The American Spectator : It's Time for Growth Economics

Text Size

Streetcar Line

It's Time for Growth Economics

By Quin Hillyer on 8.5.11 @ 6:08AM

Budget cuts are not enough.

The ongoing sell-off in financial markets worldwide is a sign that nobody sees anything going on that promises real economic growth. While there is good reason to insist that debt stop growing (and then start shrinking), the sole focus on accounting misses the bigger picture. The bigger picture is that economies won't grow unless the private sector invests in them, and that the private sector won't invest if it foresees too little return, or even no real return, on those investments.

The surest way to turn around the private economy is to unshackle it from heavy, complicated, and redundant taxation. Toward that end, I have been advocating for more than three years the complete elimination of U.S. corporate income taxes. Much of the money would be made up, even without economic growth, via increased tax receipts on dividends and capital gains. But, of course, the economic growth would be substantial. Companies would suddenly have profits a third bigger than before, which would cause a combination of stock market gains, price cuts, and re-employment.

So far, the best proposal for economic growth, by far, comes from presidential candidate Rick Santorum, who calls for cutting the overall corporate income taxes in half, completely eliminating them for manufacturers, and instituting a tiny, five percent repatriation tax to entice companies to bring their profits home to the United States.

If such policies could be instituted with the snap of a finger, I absolutely guarantee the stock markets would skyrocket virtually overnight. As they did, housing would recover as well, because the half of the country with stock holdings would, relatively quickly, start to feel like they have a greater amount of disposable holdings. Something approaching a trillion dollars would come "off the sidelines," back into the markets and into equipment purchases, research and development, creating a multiplier effect of real wealth.

These are lessons we should have learned from Ronald Reagan, Jack Kemp, Milton Friedman, and others -- including, of course, John F. Kennedy, whose otherwise incompetent presidency at least put into serious play the two great insights of the needs for civil rights and for growth economics.

Granted, it is also true that too many conservative ideologues insist that tax cuts are the cure for all problems. They forget that the Laffer Curve is, indeed, a curve, and that at some point it is absolutely true that lower tax rates will significantly erode government revenues, even below a reasonable rate of sustainability. It is especially frustrating to see conservatives fail to understand that some tax cuts are far more productive than others, and that broad incentives within the tax code usually are far more productive than are narrowly targeted tax "breaks" and loopholes.

But those warnings are merely a necessary caveat. They do not apply to the call for lower corporate income taxes. With corporate tax rates among the two highest in the developed world, the United States clearly is at the highest, most unproductive end of the curve. A cut in half, as Santorum proposes, might even bring in more revenues to government, and thus cut government debt. A complete elimination of corporate income taxes, as I propose, of course would bring in not a dime in that form of taxes, and thus not appear on the curve at all. But common sense alone suggests that most of that money would be recouped throughout the rest of the tax code, which still will have all sorts of ways -- more efficient ways, at that, without anywhere near the paperwork burden -- to siphon revenues from economic transactions.

As noted earlier, corporate income taxes effectively double-tax profits that also are taxed through levies in dividends and capital gains. They double-tax profits that otherwise would show up, and be taxed through, higher wages for more workers. They double-tax profits that already, at some levels of government, are eroded by sales taxes. And they act as a dam on economic activity of all sorts, interrupting the free flow of commerce.

Yet one need not buy into the idea of completely eliminating corporate income taxes for one to understand that a significant reduction in those rates can spur a serious economic recovery here in the United States. And, as the United States recovers, the rest of the world also will stabilize, because the world's reserve currency (the dollar) will again seem solid rather than shaky, and thus increase confidence in markets around the globe.

Budget-cutting is important. Growth economics is crucial. Conservatives should start clamoring for it, and rewarding candidates who embrace it.

About the Author

Quin Hillyer is a senior editor of The American Spectator and a senior fellow at the Center for Individual Freedom.

Letter to the Editor View all comments (62) | Leave a comment

Timothy L. Pennell| 8.5.11 @ 7:06AM

I don't understand this story. It's like you ran out of things to write.
Everybody knows that a FLAT TAX is what we need. 15%? 17%? Somewhere along those lines. And this is for EVERYBODY. No more people paying NO Income Taxes. Everybody has Skin In The Game.
How about we get a CO-PAY from EVERYBODY that isn't living under a Bridge? Are you telling me that you can't come up with $5.00 to take your kid to the Doctor? I wonder how many BILLIONS that would add to the Medicare Kitty?
Spending needs to be brought down to 2008 Levels. Every Gov't Employee that has been hired by this Administration needs to go. ALL OF THEM! We need to Drill EVERYWHERE. That would create HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS of Jobs.
We don't NEED an Energy Department. A Commerce Department. An Education Department. (I wonder how many people know that Jimmy Carter created the Education Department, to REWARD the Teacher's Unions for their support, by creating a Cabinet level position for them?)
The Government needs to STOP FUNDING the things that LIBERALS like to do. The ARTS. NPR. The Mating Practices of the Massachusetts Fat Slob, Obnoxious, I Wish He Would Just DIE ALREADY, Gay Congressman.
The Capital Gains Tax needs to go. The DEATH TAX needs to go. The CORPORATE TAX needs to be set at 10%, if not - 0. Every Business in the World, would flock to our shores.
Every THINKING person already knows this.

massmile| 8.5.11 @ 9:36AM

The elitists inside the beltway continue to thrive to this day without any checks on their idiotic plans or ideas.That is why we are failing and will continue to fail.
I am a 28 years old doctor, mature and beautiful.and now I am seeking a good man who can give me real love , so i got a username sammyshine2002 on--a'ge'l'ov'e'r.c óm--.it is the first and best club for y'ounger women and old'er men, or older women and y'ounger men,to int'eract with each other. Maybe you wanna ch'eck 'it out or tell your friends!

