, why not extend the theory of a centrally planned economy even further? Prohibit all layoffs by every business operating in Connecticut. Extend this logic further and pass a law forcing AT&T and every other business in the State to hire new employees until the unemployment rate reaches zero? Excuse me for saying so, Mr. Blumenthal, but this tactic has failed in every socialist state on the planet.

Attempting to prohibit layoffs is total lunacy and it will not work. My advice to the Attorney General: Instead of creating a hostile business environment, Connecticut should be focusing on sensible issues that will foster economic and job growth.

If the Attorney General really wants to help Connecticut’s economy, here’s something sensible that he can work on.

Tax Foundation – Connecticut 3rd Highest Tax Burden in Nation

Tax Freedom Day is the day when Americans finally have earned enough money to pay off their total tax bill for the year. In 2008, Connecticut taxpayers had to work until May 8 (the latest in the nation) to pay their total tax bill, 15 days later than the national Tax Freedom Day (April 23).

* Connecticut’s State/Local Tax Burden Third-Highest in Nation

* Connecticut, currently ranked 3rd highest, has risen 21 places over the last three decades and now holds a place among the nation’s highest-tax states.

* Connecticut’s 2008 Business Tax Climate Ranks 38th

* Connecticut ranks 38th in the Tax Foundation’s State Business Tax Climate Index. The Index compares the states in five areas of taxation that impact business: corporate taxes; individual income taxes; sales taxes; unemployment insurance taxes; and taxes on property.

* Connecticut Levies Sales Tax above National Median; Gasoline and Cigarette Taxes among Nation’s Highest

Connecticut Residents Are Voting With Their Feet

The Connecticut State Data Center says figures from last year show the population growth in the state is very small.

The University of Connecticut-based center says Connecticut’s population grew by less than two-tenths of 1 percent last year.

There is a connection between high taxes, job losses and zero population growth. Connecticut has become a very high cost state for both residents and employers. If Connecticut really wants to increase jobs in the state, attention should be focused on lowering taxes. Foolish, politically motivated schemes such as prohibiting layoffs will only lead to further job losses.

Let’s be honest.  Most of the additional growth we have seen now and for an extended period of time come from Boss’s like the one noted in this fictional letter attributed to Neal Boortz.  So what is the government doing?  Helping huge companies stay a float with bad business practices and screwing those who are really the engine of this economy…  read “his story” below. -pf

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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.

However, let me tell you some little tidbits of fact which might help you decide what is in your best interests.

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 28 years ago. At that time, I lived in a 300 square foot studio apartment for 3 years. My entire living apartment 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 my hip like a 1 year old special-needs child. 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 poor 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.

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 sitting on a beach, retired, and with no employees to worry about….

Signed,

Your boss

Well, certainly one can not miss all the coverage and hoopla about the upcoming Presidential Inauguration on Tuesday, Jan. 20th, 2009.

I’ve barely responded to PF’s topics nor have I written a new one myself since the election because I been so upset about how wrong I figured people’s thinking and how wrong I was about people’s perceptions and thought processes.

I haven’t been a slave to the news coverage in the past few weeks but I can not get away from it either although I have tried to fast forward or change the channel during more egregious Bush bashing and Obama worship.

I attended Church this morning; I grew up in the Methodist faith and believe in worshiping the one true God – although in 3 forms – The Father, Son and Holy Ghost.  I state here that I adamantly do not believe that Barack Obama is the Son.  While I adore my minister and usually agree with her sermons I was saddened to know that on this Human Relations Sunday I did not 100% agree with her assessment that she believed that BO’s election was the dream coming true of Martin Luther King, Jr.  MLK, Jr. (who was a registered Republican) believed that people should be judged by the content of their character and not by their skin.  While I agree with that hope … I disagree that BO was not judged by his skin…he was voted by many because he calls himself an African American == the first Black President.

Personally I would have been ready for our first Black president to have been Colin Powell way back when.

I have always been suspect of BO’s experience not his skin color. 

AND I have said from the get – go about BO — that I was torn — that I was indeed happy that people were excited about the election and could rally around an exciting candidate.  BUT — I was horribly disappointed by the lack of credible and unbiased journalism that ushered Obama into the Presidency at such a critical time.  It could be Obama is the right man to be President — only time will tell.  And though it may be tough …I will certainly admit “I was wrong” if/when the time comes.

So on Tuesday — when normally I am the Yankee Doodle Dork and love all American Pageantry … I am feeling a little lost, a little detached and little like I am holding myself back from letting myself from getting all misty eyed and euphoric.  Again, I repeat that this feelign does not stem from perhaps my guy not winning…but because I feel like this election was pre-determined.

Chuck Todd of NBC News just released a book about how BO won.  How possibly could he have written this book in less than 2 months unless he had written it all along?  So obviously he wanted BO to win so his book would be publishable!

So yes, I want our Country to do better and I want Americans to be proud of our country and not be ashamed and our want our Media to do its part to be fair and unbiased…I want our country to do better economically, socially and personally…

If BO can inspire people then so be it…I want to be inspired and normally I am easily so…yet I still have a heavy heart…

 Libra Girl

my sister, niece and friend were in Hawaii – since most of my friends don’t have facebook accounts, I’m stealing some pics from my niece’s facebook page.  Yeah, yeah, I’ll start blogging more in a bit but right now…

From the album: “Now…bring me that horizon..” by Kristie Lee Miller

From the album: “I don’t think I’m in Iowa anymore…” by Kristie Lee Miller

We saw this train wreck coming two years ago

 Blaming our budget disaster on the floods or the national economy might be politically expedient but it is simply not accurate. We have seen this fiscal “train wreck” long ago, especially after the two-year increase in state spending of 17 percent. Our state budget problems were caused by overspending.

Using more one-time revenue sources to once again artificially balance the budget will only make things worse. Of course our cash reserves are at their highest, they are tied to spending in code. We should not take comfort here. We need those reserves in order to pay our bills on time. And I strongly believe that the “rainy day” fund should be used for flood victims — not to balance our budget.

What else do we do to fix this mess?

• No more pork barrel spending. None.

• In the past two years we have added more than 600 new state jobs. This needs to be aggressively scrutinized.

• Serious payback provisions in our Values Fund property if promises made are not kept.

• Look aggressively for more private-public partnerships in pre-K education.

• Serious waste appraisals at our regents’ institutions. It’s not acceptable to me for the University of Iowa president to recycle the chief of staff position at $140,000 per year when we are raising tuition on our students.

If we try to fix our self-imposed budget problems by raising taxes and our business environment becomes less competitive, then we have harmed the economic development opportunities that are sorely need at a time like this.

There are other policies, in my opinion, that need to be discussed this session:

• True health insurance reform (we have just tinkered around the edges).

• Greater transparency and openness in government (which can start right now at UI) to allow more public input and find waste.

• Continued bipartisan efforts to generate “green-collar” jobs and allow renewable fuels to lead the way to a cleaner environment and energy independence.

• Stopping the hypocrisy. The casino exemption to the smoking ban should either be eliminated, or small businesses should receive the same treatment.

• Strengthen property rights. Currently there are 10,000 acres in this state under the threat of government condemnation for economic development. Unfortunately until it happens to yourself or someone you know, there is no outcry.

Jeff Kaufmann represents District 79 in the Iowa House of Representatives.