Crooks & Liars: "Heartbreaking Scenes from A Small Business Layoff in Ohio"

"Latest Breaking News" bulletin on my hometown's website - NE Pennsylvania.

One of the county's largest employers is closing - 135 jobs lost.

Up there, that's a shotload of jobs. Just like in all the small towns in America.

When is this going to stop?

4 of our 7 employees. I'm one of the lucky (unlucky?) ones left. Scary shit.

..yet the Republicans still give giant tax breaks to big corporations... like the ones they want Obama to put in the stimulas package.

The Media knows that Reaganomics is failed policy.. yet it continues to hold up these failed policies up as the "only" answer... the holy grail of Saint "Ronnie".

Senior citizens are freezing to death in apartments with no heat.. while our tax dollars go towards mega bonuses for CEO's. Can anyone stop the madness?

...He trotted out the "70 percent of American jobs are provided by small business" line in his argument for tax cuts. The obvious question Matthews never asked was "If that is the case, then why does your party continually argue for corporate welfare? Why were Republican leaders insisting on sending billions of dollars to big business just a few months ago?"

NORM ... PETERSON!!! BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"

to compete against the corporate cartels who have rigged the system.

U.S. Manufacturers, which close factories in the U.S. and only purchase from sweatshops in Asia, are no longer manufacturers but importers, which gives them tax advantages, even though those corporations funded the overseas factories, and make profit from them. Companies like Wal-Mart buy only from the cheapest overseas suppliers, maintaining sweatshop working conditions in China as they break American manufacturers. Wal-Mart can get away with this because they drive out the smaller retailers in small towns and rural areas with their "big box" stores. The smaller retailers could provide sales for the smaller U.S. manufacturers, but can't compete with megastores like Wal-Mart. So both small retailers and small manufacturers are driven out of business.

The trade laws and tax laws, in effect, provide a taxpayer subsidy to importers, both retailers and pseudo-manufacturers. This setup is designed to stifle competition, but is touted as "free trade", and is a giant fraud on the American people. This offshoring of jobs produces a huge trade deficit and leads to inflation as the increase in debt to pay for all the imports reduces the value of the dollar.

The "drive to the bottom" on price also reduces the general quality of goods in this country and promotes such practices as adding melamine to food stuffs, and using lead paint in children's toys. There is no "free lunch" and people who shop at Wal-Mart to save a few dollars, in the long term, are not doing themselves or the country any good.