Notice: Undefined index: HTTP_REFERER in /home/stparch/public_html/headmid_temp_main.php on line 4394
Newspaper Archive of
Shelton Mason County Journal
Shelton, Washington
February 12, 2015     Shelton Mason County Journal
PAGE 5     (5 of 40 available)        PREVIOUS     NEXT      Jumbo Image    Save To Scrapbook    Set Notifiers    PDF    JPG
 
PAGE 5     (5 of 40 available)        PREVIOUS     NEXT      Jumbo Image    Save To Scrapbook    Set Notifiers    PDF    JPG
February 12, 2015
 
Newspaper Archive of Shelton Mason County Journal produced by SmallTownPapers, Inc.
Website © 2025. All content copyrighted. Copyright Information
Terms Of Use | Privacy Policy | Request Content Removal | About / FAQ | Get Acrobat Reader




Thursday, Feb. 12, 2015 -Mason County Journal- Page A-5 GUEST COLUMN or the first time in American history, entrepreneurship is in decline. According to the U.S. Census Bu- reau, businesses are dying faster than they're being formed. Each year, 400,000 new businesses start up na- tionwide; 470,000 close their doors. Gallup reports that in the 1980s, business startups outpaced business failures by about 100,000 per year, By DON a trend that continued until the 2008 recession. Now, af- BRUNELL ter six years of sluggish eco- nomic recovery, the entrepreneurial death rate in the U.S. is outpacing its birth rate. In fact, the U.S. now ranks 12th among developed nations in terms of business startups, behind nations such as Hungary and New Zealand. This matters because small and medium- sized businesses create two-thirds of the 100 million jobs in our nation. But isn't the economy improving? Barely. One quarter of decent growth is followed by a quarter of slow growth. While the national unemployment: rate has dropped to 5.6 percent, part of that drop is because millions of people have simply given up trying to find work and are no longer counted as unemployed. Middle-income families are losing ground and a record 47 million Americans - one- sixth of our population - are on food stamps. While welfare and social spending provide a safety net in a weak economy, the only real solution to unemploy- ment is to create more jobs. But those jobs will be harder to come by if entrepreneurs stop open- ing the businesses that employ people. Jim Clifton, chairman and CEO of Gallup, writes, "[Wall Street and the White House] both tell us, The economy is coming back.' Lefts get one thing clear: This economy is never truly coming back unless we reverse the birth and death trends of Ameri- can businesses." Two of the most formidable obsta- cles facing entrepreneurs are high taxes and excessive regulation es- pecially for cash-strapped startups. Unfortunately, the Obama administra- tion has aggressively pursued both. The U.S. has the highest corporate tax rate in the world, yet President Obama's 2015 budget includes $2 tril- lion in new taxes over the next decade. While the president says he's taxing only the wealthy, the taxes will hit many small business owners who file taxes as individuals. Then, there are the regulations. The Competitive Enterprise Insti- tute (CEI) says federal regulations cost Americans $1.9 trillion a year and notes that regulators imposed 3,541 new regulations in 2014 alone. Continuing the juggernaut, the admin- istration unveiled 300 new regulations in the first seven days of 2015. A CEI study released in January reported, "If federal regulations were a country, their cost would amount to the world's 10th largest economy." While reasonable regulations are necessary, unnecessary bureaucratic red tape needlessly increase consumer prices and sap money that could other- wise be used to expand businesses and hire more people. Added to that are the costs tO comply with hundreds Of state and local regulations. The House of Representatives re- cently passed the Regulatory Account- ability Act of 2015 which requires reg- ulatory agencies to clearly document the cost of proposed regulations and consider less costly alternatives. President Obama has vowed to veto the legislation. Here in Washington, Gov. Inslee is taking a page directly from Presi- dent Obama's playbook. Inslee wants to increase taxes, impose costly new cap-and-trade legislation that would cost Washington employers $1 billion a year, and start taxing investment income. That's a bad idea. While our state's economy might look good from the governor's window and from the skyscrapers in downtown Seattle, 90 percent of Washington counties have unemployment rates above the national average. As with President Obama, Gov. Inslee's top priority must be creating jobs - not piling more taxes and costly regulations on the very people who create those jobs. • Don C. Brunell can be contacted at theBruneUs@msn.corn. LETTERS cont. from page A-4 Scientific theory can be inaccurate Editor, the Journal Recently I wrote a letter to the editor suggesting climate change was a naturally occur- ring event, but I did not ac- cept the theory of human cau- sation of climate change. Mr. Jacob Ruler disagreed and suggested that I did not un- derstand the concept of a theory. He referenced Norah Ru- din, Ph.D., on the nature of scientific theory, which states that scientific theories are based upon sets of phenom- ena developed by observation and experimentation. These are then proven by making predictions and testing their veracity. I disagree. Human inter- pretation of data, with human biases, makes the process suspect. Add computer modeling to prove scientific theories