I have been putting some thought into what “Our” government has done to improve “Our” economy.  I received an email that described a luxuriously self-indulgent, outrageously decadent, personal jet, built by Boeing and modified by Raytheon.  The plane is the personal jet of an oil-rich Sultan.  Gold plated from end to end and supposedly costing more than $230 million.  The email included the expected references to the excessively rich — oil rich — preying on the American public.

There’s nothing like mixing our dislike for filthy rich oil people with some backhanded references to having our pockets picked when we need to refuel our grocery getter.  If that won’t raise your blood pressure, you need medical assistance.

I gave this a little thought.  Do I really care what an oil rich Sultan spends his money on?  This was followed by another question, “How many Boeing employees were required to build that big plane?”  “How many Raytheon employees were required to modify the plane?”  Then I thought, “Do you think the Sultan might want two or three more?”  How about a really expensive yacht?”   Oops!  All of those expensive yachts are made in Europe or Hong Kong.

Remember when we got mad at all of those nasty corporate folks with their bonuses were buying million dollar yachts?  We put a big luxury tax on them?  Thats right, we killed the american luxury yacht industry.  The luxury yacht business moved overseas, craftsmen retired and despite the taxes being removed the industry has not recovered.   That is the history of actions taken by our government in the early 90’s.  It only affected a few thousand workers and their families, and the local businesses that depended on their spent wages.  It was only a big deal if you had been building luxury yachts!

Following the oil well blow-out in the Gulf of Mexico, Obama banned new off shore drilling.  The jobs moved with the drilling equipment to areas where it is possible to obtain drilling permits.  Areas in the waters of other countries.  Countries that want to see their citizens employed.  We now have nearly 90,000 unemployed oil workers. Countries that create and maintain business-friendly environments have the drill rigs and the jobs.  

For businesses and corporations, taxes are expenses that must be paid.  We differentiate various charges imposed by our government by giving them names, like fees, government mandates, etc.  Our business and corporations list all of these charges as expenses that must be paid before calculating profits.  Fees for labor are paid for the productive activity of their employees.  Dollars taken by the government are not available for expansion, product development, salaries or wages.  

We need to appreciate that our employers and employees are competing with foreign countries for dollars and jobs.

Ed Tyler lives in Pell City and can be reached at ed@edtylerinc.com