Top Of My Head

Today kicks off the effort to remove Scott Walker from the Governor’s office.  We could’ve saved ourselves a lot of trouble and never voted him to be Governor in the first place, but that’s another story.

So, why remove Governor Walker?

He’s done almost exactly what he said he would do.  We are now all able to carry concealed weapons in this state.  He’s limited the power of those nasty unions.  Wisconsin is now open for business.  He’s created more jobs.

Um, wait, no he hasn’t.

Now, pay attention:  Governors and Presidents do not create jobs.  Small businesses and corporations create jobs.  People purchase items, which creates demand, which creates the need for more employees, which creates jobs.  Companies are not going to hire merely because they’re sitting on millions of dollars.  Most of the large corporations and companies (I am not discussing small businesses, because I don’t have the facts about them) that had trouble are now back in the black.  A lot of corporations are showing record profits on the books.  Thanks to tax cuts, subsidies and other benefits, they aren’t paying all that much in taxes.

They’re not hiring.  Why?  Because there’s no demand there.

Now, that said, I would like to point out that unemployment rate in the state of Wisconsin was 7.4% in January, 2011 – when Scott Walker took office.  With the exception of a brief moment (April, 2011 7.3%), the unemployment rate has steadily grown to a high of 7.9% to 7.8% (September, 2011).

Walker’s campaign was about how we were going to balance the budget and create jobs.  He pounded his Wisconsin’s open for Business slogan until you wanted to choke him with it.  He hasn’t created jobs.  Unemployment has gone up and not down.

Is it fair to judge him on something I really don’t think he could do anyway?  Yes.  Yes, because job creation was his own standard.  He was opening Wisconsin for business.  He was going to create jobs.  Then, he turned away the millions for the high speed rail system and cost the state 4,000 jobs.

And, the lack of jobs isn’t my only beef with him.  He’s made our state unsafe with the concealed carry law.  Sorry, no – I don’t believe that every single person who legally obtains a weapon is sane, rational and knows how to use it.  No, I don’t think being able to carry a weapon into bars and office buildings make us all safe.  Just one example:  Charles Julius Guiteau legally obtained his weapon and he used it to shoot a president.  (That’s one example, from 130 years ago, but this discussion isn’t about concealed carry.)

Anyway, there’s only been 2 successful recalls of governors in US history – let’s make it 3.

RECALL WALKER!!!

And, while I am not affiliated with this group in any manner, here is a link to United Wisconsin’s website.  You’ll learn even more information on the recall effort and why you should support the recall.

373 – 1 => that’s the difference between your salary and the salary of the guy on top.  For every dollar you earn, a CEO is earning 373 dollars.  And, what do you get for that huge difference?

You get a boss who thinks you’re paid too much.

You get a boss who wants to raise profit margins and he does this by laying off your co-workers or even you.

You get a boss who is more than willing to move a factory overseas to save money, so he can make even more.

You get bad health insurance – if you have any health insurance at all.

You get to save for your own retirement out of the little bit of money that you have – and you get politicians that want to take away your safety net.

You get the feeling that you are expendable.

We could blame the government for our nation’s economic woes.  However; it isn’t entirely the government’s fault.  Greed is good, so the saying goes.  Except, greed is only good for those on top and it harms those of us on the bottom rung (and, even those of us a couple of rungs higher).

Perhaps, the government should take some, but not all, the blame.  It was the government that removed the financial regulations that had prevented a financial collapse for sixty years.  The free market system would work if only greed and the ever desire for higher and higher profit margins wasn’t part of the deal.  When men (and women) only concern themselves with profit and not sound business decisions, economic collapse ensues.

I’m not entirely sure what can completely fix our economy, but I can tell you what won’t and what hasn’t.  Lowering taxes even farther and ending financial (and other business) regulations are not going to put this great nation back on solid financial footing.  We need to put the Glass-Seagull act back into place to protect our financial markets.  And, we need to raise taxes on the upper classes.  The top limit needs to be moved back to 39%.

Ronald Reagan was correct to lower taxes in the eighties.  It was a good thing and it started economy recovery.  However; too much of a good thing can do us harm.  Our current economic status is proving just that.

If you’re even thinking for a second about voting for a Republican, then you are a fool.  You’ve been hoodwinked and you don’t even know it.  You don’t know enough about the history of this country to make a proper decision.  You don’t understand enough about economics, moral hazards and deregulation to make the right decision.

