Simple Truths

I am really tired of listening to all the misinformation out there is American political discourse these days. I think it is worthwhile to list a few simple and undeniable truths.

1) The debt deal just signed into law will not have the effect of slowing the economy. The actual spending cut for the next year is at most a rounding error in federal spending. Any drag from that cut will more than be outweighed by the maintenance of the AAA rating that the deal has allowed.

2) Terrorists are people who kill others in order to make a political point. Strong positions do not make one a terrorist. The Tea Party does not consist of terrorists, no matter what they think on MSNBC.

3) President Obama is not a good leader. He does not produce his own solutions to problems. Rather, he waits for others to act and then comes forward with a critique. He should have stayed a legislator.

4) President Obama is not a good negotiator. He has repeatedly made pronouncements about what he would or would not accept as a bottom line in various debates only to blow right past those positions in the end. He has also set a series of deadlines for action over the last few years and then let them pass without consequences.

5) President Obama does not understand the limited value of speeches. He (and perhaps his advisers) think that if the president makes a point in a speech that it is as good as if the country took action on that point. Both our friends and adversaries around the world have come to realize that the most likely response to anything from the White House is yet another teleprompter reading that carries no real weight.

6) The economy is on very shaky ground but there are a number of ways to improve it. The best of these ways do not increase federal spending or cut real federal taxes. Here are two of the very best: A) a one year tax holiday for repatriation of money held overseas by American companies. If some or all of that trillion dollars were to be brought home at a tax rate of 5 or ten percent, there would be increased revenue (since none of the cash would get here otherwise). There would also be a major stimulative boost to the economy from all that cash moving back into the US economy. B) a change in the taxation of corporations from an income tax to a consumption tax would allow for more income to be collected while reducing the burden on American business. That is because much of the tax would be levied on imports. This would raise the cost of imports while reducing the cost of American goods. The net effect would be to give a substantial boost to goods made in America while at the same time getting more revenue.

7) The idea of many environmentalists that all fossil fuels are bad is complete nonsense. Maybe it would be a good thing in the long run to replace oil, coal and gas with solar and wind energy, but there is no way that such a transformation can take place for many decades. Right now, impediments to production and use of oil, coal and gas just drive costs up for all Americans and slow the economy, something the country cannot afford.

8) Just because the government begins a program, it does not turn into a right for all the people. If the program cost too much or if it just does not work, it has to be terminated even if some folks claim to be hurt.

There are a lot more of these, but this is a start.