CAN'T MAKE IT UP

Damndest thing. For probably the first time in his life Harry Reid says something that is completely honest and he gets murdered. You can't make this stuff up. I'll leave it there because this is not supposed to be a political blog. Funny, though.

Not much happening of great interest. The talk on the street is how much GS and he other firms are going to pay their top producers and in what form will the payments take. For the gang on the left, anything will be too much whereas for the States of New York and New Jersey as well as the City of New York, anything that isn't immediately taxable simply makes their problems multiply. The financing of those two states are so linked to the pay on the Street as to make them joined at the hip with the high rollers. The Brits of course are planning to tax any payments above 25,000 Pounds and 50% and there are cries that we do the same. The fact that we have this little thing called a Constitution that might get in the way is apparently of no consequence to the tax and spend mob. I remember a wonderful little event that took place whilst I was in London before the Thatcher revolution. I fellow director of mine, a Brit to be sure, approached me with his pay record for the last month of the year. He owed the bank money for the right to work there. What a hoot although he was not amused. In those days we spent almost as much time trying to figure out how to outwit Inland Revenue as we did trying to do business. It was insane but necessary as the talent and brain drain from Britain was murderous due to the high marginal tax rates. But Wee Gordie, staring defeat square in the face, is desperate for any populist trick to include deamonizing one small element of the workforce. Madness. Might well get away with it, though.

We wonder why there has been no real turn-around in the economy. Actions such as this by governments create so much uncertainty that corporate managers are loath to take any risk other than a sure thing. Hence we see little lending because there is little demand for lending. Washington is breeding uncertainty and confusion on taxation, regulation and employment. Less is always more from that part of the world, and truth rather than political other-speak is what is needed. In other words we need more Harry Reids.......That's a joke, son.