An idea came to me while working today.
I haven't read anything even closely related to this and I'm hoping that I'm way out in left field with this idea.

The corporate sector accepted the stimulus plan two years ago. This was a lifeline thrown to them by government, on behalf of the citizens, in the belief that the corporations would use the boost to get their business engines running on all cylinders.

In the two years since receiving these public monies, corporate bank accounts have become swollen with cash surpluses. Big business has more cash assets on hand than they know what to do with.

The powerful elites, in who's hands are the reigns of corporate power, have failed to use this surplus of cash in any manner that seems to help the economy.
There has been no effort at retooling factories nor has there been any purchasing of new equipment.
This surplus of cash has not even lead to new hiring in the face of high national unemployment.

I found myself pondering this seemingly unexplainable situation and the only thing that seems to make sense is that those powerful elites are not going to spend the stimulus money until the republican party can be in a position to take credit for turning the economy around.

I think the pampered elites are very aware that had they invested in equipment and increased their workforces, the economy would have started chugging back to life. This couldn't be allowed to happen under a Democrat dominated Congress and Senate.
The republicans would never come close to regaining power for at least a generation if the present administration were permitted credit for saving the economy.

The elites have maintained the pressure on working people by continuing foreclosures on homes and by not spending their vast reserves of cash on inventory, equipment and new hires.
I suppose the proof will be revealed if the republicans gain control of congress.
Will there be a sudden free flow of corporate cash into the economy that puts people back to work and back into their homes? And who will be front and center taking credit for the turn about in the fortunes of working people?

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I do not fight fascists because I think I can win.
I fight them because they are fascists.
Chris Hedges

A riot is the language of the unheard. -Martin Luther King, Jr.

unfortunately at this point, any infusion into creating jobs is going to rely on either

1: the good will of large business
2: The government mandate to do so
3: stipulations on tax monies (read more tax spending) to be spent on that purpose.

If you look even closer, it gets worse. If you understand what happened on the wall street bailout and the continuing excessive salaries/profits since then, It really hurts.

The only thing worse than government regulations is the lack of them.

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Janice

Just so we all understand, I pulled up Microsoft's form 10K where (page 83) the executive compensation is set to 0.35% of revenue. Is 0.35% too much? Oh, their revenue was 58 Billion dollars. The revenue for the State of Rhode Island is just under 3 Billion or only 5% of the size of Microsoft. Again is it too much?

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Just so we all understand, I pulled up Microsoft's form 10K where (page 83) the executive compensation is set to 0.35% of revenue. Is 0.35% too much? Oh, their revenue was 58 Billion dollars. The revenue for the State of Rhode Island is just under 3 Billion or only 5% of the size of Microsoft. Again is it too much?

Mostly it is not the Microsofts of the world I take issue with. Although I am sure there is more compensation hidden there than appears. (stock options written below market price etc..).

My idea of fair is roughtly no more than 10-20X what starting wages earn, including those at the lowest levels. The problem with excessive costs in brokerage firms is: it comes out of someones IRA or 401K. These costs are hidden, games are made to magnify the gains by those on the inside (carefully, they usually dance around laws, not wanting to spend time in white collar prison) while leaving someone who "trusts" a "reputable brokerage" to treat them fairly. This goes well beyond the "losses"(mostly on paper.. after they got their bailouts the wall street firms started acknowleding their gains on the same transactions. Understanding options and futures trading is not a simple matter, but if you do understand you know who they can be "short and long" at the same time)

Make a loss? give a huge salary increase because they need the expertise "in these troubled times". Make gains? Give huge huge salary and bonus increases as rewards. Can you tell me any other situation that provides these opportunities?? Please.. I want to apply/open that business/jump on that bandwagon.

Bill Gates compensation: He opened the company. For his position he deserves a very good salary. For his continued ownership, he deserves proportional gains (or losses) as other stock holders. And he deserves to pay at LEAST the same % of taxes that I do.

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Janice

Not a bit of cynicism at all R.W. A total lack of Business Knowledge, yes.

But keep grumbling, while we keep making oodles and oodles of green.

iWorm 'em.

99.9% of what I buy, I don't need, but it sure keeps the poor grumbling and employed.

Correct observation, incorrect conclusion. The companies fear that the next law that comes from the Democrats will destroy them so they don't want to put any more money on the line than they can afford to lose. This happened in the great depression so it just history repeating it's self.

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Correct observation, incorrect conclusion. The companies fear that the next law that comes from the Democrats will destroy them so they don't want to put any more money on the line than they can afford to lose. This happened in the great depression so it just history repeating it's self.

When businesses do not self regulate, the government can either close in or shut them down. This is not new.

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Janice

Correct observation, incorrect conclusion. The companies fear that the next law that comes from the Democrats will destroy them so they don't want to put any more money on the line than they can afford to lose. This happened in the great depression so it just history repeating it's self.

Destroy them? The last I checked they do well enough on their own. Lets not forget that Republicans have the worse fiscal record for the past 100 years. Business performs poorly, profits drop, and employment for the most part either stagnant of dropped. I find it hard to believe anyone in business would buy into the Republican myth.
heck to quote Harry Truman - "If you want to live like a Republican, vote Democratic"

A little honest perspective

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In a rich man's house there is no place to spit but his face.
Diogenes Of Sinope