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Charles M Cooper
Charles M Cooper

Finding the Right Business Lawyer

With all the legal changes coming out of Washington, it is hard to keep up. That is where a good business attorney comes in. If you don't have one, now is the time to find someone who can help you navigate the new regulatory terrain. Here are some things to look for.

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Charles M Cooper
Charles M Cooper

Buy American

Buy American! That is what is being debated in the halls of the Senate this week. What they seek is a balance between the needs of the global economy and the stimulation of the American economy and the future of small exporters could well hang in the balance. Is it more important to keep the global markets in mind or to build wealth here at home by buying American?

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Charles M Cooper
Charles M Cooper

A Great Way to Stifle Talent and Entrepreneurial Spirit

Our president is stepping out onto a regulatory tightrope. Sensitive to the public outrage over executive pay, bonuses and perks at companies receiving taxpayer bailout funds, he is proposing to cap those salaries and perks, but is that necessarily a good idea in a free market economy?

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Charles M Cooper
Charles M Cooper

A Great Way to Stifle Employee Morale

I once had a job that required a daily productivity report. The idea was that if you had to tell the boss everything you did—in 15 minute increments no less—then you would be more productive. Do you think this improved anyone’s productivity?

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Charles M Cooper
Charles M Cooper

A New World Order We Can Live With

The Prime Minister of Australia has come out with it, a call for a New World Order in which Democratic Socialism would be the norm since, according to the PM, the free market simply cannot be trusted. Maybe he is right, and a new world order really is necessary, but is it the democratic socialism that he is calling for? Not a chance.

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Charles M Cooper
Charles M Cooper

Will the Backbone of the Economy be the Backbone of the Recovery?

Will the deepening recession force a realignment from a unified national economy to one where local interests predominate? What would that mean for small business and is it the solution to our troubles?

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Charles M Cooper
Charles M Cooper

The Spammers Strike Back!

It has been a nice little break, with our inboxes pretty clean and our spam filters pulling part-time duty, but those quiet days are over as spammers have come back with even more sophisticated and dangerous missives aimed right at your computer.

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Charles M Cooper
Charles M Cooper

How to Answer a Complaint Letter

Complaint letters abound, there is now question of it, but how do you answer one? Here is one example, by way of Great Britain’s Inland Revenue, that I think takes the biscuit. We can only hope the IRS will develop a sense of humor like this, not to mention the style and flare to use it.

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Charles M Cooper
Charles M Cooper

Drawing the Line at Little Caylee

A little girl is dead, her mother is awaiting trial, her grandfather is an attempted suicide, the whole thing has been more of media circus than the OJ trial (though happily without the Dancing Itos) and what does one Florida company decide is a fitting and respectful thing to do? Yep, you guessed it: the $29.95 Caylee Anthony doll.

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Charles M Cooper
Charles M Cooper

Would a Population Boom Help or Hurt Us?

Taking a more, shall we say, personal approach, to their economic woes, Japan has asked employers to let their workers off early to spend time with their families, hoping that this will stimulate the birthrate. Why? Because they recognize that economies grow and thrive when birthrates do likewise. Would that work here?

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Charles M Cooper
Charles M Cooper

Sometimes a Nice Thank-you is The Wrong Way To Go

Mom always said that if you get something nice, you should always say “Thank you.” That is good advice in general and we at the Bottom Line heartily endorse it. However, Chrysler has just learned that this axiom does not apply to the receipt of tax payer bailout money. Who knew?

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Charles M Cooper
Charles M Cooper

Frauds, Scams, Trojan Horses and Other Fun Email Games for 2009

As if the financial games in Washington aren’t bad enough, now we have the scum of the Internet crawling out from under their various rocks and rotted logs to try and suck the monetary life out of those who actually work for a living. Have a look at what I received over just the last two days! NOTE: DO NOT CLICK ANY LINKS IN ANY OF THE EXAMPLES IN THE FOLLOWING ARTICLE.

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Charles M Cooper
Charles M Cooper

Small Business Bailout

Hidden among line-items that don’t seem to directly bear upon creating prosperity, there are a small number of provisions that deal directly with small business in the optimistically named American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.

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Charles M Cooper
Charles M Cooper

Singing the Tax Code Simplification Blues

With the inauguration of President Obama and the coming of the change he’s promised, can we add one more change to the list? Can we create a tax code you don’t need Deep Blue to figure out?

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Charles M Cooper
Charles M Cooper

Flight 1549: The Importance of Good Public Relations

You can always count on the airline industry to serve up a morality tale in how not to enhance your public image, but who knew the hole these guys are digging for themselves could go this deep? Spirit Airlines wants to charge a cancellation fee to some of the passengers on Flight 1549 when it went into Hudson River. Apparently, the mere fact of a plane crash-landing in the Hudson River isn’t enough for Spirit to figure out the passengers would not need a return flight.

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