Welcome

Welcome to this experiment in goofiness free speech and political activism.  The reason I created this little space in the vast digital world is to share my political views.  I know, I know.  Who cares?  Opinions are like....ears.  Everyone has them.  However, it is important to be involved and to let our "leaders" know what you think.  I'm opinionated, and this is a better forum than using Facebook or Twitter.

So what are my views?  I used to lean to the far-left (pinkish you might say).  Now, I've meandered toward the center.  My biggest concern is the environment.  We are alive because our planet has a very precise set of conditions that make it possible for us to live.  And, if we upset those conditions enough, we are all goners.  Quite frankly, I ignore and despise anyone who chooses to deny the years of work that highly trained scientists have done.  However, I do see the need for business to be able to be conducted without too many regulatory encumbrances.  That said, it should never be acceptable for a company to release dangerous toxins into OUR air, water, land, etc.  I stress OUR because we all share it.

My other major concern is the decline of the middle class.  Major corporations have laid off hundreds of thousands (if not millions) of Americans over the past 20-30 years in order to maximize profits.  They've done this through technology and mechanization upgrades, and by shipping jobs to countries with low wages and low safety standards.  I am not sure what the solution to this problem is.  However, I do believe that U.S. corporate tax rate (35%) is much too high.  Company headquarters are moving to countries with lower tax rates, and thus are keeping the profits in those countries.  Those profits can be used to hire Americans at living wages.  Lower the corporate tax rate and more companies will come back to the U.S.  Conversely, I do believe that income tax rates for the top 1-2% of Americans are much too low, as are the capital gains taxes.  The richest Americans pay the smallest amount of their total income in taxes when compared to those less fortunate.  Warren Buffet said it best, "It's time for our government to get serious about shared sacrifice..."  Don't look at the tax rate tables either.  There are so many loopholes and cheats built into the system that the wealthiest of Americans pay roughly 15-18% of their income in taxes, while the average citizens pays around 35%.  Maybe a flat tax rate for everyone (including corporations) is the solution?

I'll go into much more later.  I'll share links as well.  Until we meet again.

Image: Chuck Felix / FreeDigitalPhotos.net