Some definitions and a thought or two

Merriam-Webster online's primary definition of Socialism is:  "a way of organizing a society in which major industries are owned and controlled by the government rather than by individual people and companies."

Since we don't like Socialism, that means we don't like Tennessee Valley Authority, right? Or the local utility companies?.

How about these guys:

• Commodity Credit Corporation^[27]
• Corporation for National and Community Service (Americorps)
• Corporation for Public Broadcasting
• Export-Import Bank of the United States^[28]
• Federal Agricultural Mortgage Corporation^[29]
• Farm Credit Banks^[30]
• Federal Crop Insurance Corporation
• Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation
• Federal Financing Bank^[31]
• Federal Home Loan Banks^[32]
• Federal Prison Industries^[33]
• The Financing Corporation^[34]
• Gallaudet University^[35]
• Government National Mortgage Association^[36]
• Legal Services Corporation^[37]
• National Consumer Cooperative Bank^[38]
• National Fish and Wildlife Foundation^[39]
• Neighborhood Reinvestment Corporation^[40]
• Millennium Challenge Corporation
• National Corporation for Housing Partnerships (NCHP); Washington, D.C.
• National Credit Union Administration Central Liquidity Facility
• National Endowment for Democracy^[41]
• National Park Foundation^[42]
• National Railroad Passenger Corporation, doing business as Amtrak
• Overseas Private Investment Corporation
• Panama Canal Commission
• Pennsylvania Avenue Development Corporation; Washington, D.C.
• Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation
• St. Lawrence Seaway Development Corporation
• Securities Investor Protection Corporation

(source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Government-owned_corporation#United_States)

Again, using Merriam-Webster's online dictionary, Capitalism is defined as: "a way of organizing an economy so that the things that are used to make and transport products (such as land, oil, factories, ships, etc.) are owned by individual people and companies rather than by the government."

I don't think that the list of organizations above would exist without the backing of local and federal governments. I think it is necessary to have government involvement sometimes.

Maybe, instead of calling people names, we should think about the meaning of those words?

                                   ______________________________

CEO pay and the minimum wage - here's a nifty little statistic:  The ratio of CEO-to-worker pay between CEOs of the S&P 500 Index companies and U.S. workers widened to 380 times in 2011 from 343 times in 2010. Back in 1980, the average large company CEO only received 42 times the average worker’s pay. 

As a business owner who has taken ALL of the risk, signed my name to ALL of the notes payable, and am on the hook for EVERYTHING that can go wrong in my business, I damned well expect to be paid significantly better than my employees.  But 380 times better? I think I might be able to share the wealth a little better than that.

Here's another fun little statistic:  The Walmart CEO gets paid 1,034 times more than the median Walmart worker, according to a new analysis by PayScale, a salary information website.

About a month ago, I was talking about how we as taxpayers are actually subsidizing Walmart and other large corporations.  

Doesn't this mean then, that I am helping to pay Mike Duke's $23.15 million total compensation, regardless of whether or not I shop there? I think it does, and I don't think I really like that.

I don't find, in dealing with my clients, many companies who can't afford to lift their employees off of the minimum wage, ESPECIALLY adults. I think that requiring a minimum wage to be a living wage, AND to be tied to the rate of inflation, is good social policy.  Sometimes, having the government decide social policy is a good thing.  The mortgage interest deduction on your tax return is a government mandated social policy designed to promote home ownership.  Likewise, the charitable contribution deduction is a government mandated social policy designed to promote INDIVIDUAL charitable giving. I've yet to hear any complaints about those examples.