The Case For A Value-Added Tax (V.A.T.)
Amazon.com has dropped affiliates in the state of Colorado.
It's because Colorado has passed a law requiring internet sellers collect state taxes.
States have long complained about losing sales tax revenue to internet sales.
For the internet seller, it would be a nightmare.
Imagine having to keep track of, charge, and remit taxes from not only 50 states but also from tens of thousands of counties, cities, towns. Some internet sellers simply wouldn't be able to stay in business.
States are in a financial crunch right now and they're looking at every way possible to bring in more tax money.
All of which made me think about taxes on small businesses.
I'm a small businessman and get hit with all sorts of taxes and fees every year:
- Business privilege tax (an annual tax for "the privilege" of doing business).
- Library tax.
- Business property tax.
- State and federal income taxes, of course.
- Business licenses. Since I do business in several neighboring
counties and towns, I have to obtain about 10 business licenses
at prices ranging from $50 to about $200 each.
- Matching payroll taxes (social security).
- State and federal unemployment tax.
There was one quarter in which I had no withholding to report and forgot to send in the report. The state sent me a bill for $50 for failing to submit the report in a timely manner.
State governments, especially, seem to love to suck in as much from small businesses as they can.
Life would be simpler for everybody if all these damned taxes were done away with and a V.A.T. implemented. Yes, there's the matter of inequity, with lower-income people paying a larger percentage of their income. That could be addressed with a rebate. Earn less than [minimum amount]? Sign and send in the form for your rebate.
The economy is making piranhas out of state governments, to the detriment of small businesses.
Toyota: Did It Abuse Workers?
According to a story in the L.A. Times, several Toyota employees sent a memo to the company expressing their concern about Toyota's practices:
The story also helps explain why there has been a steady decline in the income of middle-class workers in the U.S.:
In 2008, the National Labor Committee, a U.S. human-rights advocacy group, released a 65-page report titled "The Toyota You Don't Know," detailing what it alleged were serious human-rights violations.
The report linked Toyota to human trafficking and sweatshop abuse in connection with its importing of foreign guest workers from China and Vietnam to work in its Japanese factories.
Many are pressured to work overtime without pay, the report claimed, adding that there were signs similar practices were emerging in the United States.
"Toyota is imposing its two-tier, low-wage model at its nonunion plants in the south" of the U.S., the report read, "which will result in wages and benefits being slashed across the entire auto industry."
This wage pressure, of course, forced U.S. auto unions agree to concessions with U.S. automakers.
American workers are forced to compete against low-wage "guest workers" and sweatshops, thanks to the corporate drive to increase profitability. That profitability is borne on the backs of the workers.
Jim Bunning: When One Form of Obstructionism Isn't Good Enough
Senator Jim Bunning has blocked passage of a bill extending unemployment insurance (and other important programs) but, apparently, that's not enough for Obstructionist Flip-Em-The-Bird Bunning.
He has also placed a hold on all of Obama's nominees.
Republicans are pitiful. Disgraceful. Disgusting.
They're like pissy little boys on a playground.
Unfortunately, they're pissing on tens of millions of financially-distressed Americans.
Southern Poverty Law Center Report: Rage On The Right (IOW: Situation Normal)
"Hate groups are at record levels."
It's time to conduct a roundup and perform some lobotomies on society's dangerous right-wing radicals:
The number of extremist groups in the United States exploded in 2009 as militias and other groups steeped in wild, antigovernment conspiracy theories exploited populist anger across the country and infiltrated the mainstream, according to a report issued today by the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC).
How Reagan ruined conservatism
Those of you who have lived for more than a couple of decades can recall an era when "conservatism" meant something more than denouncing "damned liberals", demanding tax cuts, and attempting to impose a theocracy.
Here's an interesting commentary at Financial Times.
They're Taking American Jobs! To Mexico! Wake Up, You Xenophobic Idiots!
How often have we heard right-wing xenophobes and racists screaming, "They're taking American jobs". As I've mentioned several times here, MILLIONS of "American jobs" now belong to non-Americans. Big Business shipped them off to India, The Philippines, Mexico, Malaysia, and other countries throughout the globe.
of
"American jobs"
have
been
shipped
overseas
by
Big
Business
Whirlpool has been doing the same thing and it's now threatening soon-to-be-jobless Americans to NOT protest the Evansville, Indiana, plant closing...as it gets shipped to Mexico.
The same xenophobes who hate immigrants generally love Big Business (the Daddy Syndrome). Wake up, you idiots.
Big Business ain't your daddy.
UPDATE:
Then there's Pratt & Whitney, which wants to move 1,000 "American jobs" to Georgia, Japan, and Singapore.
A judge blocked it, citing its contract with the union.
Contracts?
Meaningless, when there's more profit to be made overseas.
Is Yelp.com Running An Extortion Racket?
That's what some companies claim:
Two law firms filed a class-action lawsuit on Tuesday against Yelp, the Web site that lets users post reviews and recommendations for small businesses and restaurants. The lawsuit, which was filed in federal court in Los Angeles, alleges unfair business practices and accuses Yelp of running an “extortion scheme.”
Hooray! The Hummer Is Dead!
That icon of in-your-face excess is (hopefully) dead:
Hummer, the brand of big sport-utility vehicles that became synonymous with the term “gas guzzler,” is being shut down after a deal to sell it to a Chinese manufacturer fell apart, General Motors said Wednesday.
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