Grzmlyk| 8.5.11 @ 12:57PM

You are right, Timothy, but, sadly, the critical mass in this country has decided that capitalism is bad, that socialism is good and that, if we all hold hands, sing kumbaya and gaze into the reflected glory of our own goodness, there really can be a free lunch. Because that's how compassionate we are.

The dumb herd animals that comprise the bulk of the liberal establishment won't figure it out until the yoke of serfdom is placed around their necks - and even then, many true believers will go to their graves happy to die for the greater cause of destroying the future and enslaving their own children.

A representative republic gets the government it deserves. Obama is the plague we have earned. We have squandered the bounty of America. We have become a banana republic.

And yet, amazingly, every person I know - and they comprise a monolithic wall of liberal platitudes - still thinks Obama is a Christ-like figure, and that the only problems in America are that 1) Bush screwed things up more than we ever imagined; and 2) evil Republicans aren't letting Obama spend enough.

Quite literally, all but approximately three people with whom I have personal relationships of any kind STILL thinks Obama sitteth at the right hand of God the Father Almighty (actually, of course, it's Gaia). They are unfazed one iota by the wanton destruction that has laid waste to this country. They see it as the Rapture upon us; just one more push, one more stimulus package, one more round of QE, one more rape of the taxpayer, and we will have achieved the socialist nirvana!

That is the extent to which collective insanity has gripped this nation.

We are now just another dying, sclerotic rump social democracy populated by usesless human beings for the most part. Like a star that's run out of hydrogen, we have exhausted our supply of values and implosion is imminent. It's happening NOW. Today.

The upside is that I cannot wait till those beatific smiles on the faces of all my shiny, happy liberal friends are wiped off by impending reality.

Sure, they'll NEVER get it - the fantasy of socialism will remain, as always, unsullied by reality. But at least they'll suffer right along with we Cassandras who warned exactly of this eventuality.

I'm converting to Islam. That's the future. Long live Obama, peace be upon him.

We are beyond help.

Ken (Old Texican)| 8.5.11 @ 4:09PM

Grz,
you need to get out more.
Come on down and meet me in Texas. Call 713-569-3896 for a visit.
Texas is not ready to give up yet.
Like our Governor stated: "Texans have just never learned to accept any oppresion."

Should Have Impeached| 8.6.11 @ 1:45AM

"The Mating Practices of the Massachusetts Fat Slob, Obnoxious, I Wish He Would Just DIE ALREADY, Gay Congressman."

Geez, I was with you 'til you went there. In CAPS, too. How crude.

Ken (Old Texican)| 8.5.11 @ 7:33AM

Government ATTITUDE for long term growth... certainty...is the answer.

Bob Grant| 8.5.11 @ 9:06AM

Absolutely. Sending consistent positive signals to the business and domestic energy communities.

Just the opposite from this clown.

Al Adab| 8.5.11 @ 11:28AM

Spot on guys. This needs to be the agenda of the Conservatives. Even JFK knew, "A rising tide lifts all ships".

Maddox| 8.5.11 @ 11:43AM

The calls for "growth attitude" are mute with the current administration. Destruction is their goal, it is clear. The direction Obama and his minions are taking the country is intentional. The damage of their policies is obvious and they want more!

Maddox| 8.5.11 @ 11:47AM

"moot" not "mute"

Intelligent Design| 8.5.11 @ 7:33AM

It's time for Congress to vote on the Fair Tax (www.fairtax.org), which would completely eliminate the federal income tax system, eliminate the IRS, and result in unprecedented economic growth. There would be no payroll withholding tax, no separate Social Security tax, no taxes on capital gains, interest, or dividends, no AMT, no estate tax, no corporate income taxes, no complicated IRA, Roth and 401-K rules, and no federal income tax returns. Revenue would be obtained from one simple national sales tax levied on new goods (not used) and virtually all services. This sales tax, estimated initially at 23%, would be collected using existing state mechanisms (most states have a sales tax) and forwarded to the U.S. Treasury. The tax would not be added on at the point of sale, but would be embedded in prices. There would be no loopholes ---- illegal immigrants, drug dealers, other crooks, and tourists would all help pay for our federal government. Fair Tax legislation has actually been introduced in both the House and Senate in prior years, but it has not received sufficient support from the old, corrupt Congress. It should be possible to pass this legislation in the House, and also in the Senate after more Democrats there are thrown in the garbage truck by voters in 2012.

The Fair Tax is the single most effective step Congress can take to restore freedom and create truly astounding economic growth. This would lead to a massive reduction in the national debt, assuming that federal spending is also drastically cut.

How many Americans are in favor of ending the federal income tax system and the IRS? Who would be opposed?

