Watch Out

When one’s about to be taken, again, it may be an advantage to know it’s on the way. That’s the purpose of this sketch.

Obama has hatched a second stimulus package. The first was a tragedy. We knew it then; most believe it now (although, perhaps for the wrong reasons). Key is not that much of the $ hasn’t been spent. Key is that it did not matter if the whole shebang was spent in 10 minutes. It’s still a wash, at best.

Except for a few crack pots (Paul Krugman comes to mind) most understand that this $ comes from somewhere, a "somewhere" where it would be put to better use - the private sector. The gov’t doesn't maintain a reserve fund to spark jobs for goodness sake. Congress either taxes it or they borrow it out of the economy (or a compliant Fed inflates). No new demand is created. It is, as we have repeated many times before, a zero-sum transfer of existing demand. And most economists understand it to be utter nonsense.

Yet on Feb/17, BO, when referring to the $862 bln stimulus package, said that, "One year later, it is largely thanks to the recovery act that a second depression in no longer a possibility." That is a lie; he knows it to be a lie. But since most of the masses may not get it, BO figures he can slip another one by.

We know what would work. So do a whole bunch of other reasonable observers - across-the-board tax cuts for families, individuals and businesses; then, stand back and let ‘er roll. JFK did that. Reagan did that. Not this statist. It’s so easy.

And there are other, no-cost measures which would spark jobs. These are no secret either. As detailed by the Heritage Foundation, among these: Freezing spending and rescinding unspent stimulus funds; Reforming regulations to reduce unnecessary business costs, such as repealing Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act; Reforming the tort system to lower costs and uncertainty facing businesses; Suspending the job-killing Davis-Bacon Act (DBA); Reducing taxes on companies' foreign earnings if they bring those earnings home.

Government’s job is to establish the rule of law, then stand back. This was the Founders intent.

Well, no potential employer in his right mind will hire now, when the rules change almost daily.

Obama, the fool, has misread his mandate. American politics are not far left politics. Of course there are odd balls, but most Americans won’t tolerate this nonsense. Yet the cornucopia of tax hikes currently on the table include higher levies on capital-gains, top earners, dividends, investment (via the payroll tax), carbon, millionaires, banks, stock transactions, and estates (via the death tax). It’s a long lefty wish list. Are you kidding me?

Robert Craven