How the Government Is Swallowing the Economy

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Less than 10% of Americans workers work for the government. We've sent 300,000 teachers lose their job because of lack of revenue (taxes). Just when I thought I'd buy Newman's argument, I'm going to vote for Hope and Change again.

Give me back my Republican Party -- the one that cares about people.

Charlie B. of OH 5:52PM September 01, 2012

There is no real negative with the SCOTUS' decision regarding corporate political donations, UNLESS one accepts the premise that only certain organizations should be allowed to make contributions. Heck, the unions have been doing that for years! If one type of organization can do it, why not others? Unions have a vested interest in who gets elected. So do corporations. Elected lawmakers pass laws that can ensure "takers" (those who receive from the government) get preferential treatment over the "creators" (those who create jobs). When those laws impinge upon our constitutional rights, the real danger begins. Government over-reach is the cause of today's malaise, not Wall Street. Some of us would like to expand and hire more but aren't doing so because the DC Crowd won't tell us what to expect from them. How much will my taxes increase over the next five years? They will. The DC Crowd knows they will, but won't tell the American public the truth. How much more will new Constitutionally-questionable actions, like this new health care law, increase my expenses? What new questionably "useful" regulations (CFL vs. incandescent bulbs) will the DC Crowd impose that will increase my costs? The more government interferes with true capitalism, the less effective capitalism is in policing itself. Just take a look at our housing and health care woes. Government has interfered with both industries to a great degree and neither of them has worked out very well at all. The housing debacle would likely have been avoided had the government kept its hands out of it; and, health care in the U.S. has never operated in a free-market atmosphere. As much as I would like to I, for one, won't be hiring anytime soon simply because the federal government has forgotten that it is supposed to be a FEDERAL government, not a NATIONAL one.

David of MN 7:08AM October 02, 2010

You mention the lost decade in Japan and you have no idea what caused it! The same Big Government intervention that is now being dumped on America is what led to their problems. YOU and those like you are the problem! You are ignorant!!!

ANITfollowthemoney of LA 11:58AM August 11, 2010

Yep, indeed. Greedy, lazy, fat-asses. Handout here, handout there. After a while, everyone expects handouts, right? Don't work hard; the government will take care of you. Sad. Sad what we've become.

Joe of VA 1:35PM February 04, 2010

Big money drives politics. Now that the SCOTUS has allowed companies to use their deep pockets to influence elections we are all to be bought and sold. The irony is that a well funded "I'm angry as hell" push against any social policies, or spending $$ to avoid a double-dip recession (or lost decade like Japan) results in more power for un-checked capitalism which the masses are fooled into believing is a good thing. Tea-Baggers play right into wall street's hand..

Soylent green can't be far behind

chris of CA 1:13PM January 27, 2010

To the estimate of people dependent on the government currently for their livelihood lets add the majority of workers in the health care industry. I worked at a nursing home where out of 100 residents 70 were paid by Medicaid and 20 by Medicare. If you took from each health care provider or facility the money received from Medicare, Medicaid and other programs how many would still be in business? Then you have to add the those getting unemployment, govt pensions so it totals about 95% really

james of AL 1:26PM January 23, 2010

Read the history,take God out of our country ,and you will go down.

clarence of MO 11:08AM January 23, 2010

It is time to take back what is rightfully ours! we need to stop helping all the countries until we get our homeland healed and healthy! we as citizens NEED to get our heads out of the sand and do our own research on what BIG politics are doing to us!

RMW of NM 10:13AM January 23, 2010

The real issue here lies beneath all of us. Too many cheifs, not enough indians. If we go back when American Indians had their feet planted deep into the roots of this land. America was a beautiful and bountiful feild full of strong willed people who, still to this day, has fought for their land and freedom. White men have destroyed the American Dream, since our ancestors were trying to ingulf all the answers to live here. America needs to put back, what they took away. Stop whinning about who is right or wrong here. If it was'nt for the immagrints who founded this land, Americans would be left in the dark. They created a social and most likely a hertitage that did'nt get far enough to make a difference in our economy. Look at us now. It's not my fault? bull hookie, we vote. We are all together here. Make changes, fire the ones who are responsible for our failures. Need a leader? Get right with the man. Hire a American Indian to finish what we failed to do'.

Kenneth Frick of MI 5:34AM January 23, 2010

Bob Dylan said it years ago, "theres a slow train coming" bummer but I think it arrived!

John B of CA 2:15PM January 22, 2010

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Rick Newman

Rick Newman

The global economy is mysterious, even scary. Chief Business Correspondent Rick Newman connects the dots. In addition to his writing for U.S. News, Rick is the co-author of two books: Firefight: Inside the Battle to Save the Pentagon on 9/11, and Bury Us Upside Down: The Misty Pilots and the Secret Battle for the Ho Chi Minh Trail.


Read Rick's latest blog entries here.

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