Want Economic Development – Buy Local

With the news that Bitmain is “Scaling Back Operations,” many in Milam County are asking what’s next? Everyone is looking for the Homerun that will put Milam County back in the positive as far as tax base goes and help lower the tax rate that threatens to still go higher in the near future.

As reality starts to set in, it’s important to realize that a tax base and county-wide gravy train like ALCOA only comes along once in a long while. To continue on with the baseball analogy, and truth be told, any good baseball coach will tell you that homeruns rarely win you the game. It’s when a team puts together the base hits and solid overall offense that the game is won.

ALCOA was a homerun and every since they folded up shop, Milam County has been looking for the next grand slam. It’s time to get serious about economic development in Milam County and that starts, like all things political, at the local level. So, in short, the local level is where we have to start if we truly want to build a stronger Milam County.

I’ve looked around and there really isn’t anything you need, or want, that can’t be found right here in Milam County. From groceries, to clothing, to household supplies, to building materials, to auto dealers, to furniture, to any list of items you could need; It’s all right here in Milam County. I hear the arguments all the time; from it’s too expensive to there’s not enough selection, you make the argument and I guarantee you I’ve already heard it. So what’s the truth?

It’s your money, do what you want with it, but when businesses fold in Milam County we all lose. You might spend a bit more to shop at home and you might not be able to get that exact designer brand you had your heart set on, but when you shop local you are supporting you neighbors, friends, and your own pocket book over the long run. And when you leave the county to do you shopping, the county loses out on the tax money generated by the sales, and in turn so do the Milam County Tax-payers.

When you buy in Temple, Bell county enjoys the windfall of your purchase, Milam County gets nothing. If you buy in Bryan, Brazos County wins; buy in Austin, Travis County gains; buy in Waco and McLennan County adds to their coffers. See the trend?

When you shop out of county for items and stores fold in Milam County, the tax base shrinks. When Milam County citizens leave the county to find work, the county loses a tax-payer and the tax base shrinks. When the tax base shrinks, the tax rate has to go up to pay for county services.

I hear all the time, ”if there was an HEB here in Milam County I’d shop there, but I have to go to Temple/Taylor/Bryan/Waco to use HEB?”

GUESS WHAT…. If we all “sacrificed” some and shopped locally for a while, HEB would notice and build in Milam County. BUT… HEB doesn’t build in Milam County because they know you’ll make the 25-45 minute trip to the nearest HEB. They don’t need to come to Milam County because Milam County will come to them.

We have three car dealerships in Milam County and several used car lots, yet how many people take the trip down the road and buy a car and give their tax money to other counties. That’s a lot of money every year that leaves Milam County.

Home improvements are an always an ongoing occurrence, yet every hardware store and lumber yard in Milam County struggles while you drive to the next county over to shop at the big chain store. I’m not sure, but I think most of the local stores employ local Milam County folks and help sponsor a great deal of the charitable works throughout the county. You don’t see too many of the big chain stores helping around Milam County.

Patronizing local businesses are the base hits that win a game. Sure it would be nice to hit the homerun, but the base hits and the full team press of a shopping local are what makes for a strong tax base, a lower tax rate, greater overall economic development, and a more prosperous Milam County. We might not be able to draw the Home Run, but each of us can make the base hits it takes to keep Milam County Strong.

Batter Up,
Bill

New Rant for Y’all

Well I’m sitting here watching the first presidential debate and I thought I would just hit you with a short little rant!!

1.       Just a short note on taxes, you can raise more money by building a larger tax base far easier than by raising taxes – PERIOD. You can raise taxes on businesses, and small business owners but that just prevents them from hiring new people who in turn will be a bigger drain on government entitlements. So if you keep taxes low and allow those business owners to take that money and invest it, then they will hire new employees who will pay taxes thereby growing the tax base by generating more revenue in businesses and with more people earning an income instead of receiving entitlements.

2.       Yes we need regulations in the marketplace; but when they are so strict that they limit business at every step of the way, then they are too restrictive. Currently bureaucratic government regulatory efforts are stifling new business. This must change!!

3.       In the world of the never-ending nightmare, United States Secretary of State Hilary Clinton was once again shown to be running an ill-prepared-to-handle-the-world organization as exposed by the attack on the consulate in Benghazi. It seems that the company in charge of the security there (Blue Mountain Libya) could not get the support and aide from their parent company (Blue Mountain UK) and requested help from a third party but the state Department’s Contract Officer would not approve that and said the threat was not that bad. Now they will not let the FBI in to investigate the scene because they said it was too dangerous – imagine that!!

