By Robert Pembroke
For eons, the Democrats have been known as the tax-and-spend guys — and rightfully so. To guarantee that they elect a Democrat president in 2020, they should put through meaningful tax cuts for the middle class.
I asked my Democrat friends at the Saturday morning “Breakfast Club” if this was a good idea and, of course, they said no. If, heaven willing, Democrats were able to come up with some meaningful tax cuts for the middle-class, I would vote Democratic.
So, how should the Democratic tax-cutting legislation be crafted? First, scrap the presentday 74,648-page federal tax code. Then, send a postcard to each potential taxpayer and ask them to pay whatever they feel is appropriate, given their personal economic situation. I’ll bet “dollars to doughnuts” that this will increase the federal government’s revenue.
"Redux" is an interesting word and a word that present-day Democrats should take it to heart. "Redux" means to go back in time and this is exactly what present-day Democratic strategists should do. Jack Kennedy convinced his sitting 1964 legislature to cut taxes big time and decades of prosperity were the result. The only hiccup was in 1979-1980 after Kennedy had been assassinated and Reagan had not been elected.
I ran our family small business for 40 years and I was responsible not only for profitability, but also the wage level of all our small-business employees. And here, in retrospect, I should have figured out a better way to pay them.
Only 40 percent of our employees were paid based on what they contributed to the bottom line. The balance of our employees were paid a salary based on what was the prevailing rate of businesses similar in size to ours. If I were to receive a meaningful tax cut for the business, it would go to the employees first and then investment in the company’s future.
Recently, both of my daughters made suggestions for topics for my column. One said I should write about income inequality and the other said I should write about diversity. Notice the common thread. Women are still being treated unfairly in the job market.
As stated above, I should have figured out a better way to pay my employees, the way a fellow 3M dealer from Fresno did (Incidentally, he was George Lucas’ father). He set up a bonus plan for his employees that did not discriminate. Based on the profitability of his company, their bonuses were split evenly. For example, if the bonus amount was $100,000 and you had 10 employees, each would get $10,000. This is a partial solution to income inequality.
When it comes to diversity in the workplace, I have not come up with a solution. Yes, it is a tough problem and needs to be solved. If you have a solution, please email me.
I have opined many times in my column about the high cost of a college education. The University of Utah has 35 employees dedicated to the diversity problem and if you want to see how the department works, you can observe them in Room 204 in the Park Building.
I have also been told that each of the 100 departments in the school has people assigned to solving the diversity problem. Are the equity and diversity problems being solved at the university? They are not, according to people I know who work at the University of Utah, and I don’t think adding more bodies will help.
Would more laws, regulations and executive orders on diversity be a winning strategy for the Democrats? I don’t think so. But meaningful tax cuts for the middle class would.
Robert Pembroke is the former chairman and CEO of Pembroke’s Inc. in Salt Lake City. He can be reached at pembroke894@gmail.com.