In my line of work I must try very hard to remain politically neutral. However, I make no excuse for standing up for the small business owner – the person responsible for taking all the risk when starting a company.
I believe that this current wave of bashing CEO’s and business executives is completely unfair. It seems to be led by people who have never known the pressure and stress of being responsible for payroll. Sure, some large corporations have abused CEO compensation and greed has led to many unethical practices, but basing public opinion and holding demonstrations on these few companies will only lead to further government intervention and regulations that will become a deterrent to entrepreneurship and innovation. Let alone create a bigger monster of more regulations for companies that always seem to find ways around them and still the small business owner is the one most affected by more regulations.
Instead of protesting over the few bad CEO’s, we should recognize and applaud the thousands who provide jobs for those unwilling to take the risks of ownership. We have veered off course from a time where successful business people were once admired and young people aspired to become one. You can’t blame business owners, especially small business owners for the condition of our nation’s economic condition.
Penalizing business owners by excessive taxation and discouraging them further with these tail wagging the dog labor laws, healthcare mandates, etc. will kill the entrepreneurial spirit if not corrected. If the majority of profits go towards taxes, employment-based regulations, or penalties – then our government has done far more harm than good.
I ask our members if they knew then what they know today, would they still risk everything to start a new business? One that involved employees? It’s becoming a very strong no. The tipping point, taxing profits.
How else can the majority of people build wealth? I may be wrong, but wealth is what provides the tax base (income, real estate, gains, etc.) that supports government services and agencies. Spreading the wealth created by the business owner isn’t fair.
Trying to contain how much wealth a person has seems totally absurd to me… And how do we get back on track when the voting population is growing up in a world of entitlement and wanting others to take care of them? I suggest that rather than encouraging our youth to be part of a rally against CEO’s, we encourage them to become well-educated on economic policy that encourages more incentives for them to one day be a business owner. Just my opinion… — CW