It’s not your fault.

For the last thirty + years in this country, we have been told over and over again that what is good for business is good for America.  You know, I feel sorry for Ronald Reagan.  By all accounts, he was a nice man.  Tip O’Neil and him would have beers in the White House after a hard day debating.  He was easy going, soft-spoken and he believed what he said.

But, he was wrong.

Let me explain business to you.  Business isn’t a game, Businesses are not people and they don’t give a damn about you, the environment or your children.  The men and women who run businesses could give a rat’s ass about you.  Sure, there are some few and far between exceptions, but they’re, well, few and far between.

People go into business for one reason: to make money.

That’s it – nothing more.

I love my job, but quite frankly, I am there for a paycheck and health benefits.  If I could support my family by not working, I would.  Don’t get me wrong, I really love what I do and I’m good at it – so I’m lucky, I work a job I actually love, but love doesn’t make the world go around – money does.

Continuing on, what caused the economic crisis cannot be summed up in just one sentence.  There are many factors - predatory lenders, housing bubble, too much credit to the wrong people, deregulation and the list goes on.  But, the jobless recovery?  That’s easy: Companies are making huge profits because they aren’t hiring you.  And, the companies that are hiring, are paying the lowest wages possible.

Because?

Well, it’s easy…Businesses want profits, the higher the profits; the better the business.  The stock market rewards the businesses with the highest profits, by keeping their stock prices high.

Somebody’s getting rich – it’s just not you.

The GOP wants to dismantle the rest of the regulations that keep us safe at work, that help the environment and keep our food safe.  The GOP wants to dismantle the safety nets for the people who do the real work – you and me.  They want to lower taxes on businesses, because they say that will cause businesses to start hiring.

It’s not true.

The GOP wants to continue their destruction of America.

Don’t let them.

To understand why we are having a jobless recovery, you must understand economics.  Unfortunately, most people in this country do not really understand economics.  So, here’s a very brief explanation.

Our economy is consumption driven – the old supply and demand.  Let’s say I own a widget factory and I make one widget a day – 5 widgets a week.  I send my widgets to the marketplace and every week, I sell all of my widgets.  But, one week, I notice that there are still 5 people in line wanting to buy my widgets.  If I could make more widgets, I’m certain that I could sell all of them, as well.

So, I return to my factory, and hire a person to help me make widgets.  I pay him an hourly wage that pretty much leaves me with most of the profit – this is MY factory and these are MY widgets and if he was bright, he could start his own widget factory.  This is America after all.

Now,  because there are two people building them, I can make and sell ten widgets a week.  Some time goes by and word gets out that I make the best widgets.  Now, I notice that there are three people standing in line when my widgets are sold out.  So, instead of hiring someone new, I make my one and only employee a salary employee (which means I don’t have to pay him overtime) and I make him work longer hours to make those extra three widgets.  Since I don’t have to pay him overtime, I’m still making an enormous profit.

This is how companies work.  This is capitalism, admittedly, at its very basic level, but you get the idea.

If the economy falters and I stop selling 13 widgets a week, I’ll cut my employee’s job.

If I discover that I can outsource widget making to China or Taiwan, bye bye employee.

And, guess what, if the government cuts my taxes, I’m not going to use that money to build another factory (creating new jobs) or hire employees in my old one, I’m going to keep it.  I deserve it.  I came up with this idea for a company and I built it.  And, that’s why giving tax breaks to the richest in this country, isn’t going to create jobs.

If there is not consumption on the bottom and middle rungs of our country, there is no reason for companies to hire.  Cutting the taxes of the rich does not cause jobs to magically appear.  It just makes the rich, richer.  And, because that revenue needs to be made up in some manner, it makes the poor, poorer.  Cutting things like health care for the poor to give tax breaks to the rich is absolutely the most despicable thing we could do in this country.  Cutting school lunches for poor kids or the breakfasts before school, where this might be their only decent meal – and give a 10% tax break to the rich who can afford to pay their taxes under the guise that this will create jobs is irresponsible and ridiculous.  But, that’s what the Republicans are selling you – a tax break for those at the top who don’t need one.

