Outstanding Letter ---Hits the nail on the head.

[Jo McDonald]

(An actual letter or not, it spells out the situation quite nicely--Jo McDonald )

WHEN WILL THE POPULATION OF THE USA BECOME INFORMED AND TAKE CARE OF THE CAUSE FOR THIS SERIOUS STATE OF AFFAIRS WE ARE IN ?

This is a real letter sent to his employees. Read through to end it makes a lot of sense!

To All My Valued Employees,

There have been some rumblings around the office about the future of this company, and more specifically, your job. As you know, the economy has changed for the worse and presents many challenges. However, the good news is this: The economy doesn't pose a threat to your job.

What does threaten your job however, is the changing political landscape in this country. Of course, as your employer, I am forbidden to tell you whom to vote for - it is against the law to discriminate based on political affiliation, race, creed, religion, etc.

Please vote for who you think will serve your interests the best. However, let me tell you some little tidbits of fact which might help you decide what is in your best interest. First, while it is easy to spew rhetoric that casts employers against employees, you have to understand that for every business owner there is a back story.

This back story is often neglected and overshadowed by what you see and hear.  Sure, you see me park my Mercedes outside.  You saw my big home at last years Christmas party. I'm sure all these flashy icons of luxury conjure up some idealized thoughts about my life. However, what you don't see is the back story.

I started this company 12 years ago. At that time, I lived in a 300 square foot studio apartment for 3 years. My entire living space was converted into an office so I could put forth 100% effort into building a company, which by the way, would eventually employ you.

My diet consisted of Ramen Pride noodles because every dollar I spent went back into this company. I drove a rusty Toyota Corolla with a defective transmission. I didn't have time to date. Often times, I stayed home on weekends, while my friends went out drinking and partying. In fact, I was married to my business -- hard work, discipline, and sacrifice.

Meanwhile, my friends got jobs. They worked 40 hours a week and made a modest $50K a year and spent every dime they earned. They drove flashy cars and lived in expensive homes and wore fancy designer clothes.  Instead of hitting Nordstrom's for the latest hot fashion item, I was trolling through the Goodwill store extracting any clothing item that didn't look like it was birthed in the 70's.

My friends refinanced their mortgages and lived a life of luxury. I, however, did not. I put my time, my money, and my life into a business --- with a vision that eventually, some day, I too, will be able to afford these luxuries my friends supposedly had.

So, while you physically arrive at the office at 9 am , mentally check in at about noon , and then leave at 5 pm , I don't. There is no "off" button for me. When you leave the office, you are done and you have a weekend all to yourself.  I unfortunately do not have the freedom.  I eat, ****, and breathe this company every minute of the day. There is no rest. There is no weekend. There is no happy hour. Every day this business is attached to me like a 1 day old baby.

You, of course, only see the fruits of that garden -- the nice house, the Mercedes, the vacations... You never realize the back story and the sacrifices I've made. Now, the economy is falling apart and I, the guy that made all the right decisions and saved his money, have to bail out all the people who didn't.

The people that overspent their paychecks suddenly feel entitled to the same luxuries that I earned and sacrificed a decade of my life for.  Yes, business ownership has its benefits but the price I've paid is steep and not without wounds. Unfortunately, the cost of running this business, and employing you, is starting to eclipse the threshold of marginal benefit and let me tell you why:

I am being taxed to death and the government thinks I don't pay enough. I have state taxes. Federal taxes. Property taxes. Sales and use taxes. Payroll taxes. Workers compensation taxes. Unemployment taxes. Taxes on taxes. I have to hire a tax man to manage all these taxes and then guess what?   I have to pay taxes for employing him. Government mandates and regulations and all the accounting that goes with it, now occupy most of my time. On Oct 15th, I wrote a check to the US Treasury for $288,000 for quarterly taxes.  You know what my "stimulus" check was? Zero. Nada. Zilch.

The question I have is this: Who is stimulating the economy? Me, the guy who has provided 14 people good paying jobs and serves over 2,200,000 people per year with a flourishing business? Or, the single mother sitting at home pregnant with her fourth child waiting for her next welfare check?

