DESERTERS OR VICTIMS?

This past Thursday at the Los Angeles Trade-Technical College, President Obama railed that American companies that move their headquarters overseas are "corporate deserters." Furthermore, he stated, "The Democrats are in favor of rewriting the tax code to punish corporations who head to foreign countries."

Is this the right approach? Absolutely not. Why are these so-called "deserters" moving their headquarters from the US to foreign countries? There is one simple answer. The US has the highest corporate tax rate in the developed world--35%. By comparison, the United Kingdom is 23%, Canada is 15%, China is 25%, Germany is 15%, Japan is 25.5%, Hong Kong is 16.5%. Even Russia, the former capital of communism, has a tax rate of 20%. The fact that we have  the world's highest corporate tax rate puts American companies at a decided disadvantage when it comes to world trade. Very few foreign companies are coming to the US to set up their businesses. Why would they, when they can stay home and keep more of their own money? If Obama is truly concerned about "corporate deserters," and is truly interested in creating more jobs in this country, the logical move would be to lower our corporate taxe rate. The genuinely patriotic gesture would be to provide our companies with every advantage to remain competitive in world trade and increase their profits. Greater profits means 4 things: more jobs, more secure jobs, higher pay  rates, increased stock prices, which in turn benefits the tens of millions of working and retired Americans with 401K's, pension plans and various investment programs, making their families more secure.

But instead of aiding American companies, Obama and the Democrats want to punish them further by raising taxes, proving once and for all that Obama is perhaps the most anti-business president in our history. It is yet more proof that he is (1) ideologically opposed to the free market system (2) that he has limited knowledge of how a free market system functions efficiently.

To create more jobs and lower unemployment, we need to stop punishing American enterprise, because when they are punished, American workers are also punished.