China Hub

Here is the theme song for the special session of 2011 and all the business proposals that flew around the Missouri General Assembly:

“If you’ve got the money I’ve got the time
We’ll go honky tonkin’ and we’ll have a time
Bring along your Cadillac leave my old wreck behind
If you’ve got the money honey I’ve got the time…

Yes we’ll go honky tonkin’ and we’ll be pleasure bent
I’ll look like a million, but I won’t have a cent
But if you run short of money I’ll run short of time
Cause you with no more money honey I’ve no more time…”

The China Hub was a package of legislative proposals to do some tax incentives, but some uncomfortable questions need to be answered over whether government must make deals in order to grow our economy.

Perhaps the legislature was asking the wrong question.  Is our economy recessed because we have a transportation problem creating obstacles in getting enough goods from China?  If our governor can sign trade deals executively, why do the legislators feel a need to pass more laws?  If the legislature wanted to seriously improve our business climate, why has it refused to enact reforms that are proven to help encourage jobs?

Some of the opposition to the China Hub was based upon these issues:

• There is already plenty of warehouse space that is currently vacant.  Why do we want to build more warehouses?
• Why not build on the land already owned by the airport where all those houses were bought out?
• Why is government doing the deal instead of Lambert when Lambert will be the one to profit from it?
• Lambert charges double the rate of O’Hare airport for cargo landing fees.  Is that affecting where China wants to land their airplanes?  And if so, do we want governent to act as the great equalizer for other businesses and industries?
• What happens if the passenger flights are delayed because of all the cargo traffic?
• Why do we need more stuff from China?  Isn’t our market flooded with enough Chinese made products already?
• Foreign trade zones are not subject to customsinspections.
• All the jobs created to build the warehouses will go away after the construction is completed.  Then what?

Many citizens worked hard to prevent these tax credit bills from passing.  We love to see our citizens become more active, but the real reason the China Hub bill didn’t pass had little to do with the phone calls, visits to the Capitol, letters, filling out witness forms, etc.

The legislators proved to us that they are willing to wantonly ignore the input from the people by passing the MOSIRA tax credit bill, which was even worse than the China Hub bill.  We were spared, not because they listened to us, but because they couldn’t agree amongst themselves.  Since both chambers overwhelmingly supported the effort, I fully expect it to come back again.  In many respects, the legislative process is like a sporting event.  Our team won, but it was not because we had the best players.  It was because the other team kept fumbling the football.  Is that a real victory?

Our decisions should be rooted in reality, honest facts and the Constitution.  We should take note that the majority of the legislators don’t concern themselves with the principles of limited government and free markets.

The path to our prosperity is paved with reducing government regulation and taxation.  “What you attract them with is what you’ve got to keep them with.”  We want our businesses to succeed because they were exceptional—not because they are exemptional!   i.e.—exempt from the rules other must endure.  To win a blue ribbon for having a vigorous economy, we must go back to the original recipe.  Missouri can blossom again when businesses locate here because we have reasonable land costs, low taxes and an ethical workforce.

Little Bit of Humor…

The following are accounts of actual exchanges between airline pilots and control towers around the world…

“TWA 2341, for noise abatement turn right 45 Degrees.”

“Centre, we are at 35,000 feet. How much noise can we make up here?”

“Sir, have you ever heard the noise a 747 makes when it hits a 727?”

A DC-10 had come in a little hot and thus had an exceedingly long roll out after touching down. San Jose Tower Noted: “American 751, make a hard right turn at the end of the runway, if you are able. If you are not able, take the Guadalupe exit off Highway 101, make a right at the lights and return to the airport.”

Taxiing down the tarmac, a DC-10 abruptly stopped, turned around and returned to the gate. After an hour-long wait, it finally took off. A concerned passenger asked the flight attendant, “What, exactly, was the problem?” “The pilot was bothered by a noise he heard in the engine,” explained the flight attendant. “It took us a while to find a new pilot.”