Most TV talking heads have us believing that our short term economic recovery requires us to spend ourselves into financial oblivion. They say that curtailing runaway government spending right now would be repeating the mistake made by the Japanese government in the 1990s, which ultimately caused its economy to flat line into a "lost decade." The point resonates with many Americans who believe that "you don't get something for nothing," that there is indeed no "free lunch," and financial sacrifice is the only path to economic salvation. They believe that high (even hyper-) inflation, high taxes, the continued and deep devaluation of the dollar and slow economic growth are merely the penance for our financial sins.

The fact is that the spending spree of the past year has done very little to stimulate our economy. The timely, temporary and targeted stimulus package outlined by economic advisor Larry Summers never actually materialized. Instead, the Obama-blessed Pelosi-Reid $787 billion abomination of gratuitous spending and political pork turned out to be untimely (most of the money still hasn't been spent) and targeted just about everything EXCEPT projects designed to pay immediate economic dividends and put Americans back to work. Besides all the pork, a significant portion of the stimulus money was earmarked to prop up state governments and social welfare programs designed to provide a safety net to Americans in greatest need. Helping Americans in need is a noble cause, but using the money for consumption instead of for investment in America's business prosperity does not stimulate the economy.

The good news is that if we scrap all that nonsensical spending right now and fund a plan that actually targets stimulating the economy, we may be able to have our cake and eat it too-- a robust recovery in the near term and a chance for long term prosperity. If our political leaders come to their senses and call off the stimulus waste-fest, nix multi-trillion dollar Obamacare and anti-business Cap and Trade, and redirect a fraction of those savings toward creating jobs, we may just start growing again. Robust growth will mean lower deficits, lower deficits will reduce the need for higher taxes and the impetus for high inflation, and just might save the US dollar from near extinction on the world stage. That lunch wouldn't be free, but it would be cheaper and provide leftovers that could be used to fund responsible healthcare reform and other social goodies!

By: Joe DelCasino
More articles by this author are available at http://joedelcasino.blogspot.com Books are available at http://www.Xlibris.com.

You know the story. The evil step mother and the two ugly step sisters take advantage of the beautiful and neglected Cinderella. This is a metaphor of our economic times. In my story the evil step mother is big government and the ugly step sisters are banks too big to fail and fat Wall Street companies. Obama is the cool Prince and small business is Cinderella.

Cinderella kept the household alive by doing all the filthy chores and she was constantly at the beck and call of the other 3 women. The Prince was looking for a wife and announced a grand ball. The mother went into high gear planning the wardrobe for her two invited daughters. Cinderella did the work and prepared the dresses. She wasn't invited but dreamed of attending. The sisters taunted her, saying she would never be welcome at such a high affair.

Cinderella cried after the sisters left. Her resourceful Fairy Godmother appeared and turned her rags into a gown, a pumpkin into a carriage, mice into horses, a rat into a coachman, and lizards into footmen. She went to the ball and won the Prince's heart. (The Fairy Godmother represents wisdom and common business sense.) Hopefully you remember about the clock striking midnight, the slipper, and the Prince with "The Audacity of Hope". He searched for his true love, his meaning, and answers to the fears and problems in his kingdom.

Obama has pulled out all the stops to save our economy, but he has only invited the ugly sisters (banks too big to fail and Wall Street). Small business, like Cinderella, has not been invited to the party. I bet there were not many small business owners at his recent $15,000 a plate fundraisers. Small business represents 70% of our economy. They are THE answer to the unemployment problem. Small business people are the innovators turning pumpkins into carriages and mice into workers.

Big government and Prince Obama gave GM $50 billion back in the summer to keep them in business. Since then they have closed dealerships, factories, and layed off thousands. There are 5 million small businesses in this country. Imagine how many jobs would have been created if that money had been given to them. Have a contest and give the money to the biggest and best ideas. Reward creativity for a change instead of companies skilled in trading derivatives and other sneaky financial games. Tell small businesses that if they hire new people their payroll taxes will be eliminated for one year. The unemployment rate will be gone in a month.

