Posted by
Thoughtful Compassionate Conservative on Tuesday, October 09, 2007 1:11:12 PM
- I received a comment from a liberal to
my latest blog: "Florida republicans understand economics 101". The comment stated that because of the economic adage that there is no free lunch, there have to be winners and losers for every policy. The comment continues: "Hooray for the winners in this tax cut. Now tell me who the losers are? And whether or not you're asking the losers to subsidize the winners?"
I completely disagree with this negative, limited view of economic policies. There do not "have to be" losers. Losers make the choice to become losers and make the choice to remain losers. Losers want everyone else to join them in their misery. Liberal socialist policies cater to those who choose to be losers. To quote Winston Churchill: "Socialism is a philosophy of failure, the creed of ignorance, and the gospel of envy, its inherent virtue is the equal sharing of misery."
In my blog, I gave the example of an employee owned corporation, plagued with poor quality products, late deliveries to its customers, prices much higher than market and a disregard for its customers.
In my example there are two groups of employees vying for management control. Both groups clearly understand that the company's inefficiencies are preventing it from growing and becoming more profitable. However, the leaders of one group refuse to support any effort to eliminate the inefficiencies as it might alienate those workers who do not want to take on the hard work and sacrifice that everyone would have to share.
That group's desire to get votes in order to control the management of the company outweighs its concern for the survival of the company itself. Greed for power can make people do strange and even suicidal things. I call this group liberals or socialists (those who now control the Democratic Party in the USA) as this mirrors their policies in every country that has tried this form of government. These policies have only produced economic failure and misery. The other group I call conservatives.
The example further introduces an economic downturn where the survival of the company is in jeopardy. Liberals respond to the crisis by recommending increased prices for the company's products and redistributing the company's total wage pool based on seniority rather than productivity and contribution. In addition they recommend increasing the wage pool.
Conservatives recommend a focused effort to reduce all of the inefficiencies and reduce expenses, including a layoff of redundant personnel to align the company's cost structure with economic conditions.
The losers in this example could be either the entire company and all of its employees, or those employees who are causing the inefficiencies. If the liberals are voted in to manage the company, it will only be a matter of time before it goes bankrupt. If the conservatives are voted in, they will save the company and a great number of jobs. However, there will be those who lose their jobs.
The win-lose scenario referred to by the liberal commentator was caused by the free choice of those employees who chose not to work hard to eliminate the inefficient processes. Had they chosen the opposite path, many years ago, by contributing to the highest product quality, on time deliveries and excellent customer service, the company would have been strong enough to sustain an economic downturn without anyone losing their jobs. thus NO LOSERS.
Now to get back to the Florida republicans understanding economics 101. What they grasped were the following real facts caused by the tax reductions that liberals want to eliminate:
Federal budget deficit fell in 2007 by 35% to $161 billion.
Since 2004 deficit spending has tumbled by $251 billion (one of the most rapid declines in US history).
The deficit is now down to 1.2% of GDP (half of the average of the past 50 years).
All of these improvements to the economy were in spite of a $200 billion post 9/11 tab for the war on terror, including Iraq.
Tax revenue for 2007 was $2,568 trillion, or 6.7% higher than 2006.
Tax receipts have climbed by $758 billion since the 2003 tax cuts took effect.
Individual tax receipts have soared by 46.3% in 4 years (with most of the increase coming from the wealthy).
Federal revenue in 2007 is 18.8% of GDP compared with an 18.2% average over the past 40 years.
Federal outlays increased 2.3% last year, well below the average 7.% annual increase over the past 5 years.
Congressional Budget Office's recently released study showing that poor families with children have improved their incomes, after being adjusted for inflation, by more than 33% from 1991 to 2005. As a matter of fact the poorest 20% in the U.S. increased their incomes by 78%, while the richest 20% improved their incomes by 54%.
All this proves that conservative fiscal policies of tax decreases are good for everyone in the country. However, you won't see this list on the liberal controlled media outlets of CNN, CBS, NBC, MSNBC, ABC, The New York Times, etc.
Ask yourself why the country isn't celebrating these accomplishments. The answer is the same as in the corporate example I gave above. Liberals are vested in negativism. They have to convince the "sheeple" that things are doom and gloom so that they can get their votes and gain control of power. They are vested in "poverty consciousness" for the masses. They control the mass media.
Other countries, once steeped in liberal socialism are abandoning their liberal tax and spend policies in favor of "economics 101" tax reductions.
Malaysia, New Zealand, Singapore, Taiwan and Vietnam, Austria, Northern Ireland all have cut taxes this year or are in the process of doing so. Germany has reduced the corporate tax rate from 39% to under 30%. France is proposing tax reductions of 5% for corporations. Spain and Italy are in the process of tax rate reductions. Eastern Europe is in the midst of a low rate flat tax revolution. There are now 14 nations with a flat tax system as opposed to the liberal, socialist progressive system in the USA.
There is only place on the planet where politicians are still marching to the old drum beat of higher taxes. And that's right here in the Democratically controlled congress of the USA.
I conclude this blog by repeating Sir Winston Churchill's wise words:"Socialism (I add Liberalism) is a philosophy of failure, the creed of ignorance, and the gospel of envy, its inherent virtue is the equal sharing of misery."