The web site: www.fairtax.org provides details. Note: the Fair Tax is not the same as a flat tax or a VAT. Another note: the Fair Tax provides for those at or below the poverty level with a "prebate" system.

pickwick| 8.8.11 @ 2:20PM

My primary concern with "Fair Tax" is the second order effect. A transaction tax creates a major incentive for government to want to know about everything I buy. Frankly, I would much prefer to give them their cut off the top and then have them leave me alone to spend the remainder as I see fit. There is no perfect solution, but for my money, the flat tax approach would be preferable.

Pecos Pete| 8.5.11 @ 7:42AM

Quin: Amen!

Reduce the corporate tax rate to 0%. Absolutely. Do it now.

Corporations don't pay taxes ... they collect taxes and then turn the proceeds over to government. Corporate taxes are an expense and thus are added to all other costs to arrive at a selling price. This means that corporate income taxes are a HUGE negative tariff on American corporations making them uncompetitive in world markets.

Corporate income taxes also create imbalances in the USA's internal marketplace by favoring a particular company/product within an industry. Example: wind and solar power are not economically viable when compared to coal/gas and nuclear without their favorable tax supports. And then there is ethanol which would not exist without tax support.

To add even more fuel to our economic engine, add in reduced regulations. Example: EPA in general and specifically the 56 MPG requirement for automobiles/light trucks (an impossible to meet requirement dreamed up by green non profits).

Speaking of non profits, eliminate their tax free status and watch the rapid change in activism. (Activism is a word I hate almost as much as Marxism.)

Pecos Pete| 8.5.11 @ 8:24AM

And I add an AMEN to ID's posting about the Fare Tax.

Pecos Pete| 8.5.11 @ 1:28PM

OOPS ... Fair Tax.

R Martin| 8.5.11 @ 8:57AM

Quite right. A great deal of political demagoguery depends on not noticing that benefits to an industry pass through the firms comprising that industry to individuals. Costs imposed upon corporations are passed on to some human being, whether worker, customer, supplier, or stockholder. Corporations cannot be taxed; we can only tax people through corporations.

Grzmlyk| 8.5.11 @ 1:15PM

One other point about corporate taxes: Corporations don't pay taxes, as has been said many times - corporations are merely tax collectors. WE pay a corporation's taxes in the form of higher prices.

But those who think corporate taxes should be lowered, or that a flat tax or fair tax would solve our problems, miss the point: The goal, Pecos Pete, isn't to have a thriving, vibrant economy with as many affluent Americans as possible.

The goal is to have as many Americans as possible sitting quietly in a corner and producing wealth for the kleptocrats in power.

Economic freedom is the last thing our tyrants want for us. Disposable income? That's theft! Leisure activities? That's selfish squandering of resources that ought to be harnessed to serve the state. Cheap energy? That would be another form of freedom that is verboten.

In the great tradition of socialism, a person born in America in 2011 does not have the innate right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. His only right is the right to keep on existing - if he serves the state to the nearest bureaucrat's satisfaction.

The extent to which that person consumes anything above the subsistence level is money taken away from the ruling class. We should live on as little as possible so that Barack and his cronies can live like sultans.

That is our purpose in life. It is also the definition of sefdom. We are there.

Bill Hussein O'Stalin| 8.5.11 @ 8:13AM

You can change the tax structure all you want it's unlikely many more jobs will be created.

Although the Bush tax cuts increased revenues, they also led to financial collapse because the government was controlling too many factors behind the scenes.

I recently read a report about the myriad of regulations the business class has to comply with and that doesn't yet include Obamacare.

The government is the referee in each and every deal and the added expenses and legal fees and potential to get sued by a disgruntled female or minority add to the risk.

And that is what must be eliminated is the risk of government interference. There is enough risk in every business without the government adding many trick and traps.

Until Washington D.C., Inc. understands that do not expect any job creation and do no expect any recovery.

The elitists inside the beltway continue to thrive to this day without any checks on their idiotic plans or ideas.

That is why we are failing and will continue to fail.

Until the EPA and many other federal agencies are bought under control and relegated to a more purposeful relationship with the business class, the investor class will stay away from the mess known as the USA.

Grzmlyk| 8.5.11 @ 1:19PM

It will never happen - the tipping point has long-since been reached.

Regulation is power. And power is the only goal of socialism. They will continue to choke the life out of American enterprise -be it through onerous regulation, taxation or union thuggery.

They will do that till every last scintilla of wealth is confiscated in this country.

Bill Hussein O'Stalin| 8.5.11 @ 1:47PM

You're right.

Bob Grant| 8.5.11 @ 9:12AM

The moment of clarity about his economy hit me like a ton of bricks when in the spring of 2010 Alan Greenspan on Meet the Press predicted a spike in employment over the summer (Summer of Recovery) due to the hiring of 1 million census workers.

CENSUS WORKERS????

That was going to be the catalyst to our economic recovery? ............Census workers??

I had a deep sense of dread afterward.

OregonBuzz| 8.5.11 @ 9:54AM

Basically I agree, however the author has overlooked another important government drag on productivity. Regulations. The government pours out thousands of new restrictive regulations every year, most of which are driven by the "green" movement. There are quite a few regulatory agencies that need to be abolished.

Dan Hirsch| 8.5.11 @ 10:46AM

I've been hearing complaints that conservatives never say what cuts they want. Well I say, 'Hey, let's name names!!!'