Barack has the slipper. It won't fit the fat feet of Wall Street. He needs to search the heartland, the rust belt, companies with 20 employees, and small towns to find what works in this country. The clock is striking midnight.

By: William H Watson
http://www.questionsbybill.com

I'm going to have to stop reading the news and throw my TV out the window...or learn some deep breathing relaxation techniques.

Not only do I get to sit back and watch our government continue to seek out ever more inefficient ways to waste money in the name of stimulating the economy...I also get to watch the programs and services we're already paying for waste as much as humanly possible.

Let's start with the Cash for Clunkers program that has managed to unnecessarily burn through billions of dollars to accomplish little more than subsidizing auto purchases for people who would probably have been buying new cars in the next six months anyway. A complete waste. And now they are paying the dealers involved via IOU's instead of cash.

The dealers have to pay the rebate out of pocket and then wait for reimbursement from the government. Only problem is that the car dealers are getting IOU's in lieu of the cash.

No Way....!!! You mean the government isn't paying money it owes to people working through its very own government sponsored program?!? What do you suppose would happen if I sent in an IOU in lieu of my taxes this year?

How about that post office? You know the post office...that place you go when you need to burn 45 minutes on a 5 minute task. Well they lost a couple billion dollars in the third quarter...to add to the billions already lost in the previous quarters. How is it that I pay $0.44 to send a letter 40 miles down the road and that contributes to a multi-billion dollar loss...but can head on down to my local grocery store and buy a kiwifruit from New Zealand for about the same price and nobody loses money?

And while we're at it...can somebody explain the logic behind paying taxes on tax refunds? You get a refund because you paid too much tax to begin with...how does that logic work?

Oh wait...it doesn't. In fact no logic can explain the travesty that is government being anything more than a referee in a market system. When the government becomes a player in a market system everybody loses...except of course the folks who are in the government.

And that is why I'm highly skeptical of a government sponsored health care option. That and the countless dollars that I see being flushed away on every other program the government has its hands in.

By: Marcus Garcia
economics politics society

Since the White House now it projecting a much larger deficit then previously expected they are acting surprised and amazed. It appears that the only people who had no clue that we had an exploding deficit were those who were generating this debt to begin with. White House officials have finally admitted that the upcoming fiscal statistics are much bleaker than those initially estimated by the Obama administration.

Current estimates border upon a $9 trillion dollar deficit quickly approaching for the years 2010 to 2019. In addition unemployment it expected to reach as high as 10 percent this year alone. What this essentially amounts to is that you can pull the wool over some people's eyes but not all the people. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to realize that when you are spending funds quicker then you are bringing them in you are certain to end up with a minus sign. Our present administration even in view of these shocking figures has still not attempted to reduce the government handouts in the least.

In my honest opinion these result are just another example of failed socialist policies. They did not work effectively in other countries nor will they prove beneficial in America either. Add to all the other needless government expenses and spending the proposed health care overhaul program suggested by President Obama will tend to increase our deficit by another trillion dollars or more and America is surely going to be seeing bankruptcy in the near future.

The current administration is completely out of control with its spending and debt and our lawmakers need to drag in the ropes and put an immediate halt to these irresponsible actions by the executive branch of the government. It is evident that the stimulus packages are not doing as they were expected to do. We are still in the hole and still not up to par.

As I had previously stated this is not the time to increasing taxes at any level of government so our only other alternative is to cut back on expenditures. Our country needs to escape from this recession before we can start to increase taxes and push for greater social reform programs.

Although Obama and his administration are likely to encounter these issues I am certain that they will simply be pushed under the bus and ignored. As this happens America will go deeper and deeper in debt. This should be a wake-up call for our Senators and congressmen. Listen up gentlemen and put a stop to all this needless spending before it is too late.

Copyright @2009 Joseph Parish

By: Joseph Parish
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