Jobs outlook for small businesses may be getting bleaker

[heironymouspasparagus]

Cutting means the biggest cuts have to come from the biggest spending.  That starts with military.  Not sure how I feel about that, but I do know that the whole Iraq thing was a horrendous waste of money and tragic loss of 4,000 of our kids.  Plus injuries!  Absolutely shameful!

So, where we gonna cut??
Oh, and saying "cut out waste" is worse than meaningless, it is irrelevant and counterproductive.

[custosnox]

Cutting means the biggest cuts have to come from the biggest spending.  That starts with military.  Not sure how I feel about that, but I do know that the whole Iraq thing was a horrendous waste of money and tragic loss of 4,000 of our kids.  Plus injuries!  Absolutely shameful!

So, where we gonna cut??
Oh, and saying "cut out waste" is worse than meaningless, it is irrelevant and counterproductive.

Instead of "cut out waste" it might be a better approach to go with "more cost effecient".  I think if all area's, military included, took this approach, it would make a huge dent in things.  This does not mean go with the cheapest thing you can find, but what will cost you less in the long run.  But as it has been said many times before, everyone in the government is so worried about loosing their funding next year that they will spend every bit of their budget on whatever they can justify (paperclips anyone?) just to make sure they get their cut the following fiscal year.

[Conan71]

Cutting means the biggest cuts have to come from the biggest spending.  That starts with military.  Not sure how I feel about that, but I do know that the whole Iraq thing was a horrendous waste of money and tragic loss of 4,000 of our kids.  Plus injuries!  Absolutely shameful!

So, where we gonna cut??
Oh, and saying "cut out waste" is worse than meaningless, it is irrelevant and counterproductive.

Huh?

Why is that meaningless? That's where the taxpayer gets ripped off the most.

Here's some areas to start:

How many taxpayer paid staffers does each Senator and Representative need?
How many people are needed to research the mating behaviors of bats?
How many pounds of paper and printing costs could each department save a year?
Airshows paid for by the military?
Presidential press junkets or stump speeches all over the country?
How about ending preferential vendor programs which necessarily cost the government more for doing business?

I posted a few weeks ago about how the legally-defined small hub-zone disadvantaged business I work for could have done a project at the VA center in Muskogee for 1/2 of what the gov't eventually paid another company for providing essentially one supervisor to watch our guys work for three weeks as their sub-contractor because it was a "set-aside" and wound up going to a "minority-owned" business.  The fellow who owns that company is like 1/8 Cherokee.  Quite literally the U.S. Government paid double what they needed to for this work out of "fairness".  This is not an isolated incident, I assure you.

I got some sort of paper questionaire from the Postal Service several weeks ago, then a reminder card a week later.  The USPS is raising rates again because they are losing money like crazy but yet they can spend the money to print and send out a stupid survey?

Little steps can produce the largest results.  People are resistant to going after the largest recipient because it looks insurmountable, yet they ignore all the little parasitic expenditures all over the place.  Millions add up to billions eventually Heir.

[waterboy]

I'm not a debater Gas, you and Conan are. Though it is exciting for those involved, it rarely accomplishes anything because it is not an investigation of facts and truth. It is an exercise in defending what is already held dear. Some are so good at it that they can win the battles but lose any sense of reality. That explains why I rarely visit the political threads anymore. From what I have seen though, they haven't engendered much solutions oriented thinking.

Its also not fair to lump me in with those that constantly berated Bush & co. During the election all namecalling and cuteness was fair. But during his administration I did not constantly find fault with every move, every attempt to govern or personally belittle him. Frankly, i was too busy. Self employed and loving it. Even when he took office under questionable circumstances, I secretly applauded his truly American way of seizing the moment and using the system to bull his way in. I like him personally. He enjoyed great support in his first term but squandered it by letting Cheney and others dominate his decisionmaking. Then his deficits in intellect and his propensity to take the company line began to show.

Conan, your remarks about the economy peaking then diving shortly after Bush came into office are important to note. It was a business cycle more than any one administrations policies that were in play. It always is. And those cycles are complicated. Lots of factors in deciding their depth and length. However, how one responds to those cycles is more important. Bush lowered taxes and exacerbated the deficits. That helped those at the top but screwed a lot of those in the middle. He oversaw a frenzy of appointments to the Interior dept (minerals/mining) and Justice of people who were directed to really not do much regulating or enforcement. I don't believe history will be kind to his style of management.

