Principle #7--The Business of America is Business

The business of America is business. This does not mean that the modern Republican party is beholden to business, big or small. It means that the modern Republican Party recognizes that commerce is the lifeblood of our Republic. It is what puts food on our tables, and it is what equips our matchless Armed Forces. One cannot be pro-America and anti-business.

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Napoleon was supposed to have described England derisively as a "nation of shopkeepers", which made it unfit to fight his glorious French Armies. Wellington and Waterloo proved otherwise, but I have always suspected the English looked upon Napoleon's remark with pride.

The free exchange of goods and services and the ability to create individual wealth are the keystones of our economically mobile society. We are a nation of shopkeepers---and carpenters, and sales reps, doctors and lawyers. Government policy must seek to enable our economic freedom, to enable American businesses to compete with foreign competitors on a global scale.

The corporate tax rate in the US is one of the highest in the world, and combined with state corporate taxes, serve as a sea-anchor on the forward progress of our economy. Additionally, the increased tax burden to be borne by sole proprietors under currently planned tax schemes will do little but slow the economy and inhibit job growth.

One cannot logically be anti-business and pro-American. One can legitimately criticize corporate excess, just as one can legitimately criticize individual excess. But to look at business from a default view as corrupt and evil is to misunderstand the vital importance that business--small and large--plays in the sustainment and improvement of our Republic.