Here's my list, in no particular order:

#1 Department of Education (61 percent increase):
2007- $66.372 billion
2008- $65.963 billion
2009- $53.389 billion
2010- $106.944 billion

#2 Department of Energy (90 percent increase):
2007- $20.116 billion
2008- $21.400 billion
2009- $24.683 billion
2010- $38.278 billion

#3 Department of Housing and Urban Development (37 percent increase):
2007- $45.561 billion
2008- $49.088 billion
2009- $61.019 billion
2010- $62.518 billion

#4 Department of Labor (340 percent increase):
2007- $47.544 billion
2008- $58.838 billion
2009- $138.157 billion
2010- $209.265 billion

#5 Department of Health and Human Services (29 percent):
2007- $671.982 billion
2008- $700.442 billion
2009- $796.267 billion
2010- $868.762 billion

Source:
http://www.cnsnews.com/news/ar.....department

"Increase" refers to the percentage increase in budget since Democrats took the House in 2006.

NONE of these departments are Constitutional! And this represents 1,285.767 BILLION dollars in non-Constitutional spending. We could save almost 1.3 Trillion dollars, i.e. our annual deficit spending!

This is the problem, reverting to the Constitution is the solution, this is not rocket science.

Oh, but will the Beltway scream bloody murder!!!

Yes, it would be ugly for a year; employment and real estate values in Virginia and DC would PLUMMET, just like in most of the rest of the country in the last two years...

It's their turn...

Don't tread on me.

Nick| 8.5.11 @ 10:59AM

Mr. Hirsh,

Excellent comment, sir.

Al Adab| 8.5.11 @ 11:30AM

Good list that. About time we started to ask if these agencies do anything to justify their existence.

Grzmlyk| 8.5.11 @ 3:00PM

Too bad they've just created a new department: The Department of Identifying and Re-educating Unpatriotic Americans Who Don't Like Government Departments.

That ought to suck up at least $500 billion the first year alone.

But the uniforms are to die for, and I understand the jack boots are made of environmentally friendly, reclaimed iron.

Al Adab| 8.5.11 @ 6:07PM

LOL. Think they can get the spelling of your name right? Mine is easy, but since it's Arabic they'll probably leave me alone.

W| 8.5.11 @ 8:51PM

Al, we are all changing our names to Arabic.

Bob Grant| 8.5.11 @ 7:10PM

You paint a rosy picture. When do they begin passing out the Soylent Green?

ncatty| 8.5.11 @ 10:28AM

For better or for worse our economy is driven by consumer purchasing. Therefore, how do we put more money in the hands of this economic engine? Not by reducing corporate taxes - they are already sitting on cash. Instead, eliminate the payroll deduction for 12 mos. and let the people spend it. That will increase demand, which will spur hiring, which will increase tax revenues.

JP| 8.5.11 @ 10:45AM

That is exactly what many people (even quite of few Dems) advised the President to do in 2009. As far as corporations sitting on cash; it is a bit more complicated. Corporations will spend more if there is a good business reason to do so. If they can justify thier spending through either greater market share, greater revenues, or profits they will spendin thier money. But with ObamaCare on the horizon, they are looking at a huge increase in the costs of doing business in the US. And even as late as 2011, they are unable to put a price tag on what ObamaCare means to them. The Dept of HHS is still ginning up the exact costs to businesses which ObamaCare may bring.

But ObamaCare is only the beginning. Four large federal bureaucracies (FTC, Dept Ag, FCC, and CDC) are working out regulations pertaining to childhood obesity (Check out the Weekly Standard). In our Brave New World, any kind of advertising or inducement directed at children and what they eat will come under federal control. Even philantropic efforts like Coke's educational scholarships will have to be totally re-vamped less it might cause a child to buy a Coke and not say a bottle of water. The costs of just this one bureaucratic mis-step will be measured in the billions, and eventually will induce American firms to do less and less business in thier own home markets.

Dai Alanye| 8.5.11 @ 12:51PM

neatty's idea has already been tried by BH Obama himself, and was a failure.Did we forget that? Cut regulations and corporate taxes as Santorum suggests.

Dai Alanye| 8.5.11 @ 12:51PM

neatty's idea has already been tried by BH Obama himself, and was a failure.Did we forget that? Cut regulations and corporate taxes as Santorum suggests.

Dai Alanye| 8.5.11 @ 12:52PM

And stop clicking the button twice!

Al Adab| 8.5.11 @ 1:22PM

Memo to self?

Bob Grant| 8.5.11 @ 7:40PM

Isn't that what Obammy has tried the past 2 1/2 years?

It sounds like you've bought into the Keynesian Multiplier Effect which Mr. Keynes later admitted did not work. A good analogy would be taking a bucket of water from the deep end of the pool, walking to the shallow end and dumping it out. For an instant the shallow end has more water but shortly thereafter you're back to the same water level as before. I believe it's called a Zero Sum Game. It doesn't grow the economy, but DOES add to the deficit.

JP| 8.5.11 @ 10:33AM

Quin,

Things are a little more complicated this time around, than in 1981. However, you've hit the nail on the head. What you advise are decent grotwth policies. But the structural and demographic challanges facing the US may impede long term job growth and wealth creation. Here is a short list of challanges we face:

1)Less than 10% of our work force is employed in manufacturing. Of course, part of this can be attributed to automation and more sophisiticated business practices. But, overall firms continue to move thier operations to foriegn lands. And one doesn't have to go to India to find better business climates. Mexico and Canada will do just fine. Fortune 100 firms have been posting decent profits, while unemployment remains above 9%. This trend will continue as long as our nation maintians a bureuacratic infrastructure that is larger than Sweden's. When even Mexico offers better jobs with better pay, you know the game is up.

