I had an interesting exchange today on my local Rag's comment section ...

1StrongBlackMan

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Sat Sep-10-11 12:34 AM
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I had an interesting exchange today on my local Rag's comment section ...

I see this woman posting all the time ... she is a rightwinger, of course.

Here is a cut and paste of the exchange:

Her: Yeah, I've owned a small business for the past 33 years.

Giving small businesses tax credits to hire people when you don't have work for the employees you already have is brilliant. I know how small business works and the money they are proposing to stimulate the economy is all aimed at the same big business, union companies. Just like all the people the Pres. and Michelle surrounds themselves with. Just like all the tax cheats that are around him. His speech was a big ass joke. Let's rebuild all the run down schools and then have no money to pay for the teachers, makes perfect sense. Give those jobs to the union workers, political payback is his return. And he is counting on it.

Me: Okay ... I trust that you own a small business and I have noted that you seem to lean republican. I have a couple sincere questions (and I will limit my questions to the segment immediately below):

You stated:

"Giving small businesses tax credits to hire people when you don't have work for the employees you already have is brilliant" (and BTW, I agree with you), but:

1) How will the proposed payroll tax break for businesses affect your business' bottom-line?

2) Do you suspect that some of the proposed $1,500/year that consumers gain from the tax-payer side of the proposed payroll tax break extension, will find its way into your business' cash till?

3) Which do you feel is the more effective economic strategy, vis-a-vis hiring people when you don't have work for the employees you already have:

a) providing tax breaks to employees;

b) eliminating government regulation?

4) Are you sure you, as a small business owner, you want to support republican economic policy that is based in what you have already criticized as "Brilliant"?

Her: 1.The proposed tax breaks and equipment depreciation won't help at all, no work, no new employees and how can small businesses even think about buying equipment when they have a hard time making payroll?
2. The 1500 tax credit will help people hold on to what they have and need. They will not spend money in most service industries unless it it crucial.
3. Both, although the regulation part is a bit too late. Most big businesses aren't going to relocate back to the USA, too costly.
4. I don't support the same stimulus bill that failed so miserably before, which is basically what is now packaged as a jobs plan. Especially since they have not declared how it will be funded. Been that route with Healthcare, you can't pull that again.

Me (in bold): 1.The proposed tax breaks and equipment depreciation won't help at all, no work, no new employees and how can small businesses even think about buying equipment when they have a hard time making payroll?

Are you saying that the payroll tax break extended to employers would have no effect on your bottomline?

2. The 1500 tax credit will help people hold on to what they have and need. They will not spend money in most service industries unless it it crucial.

Service industries like restaurants? Or, service industries like getting their car repaired? Are you saying that the $1,500 won't be spent in those bussinesses? What kind of small business did you have.

3. Both, although the regulation part is a bit too late. Most big businesses aren't going to relocate back to the USA, too costly.

I was asking from you prospective as a small business owner. Which regulation(s) prevented you from hiring more workers, when you didn't have enough work for you current employees? And/or, which regulation(s) would have prevented you from hiring an employee that you needed to meet consumer demand?

4. I don't support the same stimulus bill that failed so miserably before, which is basically what is now packaged as a jobs plan. Especially since they have not declared how it will be funded. Been that route with Healthcare, you can't pull that again.

This stimulus bill is completely different from the previous stimulus bill ... this one funds projects that create jobs and rewards private sector employers that create the projects.

Me (again): With all due respect, re-reading your responses ... and considering your claim to be a small business owner ... something's just not ringing true.

Apparently, this woman lost it as her subsequent posts were removed, but from what I gather from other commenter's comments, she got all pissy because I "called her a liar."

Finally she posted: Sorry
My response: How am I making you out to be "the bad guy"? The questions I posed are directly related to your claim and should be fairly simple for a small business owner to answer, if that small business owner did the company books and/or financial/tax planning. If that was not your role, then JUST SAY SO, there no shame in knowing and admitting what we don't know. But shame can come in attempting to maintain a facade.

When someone interceded with:

Why don't you come down off your Progressive Perch of Superiority? Maryjean T is small business owner. I was a small business owner. I think we are able to draw our own conclusions given what we know to be true based on our own experiences.

Simply put...our reality isn't clouded or jaded based on a miserably mistaken ideology that (more) government is the end-all answer when it comes to job creation in this country.

My Response: I have no problem with you viewing the world in any manner you choose. And my questioning of your worldview is not based in some "Progressive Perch of Superiority" (if that's not a limbaugholic phrase, I don't know what is).
I always question why someone advocates for a position that opposes their stated interests, e.g., Gay Conservatives, Black teapartiers, small business owners (earning less than $250K or not knowing enough to avail themselves of competent tax advice to get them below $250K) that support the republican party on economic grounds, working class anti-union folks, or just working class republicans.

Simply put ... I'm trying to figure out what your realities are based on; they clearly are not based on what benefits you.

After which there was a series of these two commenters having their posts removed.

Now if I were at the other end of the above public exchange, I would hope that I would have the good sense to have stopped, long before they did, as it was clear they were full of shit; or, at least I hope I would have the good sense to reflect on the exchange to figure out where/how I got so messed up.