Obviously, government feels the latter is the economic stimulus of this country. The fact is, if I deducted (Read: Stole) 50% of your paycheck you'd quit and you wouldn't work here. I mean, why should you? That's nuts. Who wants to get rewarded only 50% of their hard work? Well, I agree which is why your job is in jeopardy. Here is what many of you don't understand ... to stimulate the economy you need to stimulate what runs the economy. Had suddenly government mandated to me that I didn't need to pay taxes, guess what?   Instead of depositing that $288,000 into the Washington black-hole, I would have spent it, hired more employees, and generated substantial economic growth. My employees would have enjoyed the wealth of that tax cut in the form of promotions and better salaries. But you can forget it now.

When you have a comatose man on the verge of death, you don't defibrillate and shock his thumb thinking that will bring him back to life, do you? Or, do you defibrillate his heart?   Business is at the heart of America and always has been. To restart it, you must stimulate it, not kill it. Suddenly, the power brokers in Washington believe the mud of America are the essential drivers of the American economic engine.

Nothing could be further from the truth and this is the type of change you can keep. So where am I going with all this? It's quite simple. If any new taxes are levied on me, or my company, my reaction will be swift and simple. I fire you. I fire your co-workers.   You can then plead with the government to pay for your mortgage, your SUV, and your child's future. Frankly, it isn't my problem any more. Then, I will close this company down, move to another country, and retire.

You see, I'm done. I'm done with a country that penalizes the productive and gives to the unproductive. My motivation to work and to provide jobs will be destroyed, and with it, will be my citizenship.  

While tax cuts to 95% of America sounds great on paper, don't forget the back story: If there is no job, there is no income to tax. A tax cut on zero dollars is zero. So, when you make decision to vote, ask yourself, who understands the economics of business ownership and who doesn't?  Whose policies will endanger your job? Answer those questions and you should know who might be the one capable of saving your job. While the media wants to tell you "It's the economy Stupid" I'm telling you it isn't.

If you lose your job, it won't be at the hands of the economy; it will be at the hands of a political hurricane that swept through this country, steamrolled the Constitution, and will have changed its landscape forever. If that happens, you can find me in the South Caribbean sitting on a beach, retired, and with no employees to worry about.

Signed, Your boss,

Michael A. Crowley, PE
Crowley, Crisp & Associates, Inc.
Professional Engineers
1906 South Main Street, Suite 122  
Wake Forest , NC 27587  
Phone: 919.562.8860 x22
Fax: 919.562.8872

[Patriot]

I saw that several months back, and it hits the nail on the head.  What I've found in years of business ownership is how generally ignorant the average employee is about the taxes employers pay on their behalf and for their benefit and the other costs of doing business:  

For every dime they have withheld for Social Security and Medicare... the employer matches it (over 7 % of their gross wages).  And right now the employer is paying more in his/her portion than the employee.  Thanks Obama/Congress.

Every quarter their employer makes a contribution to the unemployment insurance fund on the first $8000 in gross (before tax) wages he pays them.  The rate varies with the previous claims against the employers acct. and can change every year (.5 to as much as 6 or 7%).

The employer also pays a federal unemployment tax on their behalf (not much in most states... usually .8% of the first $7000 in gross wages).

Depending on the business or industry, the employer may owe special excise taxes or fees or other special taxes.

Oh, there's Work Comp insurance, mandated by law.  Those rate can be horrendous depending on the type of work being done by the employees.

Of course, the employer may be paying out thousands in other insurance premiums too... for employee health care, product, errors & omissions or malpractice and facility liability insurance, etc.

When it's all said and done and the bills, wages, etc are all paid... he gets to pay state and federal business income taxes of 18 to 45% (Unless the business is a partnership or sole proprietorship, then they pay their personal income tax rates, which are similar).  

Now, in a simple business, he gets to file 10 to 15 tax returns every year, pay an accountant or bookkeeper to help keep it all straight and hope like hell he doesn't miss a tax deposit or return filing date.... the penalties and interest can be terrifyingly high.  Oh, don't forget to file the returns for and remit sales, liquor or excise taxes collected.

I've got the cancelled checks and tax forms to prove it.

Most good employers, by the way, will pay themselves last... after the employees, taxing authorities and vendors get theirs.