2)The US spends upward of half a trillion a year on K-12 education. Per capita, that is more than Germany, Switzerland, Japan, Korea, and Signapore (nations that are far more educated). Our corrupt, centralized educational system produces few engineers, fewer physicists, and fewer still pure scientists. The system is so bad that is beyond reform. It needs to be dismantled from top to bottom. The Dept of Education needs to be dismantled. Ditto for Dept of Education that each state maintains. Total control of cirricula, hiring, educational standards, as well as funding must be returned to the local populations. And the federal government has to get out of the student loan business. This is a radical change, that in truth, most parents are not willing to make. But it is the only way "fix" this sink hole.

3) Demographics. The US has maintained positive population growth only through immigration (both legal and illegal). Only Hispanic populations produce offspring in sufficent numbers to grow thier population from one generation to the next (a 2010 census showed a birthrate of 3.6 children per female). The Black, Caucasion, and Asian populations average less than 1.8 children per female. According to the 2010 Census, the US population has grown at its slowest rate since 1929. Only demogrpahic momentuem from the Baby Boomers (which is ending) and longer life expectancies allows our population to grow. However, the median age of our population is now near 40 (37.8 years old). Older populations are less dynamic; they spend and consume less than younger ones. The Baby Boomers now make up 24% of our population (age group 46-64). Yet, they hold the vast majority of our assetts (properties, stocks, bonds, cash). The rest of the population (younger population) will not only have to make up for the loss in productivity, consumption, and savings; but it must also provide enough tax revenues to pay for huge under-funded public liabilities.

4)Inflation. Since 1913 the purchasing power of the average American has dwindled 93%. Only radical improvments in automation, business practices, and the inclusion of women into the workforce was real wealth creation possible. (which shows you how free markets can really produce wealth) Yes, free markets have more than offset inflationary pressures. But, in recent decades business had to move more and more of thier operations to low cost labor sources like China in order to produce real growth. And yes, people today enjoy labor saving devices and appliances that continue to produce even greater efficiencies (just look at what Twitter and Facebook have done to marketing; or what GPS has done to agricultural efficiencies). Yet, the loss of buying power continues. It forces consumers to put thier hard earned cash into market bubbles. Since 2000, the US consumer has lost 22% of its purchasing power. I've heard many economists say that 1% annual inflation is "healthy". But even at this low rate, a person's real savings will erode by 25% in 25 years. People do not save because inflation destroys savings. The US went through tremendous economic growth (as well as a Civil War) during the period 1813-1913. But inflation during that period was 0%. That is, the price of simple commodities like wheat, corn, cotton, and timber were the same in 1913 as in 1813. The century of having our economy "dictated" by experts has been a disaster. Besides huge market bubbles and crashes; central bankers and economists have managed to destroy the real estate markets, erode savings, and ultimately run up $14 trillion in public debt. The time has come to seriously consider repealing the charter for the Federal Reserve Bank.

The millstone that is tied around the neck of our economy is enormous. It has produced a society that is becoming older, poorer, less secure, bloated on public debt. The temptation for many will be to enact "targeted policies" that will fix certain apects of our society around the edges. But lower taxes or less defecit spending only treat the symptoms.

TrueBlue| 8.5.11 @ 3:08PM

Don't forget the amount of various agricultural products that are destroyed on a yearly basis by the federal government so they can keep prices "stable." Instead of giving countries aid in cash we should give them excess food rather than destroying it.

Paul Streitz| 8.5.11 @ 10:50AM

The author: "Something approaching a trillion dollars would come "off the sidelines," back into the markets and into equipment purchases, research and development, creating a multiplier effect of real wealth.

These are lessons we should have learned from Ronald Reagan, Jack Kemp, Milton Friedman, and others -- "

Yes, there will be trillions for research and development and it will go straight to China where G.E. and GM can build new factories. All the above named (Reagan in part) were adament free traders. We now have lost 6 million manufacturing jobs. That there is going to be any investment in manufacturing in the United States is a delusion offered by this author.

We have had forty years of free trade. Is the American worker better off?

Paul Streitz
Author
America First: Why Americans Must End Free Trade, Stop Outsourcing and Close Open Borders

Dai Alanye| 8.5.11 @ 12:54PM

Getting rid of the corporate income tax will make sending jobs overseas less profitable. Doncha geddit?

Rob| 8.5.11 @ 10:57AM

I'd like to see the House pass a bill that would slash corporate income taxes. Even if it didn't become law, it would help to clarify differences between the two parties. And it's possible some Democrats might support it.

Al Adab| 8.5.11 @ 11:33AM

So another big tax break for the corporate jets eh? The opposition will never admit (although they understand it all too well) to their voters that corporations create the jobs everyone is clammering for. They rely on republicans to keep the economy going (not a lot of luck lately) while demagoguing the very sector we need so badly.

Nick| 8.5.11 @ 11:04AM

Please, do not forget about Boehner the liar:

John Boehner is a liar and broke his word. He promised in the
2010 Pledge to America (remember that GOP?) to give
Americans THREE DAYS to read legislation
before a vote.

