How goes it? If by chance you are headed to The Mean Cup in Central Market for a cup of joe tomorrow, I highly recommend their Costa Rican Fair Trade brew. Spill a little sweetener in the cup, let it cool for a few minutes, then let the Latin American liquid mingle with the sweets and WALLAH! you got yourself one fine cup to start the morning.
Heard the one about how the middle class tax credits in the federal stimulus package are aimed at the wrong sector of the economy? If you have a diehard Republican uncle or neighbor, then you’ve heard it before. Many of those Republicans including those in Congress like U.S. Rep Joe Pitts say any tax cut should be aimed at “job creators.” In other words, those who own businesses or are wealthy enough to start businesses and hire people.
Uh huh.
But a closer look at the recently passed economic stimulus package suggests to some business owners that this is job creating legislation.
Consider Powell Steel Corp., located here in Lancaster. Steve Powell, the company’s president, told the Nest today that while a tax credit would be “great,” the real way to grow a business and create jobs is to get contracts. It’s no good to give a tax cut for job creation if no one is buying your product, and right now, hardly anyone is buying steel, Powell said.
“Right now, we’re looking at what’s out there to be bid on, and there’s very, very slim pickings,” Powell said.
Demand is down, waaaay down. But the stimulus package has money earmarked for bridge repairs (which needs steel) and school construction (more steel needed) and prison construction (steel, please) and on and on. The goal is to unfreeze the market place because right now nobody wants to build, nobody wants to rehab existing facilities or infrastructure. And if nobody’s buying, why would a business tax cut create jobs? The way the Obama administration sees it, they’re trying to create the demand.
“The way you grow your business is to expand and grow your knowledge base and hire new people,” Powell said. “Getting contracts is the most important thing. With that, you create jobs, and when you create jobs you create wealth, and when you create wealth, people want to spend.”
Elsewhere around the state, life is quiet as Pennsylvania celebrates President’s Day … well, except for the folks over at Wheatland.