4.     When will liberals understand that the states are better prepared to handle what goes on with programs that serve their constituents more than the federal government? EXAMPLE…..I doubt the cost of living is the same in Texas as it is in Massachusetts. My family and I can live comfortable on $100,000.00 a year in Texas, but I bet I would be struggling in Boston. The same plan that will work in Massachusetts WILL NOT work for the entire nation as a whole. Oh and by the way, the plan in Massachusetts did not raise taxes; ObamaCare (did you know Microsoft Word autocorrects for ObamaCare) has at least 22 new taxes in it.

5.       By the way, while we keep talking about comprehensive bills addressing issues like medical care, immigration, energy, taxes, and others; the true way to address them is by individual bills that address specific issues, not one all encompassing, comprehensive bill. There has NEVER been a successful Comprehensive bill ever!!

Well that’s it for right now. I am going to watch the last 30 minutes of the debate and then take four aspirin and hit the sack before I get sick!!

Ya’ll hang in there; we just have a short time to go until we are done with the election!!

Where’s that Aspirin?

Bill

Some ObamaCare Taxes for You!!

Since its inception, ObamaCare has been advertised as saving Americans money while costing the taxpayer nothing. To be honest that sounds great but how can it be? Well, to put it honestly it can’t. The President and Democrat leaders in Congress sold this to the American Public with the claim that there would be no rise in taxes but that simply is a play on words.

While it might not be paid for simply by raising income taxes, the Congressional Budget Office has made it clear that there are at least 22 new or increased taxes that will affect us all. Here is a list of five new or expanded taxes for you to consider. By the way, according to the CBO, these five taxes alone will cost the American Public a minimum of $257 billion in the next decade.

1.       ObamaCare creates a new 2.3% tax on the gross sales of all medical equipment. And that means everything from pacemakers to prosthetics to Band-Aids to medicine to operating tables to bedpans to those little bowls they put under your chin to throw-up in – EVERYTHING! Guess who will be picking up the tab for those taxes? Each and every one of us will pay for those taxes through higher prices for each of these items. Minimum Total Cost to the Taxpayer – $20 billion.

2.       Currently, out-of-pocket medical expenses can be deducted from your income tax once they reach 7.5% of your adjusted gross income. Under ObamaCare they cannot be deducted until they reach 10% of your gross adjusted income. By the way, this mainly affects senior citizens. Minimum Total Cost to the Taxpayer – $15 billion.

3.       Flexible Spending Accounts or FSA’s have always been a great way for people to save and build money to pay for everything from braces to surgery to special-needs tuition. Currently, money put into an FSA is tax-free as an incentive for people to save and use this sort of fund. Under ObamaCare only the first $2,500 would be tax-free. Minimum Total Cost to the Taxpayer – $13 billion.

4.       Under ObamaCare, Capital Gains Tax Rates for ALL AMERICANS will rise from 15% to 20% in 2013 (conveniently after the election), while dividend tax rates will go up from 15% to 39.6%. Also under the ObamaCare Surtax the top Capital Gains Rates will go to 23.8% and the top Dividend Rate will go to 43.4%. This will affect anyone with investments, retirement accounts, and any other type of nest egg. Minimum Total Cost to the Taxpayer – $123 billion.

5.       Lastly, the new ObamaCare Medicaid payroll Tax. This will affect everyone earning an income and conveniently takes affect only after the 2012 election. Minimum Total Cost to the Taxpayer – $86 billion.

 So there you go, put into simple terms these are only five of the new or expanded taxes that ObamaCare will unleash on the American Taxpayers. So next time you here the President or any of his Liberal surrogates say that ObamaCare will save the taxpayer money just take a look at these five items.

My Newest Rant!!

I’m no longer even going to try and claim that this will be a regular feature. I will try, but there is no way I can be sure of when I will get another entry submitted. But since so many of you send me friendly pokes as to when I am going to post another Rant….well….here you go!!

1. OCCUPY THIS!! Funny how all our liberal friends were so happy about the Occupy movement. Pelosi, Obama, Biden and many more Democrats were so happy to finally have some sort of grassroots movement; then reality set in. Now it seems the Occupy movement has become the victim of its own delusional direction, or lack thereof, and a further victim of the three “D’s” otherwise known as Illegal Drugs, Idiotic Demagoguery, and Public Defecation.

