Smart Girl Talks Corporate Taxes

I was at Bunco last week when my friend the Queen called me smart. This occurred because one of our friends was surprised that I didn't like Barrack Obama.

After the Queen's compliment, I basically biffed the rest of the conversation. I was horribly inarticulate about why Barrack Obama is a terrible President. And I was even less convincing about my single most passionate issue: the beauty of free-markets! I hung my head in shame. I only have a few moments like those to attempt to convince someone of the truth.

But do I? Don't I have a blog? Why, if free market economic principles are so interesting and important, don't I talk about them more often?

I think I should commemorate this tongue-tied occurrence with a weekly post about capitalism, free-markets and how it relates to current events. I'm going to call it, "Capitalizing on Tuesday" or "Capitalism Tuesday", or "Free-Market Tuesday". Do you have a suggestion? I'm terrible with names.

So, today's topic is about how awesome it would be if Arizona slashed it's Corporate Tax Rate. Currently, we have one of larger corporate tax rates. According to the Tax Foundation, Arizona's corporate tax rate is 6.9% on all moneys earned. Whether you earn $1 or $1,000,000, you have to pay the state 6.9%.

I'm bringing this up because couple of weeks ago, California enacted the California Internet Sales Tax. All online purchases, irregardless of if the vendor has a brick-and-mortar store, is now subject to sales tax in the state of California. This is a hit for online merchants based in California. The article ended with an interview, "One affiliate, Ken Rockwell of San Diego, the owner of a 12-year-old photography website, said he planned to move out of state.

"Will it be Las Vegas or Scottsdale or Ensenada?" he said. "It's a question of where, not if."

Dear State of Arizona, I have a few suggestions.

1. Start recruiting businesses from California. They want to move! Arizona is the perfect place for businesses to start over. We have very few natural disasters and shipping interruptions. We are very accessible internationally. Yes, it's a tad hot for a few months. So what? Instead of paying higher taxes, you can afford to take vacations!

2. Slash the corporate tax rate to below 5% . This will entice the businesses. They will bring their existing customers, their employees, and hopefully, they will start hiring new people once their business grows.

3. Watch businesses grow! Arizona's unemployment rate is, preliminary, at 9.1%. (Expect that to be adjusted upwards. That rate has been adjusted upwards for the past 2 years.) The real unemployment is probably at 9.5%. Well, the easy fix for this is bring in more businesses for our people to work in. More jobs available means more people working and lower unemployment.

Anyways, if you know your state reps, I would pass along this information. Encourage them to try and find a way to lower the corporate tax rate. Capitalize on California's idiocy.