The Great Depression of 2009
By Johnny Roosh
Barack Obama’s explanation of his tax plans if elected is instrumental in illustrating the thin line between lying and nondisclosure. His plan to raise taxes on those that employ a great many of his constituents is a failure to realize the benefit of economic lessons learned. It is also proof of his gross economic illiteracy.
His “Tax Cuts for 95% of Americans” ploy, given the fact that 40% of Americans don’t pay taxes defies basic mathematics. The idea that those above $250K represent the Nation’s upper crust defies the imagination.
Being subject to lower taxes will not be relevant to middle-class American families if their breadwinners lose their jobs. Half of America’s workforce draws a paycheck from small business owners. Further burdening these businesses, especially in challenging times like these, will serve only to harm those that Obama professes to be the messiah they’ve been waiting for. In fact, they will suffer the most.
Make no mistake. We are in a recession.
We need small businesses to do what they have done in most every previous recession. Grow. Hire. Invest. Small business has lead us out of tough times in the past, and if given the chance, will do so this time as well. Unfortunately, in the face of this recession, the American voter, in a twisted manipulation of cause and effect, has been lured into thinking that a Democrat is the answer. They will be dead wrong.
It is a sad commentary that the only upside to the current political tide for business owners and investors, and those that benefit from their success, is that an Obama Administration will be another Carter administration. Maybe worse. In this scenario, voters will awaken to the stark postmortem reality that a vote for a true conservative is a vote for economic prosperity.
In all fairness, Republicans deserve this predicament even if it is the American people that will suffer the most. Opportunities for true reform and fiscal restraint were squandered. President Bush has been one of the most fiscally liberal Presidents in modern times; and he’s a Republican.
The fact remains however, that raising taxes and spending any time in the next eight years, given the economic turmoil that we have just begun to suffer, is the polar opposite of what should be prescribed.
Our nation is amidst a time of unprecedented vulnerability. To think that a liberal majority can somehow resist the temptation to push their socialist agenda, even given the catastrophic consequences it will have for our nation, is a pipe dream.
We are on the precipice of total economic collapse as our system unwinds from a forty year super-cycle of growing consumer and national debt brought on by liberal economic policy and the inability of conservatives to exhibit the leadership to countermand its effects. Barack Obama has been consistently aligned with those that planted the seeds of this crisis while John McCain has been one of only a few voices of caution when leading indicators appeared on the horizon.
Do we face another Great Depression? It’s hard to say with certainty. Given our precarious economic status and the near certainty that liberals will gain unfettered control of fiscal policy, there is cause for concern. Great concern.
In the last Great Depression, fiscal policy was exactly wrong, albeit in hindsight. As the economy weakened, the Fed actually increased rates. The President resisted even short-term deficit spending. Unemployment was higher than it is now.
In this case, the Fed has little more it can do. Deficit spending has been the norm for years. We have a ten trillion dollar national debt; closer to thirty if you count future obligations. Interest rates are already close to the bottom.
The only lever left is to lower taxes and allow the free enterprise system to rescue us via the creation of new jobs and wage growth, which will drive consumerism and investment. Even that takes time. Time we may not have. Ronald Regan’s efforts took more than a year to take effect.
Consider this: lowering taxes and incentives to allow the free enterprise system to pull us out of the grasp of recession; does this sound likely given the trend in the affiliation of our elected officials?
Be afraid. Be very afraid.
October 11th, 2008 at 9:39 am
Too bad McCain can’t say anything like that.
Romney was the man for this time. A few nitwits in our party were manipulated by the media & polls taken in January.
October 11th, 2008 at 10:25 am
Some of this “recession” was certainly caused by the housing bubble and the exaggerated advertising claims of those loan companies, offering free everything to everyone. A lot of the blame must be laid on the expenses of this war in the middle east, which are not part of the budget but which have negatively influenced the attitude of the rest of the world about the US’s ability to control its financial affairs .
To blame this on the Democrats only is foolish and unrealistic. We all must take some responsibility for our financial recklessness that has been long
( 12 years ago) pointed out by many of our congresspeople such as Byron Dorgan and Kent Conrad of North Dakota
October 11th, 2008 at 11:20 am
You don’t consider those making over $250K wealthy? Man, I must be in the wrong industry.
I don’t understand the whole argument that taxing the rich is the same as taxing small businesses. Why can’t we just change the tax code to separate the two? Aren’t conservatives in favor of simplifying the tax code?