2. The Super-Committee…..FAIL!! It’s not so amazing that all our federal congressmen thought the American public would believe it; it’s that they actually went through with it. Like we didn’t know what was going to happen, and not because it was necessarily a bad idea, but because there was/is NO leadership associated with it, not from the House, the Senate, nor from the White House. And who will pay for this failure? Go look in the mirror! Democrat, Republican, Socialist, Green, Libertarian, or Independent; no one should be happy with it and everyone should be requiring answers from all those involved in its creation and failure.

3. The President said recently that he is committed to stopping Iran from attaining nuclear weapons by working with Russia and China to establish new stricter sanctions. The only problem with this is that Russia and China are two of Iran’s largest, and main, trade partners. I wonder if any of the President’s advisors reminded him of that before he read his plan off the teleprompter?

4. If we want people to have more respect for the taxes they pay then let’s do away with withholding taxes and let everyone pay their taxes by writing a check to pay their monthly or quarterly taxes just like the self-employed. I think if everyone had to actually write the check and see that money actually go out of their checking account and see how much they are actually missing….well….I imagine they’d pretty much take a much closer look at just how the government spends our tax money.

Well I know this is a little short but it is late and I am pretty tired from trying to figure out what the judicial folks are going to do with our redistricting maps!!

Talk To You Later,
Bill

GE’s Awesome Deal

This morning as I am driving to the office I hear on the radio that GE will have forecasted record earnings for 2011. My first thought is that this is nice for the investors of GE, and then you look a little closer at the numbers and the relationships. Most of the improved sales are coming from overseas and not from the United States. Well that’s fine I guess, but then I take a closer look and am reminded about what a sweet connection GE has right now with the government.

So here are the things you might not know, or maybe you did but just didn’t put it all together.

GE’s CEO is Jeff Immelt – ring a bell? Jeff Immelt is the chair of President Obama’s Counsel on Jobs and Competitiveness. Hmmmmm, Sounds official doesn’t it? Basically, Immelt is the President’s Job Czar, his right-hand-man for getting America to work. He’s the man behind the counsel whose sole job it is to find new and exciting ways to create new and sustainable jobs. Well they better not look at GE then.

If he’s looking for ways to create jobs in America then he can start with the 23,000 people he’s put out of work at GE in the last ten years as he shipped jobs overseas. Yes I know there are like 10 million people out of work in the US and 23,000 is not that many of the whole number, but it’s probably a good place to start, especially if you are one of those 23,000 people who had their jobs taken away by the “Job Czar.”

I Know, they can fix that fairly easy but they won’t because if they do fix that “problem” they wouldn’t be able to bring GE to the land of prosperity as Immelt has. After all, he did help GE to earn $14.2 billion last year. But here is the really good part, as a bonus for making money while leaving American employees in the cold; GE was awarded by not having to pay a single penny on that income. That’s right, GE as a whole made $14.2 billion; however, GE Capital (a division of GE) had losses that not only kept GE as a whole from having to pay taxes, but also garnered $3.2 billion in government benefits for the company.

That’s right; GE made a total of $14.2 billion as a company and got a payment from the U.S. Taxpayer of $3.2 billion. Nice job their Mr. Immelt.

“It’s Good to be the Jobs Czar!”

Take Care,
Bill

National Debt Day - OH BOY!!

Throughout the year there are important dates that we look forward to and those that we dread. April 15th, does anyone ever look forward to this date? I mean if you have to pay. By the way, if your not paying on April 15th, then you are paying too much in with-holding the rest of the year so you’re really not getting any money back, just getting the no-interest loan you gave to the government returned to you.

There is December 25th, we all look forward to that, unless it’s December 20 and you haven’t started your Christmas shopping yet. Thanksgiving, yes the date changes but the reason to look forward to it is the same wonderful feeling each year. March 17th, it is so good to be Irish.

This year April 26th is pretty significant. That was the day that our government quit working in the black and began working in the red. That’s right, as of the 27th of April; the federal government is working on credit. Credit we will all have to pay back – eventually. Actually, to be more accurate, it is money our children and grandchildren, and their children will have to pay, unless we have to follow Chrysler’s example and file bankruptcy.

To be fair, this date has been moving forward in the year for a LONG time; however, this year it has taken a tremendous move forward, from August 5th last year to April 26th this year. According to some estimates for next year, the national debt date will probably be somewhere in late February to early March. Not a very settling forecast.

Get out you checkbooks,
Bill