Goodbye Philips Lighting

On May 29, 2009, Philips Lighting in Fairmont will shut down their final line. The fluorescent lamp manufacturing company started in Fairmont as Westinghouse in the summer of 1941. In 1983, Dutch-based Philips purchased the plant from Westinghouse. At it's peak, the plant employed 2,900 people. There was a serious threat of the plant leaving in 1989 when Philips announced they would either close the Fairmont plant or a plant in Lynn, Mass. Thanks to a lot of hard work, the Fairmont plant remained open.

On that date in 1989, Philip employed around 800 people. When it was announced the Fairmont plant would remain open, Fairmont held a “Philips Appreciation Day." I remember attending "Philips Appreciation Day." Duggar (sic) from the Duggar & Al show MC'd the event. But over the years the appreciation faltered and employees dwindled from over 800 to just 89. The closing of the plant, while sad for those 89, barely caused a ripple in Fairmont considering the economic climate.

I'm sad to see Philips leave. My grandma worked there for many years and I'm sure that if you look back through your family and friends in Fairmont, you'll find someone who was employed at Westinghouse or Philips at some point. For a long time it provided much of the identity of Fairmont. Now, it will be just one more empty lot.

The Great Mistake

On November 4, 2008, Americans went to the polls and elected Barack Obama as President. It doesn't take too much insight to see where the country has gone from that point forward. The stock markets continue to collapse, banks may need to be nationalized, governors are fighting over government money and Americans are fighting as to whether they deserve federal money or not.

Sure, these things were beginning towards the end of the Bush years but there remained confidence in the markets to stabilize. Bush presented an optimistic look towards the future, knowing American ingenuity would win the day. But with Obama, we now have a Coward in Chief. Instead of exuding confidence the American public, Obama presents doubt and worry. He revels in purveying fear and spreading doubt. And he is trying to quash any hopes of recovery.

America looks to the President for confidence in the future. Obama only returns fear. And with a purpose. By worrying the American public and further destroying the American, and world, economy, Obama can further his socialist agenda. By convincing the public that only the government can right the ship, he is able to steal more money from the working public. By forcing businesses to declare bankruptcy, he can justify further government expansion and liberal ideals such as universal health care and unlimited social benefits.

The United States was in a financial disaster when Obama took office but his doom and gloom attitude is threatening to turn this into a full fledged catastrophe. All for the advancement of an agenda that Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid have long dreamed of. It's an unbelievable turn of event. Wonder how many people would have believed where we are now back on November 4, 2008? I guess it doesn't matter now...

Begging for Money

The true purpose of Secretary of State Hilary Clinton's recent Asian tour was revealed when she visited China to beg them to continue buying American debt. If the Chinese elected not to buy American debt, there would be no money for the stimulus plan. Of course, the ace in the hole for America is that we provide, by far, the largest market for Chinese exports. So it makes sense for the Chinese to buy more American debt.

This huge trade deficit the United States currently has against China must be solved at some point. China has such a controlling interest in the United States that our very sovereignty could be threatened. China is much like an investor in a business. China is investing it's money into a business called the United States. And it has become the single, largest sharehold in this business. By being the largets shareholder, they can hold large sway over decisions being made by the company. In this case, is the United States.

China has threatened the nuclear option of liquidating American debt in the past. Yes, China would suffer if they chose to make sure a move but not nearly to the extent the United States would suffer. China's huge surplus in exports would help them recover from the collapse of the dollar. And a weaker yuan would only increase their imports. On the other hand, the collapse of the dollar and the staggering amount of debt on each American would debilitate the economy.

Instead of looking to an answer for this threat to national security, we continue to beg the Chinese to buy our debt. Eventually that debt will cost us dearly. It's not a question of if, but when.

The Growing Revolt

Slowly, but surely, there's a growing feeling of uneasiness about the massive amount of dollars being spent on the "stimulus" plan and "bailout" plan. Americans are beginning to look at the total amount of money being spent and are starting to worry about how this money will be paid back. Fiscally responsible citizens are beginning to wonder why they are going to be paying the bills to bailout other individuals who were less frugal.

Only time will tell where this bailout and stimulus lead us. I believe it will be down a path of many, many years of hardship. Hopefully I am wrong but there's too much growth in the government as part of this "stimulus," which will ultimately lead to higher taxes and greater unemployment. And when the ecomonmy does turn, the potential for inflation or, worse, stagflation is great. There's a growing chorus of concerns. Obama has two years to turn this around or his revolution of "change" may be a short one.

Your Tax Money At Work

The Senate is preparing to pass a 1,071 page, $790-BILLION dollar "stimulus" this weekend. That's $790-billion dollars of your money they are getting ready to spend. And some of the Senators are admitting they won't have time to read the entire bill. Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-N.J.) doesn't expect any of his colleguages will actually have time to read the whole bill.

And pushing even more is Nancy Pelosi who wants the bill passed before her scheduled trip to Rome this evening. By rushing the bill through, it breaks a promise that the Dems made to have the bill available to the public for at least 48-hours before any vote is taken.

This is our money. This is our country. This is not soley Nancy Pelosi's country. This is not soley Harry Reid's country. This is not solely Barack Obama's country. This is not their government. This country's government was formed on the idea that it was of the people, by the people and for the people. If we allow Pelosi and Reid and their cohorts to continue to hide legislation from or rush legislation through without the input of citizens, that government, as we know it, will perish from this earth.