October 11th, 2008 at 11:26 am
Roosh, the rich pay FAR lower taxes than they did under Reagan. As well, if taxation is a dissincentive to action, then the inverse is also true, lack of taxaction is an incentive to hoarding, failing to share with your workers the fruits of their labor and your investment in a manner that can sustain an economy.
BTW – speaking of taxation – you want to elect the Governor of the biggest ‘nanny State’ in the United States. This states overburdens it’s corporate benefactors SOOOO much that it sends a check for $9k/year to every man, woman, and child. As well, oil profits pay for 80% of the operating budget. IMAGINE what could be done if they just gave those companies bank their money, the massive numbers of jobs which could be created, the muliplicitave effect of ceasing the great Alaska New Deal economy.
Oh, and she’s gonna clean up Washington.. yep, right after she cleans herself up.
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/10/10/cbsnews_investigates/main4514163.shtml?tag=topHome;topStories
October 11th, 2008 at 11:33 am
BTW, Mom, exactly so, Byron Dorgan warned of the effect of derivatives. Alan Greenspan, Ronald Reagan’s successor to the most effective head of the Federal Reserve EVER – Paul Vollker – said worrying about derivatives was nonsense (in 2004). Dorgan warned about the risks in 1999.
The Conservatives complain about regulation the Democrats stood in front of, but most of those so-called regulations were in fact sops to the industry, allowing them, for example, to go after bankruptcy claims on credit cards with the same legal authority as tax debts, or child support. They were SOO extraordinarily friendly to banking that the banks backed them. Only when the Republicans tried to decouple GSE’s from FHA obligations did Dems stand in the way, which was right AND appropriate given that the whole reason for creating the GSEs was to create a central, stable secondary mortgage market. It’s hardly the fault of those who created the GSE’s that unscrupulous people colluded with corrupt Republicans to ‘free market’ game the system and screw the American people.
One last comment, Roosh, I’ve yet to see you retract your claims about CRA and how subprime is related to CRA. CRA is NOT a vehicle underwhich subprimes could be written. I read an article today about how ‘redlining’ was OK, and those who complained against it were wrong, and that precipitated this problem. NOTHING, nothing at all, could be further from the truth. Redlining was the immoral act of charging UP for people not based on credit risk, but simply on ethnicity or income. It was unethical, and subprime lending was just a reinvention of redlining, it was NOT a consequence of CRA, it was a way to AVOID writing a proper loan under CRA. If you want to complain about lying, it would be best to understand the lay of the land yourself.
October 11th, 2008 at 12:39 pm
http://blogs.usatoday.com/onpolitics/2008/10/mccain-gets-boo.html
Talk about cults and ‘hate’ all you like – but the truth is 180 degress from what you try to claim.
October 11th, 2008 at 12:55 pm
After eight years of the most caustic hatred seen for an American politician since the 1860’s, you (like the entire left, on command from your Dem robot overlords) focus on an incident that McCain has expressly rebuked?
Seriously, Peev – it’s not even a challenge anymore. Go work on your game for a while before you try to mix it up here.
October 11th, 2008 at 2:28 pm
Mom,
Can you tell me how much of the money that has been spent in Iraq & Afghanistan would have been spent on the military anyway? You know, because we keep a strong standing military even in peace time, and soldier pay is a huge cost of this war.
Also, can you give a coherent connection of how government spending on the military caused a housing bubble, a credit crisis & the resulting market correction?
October 11th, 2008 at 2:42 pm
Peev,
You are an ignorant boob.
First, booing an opponent is hardly “hate”. Second, that’s not what happened. There were a few moans of disappointment, from about 15 people out of over 2000, when he said that an Obama presidency shound not be feared. There was applause when from far more than 15, when McCain said that Obama was a strong family man who just has a different opinion than he does.
Oh, & the Woman who declared Obama was an Arab was laughed down.
Peev, your tailor called… he wants to know the neck size for your Brown Shirt!
October 11th, 2008 at 2:54 pm
See the “hate”, or rather lack of it, here:
http://www.breitbart.tv/?p=193613
Compare that to James Carvile’s statement that there will be riots of Obama is not declared the winner on election night. [sp. intentional]
October 11th, 2008 at 3:58 pm
Peev, you call McCain “McSame” and blather that it is “hate” to call Obama by his full _real_ name.