"Americans should have three days to read all bills before
Congress votes on them."
- John Boehner, Oct. 30, 2010

He's only been Speaker of the House for seven months, and he is
already breaking his word. How is this any different than when
SanFran Nan Pelosi did the same thing?

It's not like Boehner is incapable of keeping his word. That is, for
democrats. Remember H.R. 1, earlier this year? He let democrats
offer hundreds of amendments to keep "the Pledge’s commitment to an
'open process that makes it easier – not harder' to cut spending
[...]."

I guess we conservatives can just go pound sand, huh?

By the way, this grand deal has cut $4.5 billion from
national security spending for Fiscal Year 2012. These are
real cuts, $4.5 billion less spending
than FY 2011, not the phony C.B.O cuts from baseline
budgeting, which only reduce the growth of spending.

Thanks to this cry-baby Oompa-Loompa, we no longer have a veto
over that incompetent boob in the White House. Thank
you, sir, may I have another!

"'The American people are in charge of this country, and they deserve a Congress that acts like it,' said Boehner. 'Americans should have three days to read all bills before Congress votes on them--something they didn't get when the "stimulus" was rushed into law. We should put an end to so-called 'comprehensive' bills that make it easy to hide wasteful spending projects and job-killing policies. Bills should be written by legislators in committee in plain public view--not written in the Speaker's office, behind closed doors.'" (All emphasis minne.)
- Penny Starr, CNSNews.com, quoting John Boehner

"'Americans have lost trust with their government, which has too often ignored the will of the people in favor of party loyalty and a desire to pass partisan bills at any cost,' said the introduction to that part of the Pledge to America. 'Backroom deals, phantom amendments, and bills that go unread before being forced through Congress have become business as usual. Never before has the need for a new approach to governing been more apparent than under Speaker Nancy Pelosi and her leadership [ARRRRRRRGH!]. Americans are demanding change in the way Congress works, and we are fighting to bring much-needed sunlight to the process and give the American people a greater voice in their Congress.'" (All emphasis mine.)
- Penny Starr, CNSNews.com, quoting the GOP's Pledge to America

HYPOCRITE!!!!!!!!!

Oldefarte| 8.5.11 @ 11:18AM

Before any of these admirable suggestion that no doubt would be extremely beneficial to correcting our economic ship of state, THE FIRST ORDER OF BUSINESS HAS TO BE TO ELECT A CONSERVATIVE REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL REPLACEMENT IN NOVEMBER OF 2008 [OTHERWISE OUR COUNTRY'S DESTRUCTION WILL BE FINALIZED]:

'Obama Has Left the Economy in Ruins Friday, 05 Aug 2011 08:15 AM By Wayne Allyn Root
Barack Obama was my college classmate (Columbia University, class of '83). I tried to warn the country that virtually all of my classmates and professors were marxist, despised America, and wanted to bring down capitalism. I tried to warn the country that Obama would follow the detailed plan of two Columbia professors named Cloward and Piven — a plan designed to destroy capitalism by overwhelming the U.S. economy with government spending, regulations, entitlements, taxes, and debt.
That is precisely why I authored one of the most popular commentaries on the entire Internet in 2010 entitled, “The Obama Economic Plan — Purposely Overwhelming the System to Cause Crisis and Destroy Capitalism.” I predicted Obama’s radical tax and spend policies were designed to crash the system with debt, bring us to our knees, starve business owners (the biggest contributors to his political opposition), make us all doubt capitalism, and dependent on big government. It’s all come to pass.
I’ve written about this plan for 2 ½ years now. My commentaries have predicted the destruction of the U.S. economy under Barack Obama, the decimation of small business and the middle class, and the start of not only the Obama Great Depression, but what I called “the greatest depression ever.”Afterall, when the first Great Depression began in 1929, our country had very little debt. We had no obligations for welfare, food stamps, Social Security, Medicare or Medicaid. We had no illegal immigrants bankrupting our public schools and hospitals. We didn't have 21 million government employees with bloated salaries and unfunded $100,000 pensions. We had no Obamacare with an obligation to pay for the medical bills of every American.
Back in 1929, we also had a nation filled with hard-working citizens who believed in personal initiative and personal responsibility. All of that has changed dramatically. Those modern government programs, entitlements and obligations add up to national catastrophe as we enter this new Obama Great Depression.
I wrote the commentary entitled, “Obama, the Great Jobs Killer.” Time magazine quoted my line “Obama has killed so many jobs, he should be on top of the FBI's Most Wanted List.” That was well over a year ago. What is happening today makes the economy and unemployment picture back then look like child’s play.
I wrote “Obamageddon” a year ago about the wreckage of the U.S. economy from sea to shining sea. Today that wreckage is larger than even I imagined back then.I wrote “The Unraveling of a Ponzi Scheme," “Obama — the Marxist in the Mirror,” and “The Obama Teleprompter Depression.” All of them had a common theme: Obama’s goal was to target, demonize, and punish the wealthy and small business owners- the very groups that pay all the taxes and create all the jobs. I predicted that the result would be economic crisis and collapse.I wrote “The Strike — Why the Rich Are Going on Strike Against Obama.” I explained why as a result of Obama’s rhetoric and policies against the rich, America’s job creators were going on strike. I predicted the economic decline would accelerate because business owners would stop producing, stop hiring, in response to being punished for their success. Each day these predictions are confirmed by alarming new economic reports.I wrote that Obama’s debt rampage wasn’t just suicide for Obama's political career. It would bring us all down in a murder/suicide. The entire U.S. economy would come down upon not only taxpayers today, but our children and grandchildren for decades to come.
I wrote a commentary many months ago entitled “The Greatest Depression of All Time Has Begun.” And so it has. It’s true that the odds of Obama’s re-election just went down in a ball of flames, along with the Dow Jones Industrial Average. But no matter — Obama has accomplished his goal. He has taken down the entire U.S. economy with him. He has trashed the political opposition, small business owners who fund conservative candidates and causes. He has overseen the decimation of the middle class homeowners and stock owners who vote conservative. He has left retirees with few assets, bank savings eroded by massive inflation. He has made 50 states into welfare queens begging for bailouts from the federal government. The nation is severely overwhelmed, right out of the playbook of Cloward and Piven.Obama has left in his wake a U.S. economy in ruins. He has made many of us doubt capitalism. He has turned the American dream into a nightmare. He has brought tens of millions in society to their knees begging for government to save them. Even though it is government that made them dependent in the first place. He has convinced the masses that government feels their pain, even though it is government that caused it. He has enslaved us all under an avalanche of debt so massive it’s unimaginable, and of course unsustainable. He has turned hope into a 4 letter word.Congratulations Mr. Obama. Mission accomplished.'

