A Million, A Billion, A Trillion
I prefer to focus on more positive topics. For instance, if two reports come out on the same day – one about an increase in housing starts and another about rising inflation – I’m much more likely to share the positive news about the housing starts. I guess that’s just how I’m wired. And besides, you, my dear reader, get enough of the crappy stuff from your daily news outlets without me having to pile on.
However, this month I want to comment on (or, rant about) a few things.
I’m writing this article just after tax time, so maybe that’s why I’m in a foul mood. When I see small businesses – the foundation of our economy – get taxed at every turn, it makes me angry.
Small businesses are the engine that propels this country forward. Between 1993 and mid-2013, they accounted for 63% of the net new jobs created, according to the Small Business Association’s Office of Advocacy. U.S. Census Bureau data shows that small businesses accounted for 48.5% of all private sector payrolls in 2011.
Despite providing employment and income to tens of millions of Americans, owners of small businesses are often maligned by our government and media as “greedy” and “selfish.”
President Obama likes to say that the “rich” need to pay their fair share. He’ll say that millionaires and billionaires can afford to pay more.
Many small business owners fall into the “millionaire” category because their business taxes are passed through their personal taxes. This doesn’t mean that the owner sees a profit of $1 million; only that they had revenue of $1 million. Many small businesses struggle to make a net profit of 5% or less.
Lumping millionaires and billionaires together is idiotic. There is a Grand Canyon-sized difference between the two.
To really understand the difference between a
million, billion and trillion, here’s an illustration
using seconds as an example:
1 Million Seconds is 12 days.
1 Billion Seconds is 32 years.
1 Trillion Seconds is 31,689 years.
The differences between a millionaire and a billionaire are huge. They say that in
Washington, a trillion (dollars) is the new billion. As you can see, in the information
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For the first time in many years, I was able to get down to the Florida Keys
for the Spring Tarpon migration. We didn’t get any Tarpon to the boat, but I did pull in this Crevalle Jack from an oceanside flat. |
above, the difference between a billion and a trillion is staggering. Keep that in mind the next time our politicians talk about adding another trillion dollars to the deficit.
In spite of all of this, I need to say that we still live in the greatest country in the world. We have many freedoms, including freedom of speech. If I was a Russian citizen that criticized Putin, my next “Message from Doug” may be coming from Siberia – if at all.
To Your Success,
