Working eight months for first dollar of profit

This week our company earned its first dollar of profit.

There has been a lot of talk and writing about huge corporate profits and what their share of taxes should be, however, for small companies which are struggling with this economy, the picture is different.

Our business which usually earns about 7 percent profit on its gross annual sales, went with no profit for the first eight months of this year. All it has done has been to pay wages, current expenses and taxes.

There has been no new equipment purchased except that equipment mandatory to keep the business operational.

The new press, which could improve our color printing capacity, has been put on hold. The new plate direct printer which would eliminate the need of using several thousand dollars worth of film has been put on hold.

In previous years we have looked to a capitol investment tax credit to help make such a purchases possible. We have heard that such a credit might become law, however, it has not happened.

What we have seen is big government lavish billions of dollars on banking and industrial giants, under the guise that it was necessary to save the country. Has the country been saved?

We have been told that in order to balance the budget more taxes will be needed.
Does this mean that our company will be stretched from eight months to nine months without a dollar of profit?

Does it mean that other basic manufacturing businesses like Werner Ladder will be driven out of business because they can not afford to operate. We know of other businesses that have failed to turn a profit all year or for several years.

These businesses are not like the government and can not print their own money when the need arises.

We must once again repeat the theme. The cost of government is too high!

It is not the amount of services the government provides is too great. The services barely meet the needs.

Why should everything the government does cost more?

We heard a speaker tell us, if it were not for government requirements, such as prevailing wage, state architectural fees, etc., the new high school in Merced would cost millions of dollars less.

We know of many government jobs which could be private sector jobs. These jobs could be done at a greatly reduced cost.

We see one bureaucratic agency stacked on top of another agency with full paid staff doing almost the same job, all at taxpayers expense.

We see government continually unable to meet budgets or even make them. Yet private business and individuals are asked to pay the price.

No, we are sorry, but the problem is not more taxes. The problem is better uses of the taxes which the government already takes.

If government is serious about growing jobs, then it needs to get off the back of job makers.

We would like to see a year when we only work seven months without profit or maybe six months.

That will be the day this country and its people return to work.