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The Spectacle Blog
As the economy slows down again, I explain at CFIF why it’s largely the fault of Obama and the big-government Left. This excerpt gives a sense of it, although I do urge you to read the whole think via the link above.
This is what happens when government becomes too big, too intrusive, too debt-ridden and too unpredictable. Almost every root of the current economic distress - the longest post-WWII recession on record - stretches down to rotten government policy. The reasoned compassion of Jack Kemp’s promotion of home ownership was shifted by the Clinton Administration into forced lending practices. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, while paying exorbitant salaries and bonuses to Clinton cronies, ran amuck. Lending standards were eviscerated at government’s behest. Meanwhile, the government got financial regulation exactly backwards…. Tax policy also is a mess, with U.S. corporate income taxes the highest in the entire developed world. No wonder so many jobs are outsourced. ….
There’s lots more there. In fact, I hope it serves as a handy, one-stop-shopping compendium, in just 800 words, of all the major reasons our economy got into today’s mess. Again, read it here.
View all comments (11) | Leave a comment
More Blog Posts by Quin Hillyer
http://spectator.org/blog/2011/06/02/how-obama-and-allies-blew-the
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Occam's Tool| 6.2.11 @ 1:39PM
Hmmm...abuse people who pay taxes and meet payrolls, and demonize them. Create a health care system of mammoth complexity and unforseeable cost. Thtreaten to regulate and raise taxes every five minutes.
"Hey, why is business confidence low?"
Occam's Tool| 6.2.11 @ 1:39PM
Sorry: "Threaten"
Too Many Tims| 6.2.11 @ 2:00PM
Jimmy's back!
Where oh where is our new Reagan?
simon templar| 6.2.11 @ 3:07PM
This was NEVER about creating jobs, a vibrant capitalistic economy, or greater power and freedom of the private sector. This was from the beginning about income redistribution, social justice, more central control of the economy by government, and the socialistic needs of the many over the ambitions and freedom of a minority. Nothing was 'blown' or screwed up as you have put it. Everything is going just as it has been planned...he is succeeding. My lord, I really do not know how many times I have to point this out. If we can not even define the problem and define the enemy, how may I ask will we ever win this battle. What does this guy have to do? Be seen walking across the white house lawn with Das Capital under his arm? Flying the red flag over the WH? Shit, it is gotten so obvious you have media journalist from Colmes to O'Donnell boldly proclaiming on national television that they are socialist democrats.
Bob Grant| 6.2.11 @ 5:57PM
Quinn,
An excellent piece. I applaud how you include GWB in your criticisms of the state of the economy. By attempting to "reach across the aisle", Bush created much of problems we currently face, Obama simply down on bad Bush policy (a.k.a Keynesism).
I wish you and others would focus more on Bush's neglect of the 2008 monetary crisis. He and Hank Paulson want us to believe this crisis happened out of the blue but that is a lie. There was a clear 2 year lead up to the crisis. Just research the TED Spread index (Boomberg.com) and you'll see obvious warning signs a year and a half before the crisis hit. The index chart is shocking.
Bush and Paulson should be held accountable for gross negligence.
Ken (Old Texican)| 6.2.11 @ 7:17PM
Bob Grant, you are a partisan ass!
Dubyah called his new (Democrat), congress on fannie mae etc. and damned near got lynched.
You are simply another communist liar!
Bob Grant| 6.2.11 @ 7:31PM
Funny considering I've never voted Democrat in my life. I deeply respect President George W. Bush but face it. He WAS a Keynesian. He and Paulson failed to address the monetary crisis at the onset. Maybe if they did, the tax payers wouldn't be out a trillion dollars.
Sounds to me you are the partisan.
DREd| 6.2.11 @ 11:40PM
Here's a handy rule of thumb. Any time a writer complains that the economy is in trouble because we have one of the highest corporate tax rates in the world, you know that person is either a partisan hack or completely ignorant. Measured by percentage of GDP, the US has the lowest corporate tax in the OECD. The lowest. Setting aside the rest of the developed world, this is also a 60 year low for America. That's right, folks, under the marxist muslim, business hating Obama administration, poor corporate America is paying less in taxes than they have in more than half a century.
Considering that Mr. Hillyer graduated from Georgetown, one can assume he's not an idiot. Therefore, I can only assume he's a liar.
Occam's Tool| 6.3.11 @ 12:27AM
Ya know, Corporate tax just gets passed on to consumers---and since our largest corporation, outside of the oil companies, is, I believe, Wal-Mart, that means it just gets passed on to the not-rich.
Taxation exists for the finance of the necessary functions of government. It should NOT be used as a social tool. Remember that the primary effect of the "Yacht tax" was to put American Blue-color workers out of work.
Bob K.| 6.3.11 @ 7:40AM
Thanks Occam. This is the first time I realized that Wal-Mart also was a tax collector for the government. They even gets some taxes out of people who don't have to pay Income Taxes. Even those who get an Earned Income Tax credit.
Oldefarte| 6.4.11 @ 11:23AM
Great article, Quin! The analysis of the current economic/financial depression for causes is knowledge beneficial in understanding how/why it exists today. However, what's needed now are solutions, and that [as some of you have suggested]has to start with the defeat of the current president and his socialistic administration, along with a drastic reduction of governmental expenses/spending. Tax cuts/reductions are not needed/warranted at this time, since substantial governmental spending reductions should result in banking reserve-surpluses becomeing available to the priviate sector as loans for economic expansion purposes. Once private business is truely convinced that the current socialistic government has been replaced with a capitalistic oriented one, and once banking capital shifts from public/governmental lending to private businesses [and the corresponding upturn in business/consumer confidences that will result from same], the economy should explode upward and get us back to increasing employment, a shakeout of the real estate bankruptcy depression and increasing housing sales, increasing consumer purchases from the increased employment, and a return to greatness for this country. Additionally, we need to ASAP bring our military troops home, stop deploying them to foreign countries to fight undecared/disguised enemies, eliminate all foreign aid/welfare that ends up in the Swiss bank accounts of their despotic rulers, and begin to make use if necessary of the sizable nuclear arsenal if wars are inevitable!!!!!!!