Omigawd!

It would require a major change to the constitution, something that hasn't happened on quite a few years.

But seriously, Sarbanes/Oxley has caused small businesses to needlessly spend millions of dollars trying to conform with the act. I think there are better ways they could spend their money.

Sarbanes is one of our Congress Critters in Maryland. He hasn't done a thing worth doing in all the years he represented Maryland. Glad to see that the one time he gains national recognition it is for a turd like this act.

-Chuck

Just plain "socialist" doesn't characterize them with the right level of granularity.

There are the "People's socialists", who want to take your money away to pay the poor people's bills, and the "National socialists", who want to take your money away to pay the rich people's bills.

Interestingly, the German acronym for "National socialist" is NAZI.

Cheers! Rich

own

other

I would agree with these concerns, if they were in fact true. However, this is not the case.

As far as small business purchasing any goods from overseas (eg. via internet) there is absolutely no duty or tax payable unless the value of those goods is more than $1000, irrespective of whether there is an Australian manufacturer.

For businesses which must import items in order to produce a product for sale, they can apply for a Tariff Concession Order which means that absolutely no customs duty applies as long as those items are not available from an Australian manufacturer.

The workplace in Europe is somewhat of a mystery, I agree. At one time (pre mid 1990's) Australian workplaces were dominated by unions and collective bargaining with pay and conditions determined by Awards which spelled out every detail of what workers were paid and what hours they worked with special rates for overtime, weekend work or unrostered duty. That has all changed since then and workers have virtually no rights these days. Anybody wanting a job here now has an Australian Workplace Agreement (AWA) slapped in front of them which contains only the bare minimum of compulsory conditions determined by gov't. There is no negotiation (despite Johnny Howard's claim that the worker now has "choices"), and it is a case of take it or leave it. If the boss says "jump", the worker now says "how high?"

The protectionism in Europe is well known - we have all heard about the "wine lake" and the "butter lake" where farmers are paid to produce goods which are then dumped - purely to maintain an impression that their farming industry is larger than it really is. When arguments are raised from Australia about the levels of subsidisation of European farmers they counter by saying how many farmers would be put out of work, even though those farmers are not effectively contributing any marketable goods to the economy.

sector

there.

doing

This is an excerpt from a 2006 Aust gov't document

which spells out the policy of the US with regard to foreign built vessels.

QUOTE

2.27 The U.S. has a clearly stated and well-established protectionist policy for their shipping industry. The Merchant Marine Act, 1920 stipulates that no merchandise shall be transported by water between points in the United States either directly or via a foreign port in any other vessel than a vessel built in and documented under the laws of the United States and owned by persons who are citizens of the United States. UNQUOTE

While it is probably intended to protect USA interests with regard to defence vessels it also applies to any other vessel. I recall a few years back when Australian golfer Greg Norman (the Great White Shark) wanted to homeport his Australian built luxury yacht in the USA (because his major business interests were there), and he was disallowed under this policy. He bought it for $70M and sold it for $77M - not a bad profit. The shipbuilder (Austal) lost $18M on the deal. It was when Austal were trying to raise awareness in the USA of their capabilities with the hope of attracting orders for both private,commercial and military vessels. They probably figured it was good business if Greg Norman had one of their yachts homeported in the US but obviously it backfired. Soon after they set up a facility in Florida which then allowed them to access the local market - and hence the LCS contract.

I made the suggestion re a new Pontiac G8 with tongue firmly planted in cheek. I also keep my own vehicles for a long time. I have just bought a new Peugeot 307 HDi 2L turbo-diesel (I know, a foreign import

- but Australia doesn't build small cars) but kept my old 1993 Mazda

626 2.5L V6 as a backup. It drips a spot of oil occasionally but otherwise it is still in good nick after 14 years. It would cost a fortune to drop the motor/transmission out just to fix the oil drip so I won't bother with doing that.