It’s hard to believe that even you take yourself seriously.
October 11th, 2008 at 5:05 pm
“Rich pay far lower taxes than they did under Reagan.” Not true. Typical Democratic talking points. The ‘rich’ pay a far higher percentage of the total tax bill now than under Reagan. The ‘rates’ may be lower, but the total amount taken in and, as said above, the percentage paid by the rich has increased under Bush. Look it up. “Lack of taxation is an incentive to hoarding, failing to share with your workers the fruits of their labor.” WTF. Have any proof to back that up, Peev? Lower taxes mean the ‘workers’ get to keep more of the “fruits of their labor.’ That`s a good thing, right? If they get to keep more then they don`t have to worry as much about anybody having to ‘share’ with them.
October 11th, 2008 at 6:25 pm
“Be afraid. Be very afraid”
Pretty much sums you people up. Cowards.
October 11th, 2008 at 6:37 pm
And now name calling!
Project much, RickDFL?
October 12th, 2008 at 2:06 am
Be very afraid, the “plan” is proceeding. http://cloward-piven.com/
October 12th, 2008 at 10:21 am
Rick DFL
“Fear is the mind-killer”
You people have been afraid for too long.
October 12th, 2008 at 10:25 am
Feel the “love” from open minded tolerant Democraps:
http://apnews.myway.com/article/20081012/D93OQ2SO0.html
“WASHINGTON (AP) – Rep. John Lewis, a Georgia Democrat and veteran of the civil rights movement, says the negative tone of the Republican presidential campaign reminds him of the hateful atmosphere that segregationist Gov. George Wallace fostered in Alabama in the 1960s.”
Which no doubt incited this “random act of kindness”:
http://www.heraldonline.com/109/story/877049.html
“Vandals spray-painted the words “Republican means slavery” on the door of the York County GOP campaign headquarters overnight Friday.”
RickDFL, what size do you want you jack-boots?
October 12th, 2008 at 10:57 am
Projection. Heh.
I should put together a list of all the leftyblog posts that have “Palin” and some combination of “scary”, “Scared” and “afraid” in ’em.
American big-“L” liberalism is all about fear; fear of consequence, of failure, of standing out from the crowd (on every level, from personal to international relations), of conflict, of dissent on any level.
October 12th, 2008 at 11:10 am
What, you guys still read Peev’s drivel?
October 12th, 2008 at 11:14 am
I don’t understand the whole argument that taxing the rich is the same as taxing small businesses.
Who do you think owns small businesses?
October 12th, 2008 at 11:59 am
Afraid the world’s going into an ice age. Afraid the world’s going to burn up. Afraid of over-population. Afraid that all seven members of the kkk will unite & take over the government. Afraid of second hand smoke. Afraid of people with southern accents. Afraid their daughter will not be able to get an abortion. Afraid of unregulated political discussion. Afraid to measure a person by the content of their character rather than the color of their skin. And most of all, afraid of religion.
October 12th, 2008 at 2:17 pm
Terry,
Don’t forget, afraid of strong attractive women with Alaskan accents! 🙂
October 12th, 2008 at 8:50 pm
Afraid of immigrants. Afraid of terrorists. Afraid of other religions. Afraid of women making their own decisions. Afraid of the government. Afraid of the UN. Afraid of gay people. Afraid of people who are smarter than you. Afraid of black people. Afraid of poor people. Afraid of popular culture. Afraid of the press. Afraid of crime. Afraid that somewhere, someone might be enjoying himself. And most of all, afraid of the future.
October 12th, 2008 at 9:17 pm
You can tell when the market has hit finally bottom; the drop in prices is accompanied by large volume.
You can tell when a comment string has hit bottom.
Angryclown arrives.
October 12th, 2008 at 10:23 pm
I love the smell of fear in the morning. It smells like…victory.
October 12th, 2008 at 11:58 pm
You sure you’re not smelling that strawman you buried yourself in?
October 13th, 2008 at 9:48 am
It’s the smell of his own stupidity. He’s just another useful idiot from New York, kind of like these people expressing their love:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nQalRPQ8stI
October 14th, 2008 at 7:30 am
[…] Similarly, a commenter on conservative blog Shot in the Dark writes: The ‘rich’ pay a far higher percentage of the total tax bill now than under Reagan. The ‘rates’ may be lower, but the total amount taken in and, as said above, the percentage paid by the rich has increased under Bush. Look it up. […]