is merely using technology to make scientific guesses. The problem is with the data it- self: • Which observed phenom- ena do I include and which do I discard? • How much importance do I put upon the chosen phe- nomena? • Did I leave out important data that skewed my test re- sults? • Did I add superfluous data that skewed my test re- sults? • Did I state my theory dis- tinctly and correctly? • Did I test my theory cor- rectly? The theory may be correct or incorrect based upon the scientist's reliance on data analysis, accurate observa- tions of chosen phenomena and appropriate experimenta- Letter Policy are welcomed. We will not publish letters that are deemed libelous or scurrilous in nature All letters must be Signed and i lude the writer's name, address and daytime phone number, ich and clarity. Tomsubmit a letter, .mail it to P.O tion. Inaccurate data analysis, name only." and others. This foundation's inexact observations, impre- Three years ago, in the goals are to eliminate Ameri- cise experimentation or in- spring of 2012, Sen. Rodney can passports and issue New complete theoretical modeling Tom and his colleagues, Sens. American Passports to Ameri- results in bad theories, which Jim Kastama and Sheldon, can, Canadian and Mexican lead to bad science. In com- abandoned the Senate Demo- citizens. puters we call this, "garbage cratic Caucus and helped In line with the European in, garbage out." Republicans seize control ofUnion, open the borders of I will defer to a higher the Washington State Senate.Canada and Mexico, provide authority. Sir Isaac Newton Sens. Tom and Sheldon bro- free trade, work permits, edu- (1642-1726) was the most kered a deal with the Repub-cation, etc. In layman's terms, prestigious natural philoso- licans to seize control of the they want to change the foun- pher and mathematician of state senate for the 2013 and dation of America in their own modern times. He is consid- 2014 sessions, image, including changing ered one of the fathers ofSheldon became president the name of America to New physics, pro tern, but lost that to Sen. America. He discovered calcu- Pam Roach when his Repub- All I can say is that Ameri- lus, authored the theory of lican colleagues abandoned can voters are getting much universal gravitation and him. more than what they voted provided a most important Each time Sheldon votes for. statement about the role of he costs the Democratic Party I'm sorry to say I was scientists -- science should two votes, raised a Democrat and to me not feign hypotheses. Science Example: place two even this New America Foundation should admit ignorance ab-stacks of chips side by side, is an attack on America just sent data. one blue (Democrats) and onelike open borders and all the red (Republicans). Take one rest of Washington, D.C., at- Ardean A. Anvikblue (Sheldon) and place it on tacks on the Constitution. Shelton the red stack. Research this New Ameri- The red stack is not one can Foundation then ask chip higher than the blue, it is yourself, "Why isn't this front .¢u--or*ers two chips higher, page news on all American newspapers?" Sheldon: Look Charles L. Wiune Hoodsport Tim Barnett Shelton at the facts Editor, theJournal New America School boss To those who have repeat- Foundation edlyvoted for Sen. Tim Shel- an free to s-en u don because he professes to be a Democrat, I have this to attack on U.S. offer. According to an editorial Editor, the Journal in the Feb. 2 issue of The On Dec. 17, President Editor, the Journal Seattle Times, "Republicans Barack Obama announced, in It seems to me that the now have outright control, Spanish, the founding of the recent letter to the editor phis one of the original de- New American Foundation from Mr. Lewis regarding the fectors, Sen. Tim Sheldon, with Hillary Clinton, billion- current interim school super- of Potlatch is a Democrat in aire George Soros, his son, intendent rubbing Super Bowl tickets into the faces of Shel- ton citizens is unduly critical. It appears that Mr. Lewis believes that if you are a school employee whose sal- ary is funded by taxpayers, then you are automatically exempt from using your per- sonal money to attend any event such as the Super Bowl. Shelton and state his- tory will show that we have always had and always will have some families that are having financial struggles. This interim superintendent did not cause their financial difficulties and should not be required to restrict his social life because of it. After all, he legitimately earned his salary and should not be criticized for how he chooses to spend it. Would Mr. Lewis also criticize greedy private business leaders and corporate CEOs that play an ongoing role in creating fam- ily financial struggles through their continued efforts to break unions and pay less than a working wage to their employees while at the same time putting record profits into their own pockets? Who really should be criticized here? I know for a fact that school superintendents have a dif- ficult job and earn their salary by working many long hours beyond the eight-hour work day, or 40 hour work week. In comparison to private business leaders and CEOs, superintendent salaries are definitely not "bloated," as Mr. Lewis suggests. School and other public em- ployees serve the people with salaries that are most oi%en lower than many private sec- tor jobs. They should have the right and courtesy to spend their hard-earned money however they choose, and without criti- cism. Gary Wilson Shelton