State of the State

I give Joe Manchin a pretty bad time usually. Most of the time it's because he seemingly cares a little too much about Mountaineer athletics and seems to be putting his nose where it truly doesn't belong. Perhaps that's simply a bad observation...but's it's probably accurate. But I must admit I was impressed by this State of the State address last night. At least what I saw of it before the electric went out.

When the federal government is trying to steal taxpayer money to expand the bureaucracy, it's nice to hear the governor speak of fiscal responsibility and balanced budgets. His promise not to increase entitlement programs was probably disappointing for the folks who believe government is the only solution to our problems. His promise not to raise taxes in the near term was much welcome. His pledge to stand against the teachers and not promise raises the state can't afford was brave and I'm sure it irked many. But at least the man was strong enough to make a stand.

West Virginia won't be immune to the financial downturn. But as long as Manchin maintains his promise to fiscal responsibility, West Virginia will move through the storm much better than many of these other states. Of course that might not be saying much...

Dangerous Wii Fit

My sister has been looking for a Wii Fit and I tracked one down at Target today. I never pulled the actual game from the box but still managed to get injured. In my attempt to review the information on the box, I turned the box over and gave myself a "cardboard" cut on my little finger. As I tried to move the box to survey the damage, I managed to cut my thumb. So, I gave up, threw the game in the cart and immediately left. Thankfully, the cashier put the game in a bag so I didn't have to touch that sharp, dangerous box again. Be aware of Wii Fit boxes.

Why Increasing Taxes Fails

So, the government is trying to spend its way out of debt. And, while doing so, trying to create additional government entitlements. Guess what...someone has to pay for it. And it's going to be you and me. So, to pay for these bailouts and entitlements, the government is going to raise taxes eventually. Maybe not on you and me but on businesses and "the rich." But, eventually, it will be on you and me. And here's why:

I own a business that provides a service to customers that pay me monthly. We did well last year and turned a profit. This year President Obama is going to increase my tax rate by 2%. Doesn't sound like much but 2% means about $1 million dollars for me. I have to find a way to get that million dollars back. My first step is to lay off 4 employees. That saves me $200,000. Now those employees are on unemployment costing the government more money.

To make up the rest, I pass an increase to my customers. Some customers, already paying more for other goods because of the tax increases on all businesses, decide to drop my business. Less customers means less revenue despite my increase in costs. I struggle by and manage to turn a profit by cutting costs and cutting corners. No Christmas bonus this year. But I digress. Let's see what happened here: I fired 4 employees, lost customers and, by the time the taxes are done, find that I am paying the same amount to the government in taxes as I did 2 years ago because of the decrease in revenue. So, despite the 2% raise in taxes, the actual dollar amount I'm paying the government remains identical and the burden on the government is greater because I fired 4 employees.

Now multiply that thousands of times and you see what tax increases can do to the economy. Let's look at what happens with a tax decrease:

I own a business that provides a service to customers that pay me monthly. We did well last year and turned a profit. This year President Obama is going to decrease my tax rate by 2%. Doesn't sound like much but 2% means about $1 million dollars for me. I now have an additional million dollars I can spend on my business. The first thing I do is begin a marketing campaign for my service. This increases my number of customers. Therefore, I hire 4 new employees which costs me around $200,000.

With additional money saved from taxes, I buy new furniture and build the infrastructure of my business to provide better service to my customers. Because of the increased service and marketing, I continue to add new customers and my business grows. Let's see what happened here: I have an additional million dollars so I hire 4 new employees. These employees can now pay taxes to the government and, if they were on unemployment, can now reject those government checks. My customer base increased because of my improved service which means additional revenue for my business which means I'm paying more in taxes today than I did 2 years ago despite the 2% cut. And, because my employees are making more money, they are paying more in taxes and having more disposable income to spend elsewhere.

Multiply that thousands of times and you have what saved the economy in the early '80s. Tax cuts give more money to people which means businesses can grow and hire more employees which increases the tax base, which actually increases the amount of money the government collects despite lower tax rates. This is the path that needs to be followed.

The government cannot tax itself out of debt. The burden will bury the American public and eventually lead to greater suffering. To see what taxes do, look no further than the tobacco tax. Sure, it made people quit smoking, which was a noble cause. But the increases in taxes funded several state programs. Once people stopped smoking because they could no longer afford to, the amount of taxes collected dropped. That meant those programs were underfunded so they raised the tobacco tax again. More people stopped smoking. Less revenue. And lord forbid the government ever cut a program. Instead, they're looking for other taxes to raise to make the difference. If you raise taxes on other goods, people are going to do their best to stop using those goods. Or they're going to cut their spending elsewhere.

Sure, it seems like tax increases would simply raise the amount of money the government would have. But that isn't the case. The rippling ramifications of even the smallest tax increases can be felt throughout the entire economic system. If taxing us out of our problems is the long-term solution by the Obama administration, we are in deep trouble. No country has ever taxed themselves to prosperity. And no country ever will.

Obama's Cabinet

Tax problems, tax problems, tax problems. Tom Daschle owes $128,000 in taxes. Nancy Killefer, who withdrew her nomination for chief performance officer, had tax issues. And now confirmed Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner failed to pay $26,000 in taxes. And we want these people to determine policy for the country? They can't even take responsibility for one of the most basic principles in this country: pay your taxes.

What's even more concerning about these people is the fact that the government is trying to spend trillions of taxpayer dollars. More than ever, the government is asking American citizens to give away their hard earned money. And Obama is nominating people for government positions who won't even pay their previously obligated duties. What makes this even funnier is the fact that Daschle wants universal healthcare which would raise tax obligations to unprecendented levels. Of course, since he doesn't pay his taxes anyway, I guess he wouldn't be affected. But you will be...