Mitt Romney and many conservatives have criticized the president for not doing “enough” to create an environment where the economy can thrive. (This post is a continuation of yesterday’s post.) Basically, their main complaint is that taxes are simply too high. They’ve even suggested that corporate taxes are too high, even though we know several corporations are paying nothing in taxes in spite of making billions of dollars in profits. In my mind, the real question is why the economy is so sluggish. (more…)
Representative John Boehner gave the Republican response to President Obama’s weekly address. Instead of taking some time and laying out the Republican plan, he gave us more of the same. During the Reagan Revolution, the Republicans preached lower taxes and smaller government. They’ve touted this over and over again. Lower taxes and smaller government. This dynamic duo is the answer to all of our problems. Our educational system is failing – lower taxes, smaller government. We seem to be spending more and more on our military – lower taxes, smaller government. The unemployment rate is 9.6% – lower taxes and smaller government.
We do have real problems in this country. Most of them require thoughtful solutions. Knee-jerk answers are worthless. The reason that most states are sitting on huge deficits now is the combination of Republican tax cuts and decreased revenues secondary to our sluggish economy.
I have no idea what it means to “put people first.” Does this mean that before Congress does anything, they poll everybody? I don’t think so. That’s not leadership. I believe this is a phrase that has no meaning. It sounds good. But how do you put this into practice? There’s no way practically to do it. By the way, if we really were to put people first, should we just abolish Congress? Let the president of the United States propose legislation which we, the American people, would them vote up or down on a biweekly or monthly basis? Is that what he’s talking about? Of course not. Instead, he’s trying to tell the American people that he’s going to “listen” to what the American people are saying. We know better. We know that John Boehner is very good at: listening to conservative ideas and rejecting progressive ideas. This is not going to change.
Over the next several days, I’m going to examine the data. I’m to look at Republican presidents versus Democratic presidents and how they’ve done at creating jobs, managing the economy, creating wealth, government spending and a few other issues. I hope you enjoy the series.
