Sure there’s bad news out there if you want it. Yes, tax day was last week, trillions of new taxes are on the way, some of the Obamanites are pushing for a VAT in addition to the income tax, enormous deficits are predicted for at least a decade and our national debt is sky high.
But my advice to you is not to start drinking heavliy. You don’t even need to hide all the sharp objects in your house. I have good news! Americans’ faith in government is reaching an all time low. More people want less government. We are winning. Just ask the Pew Research Center:
By almost every conceivable measure Americans are less positive and more critical of government these days…
Rather than an activist government to deal with the nation’s top problems, the public now wants government reformed and growing numbers want its power curtailed. With the exception of greater regulation of major financial institutions, there is less of an appetite for government solutions to the nation’s problems — including more government control over the economy — than there was when Barack Obama first took office…
Just 22% say they can trust the government in Washington almost always or most of the time, among the lowest measures in half a century…
The problem is, whom do we elect? Does this current crop of politicians get it, yet? Will they do the hard work of cutting government across the board — including “entitlements” — or will they get seduced by Washington once they get there? Do they understand that Big Government “solutions” like FDR deployed during the Depression didn’t work then and won’t work now? Will they keep the Bush tax cuts, cut corporate taxes and capital gains taxes and/or go to a flat tax or a national sales tax (to replace the current income tax) and bring capital from all over the world to America to kick start the next boom?
A desire for smaller government is particularly evident since Barack Obama took office. In four surveys over the past year, about half have consistently said they would rather have a smaller government with fewer services, while about 40% have consistently preferred a bigger government providing more services…
The window of opportunity is opening for true conservative politicians. Time to step up.
Another piece of good news. Even the New York Times is printing articles about cutting spending and not increasing taxes.
To close the gap between expenditures and revenue, we’ll likely see a combination of revenue increases and spending cuts. And we’ll need to focus especially on reducing spending, largely because that taxes on the wealthy can be raised only so high…
Higher income tax rates would discourage hard work and encourage tax avoidance, thereby defeating the purpose of the tax increases…
Yes, I know this isn’t a “news” article, it’s a piece from economist Tyler Cowen, but at least the Times — which certainly employs its fair share of rich people — is running it. It’s a step!
Burdening citizens with much higher taxes would fundamentally change what this country is about. Our founders envisioned a government that would provide public goods but not guarantee everyone’s well-being against every possible obstacle…
The macroeconomic evidence also suggests the wisdom of emphasizing spending cuts. In a recent paper, Alberto Alesina and Silvia Ardagna, economics professors at Harvard, found that in developed countries, spending cuts were the key to successful fiscal adjustments — and were generally better for the economy than tax increases. Their conclusion was based on data since 1970 from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development…
Regular Americans and even the New York Times (sort of) understand the problems we are facing and what needs to be done. Are the politicians listening?
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