Personally, from my knowledge, the leave everything alone approach would have doomed us.
Nothing is exactly what should have been done. This was the view of the first President Bush (and it was one of the reasons he lost his re-election bid... because he was supposedly "out of touch" with the people since he didn't want to generate a bunch of deficit spending to shorten a recession). Turns out the first Bush was absolutely right, since the economy was on the road to recovery even as Clinton took office- and we were spared from a bunch of additional "relief" spending.
Recessions happen for reasons- usually as an adjustment to some sort of national ponzi scheme for which the market has fallen. In the 90s, the market fell for the dot.com ponzi scheme with super-inflated stock prices... and an adjustment took place.
Now, we are faced with an adjustment after unrestrained real estate speculation/lending. The system requires a recession to readjust. Trying to "buy our way out of a recession" will only result in huge deficits and will only delay what is a natural, and inevitable, process.
The $800 billion is perhaps the worst thing that could have been done (the money shelled out by the Bush admin was also a bad idea). Certain institutions may need to be shored up to prevent total economic collapse, but all of this "stimulus" talk is just so much misguided baloney!
Wow. I suppose you will be surprised to learn that the largest budget deficits in the history of our nation (in constant dollars), prior to those during the W administration, took place during Poppy's tenure.
This is where Woody Allen pulls in John Maynard Keynes from stage left to say, "You obviously know nothing about economics," after which, Woody turns to the camera and says, "Wouldn't it be great if real life were like this?"
Now, we are faced with an adjustment after unrestrained real estate speculation/lending. The system requires a recession to readjust. Trying to "buy our way out of a recession" will only result in huge deficits and will only delay what is a natural, and inevitable, process.
The $800 billion is perhaps the worst thing that could have been done (the money shelled out by the Bush admin was also a bad idea). Certain institutions may need to be shored up to prevent total economic collapse, but all of this "stimulus" talk is just so much misguided baloney!
Robert- we just spent $800 billion in extra deficit spending in an effort (misguided, IMO- perhaps not yours) to put off a recession.
Put whatever spin you like on that (compare it to our spending on the war, deficit spending under some other administration), but we're spending a lot of additional money we don't have on (again IMO) a dubious scheme.
Maybe I lack your obviously profound knowledge of- well- everything ;^), but I have a hard time getting my thoughts around $800 billion in "stimulus spending." Seems we're following up reckless private spending/speculation with massive government spending/speculation.
BTW, enjoy Italy- unfortunately, my participation in the event was cancelled...
Back to topic. Look...W was spending it on war and exporting democracy to the ends of the earth. O wants to spend it on US citizens and the US economy. Pick your poison. Either way we are in debt...Priceless.
Too many people think "Well the shoes I buy keep increasing in price, I guess taxes should go as well." Well the thing is, when the shoes went up, so did taxes. Automatically. Taxes are bases on a rate. Answering your question, no not always. I do think they are way over due a drop.
not too many people want tax increases all of the time. Taxes tend to not increase that much, compared to drops. Right now, the government does not have enough taxes to pay for its operations. AND with significant cuts in spending, the government does not have enough money to pay for its expenses. Reagan and Bush have been known for their tax cuts, and have also been known for their debt.
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