CAT talks of moving out of Peoria, IL because of increased taxes

Good business move!

Walmart can import cats from China and become cat's USA dealers; afterall, Walmart already has service centers for autos.

Why not expand to marine engine sales and service?

Parts are parts - yes; no?!

This is the us vs them mentality of government employees these days. They are busy "growing their government" every day by finding new things to regulate and new ways to tax.

And ... the US economy is paying the price. Ultimately, it's the US citizen that loses out on opportunity.

In order to deal with over-regulation and frivolous lawsuits, I terminated all of my middle management and turned $60k-$80k jobs into $45k take it or leave it jobs.

Granted, even the $60k to $80k middle management jobs that used to exist in my company didn't have even 1/8 of the retirement benefit of a US Federal Government job. My people are doing with less so we can be taxed and regulated to death to pay for at least 40% too much government.

And ... this is why CAT will leave Illinois.

Relocating , rebuilding and replacing 23,000 skilled workers is also costly . Their central US location outside Chicago has served them well .Doubt they'll leave Illinos. It gives them leverage to influence the state to hwelp them and prime the local unions to get ready to bendover once more .

Quite a firestorm. My position is not the popular one, obviously, and that's ok. First, let's make it clear that I do not favor big government nor unions any more than I do big business. I consider them all necessary evils. What I don't give either is sympathy or fear. I consider them all things that need to be controlled. And all of them come and go without the slightest thought except to their quarterly reports.
This week was the 100th anniversary of the Triangle Shirtwaist factory fire which epitomized the Gilded Era. Just this year they identified the last 6 of the victims. We're heading into another. Some years ago a man named Kennedy said, "Ask not what your country can do for you. Ask what you can do for your country." Those words were never more poignant than they are today, but the corporations don't care. It's not their job.

And you'll have all the roads, hospitals, schools, electric grids, etc. that can be bought for those taxes that aren't charged. We grumble about our taxes. That's the American way. But we pay them because we want the lifestyle that affords us. We like to be able to call 911 and actually get help. We like to have our garbage picked up. We like to have lights 24/7, and roads we can drive our fancy cars on. Anyone want to venture an idea on how we pay for those things without paying our taxes? And before anyone says real estate or payroll taxes, we've already pretty much topped out there what with layoffs, reduced salaries and foreclosures. Plus we grumble about those as well.
As someone mentioned earlier, I think CAT is sabre rattling and won't go anywhere. However any company that won't help support their community is welcome to go wherever they like, and somehow the gap will be filled. If we lose a Walmart we'll just have more mom & pop stores.

I know we're supposed to keep politics out of but "Hoooo boy!" you done got lots of things wrong. I suggest some reading starting with:

"Capitalism and Freedom" by Milton Friedman

"Socialism" by Ludwig von Mises

"The Fatal Conceit" by F. A. Hayek


Your little fairy tale overlooks the massive and unsustainable entitlements that are strangling this country as well as government waste and corruption.

To be honest what you should be asking your Senator is why should your taxes be handed out to foreign Countries

Pakistan - they hate you , burn your flag in protest yet this and Bush even though it's know that the ISI is helping the people that are targeting your Soldiers and other nationalities in Afghanistan have gave them Millions per year off course they will take your cash but they DON'T LIKE YOU LOT ONE BIT , why feed the hand that truly hates you ????

And lets not forgetting the Cost of the 2nd Iraqi War .. the on going Afghanistan campaign

If you want to blame anyone blame your own Nation's foreign policy DEALINGS and the endless handouts your Country has given over the years and wasted expenditure by previous Goverments .. it's come back to hurt painfully ..

As well the those on Wall st that like to play Mr Gekko which again you rhe Tax payer had to bail out

So right you are. However a lot of that is for strategic positioning, etc. Plus, when disaster strikes we are invariably the first country to get the call, and it's not in our makeup to deny the helpless even when they've shown their hatred of us and will again when the crisis is relieved. Very complicated situation there, and one that's not likely to be resolved in any real way soon. So it remains that this all has to be paid for somehow. And remember that we just extended the Bush tax cuts for the wealthy. So if not paid for by the corporations and the rich who enjoy the perks of living here, then by who? It won't be by the guy who has no job and no home, nor the company with 20 employees just trying to survive. They don't have it to give. Large corporations have reaped unimaginable profits over the last 20 years. Many individuals have amassed obscene amounts of personal wealth during that same time. It's time to tighten belts and give back. In a week I'll pay my taxes. I don't like it, and I don't have it. But somehow I'll pay it because this is where I choose to live and I owe my country, my state and my community for the life they've made it possible for me to enjoy.

Total U.S. foreign aid in 2010 was about 1.7% of the U.S. budget.

Here's a little info on just where most of that money went ...

http://www.vaughns-1-pagers.com/politics/us-foreign-aid.htm

Hi,

I wonder just how much money goes out that is not "accounted for" as on the website above.

The US supports whoever it sees as being able to best serve it's interests on the day with oil/intelligence or any number of things deemed "essential" by those in power and their hangers on/backers.

It was not all that long ago that Iran was being helped out when the Shah was around and when he got pushed out and the Ayatollah Khomeini came back from exile the next round of funding and support went to Saddam in Iraq while they battled each other.

It remains to be seen what happens now it looks like US Made weapons have allowed a rebel crowd to rise to prominence in Libya - I don't recall any friendly rhetoric aimed at any western nation coming out of there recently. I guess they unlike Somalia can be made to repay the cost of that "intervention" with some light sweet crude - the basis of most of the diesel used in Europe.

CAT stock is up 20+% over the past six months.

Oh, and by the way, Cat just invested a pile of dough in Decatursville, IL for a plant producing mining equipment...as Rio Tinto and BHP Billiton can't dig iron ore and coal out of the ground fast enough.

Those pesky facts!

And-duh, Cat's CEO and IL Governor Pat Quinn are about to have a 'come to Jesus' meeting real soon. Revised 7% corporate tax rate re-revised: comin' right up!

Given those 'pesky facts' I think I'm being too hard on them. They should be allowed to operate tax free, and cut payroll 50%.

Given the destination of the huge majority of cash, I would say it is linked to local (US) voting blocks and their lobbying efforts. There is a large elephant in the room. It has heavy feet and no one is allowed to talk about it.