4 Fresh Fears About Washington Wrecking the Economy

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Stephan of VA's rationale is exactly the same as what turned the recession of 1929 into a Great Depression. Unemployment peaked at 25%, NOT in 1929 or 30, but in 1937 after 8 years of FDR and Hoover tax increases, trade restrictions and new regulations on business. Ludwig von Mises, Friedrich Hayek, et al, exposed the lies of the New Deal. It was those programs that enriched the politically-connected elites at the expense of the people. Wake up and study history; learn from it or repeat its mistakes.
The true tax on any people is government spending. Government creates no wealth. It can only confiscate it from those who created it and re-distribute to the less productive sectors of the economy. To finance government spending requires taxing production and/or capital, or going to the credit markets and starving new business of the access to credit necessary to expand and create jobs.
The ONLY long-term, structural solution to the current economic mess in Europe and North America is to cut government spending and force people to become more productive. We all hate competition; its just human nature. But, only improved productivity will lead an economy into healthy expansion.

Andy of GA 10:12AM December 14, 2010

I AM JUST A MOTHER, WIFE AND HAVE WORKDED AT BANKING, SCHOOLS, CLERKTREASURER, AND SELF EMPLYMENT (TAX PREPARER) I HAVE SEEN ALL THE GOVERNMENT SPENDING IN VARIOUS CATEGORY OF EMPLOYMENT. SCHOOLS WASTE IS PATHETIC, ALL THE WASTE THAT GOES IN OUR SCHOOLS
BY BUYING NEW BOOKS TO MAKE THE COMPANIES THAT SELLS THEM, INSTEAD
CREATE A BOOK THAT THE PAGE OF A NEW DEVELOPMENT OR NEW PRESIDENT, NEW EXPLORATION COULD EASILY BY INSERTED AND REPLACED. ALSO, THE WAR GOING ON AND ON IS DUE TO ALL THE WEALTHY CORPORATIONS THAT CONSIST OF WEALTHY MEN AND WOMEN THAT WANT THE WAR TO CONTINUE SO THEY WILL CONTINUE TO SELL ALL THE WAR IMMUNITION, BOOTS,WARFARE, GUNS, ETC, ETC THAT IS NEEDNED FOR OUR SOLDIERS. THEY WILL CONTINUE TO SUPPLY THE CONTRACTS IN EXPENSE FOR THE LIFES OF OUR YOUNG MEN AND WOMEN WHO ARE THER FIGHTING FOR A CAUSE THAT DOES NOT MAKE SENSE. WE HAVE THE MOST SOPHISTICATED WEAPONS TO SPOT OUR ENEMIES, BUT INSTEAD OVERLOOK THE PRICE TAG AND GIVE OUR SOLDIERS WEAPONS THAT OUR ENEMIES ARE OPTAINING FROM THE US COMPANIES THAT ARE SELLING THEM FOR PROFIT AND MAKING THEM BILLIONERS IN EXPENSE OF OUR OWN MEN AND WOMEN WHO ARE GIVING THEIR LIVES FOR OUR COUNTRY. THE BILLIONAIRS THAT ARE REPRESENTING OUR COUNTRY ARE NOT THERE TO SERVE US BUT TO SERVE THEMSELVE. THEY KNOW ALL IN INSIDE INFORMATION ON HOW GET THE LAWS PASS TO HELP THER OWN COMRADES. YOU CAN SEE IT BEING DONE NOW WITH THE REPUBLICANS WHO JUST BLOCK THE TAX LAW FOR THE WEALTHY TO EXPIRE.
THAT IS WHY WE ARE IN THE DECLINE OF OUR NATION. WE NEED MORE EXPORTING TO CHINA, AND ALL THE OTHER NATIONS INSTEAD OF IMPORTING FROM THEM. THAT IS THE ONLY WAY WE WILL CREATE JOBS FOR OUR NAITON UNEMPLOYED. WE NEED OUR SCHOOLS TO HAVE TEACHERS THAT COMMIT THEMSELVES TO TEACH OUR CHILDREN TO LEARN AND GET ENVOLVE WITH PARENTS STARTING IN KINDER AND CONTINUE TO WORK FOR ACADEMICS INSTEAD ATHELICS. MAKE IT NO. 1 TO HELP THE CHILD BY 4TH & 5TH GRADE TO START WORKING TOWARD HIS GOALS IN ACADEMIS INSTEAD OF WHO IS NO. IN IN BASKETBALL, AND FOOTBALL. READING, WRITTING AND ARITHMATIC ARE SUPPOSE TO BE OUR MAIN PRIORITIES IN THIS NATION SCHOOLS. I SAW A LOT OF ABUSE IN OUR SCHOOLS THAT NEEDS TO BE MONITOR MORE CLOSELY. WE ARE SEEING HOW WE ARE SURPASSED BY OTHER NATIONS WITH THE SCORES IN MATH, SCIENCE AND READING.

