No Labels

Got this email from NO Labels today.  What points do you think they should hit on when on the show?

The battle is on. Tomorrow morning, No Labels Co-Founder Dave Walker will join Grover Norquist on MSNBC’s Morning Joe at 8AM EDT. In front of the ultimate pledge-maker himself, Walker will call for our leaders to take no pledge but the Pledge of Allegiance.

 

Single-issue partisan pledges only serve to tie the hands of our leaders and prevent them from making the right decisions. Norquist’s Americans for Tax Reform (ATR) pledge, which demands that elected officials promise not to raise taxes, is a prime example of the danger pledges pose to our democracy. His pledge is one of the main reasons today’s debt crisis is so dire -- Republicans are stripped of the power to compromise without breaking their pledge to ATR. 

 

Don’t miss the great showdown between common-sense solutions and hyper-partisan pledges. Watch Walker and Norquist, joined by Lawrence O'Donnell and Senator Mark Warner, on Morning Joe at 8AM Eastern Time tomorrow morning on MSNBC. Tune in and be sure to forward this email to five friends, urging them to watch as well.

Scott Powers

Compensation:  $13,539,924.00
Average Americans this amount could employ: 313

Small business owner: No

Reason Listed:

• State Street management said it will eliminate 530 positions over the next 18 to 20 months
• company posted a $1.6 billion profit in 2010

Sources: http://people.forbes.com/profile/scott-powers/74418
http://articles.boston.com/2011-07-20/business/29795235_1_state-street-round-of-job-cuts-information-technology

Board of Directors of State Street (25 Members)

Combined Estimated Compensation: $119,054,030.00
Average Americans this amount could employ: 2,748

Small Business: No

Reason listed:

• management said it will eliminate 530 positions over the next 18 to 20 months
• company posted a $1.6 billion profit in 2010

Sources: http://people.forbes.com/search?name=&ticker=STT
http://articles.boston.com/2011-07-20/business/29795235_1_state-street-round-of-job-cuts-information-technology

Board of Directors of Cisco (21 Members)

Combined Estimated Compensation: $70,779,980.00
Average Americans this amount could employ: 1,634
Small Business: No

Reason listed: Cisco will cut 9 percent (6,300) of its workforce starting in August.

Sources: http://people.forbes.com/search?name=&ticker=csco
http://www.eweek.com/c/a/IT-Infrastructure/Cisco-to-Cut-6500-Jobs-as-Part-of-Restructuring-Initiatives-117598/

Diane Sawyer

Estimated Compensation: $12,000,000.00
Average Americans this amount could employ: 277
Small Business: No

Reason listed: ABC News is reducing their staff by 300-400.

Sources: http://www.forbes.com/lists/2006/53/AU0O.html
http://articles.latimes.com/2010/feb/24/entertainment/la-et-abc-news24-2010feb24

President Barack Obama

Estimated Salary: $400,000.00
Average Americans this amount could employ: 9
Small Business: No

Reason listed: Just to compare his salary to those of other people on this list.

Sources: http://usgovinfo.about.com/od/thepresidentandcabinet/a/presidentialpay.htm

Vanna White

Estimated Salary: $4,000,000.00+
Average Americans this amount could employ: 92
Small Business: No

Reason listed: We should all be so lucky to have a job like hers.

Sources: http://www.celebritynetworth.com/richest-celebrities/models/vanna-white-net-worth/

Board of Directors of RIMM (18 members)

Collective Estimated Compensation: $24,795,837.00+
Average Americans this amount could employ: 572
Small Business: No

Reason listed: RIM just laid off 2000 workers in North America

Sources: http://people.forbes.com/search?name=&ticker=rimm

Thorsten Heins

Compensation:  $1,922,642.00
Average Americans this amount could employ: 44
Reason listed: RIM just laid off 2000 workers, Heins was promoted as part of this layoff.
Small business owner: No

Sources: http://people.forbes.com/profile/thorsten-heins/154240

About this blog

I am starting this blog as a way of demonstrating how my party, the Republican Party, has it wrong when it comes to refusing to raise taxes on the richest 1% of Americans.  The claim, is that small business owners are among the richest 1%.  That is only true in part.  There are many small business owners who are not among the richest and many of the richest who are not small business owners.  The goal of this blog is to highlight some of those differences. 

Who am I?  I am a former member of my local Republican party, a former employee of the NRCC and a small business owner, who is not among the richest 1% (yet).  I support balancing our budget, but I believe anyone who thinks this can be accomplished only by increasing revenues or only by cutting spending is kidding themselves.

Please share, comment and drop me a line if you want to guest blog here.