Democrats, Remember JFK? Part Two

Democrats seem to think that by repeating the words “small business” they demonstrate sufficient economic knowledge to fix the currently bleak employment situation. If today’s Democrats would emulate JFK’s rather than FDR’s economic policies, not only would the national economy improve, so would Democrats’ political fortunes.

A tax credit to hire new employees is useless to small businesses until customers are knocking on doors to spend their money. Since most of these potential customers are corporations or individuals whose taxable income exceeds $250,000, the Obama administration could do far more to help generate jobs and growth if they would extend the Bush tax cuts for “the rich”, cut the corporate tax rate (second highest in the world), cut the dividend rate, and keep the capital gains tax rate at 15%. Even better, Congress should adopt the Ryan Road Map tax reforms!!!

The rich are the customers of and investors in small businesses---they are the de-facto “job creators” without whom small businesses fail. You can’t on the one hand laud small businesses for creating two-thirds of the nation’s jobs and on the other hand force their customers to spend more of their disposable income on taxes instead of purchases and investments.

Remember the ill-fated “luxury tax” on new yachts (and other items deemed extravagant by the egalitarian elitists) in 1990? Enacted as a “tax on the wealthy”, it was repealed three years later due to the depressing economic effect it had on the boat-building industry and its blue collar employees. Obama’s War on the Wealthy/Banks/Business will have the same effect on industries and employees if he continues on his ill-conceived crusade.

If Obama were as diligent a student of the Bush administration’s successes as he is of its failures, he might have discovered the truth of the 2003 Bush tax cuts---they created record tax revenues in 2005-2007---because the cuts spurred investment and growth. Unemployment was half of what it is today—because the economy was booming, not because Bush raised taxes on the wealthy.

Promoting class warfare and spouting faux-populist demagoguery will not restore the nation’s economy. It will take leadership that is serious about cutting spending and taxes—leadership I’ve only seen coming from the likes of Congressman Paul Ryan. I’ve read his GOP Road Map; I’m 55 and I’d volunteer for reduced benefits, vouchers, or personal Social Security savings accounts even if my age would exempt me. Our experience with H.S.A. s (my husband and I have had one for the past three years) and 529 plans (all three of our children have or will soon graduate from college debt-free) has shown me the value of placing personal financial decisions in the hands of the taxpayers who actually earn the money, not the legislators who would like to spend it.