Wednesday, February 25, 2009

Obama- The Government Cannot Spend Into Recovery

Obama and the Democrats are facing harsh criticism over the Porkulus Spendulous plan. Monkeying with the economy is like monkeying with nature. You may effect something but it may not be the desired effect you were hpoing would happen.

In this article by John Stossel he writes Washington never changes, no matter who's in power. Give a gang of politicians a chance to spend our money, and they will spend it -- the more the better. An economic downturn is hog heaven; for now they have a justification to spend big time: "economic stimulus." Anything and everything can be proposed as long as it can be said to "inject money into the economy" and "create jobs."

Even if the spending could give the economy a jolt, at what price? I don't mean the legislation's overt price tag. I mean the production lost because the money borrowed by the government won't be available for private investment aimed at satisfying consumers (http://tinyurl.com/a94gd4). Do we want politicians directing how scarce resources are used? I'd rather have those decisions made by entrepreneurs who must please consumers or go bankrupt.

It's perfectly clear that the recession is a license for politicians to do what they've wanted to do all along.

We should be suspicious when politicians, economists and the media declare a "consensus" and marginalize dissent (http://tinyurl.com/8cffuo). President Obama says, "There is no disagreement that we need action by our government, a recovery plan that will help to jumpstart the economy."

That's not true. Last week, the Cato Institute ran a full-page newspaper ad (http://tinyurl.com/djudcy) signed by more than 200 economists, including Nobel laureates stating:

"We the undersigned do not believe that more government spending is a way to improve economic performance. More government spending by Hoover and Roosevelt did not pull the United States economy out of the Great Depression in the 1930s. More government spending did not solve Japan's 'lost decade' in the 1990s ... Lower tax rates and a reduction in the burden of government are the best ways of using fiscal policy to boost growth."

Let's hear no more about "everyone" agreeing that politicians can spend the economy into recovery.


Obama had two times at bat with his speeches but they failed to woo Wall Street.

Also cited for the drop was a lack of details in the president's Tuesday night speech when the president sternly told the nation that the country has come to a "day of reckoning" on the economy but would emerge stronger than ever.

Doreen Mugavero of Mugavero Lee & Co. called the president's speech "optimistic spin."

"It was a very good feeling for Americans and did a lot for confidence," Mugavero said. "However, the economic data continues to erode and things are not going to happen no matter how optimistic he is."


Barrocky Road states that the stimulus will jumpstart the spending to bring about recovery. However, the next speech is about raising taxes to fund universal healthcare.

Here is the fallacy in that plan. President Barack Obama will propose a combined $634 billion in upper-income tax increases and cuts to government health spending over 10 years to fund a new program aimed at getting health coverage to all Americans, a senior administration official said Wednesday. Ten years is a long time. Legislation can change in a heartbeat. He won't even be in office the last two years.

Read this response from a comment on the Wall Street Journal site. So this is the second tax on the so called "Rich". I am in this tax bracket and I also make over $250k Between the tax on the rich he announced last week to cut the deficit in half and the new health care tax, I currently employ about 100 people. I don't have a vacation home, jet or travel the world all of the time. I am just a hard working entrepreneur that gives over $300k a year to run charity for dental sealants to poor kids right here in the USA. I will have no choice to let some of my employees go and/or cut a great deal of my charity work. So much for stimulating the economy. Why should I work so hard any more??

Don't get me wrong. There would be nothing more that I would like to see than the economy turn around. However, temporary jobs will mean a temporary solution.

I am looking at houses in Florida going for a fraction of what they would fetch in Northeastern Pennsylvania. Look at the ending bid on this stunning home. Even at this rock bottom price it will take longer than three years to pay it off. When the stimulus runs out so do the jobs. At it may be sooner than that because the money he will use to pay for the stimulus jobs will compete for money the private sector needs to run its business. And it is those businesses who will create the long lasting jobs, not the government.

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