Republicans The Party Of Business? Not So Much Any More
Republicans used to be thought of as the pro-business party. These days, however, any benefits that might accrue to businesses from federal legislation seem to take a back seat for Republicans to saving this country’s very rich from paying a bit more in taxes.
Consider the Payroll Tax debate now going on in congress. The newest proposal from Democrats aimed at extending lower payroll taxes, would only keep them at a lower rate for America’s 160 million workers. The previous Democratic proposal, however, which was rejected by Republicans, would also have extended lower rates to employers. (Under present law employers match worker Payroll Tax contributions.)
Imagine what this original proposal would have meant had it actually been enacted. Funded by a 3.5 surtax on incomes exceeding a million dollars a year, not only would the average worker continue to pay about $1,000 less in payroll taxes, but hundreds of thousands businesses would also have had a lower tax bit. And while large corporations would have benefited the most in total dollar terms, it would have been small businesses, so many of them so hard-pressed these days, that would have reaped the most needed help in their efforts to stay afloat.
Republicans the party of business? Not any more. At least, not any more when helping businesses, especially smaller ones, conflicts with saving the very wealthiest earners, who are gobbling up a greater and greater share of national wealth, from giving a little back.
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3 Responses to “Republicans The Party Of Business? Not So Much Any More”
This morning I heard once again that the extremely wealthy are our job creators and by implication couldn’t do so if the smallest bit of additional taxation was levied on them. Really? If you ask them if they feel responsibility for creating jobs the answer tends to be no. In the modern business world employees are a cost to be cut if at all possible so far as many of those people are concerned. It doesn’t make them evil but if we don’t face up to that simple fact then it becomes impossible to look for real answers to our problems.
I agree that the GOP is not really the party of business, especially of businesses operating on American soil.
I’ll give three examples:
1) their staunch refusal to engage in real health care reform. Health care costs are one of the key reasons (after simple demand for their goods/services) that employers don’t hire, or at least provide good jobs (vs. part-time crud work). Yet the GOP refuses to participate in any action that would alleviate this burden from businesses. One of the big reasons I believe there should be some nationalization of health care in some form is because the current system is an anchor on our economic — especially job — growth.
2) their unwillingness to provide real immigration/work visa reform. The agriculture and construction industries rely on cheap south-of-the-border labor, yet the GOP is chasing away such labor instead of working up ways to make legal seasonal or temporary visas. It’s hate-hate-hate without solutions (and don’t tell me “those jobs should be American”, just take a look at Alabama’s experiment to see how that’s working).
3) the GOP has never expressed interest in modifying their beloved, yet unproven, capital gains tax breaks to give preference for investments made in this country. They treat all investment the same, whether or not it’s actually benefitting the nation. If they did the latter, they would help reduce the cost equation that makes sending jobs overseas possible.
I see nothing that really helps American businesses in any of their plans.
@Barky: Lol, I have been railing about the unfair ‘subsidy’ that other countries have for all of their businesses (due to not having health care costs) for years. The main reason that I support government sponsored health care is to alleviate this burden on US firms. Our automobiles are expensive because the health care costs for retirees and workers is expensive (relative to foreign competitors).