Then, just when it's all figured out, some schmuck comes along and adds a new set of rules, forms, taxes, fees, fines and compliance costs for something like O'SlammerCare.  Tanning salons already got that memo... to the tune of what, 10%?

Of course, there's that part about keeping the customers satisfied or finding new markets/products/services.

So yeah, sometimes one asks, "What's the point?"

Especially when employees run off customers,  whine about pay or benefits....  or new carpet for their office... right after announcing proudly that they voted for Obama or that they want time off to attend the latest Progressive movement rally down at the park.

[Anmar]

this letter is an obvious fake.  First, nobody pays 50% of their paycheck to the government.  Warren Buffet, one of the richest men in America, just announced that he payed 12% in taxes.. 

There are also about half a dozen logical fallacies and another half dozen lies.  Its pretty standard heritage foundation type propaganda.  Don't get fooled again, fools.

[Patriot]

this letter is an obvious fake.  First, nobody pays 50% of their paycheck to the government.  Warren Buffet, one of the richest men in America, just announced that he payed 12% in taxes.. 

There are also about half a dozen logical fallacies and another half dozen lies.  Its pretty standard heritage foundation type propaganda.  Don't get fooled again, fools.

Warren Buffet makes his money largely in the form of capital gains, tax free dividends on municipal bonds, etc.  Check the tax rates for $60,000,000 earnings in long term capital gains vs that same amount as earned income.  You can bet his secretary pays a higher tax rate.  How about not demonstrating a liberal kool aid induced lack of understanding about our tax code. 

As for someone paying 50% of their paycheck to government, it's easily possible with state & federal income taxes, property taxes, sales taxes, excise taxes, permits, fees, etc.  Hell, last time I looked, about 25% of my telephone bill alone consists of fees and taxes... check yours. 

Speaking of fools, let's not be fooled by the Huffpost class warfare crowd either.

[Catwoman]

this letter is an obvious fake.  First, nobody pays 50% of their paycheck to the government.  Warren Buffet, one of the richest men in America, just announced that he payed 12% in taxes.. 

There are also about half a dozen logical fallacies and another half dozen lies.  Its pretty standard heritage foundation type propaganda.  Don't get fooled again, fools.

Anmar...This is one time when I am going to have to respectfully disagree with you.  My grandfather owns his owns his own business...Employs about 14 people...And he regularly pays, between all the taxes for himself and the taxes related to his employees...50 percent of his intake.  He'd make more money if he was outsourcing what he needed done to independent contractors so that he didn't have the taxes to deal with...But he looks at his employees as part of his family and he has a responsibility to take care of them.  Yes, Mr. Buffet only paid a small amount in taxes...He's not in the level of small business man that gets squeezed until there's not a dime left over.  He's got the money to afford the accountants that can manipulate the numbers so that he doesn't have to pay what my grandfather does.  Small business doesn't look or act anything like big business.

[Anmar]

Cat,  I've also owned a small business for 8 years.  I employed 2-6 people depending on how busy we were.  I'd suggest your grandfather find a new accountant.

[Catwoman]

The accountant wasn't the problem...It was all the of the taxes, unemployment insurances, social security payments, etc.  Once you added it all up...It was easily half of what Gramps was bringing in.  Now that he no longer has a fleet of people working for him, he's actually making less money but bringing more into the house.  Go figure.

[srkruzich]

there are two ways you can not pay 50% tax, the first is to cheat, the second is to operate your business at a loss.

[srkruzich]

The accountant wasn't the problem...It was all the of the taxes, unemployment insurances, social security payments, etc.  Once you added it all up...It was easily half of what Gramps was bringing in.  Now that he no longer has a fleet of people working for him, he's actually making less money but bringing more into the house.  Go figure.

IF he is a single employee in his company, he does not have to pay into unemployment nor workers comp. Theres two taxes that you can drop, and i don't remember all the others that they hit small business with. 
The regulations alone equal to at least 20%of your taxation. The money that could be saved if they deregulated everything could be used to hire more people or buy more raw material to produce and keep employees working. 

[Catwoman]

Exactly, Steve.  That's why he went from having a huge office full of people to just being his own man.  He hated to do it...But he couldn't afford to keep paying out 50 percent to the Feds year after year.