Chinks Appear in Bush Business Armor - WSJ

[question everything]

Kerry, Sensing an Opening, Tries to Gain Political Capital By Courting Corporate America

By JACKIE CALMES
Staff Reporter of THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
June 29, 2004; Page A4

WASHINGTON -- Though George W. Bush has been a decidedly pro-business president, a few cracks are surfacing in what had been a solid wall of business support. Those small cracks, some stemming from dismay with record budget deficits, others from fears that his foreign policies are clouding the global business climate, have grown wide enough for Sen. John Kerry to launch a behind-the-scenes effort to woo business executives. While the Democratic candidate has no chance of matching the incumbent Republican's business support, even a few notable defectors could help blunt Mr. Bush's advantage, raise doubts with swing voters and draw more money into the Kerry coffers.

The upshot is a mostly quiet but significant struggle over business's allegiance. For Mr. Kerry, last week's endorsement by onetime corporate icon Lee Iacocca, the former Chrysler Corp. chairman, was only the first of what his campaign promises will be more such staged appearances with business leaders. Mr. Kerry already had won backing from Berkshire Hathaway's Warren Buffett and Apple Computer's Steve Jobs.

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Among Kerry supporters is Eric Best, a managing director at Morgan Stanley, who says Mr. Bush's tax cuts go too far at the expense of mounting deficits. "I was raised as a fiscal conservative, and I think his fiscal policy is scary," he says. Mr. Best, who remembers Mr. Bush as an upper-class dormitory proctor at Phillips Academy Andover boarding school, says that what really motivates him to stump for Mr. Kerry is the hostility the global strategist finds as he travels.

"I can testify to the extraordinary destruction of 'American Brand Value' accomplished by this administration, from Europe to Hong Kong to Shanghai to Tokyo, and beyond," he wrote in a recent e-mail that he widely distributed. "If any CEO of a global multinational had accomplished this for his enterprise as quickly and radically as George Bush Jr. has done for the U.S., he would be replaced by the board in no time."

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Mr. Kerry has tailored his economic platform to appeal to executives. His health-care plan, for example, mostly eschews direct government spending, regulations and mandates, and depends mainly on tax credits and business subsidies. He would have the government pick up much of the cost of catastrophic-illness coverage, which would bring relief to business. Mr. Kerry would eliminate capital-gains taxes for long-term investments in small business, and use revenue from new penalties on outsourcing to cut corporate taxes.

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Write to Jackie Calmes at [e-mail]

URL for this article:
http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,SB108846166940349698,00.html

[Stuckinthebush]

1. Bush is bad for business

Sure, in the short term, his policies help by continuing to cut taxes for business. Also, certain industries love him because of his ventures (defense, for example). But most business people are long term and strategic thinkers. Bush has crapped all over the world which hurts American business. Savvy capitalists recognize this and will want him out.

You can give a business all of the tax breaks you want, but if there is a poisoned climate due to American arrogance, your business can't make money on the international stage.

Buh-bye Bush.

[swinney]

2. Democrats create Wealth and Job but who will tell the people

I am so disgusted with DNC and spokesmen. I have sent this to them.
Will you help spread it. It is truth.
----------------SHOCK & AWE------------------------
----------DEMOCRATS CREATE WEALTH AND JOBS-----------
1.From Harding In 1921 to Bush in 2003
2.Democrats held White House for 40 years and Republicans for 42.5 years.
3.Democrats created 75,820,000 net new jobs -- Republicans 36,440,000.
4.Per Year Average—Democrats 1,825,200---Republicans 856,400.
5.Republicans had 9 presidents during the period and 6 had depression or recession.
6.Republicans had a recession/depression in 177 months and Democrats in 32 months.
7.DOW—grew by 52% more under Democrats.
8.GDP—grew by 43% more under Democrats.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Comparing Democrat’s hero-CLINTON—versus Republican’s hero--REAGAN
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1.JOBS—grew by 43% more under Clinton.
2.GDP---grew by 57% more under Clinton.
3.DOW—grew by 700% more under Clinton..
4.NASDAQ-grew by 18 times as much under Clinton.
4.SPENDING--grew by 28% under Clinton---80% under Reagan.
5.DEBT—grew by 43% under Clinton—187% under Reagan.
6. DEFICITS—Clinton got a large surplus--grew by 112% under Reagan.
7.NATIONAL INCOME—grew by100% more under Clinton.
8.PERSONAL INCOME—Grew by 110% more under Clinton.
SOURCES—Bureau of Labor Statistics (www.BLS.Gov)--Economic Policy Institute (EPI.org)—Global & World Almanacs from 1980 to 2003 (annual issues)
www.the-hamster.com (chart taken from NY Times)
National Archives History on Presidents. www.nara.gov

Please submit comments to [e-mail] or P.O. Box 3411-Burlington NC-27215

[Tsiyu]

3. Simple Economics

If you don't pay people a living wage, if you cut taxes and wage a blowout war, if you alienate the world, if you only care about your wealthy buddies, business is pretty well gonna suck.
Poor people don't spend, fewer resources when you're waging a war means you'll take longer to "win" it, alienating people makes them boycott your crap and making your buddies rich at the expense of anyone else makes you a lot of enemies. Duh....

[Demeter]

4. As Dolly, of Hello, Dolly says:

Money is like manure--pile it up and it's a health hazard. It has to be spread evenly around to do anybody any good!