The Issues

We're living in difficult economic times, but we're all in this together. Government policies affect our company's ability to make a profit, create jobs, and take care of employees through our compensation and benefit programs. Too much of anything can be a bad thing especially when it's burdensome laws, government "red tape," and taxation. Too much of big government doesn't just affect our company; it affects our employees, our customers, and our shareholders.

Energy And Gasoline

Increasing energy production in the United States is good for America, our company, and our employees. Here's why:

Rising energy and gasoline prices hit household budgets hard, forcing families to spend less on other things. It's the same with our company. Higher pump prices increase the cost of making and transporting the products we sell, leaving the company with less money to grow the business and take care of our employees. Even if we could raise our prices a bit, customers would buy less the way many of you don't fill up your gas tank anymore. In either case, this is not good for our company or our employees.

Health Insurance

The federal government requiring all U.S. citizens to buy or otherwise obtain health insurance coverage as a condition of their citizenship is not good for America, our company, and our employees. Here's why:

The new federal health care law amounts to the single largest tax on American people and businesses in history according to the United States Supreme Court. One part of this tax is a 40% excise tax on plans that provide generous coverage to employees, which could mean a big tax hike on insurance plans like ours. But, it gets even worse
for some employees. Employers can avoid the high costs mandated by the new federal health care law by "dumping" their employees into a federal government plan and just pay a $2,000 penalty for doing so. While our company has no intention of doing so, we may be forced into doing so in order to stay in business.

Taxes

Increasing current tax rates and creating new taxes on businesses are not good for America, our company, and our employees. Here's why:

Taxes are like any other cost to a business; they are ultimately passed onto the customer as higher prices for company products and services. So, it's consumers who have less money in their pockets when taxes on business are raised. If consumers have less money to spend, they will buy less, and businesses will then have less money to grow their businesses and take care of their employees.