I just caught a report by ABC's Good
Morning America covering the dismal jobs report for June. It was
another almost-softball report for Obama, with economics commentator
Matthew Dowd stating the American people no longer trust politicians
to fix the economy.
The truth, however, is more likely that
it is the President they no
longer trust.
Throughout
our history it has been shown again and again that both Congress and
the President have the power to damage the economy, but can usually
do little to fix it by any other means than getting out of the way
and letting the economy fix itself. Time and again it has been shown
that by getting out of the way the economy rights itself, growth
returns, and all is right with the world. Then someone in Congress or
the President decide that things “aren't quite right” and they
start tinkering with one tax, regulation, rule, incentives,
subsidies, and law after another, each of them adding burdens that
puts more pressure on the economy. In turn the economy slows, falls
into recession, and then the Powers-That-Be wonder why this happened,
not understanding that they are the ones causing the
problems.
This
recession, the longest in US history, was fostered by job-killing,
finance-twisting, illogical regulations, laws, and “incentives”
that short-circuited the usual feedback mechanisms and allowed
economic bubbles to be created. Once those bubbles burst, the economy
fell and fell fast.
The
Powers-That-Be keep ignoring history, keep doing the same thing over
and over again, and then wonder why their various 'fixes' for the
economy didn't work this time.
It's
called insanity.