Someone once criticized Zig Ziglar by saying “Mr. Ziglar, the problem with all of this motivation that you provide people is that it doesn’t last.”

His response: “Well neither does bathing. That’s why I recommend it daily.”

Tax Inversion (Diverting Tax Dollars) - The Fault Lies With The U.S. Government, Not U.S. Companies.

Consequences from the inability of Congress to function come in many forms, and one of the most glaring emerged again with the $160 billion merger of two giant drug companies to avoid U.S. taxes this month.

The reverse merger of Pfizer, the maker of Viagra and Lipitor, and the significantly smaller Allergan, maker of Botox, so that Pfizer can relocate to Dublin and pay the lower corporate tax rate there is the latest and biggest example of what is called tax inversion — a legal tail wagging the dog trick that takes place mostly on paper.

It results in the U.S. losing billions of dollars in tax revenue each year – and U.S. shareholders taking a capital gains hit.

It also undermines the reputation of the U.S. as a place to do business and in the longer term will inevitably divert the relocated company's investment and job creation outside the U.S.

The Pfizer-Allergan deal is particularly provocative because it comes just days after the U.S. Treasury Department issued a second set of directives designed to block just this kind of inversion.

It seems likely, however, that this deal will slip under the wire of the various thresholds in ownership and revenue set by Treasury and evades these efforts to limit the benefits of this kind of relocation for tax purposes.

It shows once again the limits of what regulation can do to solve a fundamental problem that requires legislation.

As Treasury Secretary Jack Lew ruefully acknowledged in introducing the new rules last week, "There is only so much the Treasury Department can do to prevent these tax-avoidance transactions," he said in a statement. "Only legislation can decisively stop inversions."

In a conference call with reporters, Lew added hopefully that Treasury would continue to work with Congress "in a bipartisan manner to reform our broken business tax system and to eliminate inversions for good."

The reason companies like Pfizer take this drastic step is because U.S. corporate taxes are way too high, well out of line with the rates in other industrial countries. The top U.S. tax rate is 39%, for instance, while the tax in Ireland for most corporate income is 12.5%.

While all those famous loopholes that every politician promises to close reduce the effective tax rate in the U.S., it is still much higher than in other countries.

So the solution has been obvious for some time — reduce the U.S. corporate tax rate. The Obama administration proposed such a measure in 2012, but it got caught up in the partisan wrangling that has marked every such measure in recent years.

The timing of the Pfizer-Allergan deal seemed to show corporate America thumbing its nose at Treasury, and the fact that Allergan itself is now based in Dublin due to one of the original tax inversion deals only underscores the flagrant disregard for the government's efforts to rein in the tactic.

But these companies are only doing what companies do — maximizing profit by minimizing costs, including taxes.

They are essentially voting with their feet, to the detriment of U.S. business and employment.

But it is not their fault. The fault lies with lawmakers who fail to grasp the simplest facts of a global economy and get so involved in the political scrum that they lose sight of the goal.

Which is why President Obama missed the point in a weekly address last year when he accused these companies of being "unpatriotic."

Corporations may well be "people" in some senses of the word, but in a global economy they can hardly afford the luxury of being "patriotic."

Comparing them to individuals, as Obama did in his address, who should not be able to pick and choose what rules they follow, shows a failure to grasp some of the basic fundamentals of an open global economy.

And introducing a putative moral element into the mix only distracts from what really needs to be done – a legislative tax reform that enables U.S.-based companies to remain competitive internationally.

So while presidential hopefuls scrambled to condemn the new deal, they carefully avoided placing the blame where it belongs — on themselves, to the extent that they are or have been members of the U.S. Congress.

If politicians are serious about stopping this drain of economic resources, they would come together and finally get corporate tax reform done.

*Best article I've read on the subject: http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/2015/11/24/inversion-pfizer-allergan-taxes-merger-congress/76316110/

Our Greatest Happiness In This Life Will Come As We Follow God’s Commandments And Obey His Laws!

God’s commandments are not given to frustrate us or to become obstacles to our happiness. Just the opposite is true. He who created us and who loves us perfectly knows just how we need to live our lives in order to obtain the greatest happiness possible.

The commandments were God-given. Using our agency, we can set them aside. We cannot, however, change them, just as we cannot change the consequences which come from disobeying and breaking them.

May we realize that our greatest happiness in this life will come as we follow God’s commandments and obey His laws!

Failure Is A Good Teacher.

Our past failures were an extremely efficient way to learn. We should also learn from the failures of others.

To avoid criticism, say nothing, do nothing, be nothing.

(This statement of anti-advice has been attributed to several different well known figures.)

We Can Choose To Be Grateful, No Matter What.

Being grateful in times of distress does not mean that we are pleased with our circumstances. It does mean that through the eyes of faith we look beyond our present-day challenges.

Being grateful in our circumstances is an act of faith in God. It requires that we trust God and hope for things we may not see but which are true. By being grateful, we follow the example of our beloved Savior, who said, “Not my will, but thine, be done.”

True gratitude is an expression of hope and testimony. It comes from acknowledging that we do not always understand the trials of life but trusting that one day we will.

Sometimes We Just Need To Put The Camera Away!

Instead of enjoying & thinking about the experiences they want to have, most people are thinking about the photos they want to post.

Reminds me of the old question: “Did you have fun on your vacation?" "I don’t know yet, I haven’t developed the film yet!”