University Star

Vice President Joe Biden said to the International Laborers Union of North America in Akron, Ohio, “Paying taxes is patriotic.” But what is patriotic?
He was referring to President Obama’s recent budget plan for the next four years. President Obama is attempting to throw money at the problem.
The so-called solution is prevalent in politics. I recognize the validity in both bi-partisan ideologies, but throwing money at the problem does not seem to be the right direction for our country to take at the moment. We are living in an era unlike any other, whether we like it or not.
Our parents never dreamed they would call an operator in India because their Dell computer kept closing programs unexpectedly. McDonald’s now sells hamburgers in Hamburg, Moscow and Bangkok. I bet those signs accounting for all the burgers sold need a recount now. It might say, ‘Over 10 trillion sold.’
Globalization is real and unavoidable.
People think an increasingly global economy means less American jobs — they may be right. Going abroad for better employees makes sense when CNNMoney.com reports most Americans at GM expect to be paid $60,000 a year to screw in rivets. However, Honda Motor Co. has opened numerous plants on American soil because it is cheaper to make the vehicles here than to ship them from Japan.
Jobs are still available, but our boss may be on the other side of the world. What President Obama’s $3.55 trillion budget is aimed at, aside from creating the greatest deficit in the history of our country, is to maintain American businesses.
Plenty of companies such as Hyundai, Honda and Toyota would gladly take over GM’s business market after they fail to run efficiently. We never hear of Honda asking Japan for a bailout. They ran their business responsibly, which is something our native businesses seem to have forgotten how to do.
Our government is throwing money at the problem rather than submitting to the way of the world, giving private companies enough money to stay afloat while they learn how to run their affairs properly.
The money comes from us — the taxpayers. Well, eventually. Right now it is coming from the Banks of China and Japan. We are going to have to pay them back.
So I ask, which is better — should we support giving over one trillion dollars to failed companies and hope for the best so our cars can be American, or should we let business take its course and let the most competent companies take the reins?
Joe Biden meant our nation should pay taxes to businesses that faulted with our money when he said paying taxes is patriotic. It seems like the opposite of patriotism.