The Rise Of Non-Profits And The Fall Of Small Businesses
Dear Citizen, October 2006
The rise of non-profit organizations has signified the fall of small businesses. Non-profits do not just compete against free enterprise institutions, they do so in an uneven playing field because they are tax-exempt and receive contributions.
Tax attorneys and well-heeled lobbyists are usually the chief decision makers for these foundations. The reason for this simple. These influence peddlers go to top-level executives and solicit contributions in exchange for large tax breaks,subsidies, and favors on a corporate,professional, and personal level. They do this through "aggressive accounting" and establishing other intricate creations. They rely on their contacts with tax judges, politicians, connected accountants, investment bankers, and bureaucrats to interpret the 773,000 word tax code and the tens of thousands of regulations that sentence the average productive American to a lifetime of bondage. With CEO pay obscenely high(e.g. 34 Defense CEO's amassed $1 billion in pay since 9/11 ), donations are excellent protection. In another era,this would be labeled as corrupt farces. Now it is just a way of life.
Ted Turner, "willing" $1 billion to the U.N., received a $100 million "rebate" . The number of registered lobbyists has increased from 16,342 in 2001 to 34,785 now. That is 65 lobbyists for every member of Congress. An astonishing $200 milllion a month is spent
by lobbyists to seduce these politicians. This regime of lawyer/lobbyists, as campaign finance brokers and money bundlers for politicians, has stratified America into a status and class-conscious society. It's reached the point where the people's representatives blatantly designate lobbyists to head their fund-raising teams. This moneyed back-scratching has been, currently is , and will be the seedbed for scandal, but neither party shows any appetite to confront it. One can only wonder why?
Many meritocratic people who do not pay much tax because of decreased earnings suffer the worst. The purchasing power of the middle class has dried up
due to the enormous and unjustified costs of the healthcare, legal, and education systems.From 2001 to 2004, the proportion of middle-class families that has saved three months' worth of income dropped to 18.3 percent from 28.8 percent.
Many productive jobs not only no longer offer increased purchasing power, many cease to be created and many evaporate. All this hurts the people who have either created or wish to create their own job, the free enterprise entrepreneur. It is indeed a tragic annal in American history to witness the end of the American dream, small business ownership, simply because they do not provide the absolute necessities in life.
As the principles of thrift, initiative, productive work,
market-oriented goals, and innovation fall off the yesteryear's vine into today's dustbin, mergers and acquistions continue to make much money for CEO's , directors, lawyers, and bankers. Some CEO's are now receiving as much as three percent of an M & A deal. This is happening at the time of unprecedented layoffs.
The corporate debacle is emblematic of another problem that has become all too evident in the last few years: Wall Street's loss of objectivity. Investment banks make far more money from underwriting or merger deals thanthey do from broker fees. Analysts at these firms often face conflicting loyalties. Analysts who raised prickly questions about an initial public offering could be assured that their firm wouldn't be chosen for the underwriting. So much for honest advice and ethics!
People need to see the dark side of this phenomenon of the non-profits. Beneath all the flamboyance, glamour, and feel-good sensations is something that is rotten to the core. Amassing wealth at the expense of others does not promote peace and tranquility. Rather, it promotes social tensions, upheavals, and instabilities because it is created by people who in turn create no value on their own.
Very Truly Yours,
Harsha Sankar
201 Interstate Drive
Covington,Virginia 24426
The rise of non-profit organizations has signified the fall of small businesses. Non-profits do not just compete against free enterprise institutions, they do so in an uneven playing field because they are tax-exempt and receive contributions.
Tax attorneys and well-heeled lobbyists are usually the chief decision makers for these foundations. The reason for this simple. These influence peddlers go to top-level executives and solicit contributions in exchange for large tax breaks,subsidies, and favors on a corporate,professional, and personal level. They do this through "aggressive accounting" and establishing other intricate creations. They rely on their contacts with tax judges, politicians, connected accountants, investment bankers, and bureaucrats to interpret the 773,000 word tax code and the tens of thousands of regulations that sentence the average productive American to a lifetime of bondage. With CEO pay obscenely high(e.g. 34 Defense CEO's amassed $1 billion in pay since 9/11 ), donations are excellent protection. In another era,this would be labeled as corrupt farces. Now it is just a way of life.
Ted Turner, "willing" $1 billion to the U.N., received a $100 million "rebate" . The number of registered lobbyists has increased from 16,342 in 2001 to 34,785 now. That is 65 lobbyists for every member of Congress. An astonishing $200 milllion a month is spent
by lobbyists to seduce these politicians. This regime of lawyer/lobbyists, as campaign finance brokers and money bundlers for politicians, has stratified America into a status and class-conscious society. It's reached the point where the people's representatives blatantly designate lobbyists to head their fund-raising teams. This moneyed back-scratching has been, currently is , and will be the seedbed for scandal, but neither party shows any appetite to confront it. One can only wonder why?
Many meritocratic people who do not pay much tax because of decreased earnings suffer the worst. The purchasing power of the middle class has dried up
due to the enormous and unjustified costs of the healthcare, legal, and education systems.From 2001 to 2004, the proportion of middle-class families that has saved three months' worth of income dropped to 18.3 percent from 28.8 percent.
Many productive jobs not only no longer offer increased purchasing power, many cease to be created and many evaporate. All this hurts the people who have either created or wish to create their own job, the free enterprise entrepreneur. It is indeed a tragic annal in American history to witness the end of the American dream, small business ownership, simply because they do not provide the absolute necessities in life.
As the principles of thrift, initiative, productive work,
market-oriented goals, and innovation fall off the yesteryear's vine into today's dustbin, mergers and acquistions continue to make much money for CEO's , directors, lawyers, and bankers. Some CEO's are now receiving as much as three percent of an M & A deal. This is happening at the time of unprecedented layoffs.
The corporate debacle is emblematic of another problem that has become all too evident in the last few years: Wall Street's loss of objectivity. Investment banks make far more money from underwriting or merger deals thanthey do from broker fees. Analysts at these firms often face conflicting loyalties. Analysts who raised prickly questions about an initial public offering could be assured that their firm wouldn't be chosen for the underwriting. So much for honest advice and ethics!
People need to see the dark side of this phenomenon of the non-profits. Beneath all the flamboyance, glamour, and feel-good sensations is something that is rotten to the core. Amassing wealth at the expense of others does not promote peace and tranquility. Rather, it promotes social tensions, upheavals, and instabilities because it is created by people who in turn create no value on their own.
Very Truly Yours,
Harsha Sankar
201 Interstate Drive
Covington,Virginia 24426
posted by Harsha Sankar at 3:02 AM
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