Our local golf course recently hired an acclaimed golf architect to redesign parts of the course.  The architect, on his first tour of the course, identified one glaring problem.  

    Several holes on the course feature sand traps that extend the width of the fairway.  These traps are located at approximately 190 to 225 yards from the tee box.  The good golfers easily clear the sand traps with their drives.  But the mid range (me) and poor golfers continually hit into the bunkers.  

    The architect appropriately asked, "Why would you create a design that punishes the middle range golfers and those that are just learning the game?  He was correct.

    The Democrats are proposing to increase the tax rate, significantly, on anyone making more than $250,000 per year.  On it's face, this seems like a good idea.  After all, someone making $250,000 a year can certainly afford to pay more, right?

    Small businesses are the largest employer in the United States.  A majority of these businesses operate as sub-S corporations or LLC's.  These two types of legal entities are created so that the profits from the small business flow directly to the owner's personal income tax return.  For these small entities, $250,000 might be a nice profit, but not if you run a capital intensive business.  Replacing equipment, expanding a building, installing necessary upgrades all have to come out of that owner's net income.  

  Just as the misplaced sand bunker was frustrating the wrong golfers , so too, this tax policy is punishing the small businesses that are driving the US economy.

    Sen. Obama might consider beefing up his economic team by adding a Golf Architect.  I know a good one.