A Case for Democratic Budget Balancing

In my lifetime, (I am approximately middle aged), there has been one President who balanced the budget, Bill Clinton; there have been two Presidents who entered into war, both Bushes; there was one President who spent enormous amounts on defense without a war, Reagan; and there was one President who was just nice, Carter. I don't remember LBJ or Nixon, except as History Channel specials. This is a highly subjective over-simplification but it's where my memory starts.

I have always thought that Democrats seemed better at balancing the budget than Republicans.

I decided to put this idea to the test tonight. I decided to look for the facts (that's what this blog is about). Below is a link to the document I would have written had someone else not already done it. This article was written by Dr. Stephen Bloch of Adelphi University.

For those of you who can't bear to slog through a scholarly article, although easy to read and well written, let me summarize:

First, the information is derived from the Department of the Treasury. Dr. Bloch explains everything he did and why.

The last Democrat to show a budget deficit was LBJ. The last Republican was George W. Bush.

The largest deficits in history are all under Republicans, that includes FDR during World War II and the Great Depression.

Personal observations: Democratic economic principles allow the "little guy" to get off the ground. Witness the stellar economy under Clinton. The dot-com economy was bound to collapse under its own weight, but the Clinton administration policies made it possible for business people who are not established to get a start. It helps that Al Gore invented the Internet! :)

Republican/Conservative principles do exactly what the name says: they conserve the status quo. This means that those who are already successful will continue to be successful, but those who are trying to get a foothold will have a harder time.

One example is the idea that under Democrats, the Federal Government will provide more small business grants than under a Republican administration. This helps start-ups to get off the ground.

The "tax and spend" concept might make good bumper stickers or talk radio, but if you tax and spend on the right things, the economy gets better. The rest is simple: More people making more money pay more taxes therefore less deficit.

What does all of this mean for today... As the economy improves, the tax rolls will expand. Leaving taxation levels alone will go most of the way to solving the country's debt problems. Then we need to plug the heinous gaps in our spending, foremost of which is the wars that we are cleaning up, which at one point cost the US taxpayer $1 billion per week each!

Click here to read Dr. Bloch's article: U.S. Federal Deficits and Presidents Stephen Bloch.

Dr. Bloch's personal page at Adelphi University is here.

I would like to thank Dr. Bloch for his hard work and for showing all of his sources and methodology. 

The Search for Employment in America

There is a constant theme in America today: We need more jobs, find us more jobs, the stimulus was supposed to create jobs, JOBS, JOBS, JOBS!

Well, here's an observation from my little corner of the world: People don't want to work!

I know of a company that pays reasonably well for its area, has a great local reputation and the job is relatively prestigious for a service industry position. The number of viable candidates for this position: 0! That's right, zero. Most of the applicants have terrible work histories, no experience or a very unreliable background.

What people really want is to continue to collect their unemployment checks until their old job in their old field comes back. Newsflash: That ain't gonna happen! Buggy whip makers had to find something else to do and so should you.

A lot is made of the fact that America has lost thousands of manufacturing jobs overseas. So what! First it was the Japanese, then the robots and computers, now it's the Chinese and the Indians. Let 'em have the manufacturing jobs. Go back to school, learn computer design or entrepreneurship or alternative energy science or anything with a future.

I hear you saying it: But this is what my daddy did and his daddy before him. This is what I want to do?

Really? And what about his daddy or his daddy... chances are somewhere along the line one of your ancestors decided to stop scraping a bare existence out of someone else's soil and went and found a new skill.

America has the opportunity to be the world leader... not by going backward to the industries that made the 20th Century- "the American Century,"  but forward into  the 21st Century. We don't need to do the building, other people will do it for us. What we need to do is tell them what to build. No one in the world is better than Americans at innovation and invention.

What are the keys to a Great American Future?

1) Education. If we can get back to educating our students, we will be better able to dominate world business. This includes making college more affordable and more worthwhile. (See my blog posting on philosophy in school.)

2) Reasonable, Restricted Accountability in Business: Government in the US should make sure that the businesses that are perceived by the world to be American companies are leading the world in human rights, environmental responsibility and fiscal transparency.

3) Industry Oversight Organizations: Groups assembled by different industries to oversee the conduct of companies in their industry. A little bit of self-control would be wonderful.

4) Taxation with a Purpose: The endless cry that taxes are too high misses the point. Americans are willing to pay for what they get, but governments (local, state & federal) need to show people in a clear and simple way, where their money is going. Justify what you take and we will care less that you take it.

5) Predictable Policies Toward Business: Every time a new party takes over they begin to dismantle the stuff that the previous governments put in, regardless of whether they are working or not. Kill the things that don't work and try new things. Stagnation is worse than confusion, but not much.

These are just the beginning of ideas to move America into the 21st century.

A Tiny Note of Sanity in Washington, DC: Republicans Who Get It!

Lest you think that I never side with Republicans... here is a letter that I applaud.

Click here to read the text of the letter!

 

 

 

In the letter, signed by U.S. Senators Tom Coburn, M.D. (R-OK), John McCain (R-AZ), Jim DeMint (R-SC), John Ensign (R-NV), Ron Johnson (R-WI), Rand Paul (R-KY), Mike Lee (R-UT) and Kelly Ayotte (R-NH) makes it clear that these Senators will not tolerate any more pork and unconstitutional bills.

Programs reviews and reasonable spending cuts are the key.

This is one part of this that I LOVE: All bills must be available to the public three full days before the bill is presented for a vote with a cost estimate from the CBO!

Finally, someone sets a tone in Congress that says, "We will not have unreasonable, un-reviewed bills shoved down our throats. You must prove to us that you need this bill before we will even try to vote on it!"

I propose that Governor Walker and his Republican minions in Madison sign the exact same commitment! Give the public time to review your bills and the Senators commit to allowing no bill or part of a bill that is not financially responsible!

(Recent Walker-schlock that has been passed or is offered that this letter would stop: selling state energy assets without bids, capital gains tax cuts with a massive deficit, tax cuts for businesses that relocate to Wisconsin with a huge deficit, eliminating/reducing existing earned income credit to families, who are paying for this huge deficit.)