From SFE blog Chris’s Color Commentary:

Yes, yes, the title seems like elementary Junior Achievement, but honestly, there has been an outpouring of  articles from various business magazines and journals pertaining to the possible increase in taxation on businesses because of their unfortunate reputation of earning more money.

Call me old fashioned, but if someone could remind me:  Where do we work?  Do you work for someone?  Do you ever maintain a little skepticism about your job security when your company isn’t making quite as much as it used to?

Granted, I’m not ignoring the people who work for themselves.  To them I say: Hazaa, three cheers.  This doesn’t pertain to you (unless you happen to be one of those small manufacturing businesses that will fall under carbon cap restrictions, then you have another thing coming).

There seems to be a logical disconnect between the parading around of the ideas of taxing “big” companies and defining the size of our current employers. (How big is big? Forget $250,000. It’s an arbitrary number that rounds well and makes a good campaign slogan.) People seem to forget that profit is what drives future business.  Profit isn’t pocket change for old rich Uncle Moneybags to purchase his platinum Bentley and his champagne hot tub.  Don’t get me wrong, some do.  But most don’t.

A recent conversation with a well-intentioned employee at, I don’t know, say, the world’s largest chemical company, directs me to this point exactly.  Being a first year employee there, they say to me, “I mean, yeah, big companies do need to be taxed, so that we can benefit from the programs being funded.”  Yes.  That just happened.

For those of you who may not have caught this, please follow along.  This individual believes that the company they work for deserves to make less, so that they can benefit from the money being redirected.  Now, pessimistic though it may be, let’s think about this.  Brand new employee.  Making $30k a year.  Now what are the odds that said company might be levied taxes meeting or exceeding that expenditure level.  I think it an awful failure of perspective to realize what number in line you are on the way to the chopping block.

Instead of the company continuing on their merry way, this person wants them to earn less, thereby successfully putting their own job in the crosshairs, after which then they’ll likely need the government programs that don’t work to begin with.

Oh what a tangled web we weave.

On a lighter note, I end with the ceaseless wisdom of Mitch Hedberg:

“I went to a pizzeria, I ordered a slice of pizza, and he gave me the smallest slice possible. If the pizza was a pie chart for what people would do if they found a million dollars, he gave me the “donate it to charity” slice. I would like to exchange this for the “keep it!”