From major companies that promise you “You can relax with AIG” to Bear Stearns Bank, should the Federal Reserve System really intervene? In the article, written by Bob Davis on September 22, 2008, named, “Tough Calls for Next President,” Mr. Davis states that “the Federal Reserve has cut interest rates to 2% from 5.25% in September 2007…” is that really such a bad thing? The two next Presidential candidates Barrack Obama and John McCain have very different views on the idea of a “Command-and-Control Economy.” John McCain’s view is: “These are tough times for many of you. You’re worried about keeping your job or finding a new one, and are struggling to put food on the table and stay in your home. All you ever asked of government is to stand on your side, not in your way. And that’s just what I intend to do: stand on your side and fight for your future.” Barrack Obama’s, on the other hand, view of a “Command-and-Control Economy” is: “My tax cuts will create jobs. His tax increases will eliminate them.”
From the chart on the right, you can see what the average household makes, what the average amount in taxes is paid, and what the government spends on miscellaneous things. Many people have critiqued and said that President Bush is the reason for this trend, but can we really say that this is true? Since the terrorist actions, on September 11, 2001, and President Bush’s decision to “hunt down the terrorists,” we have seen more and more government intervention, i.e. – tapping into the phone calls of Americans, in hopes of finding terrorists that are in the US.
Unfortunately, with the way things are going, with the amount of intervention from the Federal Government, the picture, shown above on the left, is what may foreshadow if things don’t turn around and turn around quick. Mr. Davis brings up a good question, “With next year’s deficit likely to grow significantly from this fiscal year’s $400 billion, what spending or tax plan would you scrap to keep the tab down?” Would you think that there is a way of cutting some type of program that is unnecessary in order to reduce the American debt, and thus reducing the value of the American dollar overseas? Senator Obama states that he will raise taxes on wealthier Americans, thus redistributing that money to poorer families, but those policies can have a double-edged sword with the reduction on the incentives on productive earners. Senator McCain, on the other hand, wants to cut corporate taxes to boost jobs, but that, too, has a double-edged sword with channeling the money to modest earners. With the Presidential Election coming up, both candidates have to take into consideration these problems, as well as many others, in order to keep us from going into a recession. Many people have to realize that, although we are in some type of recession and paying high gas prices and numerous amounts of other stuff, we are more secure then if we did absolutely nothing when we were attacked on September 11, 2001. What can America do to lessen its dependence on other countries and pull themselves out of this small recession, that about half of the US population think we are in?
4 comments:
The 2 pictures are found here:
1.)http://www.heritage.org/Research/Welfare/images/sr12_chart4-lg.gif
2.)http://taxguru.org/comix/fatcat.gif
and the bulk about the "Command-and-Control Economy" is found here: http://www.outsidethebeltway.com/archives/the_command-and-control_economy/
I believe in a free market and feel that even though the US is dependent on other countries it can still benefit the US. If another country can make a product faster or cheaper with the same quality, the US should invest their efforts on other products, since that's the way you make thing efficient. If we want to be less dependent on other countries we must continue to find ways to reduce cost and work on new innovation in order to create or maintain a competitive advantage. After watching this video, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TxgSubmiGt8, I believe our only way out of this recession is to encourage productivity. I do believe that since the government is partly to blame for the fall of Wall Street, they need to bail it out in order to provide some liquidity for our credit market and to help bring us out of recession.
Going from a free market economy to a command and control economy would be detrimental to the United States. We rely on other countries for many goods and services, but what obviously needs to be done is less dependence on borrowing from these other nations. This is where the two campaigns differ. I compeletely agree with Senator McCain's strategy of tax cuts for corporations to expand business, create jobs, and let the prosperity trickle down. Senator Obama's strategy of taxing the upper class and putting more money in the hands of the middle class does not ensure economic growth or creation of jobs. This is one of the main problems that the fiscal crisis is leaving us with, and I do not believe that Senator Obama's strategy is the correct approach. The government would have to try to regulate how money is spent (i.e. price controls and supports) and the consequences would be worse than the present. The wealth of a nation is not measured by money; rather, it is measured by goods and services. The way out of a recession would be to do everything possible to create jobs and increase production. This also means continuing to rely on foreign countries for some things, just not the borrowing aspect as heavily.
Going from a free market economy to a command and control economy would be detrimental to the United States. We rely on other countries for many goods and services, but what obviously needs to be done is less dependence on borrowing from these other nations. This is where the two campaigns differ. I compeletely agree with Senator McCain's strategy of tax cuts for corporations to expand business, create jobs, and let the prosperity trickle down. Senator Obama's strategy of taxing the upper class and putting more money in the hands of the middle class does not ensure economic growth or creation of jobs. This is one of the main problems that the fiscal crisis is leaving us with, and I do not believe that Senator Obama's strategy is the correct approach. The government would have to try to regulate how money is spent (i.e. price controls and supports) and the consequences would be worse than the present. The wealth of a nation is not measured by money; rather, it is measured by goods and services. The way out of a recession would be to do everything possible to create jobs and increase production. This also means continuing to rely on foreign countries for some things, just not the borrowing aspect as heavily.
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