Doubling Down On Doubling Down

The Nation is in a recession- lower taxes.
The budget is running a surplus - lower taxes.

The folks who blew the walls off the economy are at it again. Lower taxes they say, especially for the rich, they will use their lower taxes to create jobs. A good theory should never get in the way of reality. So what if lowering taxes for the rich didn't create jobs the last time, I am willing to double down aren't you?

 

The Whiners Won - Now Give Me Specifics

Its official the whiners won and they are bringing their outrage to Washington.

Ignoring the previous 8 years and the root causes of the Great Recession, Americans voted to take back the country and return to limited government, free markets, and low tax rates of the American Golden Age. Returning the GOP to power in the Congress for another shot at lower tax job creating policies the New Breed 85 (the 85 freshman congressman) have honed their water cooler, coffee room, whinging and are ready to tackle an out of control government. 

That's right I just compared the entire incoming Tea Party freshman congressmen to the whiners you hear standing around the office water cooler or complaining in the coffee room.

As a plan whining about taking back our country, limited government and low taxes lacks a little specificity.

So I propose this homework assignment for each of the incoming freshman congressmen to be turned in the on January 5 as they are sworn in. 

• Using the principals of free markets and limited government provide a balanced budget with detail and narrative

• List five federal rules or regulations that hinder job creation with detail and narrative

• Bonus question: name five freedoms that have been lost in the past 2 years 

Lets Get Government Out Of Alaska's Way

Are you fed up with big government? If so, lets follow the Alaskan example. These small government loving citizens receive $2 for every $1 they send to Washington. In 2010 these hardy self sufficient people paid themselves almost $1,300 for every man, women, and child from Alaskan oil revenue.
 
Just a thought; reduce the amount that Alaska receives from Washington to $1 for every dollar sent in and use the oil revenue to pay off the national debt.

Please spare me from nonsence like this

In the weekly Republican message, Georgia Rep. elect Austin Scott characterized the 85 member incoming freshman class as a "new breed of leaders for a new majority and a new Congress" and said they stand ready to turn around the country. Really!, Austin Scott and the New Breed 85 have not even been seated yet. 

Memo to Representative Scott leadership is earned, and it is for others to call you a leader. Dial down the rhetoric, come to work, study the problems and then and only then open your mouth.

Free Traders Are US USA

South Korea, China, Germany, and Japan’s free trade policy is to run large trade imbalances with its trading partners and to take advantage of our inability to act in our own best interest. Take Korea for instance President Obama has asked Korea to lower the barriers to selling us made cars in Korea, Korea politely said no thank you free trade is working for us.

Of course we could erect trade barriers until they leveled the playing field but then free traders of all stripes would yell bloody murder about how free trade is good for us. Countries all around the world would heap scorn and derision on us for noticing the obvious that they have no interest at all in trading freely with us and will dismiss the inconvenient truth that their trade policy is to run trade imbalances with us as it is in their own best interest. Even American owners of Hunyadi dealerships would be

Yelling bloody murder as if their own self interest was Americas self interest.

Let me be clear; China, South Korea, Japan, Germany have no, none, zero interest in trading freely with us. And since many of our business and political leaders are zombie like in chanting their free trade mantra. Even the most tepid of suggestions that our nation should erect trade barriers when it is in our sovereign best interest when those self interests are in opposition to their self interests would kick in the machinations of the self interest puppet masters.  How could we ever pass even the most ineffectual of trade barriers/sanctions?  And how could we withstand worldwide anger at merely playing the economic game the same way that everyone else is if our own financial oracles can not see beyond their collective noses?

When you are thinking of buying a Hyundai, buy a Chrysler. When you are thinking of buying a Lexus buy a Lincoln or Cadillac. When you are thinking of buying a Toyota, buy a Ford.  This will do much more than trade barriers to rebalance our trade deficit with our friendly free trade loving nation-state hypocrites.

The Curious Case Of The Expiring Tax Cuts

The Curious Case Of The Expiring Tax Cuts

“Populus vult decipi, decipiatur”.

They came into life in the most curious way. First, as the most noble of proposals to give back to the people what was rightfully theirs (after all lets not forget we had a budget surplus), and then by the way of a curious piece of circular argument as necessary to stimulate the economy in a recession. A thing can be both high and low at the same time; there is never a bad time for an expiring tax cut.

And so in the middle of night folks reconciled themselves even as others most wisely implored, “how can this thing be both high and low”?  And yet the men behind the curtain inveighed, “do not be alarmed, an expiring tax cut is a thing of beauty, and soon you will find that all is well and good”. And the people followed them down the rabbit hole.

Overtime the expiring tax cut folded in on itself and no longer could hide that it was a really huge sucking deficit increasing machine. Folks plain and simple began to wonder why it was that the deficit grew larger while the men behind the curtains built houses yet grander still even as they advocated for ever more various and wonderful tax cuts. And the men behind the curtains distanced themselves from the small people whose boats did not float and their houses were underwater.

And then the most curious thing happened; it was posited fairly and balancedly that you could not expire an expiring tax during the time of a really great recession because to expire an expiring tax cut would cause the world to wobble on its axis. And the people were sore afraid as they had nothing to fear but fear itself.

And the men behind their curtains slowly exhaled, because as it turns out that you can fool enough people enough of the time, and whispered to themselves “Populus vult decipi, decipiatur”*. And the men behind the curtains smiled a knowing smile and ordered up more smoke and mirrors curiously enough made in China.

*The people wish to be deceived, let them be deceived.