BY RUSSELL TURNER
OLE BLUE
All of my grandparents have passed away for several years now, but I am fortunate to have fond memories of them. One of my grandfathers was a farmer; I can remember him talking about plowing his fields with mules. Today there are very few farmers left that actually farmed with horses or mules, but his stories can be applied to the modern day world. He often told the story about one of his best mules, “OLE BLUE”.
Like any animal, horses and mules can be contrary; many of his mules knew when my grandfather was ready to harness them and do a day’s work. They would instinctively run to the back side of the pasture and refuse to be caught. However Ole Blue was different; he had a gentle nature, and he would always come to my granddad. Needless to say Old Blue was worked more than the other mules. Anytime the garden needed to be plowed Old Blue would be the one to do it. Really it wasn’t fair that Ole Blue had to do the most work, but he was the most dependable of all of the mules. I have always heard the old expression about working a good horse to death; the same can be said about continually adding taxes and fees upon the hard working people of this country.
Here in my state of Oklahoma the legislature will convene in a few short weeks. For several months there has been a constant drumbeat about not enough money being pumped into education. One of the main complaints is that teacher salaries here in Oklahoma are lower than other areas of the country. We need to remember that the problems they are facing are not unique only to their profession. The other trades are also experiencing the same problems. There have been several bills submitted to raise additional funds. One legislator wants to force small business owners who do work such as barbers, auto mechanics, carpenters, etc. to charge a sales tax upon their labor. This idea has surfaced ever so often in the legislature; fortunately it didn’t make it into law. In my opinion this is an extremely bad idea. Many small business owners will go out of business because of the extra headache of bookwork they will be forced to do. As I remember, several years ago we Oklahomans voted in State Question 640 to prevent tax increases without a vote of the people. Now our elected officials are playing word games calling these tax increase user fees, removing the exemption, or some other legal mumbo jumbo. State Question 640 is being ignored and is becoming a vague memory.
Small business is the backbone of our entire economic system. The people complaining about the low pay like to quote the salaries in places like Texas or northwestern Arkansas as being higher. While that may be true, we need to also look at the private sector in those areas. Those areas have a vibrant and productive private sector. When an area is growing all of the construction trades are prospering, when the shops and restaurants are built and open they are selling their products which increases the tax base. When more money is flowing in the system all salaries rise. Anytime additional burdens are put on the private sector it will contract.
The private sector is the only place our government can get money to operate government. When you see companies such as Sears, K Mart, and Macys closing stores across Oklahoma, that should be an indicator that our economy has problems. Like Ole Blue, the small business sector is carrying the load; we need to remember that you can work a good horse to death.
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