Shrinking Tax Loopholes Widens the Problem

President Barack Obama, please do something right. We all want to believe you are the "savior" that the media promised, but you seem to be just like the rest of them on Capitol Hill, looking out for the pockets of those that hurt the nation the most.

Obama recently introduced a bill to congress that would "close the tax loopholes allowing multi-national corporations to benefit from moving jobs overseas," according to a statement from the Obama administration.

Sounds great, right? I mean, who wouldn't want the loopholes that allow corporations to outsource their labor without regard to the well-being of the United States' economy to be closed. The "catch" comes in the details of the deal.

The current law in the US states that "any income that is earned outside the US is not taxed until such time it is brought back into the US." The Obama proposal aims to alter that to raise the revenues of the US government. Obama said removal of tax deductions for firms that earned profits in countries with low tax rates and closing other loopholes would net $210 billion in additional tax collections over the next decade.

You're probably still thinking, "This is a good thing." The problems start at the last line of the previous paragraph. The government seems hell-bent on raising revenue in recent years. It started with the Bush regime and their authoritarian rules, regulations and laws they imposed post Sept. 11 which was enforced through fear of terrorists somehow forming highly mobile and advanced fighting cells that will come to America on flying carpets and kill all of us indiscriminately simply because we value our "freedom" so much. Good to see that Obama is doing his best to keep that fear alive by sending another 17,000 Americans to Afghanistan, even after he promised withdrawal as one of his main platform positions.

The government should not be in the practice of finding ways to generate money, they should be finding solutions to the problems. In this latest reckless attempt to generate revenue for a government that has defied the idea of a fiscally sound government, the knee-jerk response will be another failure.

"Nobody likes paying taxes, particularly in times of economic stress," Obama said. "But most Americans meet their responsibilities because they understand that it's an obligation of citizenship, necessary to pay the costs of our common defense and our mutual well-being."

Yes, Obama, we do pay our taxes. Not because we agree giving bailouts to companies that should go out of business is the answer. We do it because we have to. If we didn't pay our taxes, we would be thrown in the same prisons we paid for. We don't have a choice. Our votes are the only power we hold over the government, so when we are fooled into believing the people we vote for will "change" the direction of the nation, we expect them to do it.

The act proposed by Obama will do little more than force jobs and corporations out of the US completely. We need fair tax laws, but only if the President is willing to enforce tariffs on incoming goods that will price communist and third world countries' goods in the same price range as their American-made competition. Goods would be more expensive initially but would settle after a period of restructuring and redistribution of the wealth to healthier levels.

"The plan will reduce the ability of US companies to compete in foreign markets," said John Castellani, who heads the Business Roundtable, representing some of the largest U.S. companies. "We believe it will not only reduce jobs, but it will also cripple economic growth here in the United States. It just couldn't have come at a worse time."

Companies that are based in the US will be taxed on the money as it is brought back into the country. Most companies will simply follow Halliburton's example and move their headquarters to tax-friendly, capital starved countries. Americans needs to do all they can do come up with solutions that make it not only ideal to be based in the US, but also to employ in the US. Closing these loopholes will simply force corporations and their staff of millions to leave the country for good.

On a side note, Obama said he has "started the hiring of 800 new IRS agents to enforce the tax codes," adding to the already largest bureaucracy in the history of the world.

Yet, Obama's poll numbers are higher than most would expect, based on his performance; 66 percent approve of his performance according to the Gallup Poll with only 28 percent disapproving. He is getting these numbers even though when asked what the same people thought of the state of the nation, on May 10, 2009, only 35 percent of the people responded they were satisfied. Consumer mood moved down one percent to a seven percent positive. Seven percent of the citizens in the US believe the economy is getting better. These are terrible numbers from a terrible president.

Please, feel free to post comments and let me know what you think of the President, good, bad or indifferent. Maybe someone from the majority, who believes Obama is doing a great job, can explain what he is actually doing to deserve the praise he receives.