Economic. Social. Business. More conservatives than you dreamed possible.
Douthat:
Economic conservatives believe in free markets and competition. Business conservatives believe in profits. The two are not synonymous. If your motivation is profits, you will do what it takes to gain favor with government. You will also do what it takes to eliminate competition. Competition is a direct threat to profits. If you can use the government to achieve this aim, so much the better.
I'm about as pro-business as you can get. However, I've had this inkling for a while that business, in general (and this is all in general, Roch), has given up the good fight and has become entirely pragmatic. And this is OK. Really. Their job is to look out for themselves. However, if this is so, it means that government has to be more fair and more impartial. By continuing to dole out corporate welfare, government is changing the equation of what it takes to succeed. Business makes decisions all the time based on tax strategy. This perversion is a path away from free markets.
So what's the answer? The most important answer is to eliminate corporate income tax (other answers are to eliminate capital gains and estate taxes, but those are other posts). It's a less than worthless tax. In the first place, business doesn't pay taxes; individuals pay taxes. Taxes that business pays must be incorporated in the price of their products. Hence you pay them anyway. However, the less than worthless part is that the corporate income tax is a both a carrot (welfare) and a stick (no welfare) that politicians use to reward companies who take care of politicians. Obviously this leads to all sorts of bad behavior.
Government's mandate is to treat everyone equal and let the chips fall where they may. Granted, this reduces the power of government, but it leads to more perfect markets. More perfect markets lead to more profits for everyone, not just those who are good at gaining government favor.
With this in mind, I would also suggest that David Boaz's fear—"that the Republican Party has shifted from a business-oriented party reaching out to social conservatives to a social-conservative party trying to hold on to business and economic conservatives"— misses the real point of the last six years, which is that economic conservatives and social conservatives have both been marginalized by business-class conservatism, which cares about neither abortion nor the free market, and is mainly interested in using the power of the purse to dole out corporate welfare.
Economic conservatives believe in free markets and competition. Business conservatives believe in profits. The two are not synonymous. If your motivation is profits, you will do what it takes to gain favor with government. You will also do what it takes to eliminate competition. Competition is a direct threat to profits. If you can use the government to achieve this aim, so much the better.
I'm about as pro-business as you can get. However, I've had this inkling for a while that business, in general (and this is all in general, Roch), has given up the good fight and has become entirely pragmatic. And this is OK. Really. Their job is to look out for themselves. However, if this is so, it means that government has to be more fair and more impartial. By continuing to dole out corporate welfare, government is changing the equation of what it takes to succeed. Business makes decisions all the time based on tax strategy. This perversion is a path away from free markets.
So what's the answer? The most important answer is to eliminate corporate income tax (other answers are to eliminate capital gains and estate taxes, but those are other posts). It's a less than worthless tax. In the first place, business doesn't pay taxes; individuals pay taxes. Taxes that business pays must be incorporated in the price of their products. Hence you pay them anyway. However, the less than worthless part is that the corporate income tax is a both a carrot (welfare) and a stick (no welfare) that politicians use to reward companies who take care of politicians. Obviously this leads to all sorts of bad behavior.
Government's mandate is to treat everyone equal and let the chips fall where they may. Granted, this reduces the power of government, but it leads to more perfect markets. More perfect markets lead to more profits for everyone, not just those who are good at gaining government favor.
Posted by David on
May 17, 2006
As you know David business finance is not my forte, but I have long felt that corporate income tax was just one more tax on the people who buy the products. However I have argued this point with not stupid individuals who feel that big money making corporations should pay taxes. But of course they don’t because Congress has given them all these deductions and credits. But the people who buy the products still pay because the corporations need the money for all the accountants and lawyers who insure that they take advantage of every credit and get thru every loop hole! Where does it end?
And capital gains really get me going! But you said that was another post.
Incentives are another jaw breaker. The companies who get the incentives are the very ones who don’t need it. Greensboro and Gilford Ct. gave RF Micro Devices $1,420,000. But the guy trying to start a donut shop or lawn service certainly doesn’t get a cent. Nor does the federal government give the small business any special breaks. But, as you say, neither do the small businesses contribute to the Congress peoples campaign coffers either. And as for incentives we won’t get into the bidding wars like the Dell deal which really gets my dander up. It all comes down to the fact that governments have made people dependent upon them in every endeavor; the welfare state supreme, from cradle to grave.
The Democrats have the same thing, but when you're out of power it's easier to put aside your differences. Once you win, then the struggle begins.
Wow. Parenthetical preemption offered to me by name -- I'm honored.
Use your enemy's hand to catch a snake.
Extremely relevant to the post:
The consummate leader cultivates the moral law, and strictly adheres to method and discipline; thus it is in his power to control success.