Friday, October 19, 2012

Dear Political Candidates of both parties and at all levels,


Please stop claiming you're going to create jobs unless your plan includes hiring a ton of new government employees.  It's disingenuous at best and an outright lie at worst.  

This claim continues to give way more credit to politicians than to those who operate or start businesses large & small.   Let's be honest here, the government has a role to play in jobs - but it is in creating an atmosphere that lends itself to growth and the result is hiring not firing, expanding not contracting, and profits not losses.  Setup the environment then get the heck out of the way.  What this environment does not include is giant piles of cash for industries that otherwise would never get off of the ground.  Solar being a perfect example - if Venture Capital or other funding sources run away then why the hell would the government entertain handing out billions?

The next thing government can do is to stop/reduce the massive policy shifts.   As Congress fights with itself and with the Executive Branch, passing massive 2000 page laws in the dark of night and without reasonable time to read or debate, is there any wonder business owners retreat from growth & risk?  An unpredictable future is sure to stall any plans a business may have to expand or when making the decision to cut headcount or increase it.

And finally, the politicians can stop making successful people/companies the bad guy.  Besides being an employer and contributor to this nation's GDP these companies large & small have commitments to others that they have to uphold whether it's shareholders, investors (VC, Angel, or otherwise), their employees or just their own family that relies on the income.  It's a lot of pressure to make sure you make payroll or that you're doing right by those that have your stock in their retirement accounts.  

And another finally (sorry, I'm writing this off the cuff), stop trying to confuse people with the difference between income taxes and capital gains taxes.  It's purely dishonest and the fact that it works is just a sign that our education system needs to be taken out of the hands of the Federal Government and control ceded to the States.  There is no one size fits all for education policy along with many other things the Federales should be avoiding.

I am so ready for this election season to be over.


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