In the midst of all the political activity of the past few months, I took the time to read Free Lunch by David Cay Johnston. The complete title is Free Lunch: How the Wealthiest Americans Enrich Themselves at Government Expense (and StickYou with the Bill). I’m not exactly one to give book reviews, but this is a must read for anyone who has recognized that big business is getting bigger (not better) and the Mom’N'Pop stores are dying off quicker than a black widow spider can eat her mate after breeding. I had assumed (and we all know where that leads) that when WalMart, for example, came to town they followed the same tax rules as other retail businesses. Reading Mr. Johnston’s book gave me a lot of information that I was totally unaware of… such as some of these large retail stores don’t necessarily pay the sales tax they collect to the government, as I had to do when I operated a store. I was also unaware of the subsidies some of these big retail businesses receive. The entire book is filled with facts, many of which I took the time to explore independently before recommending this read.Don’t think for an instant it is a boring expose. It isn’t. There is a section on how Bush 43 made his millions, not in oil as most of us have been led to believe, but in a deal with his baseball buddies. Of course, we all remember the joke… Bush can’t be qualified for the presidency. He is the only man who couldn’t find oil in Texas and he traded Sammy Sosa. Well, there may be more truth to the joke than one would imagine.Anyway, if you have ever wondered how the corporate biggies continue to grow and show profits that are staggering while Mom and Pop are closing their doors, it isn’t because they buy in bulk at cheaper prices. In fact, that’s a minute part of the equation. It was the other part of the equation that really blew my socks off.I must say after reading Free Lunch I have new hope, not that things can be changed over night, but that we don’t have to totally depend on Washington to fix the problem. We can begin on a local level by not offering the outrageous incentives and subsidies we now pay big business to come to a corner near you. If you don’t want to continue to pay the taxes WalMart should be paying, and if you want to know why the earning gap is growing between corporate executives and the rest of us, please read this book. It’s an eye opener. Or, maybe I’m the only ignorant one left in America.Interview on NPR: I was delighted to hear an interview with David Cay Johnston today on NPR. To go to the interview CLICK HERE! You can listen to the 38+ minute interview.
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.