some times when you dust off an old book, it's amazing the wisdom found inside . . .
Charles Dickens once wrote, "We spent as much money as we could, and got as little for it as people could make up their minds to give us."
In a way, that's what we have done in the country since the Great Society initiatives in the 60's. We've spent billions on poverty, education, housing, etc., and yes, I'm sure when you throw billions upon billions of dollars at something, it just has to make some difference but in reality, as Dickens wrote, we "got as little for it as people could make up their minds to give us."
There just comes a time when we have to look in the mirror and realize it's up to us and stop waiting for people or Government to "make up their minds" how much "to give us".
And that leads me into a recent editorial in the Wall Street Journal On-line by Martin Feldstein, who was Chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers under President Reagan.
Mr. Feldstein opens with something that become quiet obvious to many of us in this country:
"The policies of the Obama administration have led to the weak condition of the American economy. Growth during the coming year will be sub par at best, leaving high or rising levels of unemployment and underemployment."
He then adds some specifics:
"After a temporary rise in March, the economy began sliding again in April, with declines in real wages, in durable-goods orders and manufacturing production, in existing home sales, and in real per-capita disposable incomes. It is not surprising that the index of leading indicators fell in April, only the second decline since it began to rise in the spring of 2009. The data for May are beginning to arrive and are even worse than April's. They are marked by a collapse in payroll-employment gains; a higher unemployment rate; manufacturers' reports of slower orders and production; weak chain-store sales; and a sharp drop in consumer confidence. How has the Obama administration contributed to this failure to achieve a robust and sustainable recovery? The administration's most obvious failure was its misguided fiscal policies: the cash-for-clunkers subsidy for car buyers, the tax credit for first-time home buyers, and the $830 billion "stimulus" package."
As for that wonderful Stimulus package that our very own Democrat Senator Ben Nelson helped craft to assure passage in Feb. '09 in the Senate. Well Mr. Feldstein said:
"President Obama allowed the Democratic leadership in Congress to design a hodgepodge package of transfers to state and local governments, increased transfers to individuals, temporary tax cuts for lower-income taxpayers, etc. So we got a bigger deficit without economic growth"
Mr. Feldstein also gives the President and his party credit for creating all the uncertainty that businesses now face:
"A second cause of the continued economic weakness is the president's emphasis on increasing tax rates. Although Mr. Obama grudgingly agreed to continue the Bush tax cuts for 2011 and 2012, his budget this year repeated his call for higher tax rates on upper-income individuals and multinational corporations. With that higher-tax cloud hanging over them, it is not surprising that individuals and businesses do not make the entrepreneurial investments and business expansions that would cause a solid recovery. A third problem stems from the administration's lack of an explicit plan to deal with future budget deficits and with the exploding national debt. This creates uncertainty about future tax increases and interest rates that impedes spending by households and investment by businesses. The national debt has jumped to 69% of GDP this year, from 40% in 2008. It is projected by the Congressional Budget Office to reach more than 85% by the end of the decade, and to keep rising after that. The reality is even worse since ObamaCare alone will cost more than $1 trillion in its first 10 years."
In the end, Mr. Feldstein acknowledges that we can turn this ship around but he doubts Obama has any intent on making the required changes:
"The economy will continue to suffer until there is a coherent and favorable economic policy. That means bringing long-term deficits under control without raising marginal tax rates—by cutting government outlays and by limiting the tax expenditures that substitute for direct government spending. It means lower tax rates on businesses and individuals to spur entrepreneurship and investment. And it means reforming Social Security and Medicare to protect the living standards of future retirees while limiting the cost to future taxpayers. All of these things are doable. But the Obama administration has not done them and shows no inclination to do them in the future."
As Dickens said, "We spent as much money as we could, and got as little for it". Maybe it's time to spend more wisely and demand more individual responsibility from the person that we see each day in the mirror . . .
