Caharrell5,
It is nice to see that someone gets it. The economy is an extremely complex animal. Psychology also plays a role. As they say, perception is reality. If you think you are going to have an issue paying higher taxes, or meeting payroll, you will cut your own individual or company spending to reduce your burden.
Most of us have no clue how the economy works. I feel I have a very small understanding of it. If someone with power understood every nuance we wouldn't be where we are today.
My dad owned a small business, he bid on a contract that would have meant hiring 50 more people. Small business that are trying to grow don't have cash laying around that requires paying a payroll every two weeks that could be thousands of dollars. They have to get loans. A hostile business climate means these companies will not expand because they will not be able to succeed because they can't meet payroll demands on a week to week basis. Business succeeds when they can reinvest and capitalize and grow enough to create a steady cash flow that covers all the expenses.
Another area, the garment industry uses margins to take future profits and put that up as collateral for loans to make current product. How well do you think they are doing in this hostile business climate? If they can't hire because of additional health care and tax costs, how will they make the margin.
Companies decide not to grow or they close their doors because they can't make it anymore. Unless you have owned a business and STRUGGLED to make payroll and pay expenses, you just don't understand.
This next statement is not meant to demean hard working employees...
Collecting a weekly/monthly paycheck does not put us in that category (Business owners). We work extremely hard for our money but that doe not give us the understanding as well as experience as to what it takes to keep the doors open on a business.
I just hope and pray that people start to understand that it takes spending cuts (slow and through attrition and some pain for all of us) and revenue growth through tax incentives, smart regulation and lower taxes to start the ball rolling faster to get us to a sustained and strong recovery.
Bill Clinton understood what it took his second term. He knew how to cross the isle. Reagan also knew how to cross the isle. These men were TRUE leaders. We need to get back to that .. and it ain't through the path of the current occupants of the White House.