MARIA LOZANO of IN 7:18PM December 07, 2010

What has happened in the USA is a major sea-change in attitudes about what the country is about.
There used to be a consensus that the purpose of a nation was to make it possible for the maximum number of people to earn a comfortable living. Business was on-board and the result was the greatest surge of human prosperity in the history of the world.
The new consensus is that the purpose of a nation is to enrich the top 1% to 5% at the expense of the rest of the population. This is to be done by strip mining (outsourcing) all production to slave wage countries, pocketing the profits and eliminating taxation of wealth by cancelling social safety net programs and throwing the poor/unemployed to the dogs.
If we just threw away all the changes to the tax code made since 1990, and cancelled all foreign trade agreements, the nation would have a budget surplus and, in short order, would soon have at least balanced trade as we reclaimed our own domestic markets.
But the wealthy bought the government and they will milk it for all it is worth.

Stephen of VA 4:14PM December 06, 2010

There are no tax laws encouraging outsourcing -- except the outrageously high business income tax rates in this country. Lower the business income tax rates by half and you would see manufacturing jobs return to the country in droves.
Axiom -- the more you tax something the less you get of it.
High business taxes here mean you get less business here.
It may make jealous, greedy, liberal Democrats feel good to castigate business and punish business with high taxes but it is absolutely terrible economic policy.

Tim Gorman of KS 10:13AM December 03, 2010

The primary cause of our sickly economic situation is the fact that we now have a chronic foreign trade deficit. We outsourced all our manufacturing businesses (and manufacturing jobs) to Asian, East European and other nations, so now we as a nation have nothing left to sell as exports and not enough income to pay our bills. Same thing as if you were laid off from your job or otherwise had your income cut by some huge amount.
Instead of lobbying for government spending cuts and a balanced budget, we should: a) Clean most of the Republican leadership out of Congress, since the Republican leadership are the ones protecting tax subsidies to businesses that outsource jobs, b) Reverse business tax laws that encourage outsourcing to instead encourage domestic manufacturing, c) use whatever funds we have available (whether they are borrowed money or not) to encourage the reestablishment of manufacturing businesses here in the U.S., preferably in future-oriented industries like green technologies, and d) reinvigorate domestic private spending by changing individual income tax laws to prevent nearly the entire wealth of the United States from being concentrated in the hands of a very small group of ultra wealthy individuals (who, by the way, are the same investors who have made so much of the wealth by investing in those off-shore operations that create jobs anywhere but in the U.S.)
As long as we continue to funnel the wealth of the United States into creating jobs elsewhere and in creating phenomenal wealth for a few individuals here in the U.S., there will be no lasting recovery here.

Jack of MN 9:47AM November 17, 2010

So, that way they can blame Obama and the Democrats and take power in 2012. After all, that is the only thing they are interested in is POWER! They could care less about the middle class and the poor. They only want the rich people in charge because they are the true leaders. 19th Century here we come!

Tree Hugger of CO 9:06AM November 17, 2010