2010: Highest Corporate Profits In History! Corporate Greed And Exploitation Of The American Worker!
Good Thing Obama Is Unfriendly To Business!
It has just been reported by the NYT that for the third quarter of 2010, corporate profit was the highest on record. Corporations have discovered that keeping leaner staffs and hiring few, if any workers is a winning combination! In a climate that the GOP characterizes as being unfriendly to business, how did this happen? Is it possible that President Obama is not as unfriendly as the conservatives have alleged? Perhaps the GOP is lying or if not, then maybe we have just witnessed a miracle? That must be it! Corporations have been so mistreated by the Obama administration that there must have been divine intervention to cause this incredible increase in corporate profits. That is the only reasonable explanation. Gotta love those miracles! This little miracle adds up to profits of 1.65 trillion dollars! It is the 7th consecutive quarter of record breaking profits.
Large corporations are sitting on their profits, not hiring new employees and it is being done to break the back of labor. Employees are all working harder, for less money, fewer benefits and tolerating work conditions that they never wou ld before because they are so afraid of losing their jobs. Everyone knows that a smaller staff under the current pressure to perform or leave means higher productivity and higher profit margins. In this climate, because employees fear being fired, they produce, produce, produce! Freezes on hiring when corporations are making the largest profits ever is a pretty nifty idea, especially when you are greedy and willing to exploit American workers and a high unemployment rate. There have been numerous reports of employees being asked to work overtime and even weekends without pay. They report that they are afraid to say no, for fear of being fired. There have been reports that safety conditions are being compromised as well. These tactics and others were employed by corporations many years ago before labor groups sprang up and began fighting back by organizing labor unions. Abuses like these were the reason for the birth of unions in this country.
Labor unions are blamed and villified in this country by many for being the cause of outsourcing. People have been told over and over again that because unions demand higher wages and benefits they have driven jobs overseas. Actually, those same people forget or don't even realize that people fought for and were even killed in their attempt to insure that all American workers would have safe and humane working conditions, as well as a livable wage and the end to American sweat shops that exploited thousands. Almost every single labor law in this country designed to protect all workers came from the labor movement. Even now, greedy corporations and their Washington lobbyists are behind the growing movement to repeal all minimum wage laws. Politicians have jumped on board. Next time you hear a politician suggest that minimum wage laws should be repealed, go to opensecrets.org and see where that politician is getting his or her political contributions from. Don't be surprised if you see donations from the most profitable companies in this country listed. The phrase 'free market' is changing in this country, and today seems to mean free of any government regulations including freedom from any labor protective or environmental laws. Regulations are being given as the cause of an 'unfriendly' business environment, creating a climate in which businesses can not thrive. That premise, based on these most recent profit statements, is clearly an indefensible position that carries little or no weight.
Investing In America! Corporations Plead Not Guilty!
Along with the highest profits ever recorded, it is being reported that the corporations making the largest profits are doing so by investing their labor budgets overseas. It is cheaper to pay foreign workers, the corporations pay no penalties in additional taxes, so it is a win-win for them and a losing proposition only to American workers that need jobs.
The Federal Government and most economists are stating that U.S. corporations are sitting on over 1 trillion dollars or maybe even 2 trillion dollars that they could be investing in the American labor force, but are not. If this trend continues unchecked, the Federal Reserve and economists project that American jobs will not come back. They further predict that the unemployment rate will stagnate well into 2012 and by then it is estimated that these same companies will be sitting on well over 3 trillion dollars.
Corporations have no reason to invest in America. Taxes from their overseas profits are deferred, they are able to pay third world wages, make incredible profits and suffer no recriminations from the American citizenry. When American workers wake-up and do a little bit of research, find out what corporations are shipping jobs overseas and then boycott the products and services of these companies, maybe the trend will cease. The American worker, even the unemployed American worker, still has power. They just don't realize it. The power of the boycott and negative publicity for corporations can drive business decisions. Employees will eventually get sick and tired of watching the companies they work for make enormous profits while taking advantage of their own labor force. Wake up, America!
Many of the most profitable corporations in this country are paying little to no taxes in this country. Among those that paid no taxes in 2009 are CitiGroup, Exxon, GE and Bank of America.
Obama Supports Tax To Recoup Bailout Funds!
Now that financial institutions have recovered from near extinction and are again reaping profits and giving multi-million dollar bonuses for the same questionable practices that caused the near financial collapse, President Obama has proposed a tax on the financial sector to repay the American taxpayer for the bailout. Companies like JP Morgan Chase and Bank of America are shocked and outraged at the mere suggestion! Conservatives who normally oppose welfare of any kind and who voted in favor of the bailout, are also mortified! They vehemently oppose these taxes on the one hand, but on the other, talk about how unnecessary and bad the bailout was. They blame the Obama administration for the Bailout of 2008, refusing even to acknowledge that this piece of legislation was passed during the Bush Administration. When pressed on the timeline, they use the Alzheimer's defense as strategy. Lucky for them that at least half of the American population have been stricken by the same illness! There must be some secret ingredient in the beverage they are drinking!
The GOP and others suggest that to penalize by use of the tax code is unheard of! Well, so was the bailout! While many people, however distateful it was, favored the bailout (it has been stated by almost every economist that it was necessary to avoid a depression and I agree), they oppose any tax on business, even if it is to repay the American taxpayer. These same people do not oppose that individual welfare recipients repay the government and taxpayer for the few hundred dollars a month they are given, yet they violently oppose this tax on financial institutions designed to repay the government for hundreds of billions of dollars. Corporate welfare vs. individual welfare? For some reason, the corporate welfare recipient wins! Blame Obama for the bailout and at the same time blame him for trying to insure that it is repaid. Makes sense to me!
Financial institutions that were saved by the bailout are vehemently opposed to the very thought of repaying the government. They insist that these costs will be passed on to the consumer. That is supposed to be a threat. Instead of the never-ending fees that these corporate giants impose on their beloved account holders, what will they do? Continue to charge never-ending fees? Quite a terrifying thought!
The Obama administration is not unfriendly to business. He is unfriendly, however, to the bad players that so often win the top honors for unethical and immoral greed. The American citizen is convinced they can have it both ways; Obama is friendly to big business, while at the same time, the biggest enemy of business. It is a dazed and nonsensical theory that the President wants business to fail, a theory possibly related to that very contagious Alzheimer's strain that is spreading throughout the country like the winter flu.