Oldefarte| 8.5.11 @ 11:20AM

PS-correction: I meant a replacement in November 2012 [not 2008, a Freudian slip]. Sorry!!!!

Derek Leaberry| 8.5.11 @ 12:04PM

"Growth economics" tend to feed Wall Street, an institution both parasitical and anti-conservative. A family-oriented, Main Street, small town/rural conservatism is to be preferred to big business profits.

darcy| 8.8.11 @ 8:58AM

My thoughts, exactly, Derek.

Old Soldier| 8.5.11 @ 12:34PM

This article is assumong that all Republicans and at least some Democrats WANT economic growth. I think this is a flase assumption.

They want control. Economic freedom creates wealth outside of government control, which is not a desired outcome. Therefore, we won't see any tax or regulatory reform with the current crowd in DC.

rtaylortitle| 8.5.11 @ 12:50PM

There are no real budget cuts and everyone with half a brain knows that. It's all showcase lies. Saying we'll only buy a Mercedes instead of a Lamborgini is NOT a cut. There are innumerable govt. agencies that could have been extinguished, but our lamebrain Speaker of the Mouse didn't have the cajones to pursue them. Except for Ron Paul and a few other libertarians...the House of Representatives is no better than a legalized mafia.

Dai Alanye| 8.5.11 @ 12:58PM

There's no doubt Santorum has the best policy proposals of any present or proposed candidate, plus the experience in Washington to know how to accomplish his aims.

I Get It!| 8.5.11 @ 1:03PM

One of the funniest spontaneous moments on the Johnny Carson show occurred when Jackie Leonard (I think it was him) was on.

His act consisted of putting down other people, often in wild ways.

After he’d gone on for a while doing this, to much laughter, Johnnie said, “When you get home to your wife, you’re going to get it.”

Leonard came right back, “I certainly hope so!”

Get it? A little play on words, there. “It” morphed from trouble to sex.

America’s REALLY “getting it”, now, and is facing a future with even more of this, and I don’t mean sex!

The only growth on the agenda is absolutely NOT economic, but in awareness, as the trickle-down effects from our clowns in DC personalize their political malpractice.

When I used to substitute teach, sometimes when a junior high class was acting rowdy, I’d tell them to act their age. When that got their attention, I’d quip, “Oh, you are doing that!”

Well, “acting your age” and “growing up” are two ways of understanding the American citizenry. Right now, I’d have to say that they ARE acting their “age”. In the sense that since this country is a representative republic, the people who have been put in power are of an “AGE” that is acting perfectly in accordance with itself.

In short, what’s currently taking place is no accident.

We, as a manifestly NOT grown up population, CHOSE for a time of TAKING not MAKING.

The only “growth” we went for, was a gusto-led eat-till-you-drop-dead as a gross fat body!

The economic growth that has been lacking for years now was CHOSEN.

Can’t we all just get along, and eat ourselves to an early and painful death? Come on, people, don’t we ALREADY have enough---way more than enough!---stuff?

Buy gold, be patient, eat less, eliminate more, and get off the wheel.

In the end, “IT” always gets you, anyway, eh?

You are IT---THIS is IT!

Enjoy IT.

Far out, man. Have another toke, dude.

Cromulent| 8.5.11 @ 4:58PM

"...corporate income taxes effectively double-tax profits that also are taxed through levies in dividends and capital gains."

Umm.... then why not eliminate dividend and cap gains taxes? I don't mind lowering the corporate rate to something globally competitive. But the more important levies are the ones that directly funnel gains to the owners: shareholders.

High dividend taxes coupled with low corporate taxes keep the money sloshing around and encouraging CEOs to look for ventures weird and wacky to spend the money on instead of returning it to the owners.

Stefan Stackhouse| 8.5.11 @ 5:54PM

The US Government has been waging all out war against corporate dividends for the better part of a century now through an utterly irrational tax policy. It used to be that corporations were managed for the benefit of their shareholders, who counted upon a steady stream of dividends as the major part of their return on investment. Many corporations that consistently paid good dividends were considered appropriate investments for "widows and orphans". The US was built from a wilderness into the mightiest industrial economy in the world under that system.

