BY RUSSELL TURNER
WHAT IS PATRIOTIC
Our country has prospered because of the self-reliant trait that our forefathers possessed. I have witnessed my parents and grandparents strive to make life better for themselves and their children. Whenever they saw a better way to do something or find a better job they would seize the opportunity. In my opinion it is foolish to ignore opportunity when it knocks. I live in a county that borders another state, I have seen people quit their job in one state and simply cross the border and do the same work and bring home a bigger pay check. If you were being paid 100 dollars in each state for the same work, but in one state the tax rate would take 35 dollars while the other state would only take 15 dollars, would it not make perfect sense to go to the state which would allow you to keep an additional 20 dollars of the 100 you earned?
Over the past week the Burger King Corporation has done essentially the same thing by purchasing a Canadian Company and moving their headquarters to Canada. Since the decision by Burger King, many people in government have accused them of being unpatriotic and turning their back on America. In my opinion our government has exhibited all of the actions of being less than patriotic. Is it patriotic for our government to rack up a national debt that will rob future generations of the American dream? Is it patriotic for our government to force all of us to become involved with a health care sham known as Obamacare? And finally is it patriotic for our government to be an instrument of crony capitalism?
We need to remember that the Burger King Corporation has shareholders that have invested their hard earned money into their company with the expectation of having a return on their investment. I have noticed that most of the people accusing Burger King of being unpatriotic have never owned or run a private business of their own; until those accusers have actually run a private business they do not have the perspective to understand what it takes to make a business survive. Earlier in this column I used the analogy about a person crossing a state line to make a better living for his family, what Burger King is doing is no different. America has the highest federal corporate tax rate at 35% whereas Canada has a tax rate of 15%. Our country needs to get more in line with other nations and lower its corporate tax rate, or other companies may follow suite. Instead of our elected leaders complaining about Burger King being unpatriotic, maybe they should learn the definition of the word patriotic and learn the concept of freedom and a limited government, and apply it.
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