Gas, don't bs a bs'r. LLC's were designed for accounting firms and law firms. They are now widely used instead of traditional corporations because they are simple to construct and allow you to avoid more taxes. They eliminate or reduce personal responsibility for the actions of the firm. That is their function. The partners are able to take write-offs of company expenditures on personal taxes. They are so unaccountable that some banks won't lend to them without a personal guarantee and they are at a higher risk of being audited by the IRS. Someone with accounting skills help me here cause I know I'm simplifying but truth is LLC's are great for reducing or eliminating taxes. That means less tax revenue to operate government which means brackets get adjusted etc. A very wise professor once told me that its the poor businessman who spends his time being in business to reduce taxes. Make the money, pay a reasonable tax and go make more.

[guido911]

This is getting tiresome.

I see you've replaced FOTD as the daily harbinger of inflammatory, cynical, doomsday movie plots.  Only yours come from the far right instead of the far left. You and Guido, among others, have turned this forum into "all anti-Obama....all the time". I have done my best to ignore them, but it occurred to me this morning, people might actually believe there is a basis to this hogwash and join in the downword cynical commentary whose main purpose is to make sure the midterms are secured for conservatives and Republicans.

...

As for me, I prefer to look for positive solutions and people who offer them.

My gosh, you are such an unbelievable hypocrite and abject phony. Let's stroll down memory lane a bit and just look at some of your attacks on Bush and your "positive solutions" you espoused when "Bushie" was president:

We do wish you success in Iraq, and hope that the WMDs turn up, but we're not willing to spend our resources in Bush's Quagmire.

http://www.tulsanow.org/forum/index.php?topic=2049.0

Have you guys no interest in truth and reality? You just seem to ignore anything that doesn't fit your little world. Kind of like Bushies and neo-cons.

http://www.tulsanow.org/forum/index.php?topic=7629.msg46197#msg46197

Geez, what a bunch of malarkey. The RNC loves sending stuff out about Palin, she even made the cover of People, which as you know is probably a plant. This is the best thing that could happen and they are making hay. As long as this is front and center, real issues like a sucking economy, cutting and running from a war, poor military preparedness for any other wars, health care, etc. are being ignored.

http://www.tulsanow.org/forum/index.php?topic=11204.msg97955#msg97955

Unfortunately for a lot of black soldiers, and any woman, there was no Affirmative Action in the Air Force unless you considered the legacees that got placed because of their father's influence. Guys like McCain and Bush.

http://www.tulsanow.org/forum/index.php?topic=11273.msg99258#msg99258

Bush's failures already ensure that the neo-cons are discredited by default. If the Palin wing, which is the evangelical values crowd, ends up being trashed, the party can restructure along a more traditional conservative path and start to recapture its fiscal, defense, business leaning identity. That identity  is more likely to attract the Ron Paul voter. Fox can't do it by themselves though. MSM is more than happy to help out if it means a juicy story.

http://www.tulsanow.org/forum/index.php?topic=12065.msg109799#msg109799

The "search" option is a b!tch. But please, feel free to post your glowing comments about Bush and other repubs to defend yourself. FAIL.

[waterboy]

I will eventually check all of your links. I think some are bogus because I know my writing style and they look wrong. Noting context is not one of your strengths either. Nonetheless they appear to be during the election which as I noted, everything is fair. But, meanwhile..right back at ya. Doubled.

[waterboy]

My gosh, you are such an unbelievable hypocrite and abject phony. Let's stroll down memory lane a bit and just look at some of your attacks on Bush and your "positive solutions" you espoused when "Bushie" was president:
http://www.tulsanow.org/forum/index.php?topic=2049.0
http://www.tulsanow.org/forum/index.php?topic=7629.msg46197#msg46197
http://www.tulsanow.org/forum/index.php?topic=11204.msg97955#msg97955
http://www.tulsanow.org/forum/index.php?topic=11273.msg99258#msg99258
http://www.tulsanow.org/forum/index.php?topic=12065.msg109799#msg109799

The "search" option is a b!tch. But please, feel free to post your glowing comments about Bush and other repubs to defend yourself. FAIL.

Doesn't look good trdblossom. The first topic you posted only had one sentence from me noting an e-mail to Cubs that was circulating. Totally taken out of context and the quote wasn't mine.

[Gaspar]

Waterboy, that was kinda lame.  Please note, I've been slacking a bit lately, but I usually refer to President Obama by his title and with respect, even though I'm very critical of his poor performance.  As I once mentioned to FOTD, name-calling, derogatory pet names, profanity, and personal attacks have a negative effect on your argument.  That goes for everyone!

