Here we go again - the politicians are at it as usual.
Let’s just tell the public how well our ‘new’ great policies are, and explain how they will magically cure all our ailments. But let’s not bother to tell them that they don’t work. Well, they do work, but not ever as described. In fact, they often do more harm than good, and cause serious harm in some cases. And the result of the policies that do not work is an accumulated enormous federal debt, currently $35 trillion and projected to grow to over $55 trillion in 10 years. A fiscal disaster is looming for sure, but my crystal ball is broken, so I don't know when, but it is a sure thing if we stay on the current course.
Tariffs: we will impose tariffs on foreign goods and services and magically save millions of jobs. And look at all the revenue the government generates. Just a minute folks, aren’t we, the consumers paying that tariff? Well, of course we are, it is just a tax on us in a different format. Tariffs are costs just like rising costs of material and labor. And it raises prices which are inflationary to all of us. While it might help some industries that are not competitive in the world, it hurts other industries that might be more efficient. And if you are familiar with history, the Smoot Hawley tariffs in the Hoover administration was a major cause of the Great Depression. Good policy: simple - free trade.
Price Gouging: this is just another name for Price Controls, which we discussed last week in #169, Rent Controls, Again?. Folks, do we really think many thousands of grocery stores are colluding to make prices higher and enrich themselves. They already only make a very small profit as a percentage of sales, in the 1 to 2% range. This is such a bad idea, the left and the right both condemn it. Good Policy: keep your hands off our market economy.
Tax the Rich: shouldn't the wealthy pay their fair share? Just a minute, the top 5% of taxpayers pay more than the remaining 95% combined. Maybe I just don't understand what fair share should mean. And the bottom 50% don't pay anything collectively, they get more back than they pay. Good Policy: throw out our ridiculous tax code and regulations and develop one that is fair to all payers without all the special interests.
Corporate Taxes. Oh my goodness those greedy corporations are not paying enough. First comment, they don’t pay anything, their taxes are mostly passed onto consumers or their employees. And did you know that when we lowered the tax rate to 21% to be competitive with the rest of the world, our corporate tax revenue rose? And corporation tax produces less than 9% of the total revenue of our country. Raising the rate to 38% would hurt our economy and tax revenue from corporations. Good Policy: leave it alone at 21% or eliminate it completely,
BOTTOM LINE
Whole books are written on this subject, but no one will want to read that. The key point is that the politicians feed us pablum and they think we will eat it - sometimes they are right and we buy into bad policy that ‘sounds good, even though it feels bad’.
It is up to us, the ‘voting public’ to recognize PBS when we hear it (Political Bull Shit). We must vote intelligently based on common sense for the best choice we have, as we see it.
I am non-partisan, an equal opportunity critic of all bad ideas and complementary of good ideas when I can find them. My job is to point out the differences and let you decide what makes the most sense for you.
LEARN ECONOMICS, THEN VOTE SMART
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