For some time now, our tax system has taxed dividends (when the double taxation of corporate income tax is considered) more than any other source of income. Those widows and orphans had better watch out and dare not invest any money in dividend-paying stocks, or Uncle Sam will penalize them severely!

Last I checked, the US economy wasn't doing so hot. Most of the stuff we buy is now "Made in China". Wall Street does a booming business in what amounts to high-class gambling, and has even bribed Washington to cover its losses. So how is that double taxation of dividends working for you?

POST America| 8.5.11 @ 10:46PM

--------------------BOTTOM LINE----------------------

'80's Show' STanford Research/ Rockefeller/Tavistock
SAP OP ---ALERT!---

More than ever, the issue remains unbridled, psychopathic,
God mocking, creation hating, EUGENICS driving, Globalist
-----USURY.

------------All else is DIS-track-shun-------------

Clinton Lovell| 8.6.11 @ 5:03PM

Cutting spending is the answer. Imagine what would have happened if there had been no debt deal. Each month more than $120 billion in potential credit would have been repatriated with the private-sector economy, thus creating a strong stimulus to the demand schedule for capital investment - the only stimulus in economics that counts. In turn, the stimulus to capital investment would create a stimulus for the demand schedule of labor. The stimulus to the demand schedule of labor would be reflected in a demand for housing.

Add to that a holiday on capital gains and you have the perfect recipe for unbridled growth and everything but the capital gains cut can be done without a bill, vote or veto fight.

Which is why nobody around here wants it. Fixing the problem would end the money train that is moving along and we can't have that.

blackwatch| 8.7.11 @ 12:33AM

cut corporate taxes, sell surplus federal lands and create a tax base there, and FINALLY...

Invoke a comprehensive ENERGY Abundance policy that increases the availability of ALL economically viable forms of energy. No money spent on unicorn wing windmills, green grass ethanol, and pixie dust solar power.

Drill for oil and natural gas here and bring those jobs and wealth creation back to American shores and American workers. End the support of the Saudis, Hugo Chavez, and all the other third world crap hole states that hate our guts.

jgo| 8.7.11 @ 1:24PM

Hmmmm, "growth economics". What would increase economic activity? Yes, lower, less regressive federal government extortion would be an improvement. Tax breaks for the expenses of bringing in US citizen candidates for jobs, relocating US citizen employees, education and training of both new-hires and retained employees would be good, but, as some note, eliminating income extortion -- including the pay-roll taxes associated with Socialist Insecurity Abomination, Obummercare, Medicare and Medicaid -- would be better. A compromise would be the retail sales extortion, set so as to limit the local+state+federal burden to less than 10% of retail spending.

Making it easier to convert a hobby into a home business by wiping out excessive zoning restrictions, business licensing, taxes, etc., would help, as would easier, less expensive means of patent and copyright filing and defense.

And accompany this with eliminating Socialist Insecurity, Obummercare, Medicare, Medicaid (better to repeat than forget), foreign aid (including funds to the UN, WTO, WorldBank/IMF), National Endowments for the Arts and Humanities, CPB/NPR, the REA, OPIC, SBA, NHTSA, DoEs (OK, retain NCES and move part of DoEnergy to DoD), DoC (which seems to be expending vast sums lobbying for foreign governments and businesses and a few favored US executives), HUD; most of USDA, NSF, NIH; and reduce federal agencies such as the FBI, secret service, BATF, FAA, ICC, FCC, FTC, CIA, HHS, and DoD to their proper role of defending against the initiation of force and fraud (and stop, e.g. FAA, FCC, FTC, FERC, from their efforts to support and maintain monopolies/oligopolies and instead to encourage competition).

nike shoes UK| 8.8.11 @ 2:03AM

is good

Boston Bravery| 8.8.11 @ 3:10PM

The simplicity of the argument present is astounding. It denies reality of what happened with the tax cuts that were implemented during Kennedy, Reagan and Bush by leaving out the crashes that quickly followed the slight improvement in the economy.

Boston Bravery| 8.8.11 @ 3:15PM

The argument ignores the facts that corporations are currently sitting on piles of cash and not hiring. Yes there might be like in the past a short term bump but we need long term improvement not short term antics like what is present here. The exact opposite is true our government should requiring corporations hire more in the U.S. or see their tax burden significantly increased so that the government can put people to work if the corporations won't.

Boston Bravery| 8.8.11 @ 3:20PM

More emotional economics. If it was just that simple we would be at 1% unemployment today.

POST American| 8.9.11 @ 1:17AM

------------------BOTTOMLESS LINE------------------

"We've been positioned, for decades, for
this takedown. We've got to name it. We've
got to go after the head, the Warren Buffets,
the David Rockefellers, the Soroses and Lord Rothchilds."
It's US or THEM-----"
-ALEX JONES
(yesterday)

WHY Alex Jones was Talkers Mag 'Man of
the Year', their keynopte speaker, and has
gained 30 new outlets (never lost one) in
just one week.

ANYONE STILL not REAL-eye--zing its ALL
been about the RED CHina TREASON OP?

Anyone NOT getting ---

USURY = Glow--BALL--ism = DEPRAVITY = TREASON = EUGENICS = ABOMINATION?

Anyone STILL NOT booking for NUREMBERG?

--------------------ANYONE AT ALL?