Are there people in this country that don’t pay any money in taxes?  Yes, yes there are and if the Republicans have their way, more of them will be rich than poor.

The Assembly passes the budget bill and despite Representative Suder’s written statement: “The vote we took wasn’t the easy thing to do, but it was the right thing to do”, it wasn’t the right thing to do.  Aside from killing union’s rights for collective bargaining, the Republicans have sold out our state.  The no-bid for state owned energy assets means that the government can sell / lease them off to the companies they deem should have them.

Who gains from that?

Walker’s largest campaign contributor: Koch Industries.

Despite their blanket denials that they will not benefit, Koch Industries will benefit the most.  How will Walker turn down his buddy?  The punking of Walker by Ira Murphy showed that Walker is in the Koch brothers’ pocket and truly believes what is good for them is good for him.

The sad thing is that people who do not understand how the world works, don’t understand just how bad it will be for Wisconsin with Walker as our governor.

By the way, where are the jobs Walker promised?  So far, he shut down the high speed rail which would have amounted to 4000 jobs (yes, some temporary) and Talgo Inc is moving to Illinois killing even more jobs.  So far, Walker has killed unions and not created one job.

Can you say RECALL, boys and girls?

Show us the JOBS you promised, Mr. Governor.  If anyone deserves to be laid off – it’s this lousy state government.

I saw a very quick blurb in last week’s Businessweek.  I’ve been a little busy, so I’m behind on my reading.  According to the blurb, there are 2.3% of jobs out there that cannot be filled with the right people.  2.3%  – that would bring our unemployment rate down to around 6.5%.

But, why can’t these companies find the qualified people — here are two my quick and dirty off the top of my head ideas.

• We have a huge disconnect between out secondary education and our business needs.  We need to get business and higher education better aligned.  How we can do that or where we can start — that I don’t know.  But, it’s sad, isn’t it?
• We have a huge housing problem because qualified people are now locked into homes they can’t sell, so they can move to the jobs.

Anyone else have any ideas?

In the news this morning is an article – rumors of which I’ve been hearing about for months – that Harley Davidson wants to move their operations to another state.  (The rumors I heard was they were moving to Canada.)  At issue is the company’s desire to “cut millions of dollars at the factories that build the bikes”.  According to the article, they plan on making their decision within the next two months.

Also, according to the article “The company, he (Harley chief executive Keith Wandell) said, would also be open to incentives to keep the 1,630 manufacturing jobs in Wisconsin.”  I’m sure those incentives include tax breaks paid for by us – the taxpayers of Wisconsin.

And, is Harley-Davidson suffering?  Are they about to go broke?

Not according to their financial report:

“Harley-Davidson, Inc. (NYSE: HOG) reported second-quarter 2010 income from continuing operations of $139.3 million, or $0.59 per share, compared to income of $33.4 million and earnings per share of $0.14 from continuing operations in the year-ago quarter.”

Granted, sales of Harleys are down, but with the economy suffering as it is – isn’t that to be expected?  Harley-Davidson is the best motorcycle in the world.  Their sales will bounce back.

I don’t want to see 1,630 of my fellow Wisconsinites to be out of jobs, but do we really want our state to bend over and give incentives as a bribe to keep them here?

I know what’ll happen.  Our cash-strapped state will give in, save those jobs and the tax payers of Wisconsin will pay for the privilege of having Harley-Davidson motorcycles built in Milwaukee.

I saw a news article that states that Genco (Pittsburgh, PA)  has offered to purchase ATC Technology for “$512.6 million in cash”.  According to the CEO of ATC Technology, Todd R. Peters, “said the deal serves the best interest of its stockholders, customers and employees.”

Well, maybe the customers and maybe the stockholders, but I can assure you that it won’t serve the employees.

To ATC Technology employees — RUN!  Start looking for a new job now.  Because everything is going to look wonderful and it will be all happy and lovey dovey, but in a year or even two, GENCO corporate will come in and make your life miserable.  I know, I’ve seen it happen.  That’s why they are my ex-employer.  I worked there for just shy of three years.  The first two were fine, but the last year was pure hell.

And, since GENCO is privately held, they don’t have to tell you about their finances.  They don’t have to tell you how much they’ve made.  They can tell you business is bad, so you’re all getting a 1.1% raise and at the end of the year, they’ll say they had the best year ever.

Just trust me, RUN!