I have an idea, lets discuss what some of the solutions would be rather than talking about each other.  What is the best way to stimulate the economy?
What has had the most profound effect in the past?
What should the president do?

[waterboy]

My gosh, you are such an unbelievable hypocrite and abject phony. Let's stroll down memory lane a bit and just look at some of your attacks on Bush and your "positive solutions" you espoused when "Bushie" was president:
http://www.tulsanow.org/forum/index.php?topic=2049.0
http://www.tulsanow.org/forum/index.php?topic=7629.msg46197#msg46197
http://www.tulsanow.org/forum/index.php?topic=11204.msg97955#msg97955
http://www.tulsanow.org/forum/index.php?topic=11273.msg99258#msg99258
http://www.tulsanow.org/forum/index.php?topic=12065.msg109799#msg109799

The "search" option is a b!tch. But please, feel free to post your glowing comments about Bush and other repubs to defend yourself. FAIL.

Jeez man! Do context much?

The second one was in response to a nasty attack about THE ARKANSAS RIVER DEVELOPMENT vote. Horrors, the only deprecating word I used was I called his followers BUSHIES! And out of touch with reality. How dare me! AND during an election year no less!

[Cats Cats Cats]

Bush tax cuts expire.
Business Taxes. In addition, various business taxes will change including the payroll tax credit and section 179 expense deduction.

The current six rate brackets of 10%, 15%, 25%, 28%, 33% and 35% will be replaced by five new brackets with the higher rates of 15%, 28%, 31%, 36% and 39.6%.  

This means if you are an LLC and your rate is 28%, you will start paying 33% - 36%.
Even if you are a very small business, you will see a 5% increase in taxes.

That would buy a lot of sauce!

You are of course HALF right.  You are saying this is what is going to happen.  But not if Obama has anything to say about it.  He wants people in the 28% to stay in the 28%.  In fact his plan has the taxes on 212k-235k going down 5% (you end up being neutral at 250k when the taxes actually do start going up)



http://www.smartonmoney.com/bush-tax-cuts-set-to-expire-in-2011-will-you-be-paying-more/

[guido911]

I will eventually check all of your links. I think some are bogus because I know my writing style and they look wrong. Noting context is not one of your strengths either. Nonetheless they appear to be during the election which as I noted, everything is fair. But, meanwhile..right back at ya. Doubled.

If I cut/pasted wrong, then I will apologize. Still, I am waiting for the positive comments you made about Bush. And, incidentally, you started this crap against me in a thread where I had not even commented. And, screw your bs slap about context.

[waterboy]

Waterboy, that was kinda lame.  Please note, I've been slacking a bit lately, but I usually refer to President Obama by his title and with respect, even though I'm very critical of his poor performance.  As I once mentioned to FOTD, name-calling, derogatory pet names, profanity, and personal attacks have a negative effect on your argument.  That goes for everyone!

I have an idea, lets discuss what some of the solutions would be rather than talking about each other.  What is the best way to stimulate the economy?
What has had the most profound effect in the past?
What should the president do?

Yeah, yeah. My apologies if I was off base. Calls em as I sees em.

The best thing Obama could do right now is stay focussed on jobs. To do that money has to be flowing into and out of lenders. Ignoring the chaff and building confidence in our systems is more important than politics right now.

Now, I have to go fight an name calling idealogue. An abject hypocrit.

[guido911]

Jeez man! Do context much?

The second one was in response to a nasty attack about THE ARKANSAS RIVER DEVELOPMENT vote. Horrors, the only deprecating word I used was I called his followers BUSHIES! And out of touch with reality. How dare me! AND during an election year no less!

Still waiting for the "positive" stuff you said about Bush....

[waterboy]

If I cut/pasted wrong, then I will apologize. Still, I am waiting for the positive comments you made about Bush. And, incidentally, you started this crap against me in a thread where I had not even commented. And, screw your bs slap about context.

Your apology is wasted. Context is important and you abused it. I brought your name up because you have noted that you intend to spend this presidential term doing to Obama what you thought his critics did to Bush the last 8 years. You then did just what FOTD and others did to prove that you are no better than they are. Shrewd.

[guido911]

Doesn't look good trdblossom. The first topic you posted only had one sentence from me noting an e-mail to Cubs that was circulating. Totally taken out of context and the quote wasn't mine.

You posted the damned e-mail so, in my opinion, you freakin own it. It's also thoroughly consistent with my other posts and the numerous others I left out.