The New Sales Job Part I
We’re starting to hear the not-so-subtle sales job. The Great Recession has changed the American way of life permanently. As in forever. Sayonara for what was because we won’t see it again. But, not to worry. The change is all good. It’s brought families back together. We’re now spending time where it matters, with loved ones. This cozy togetherness is the upside of down. A real boon to family values.
The rest of the sales pitch is not as sugar-coated. For individuals, fewer employment choices, reduced income for those who can find work and serious belt-tightening all around. For the economy, a much smaller private sector, slow growth, much greater government control and high unemployment. For the Federal Government, fingers in every pie, trillion dollar deficits and ever-expanding taxes.
They’ve even given this bleak landscape a name. The “new normal”. Lucky for us, we can fly this coop. We still have a sort-of free economy. It needs the freedom to get going again. A little capitalist stimulation wouldn’t hurt, either.
But, as the months turn into years, the Obama administration is working hard to entrench the “new normal”. It’s putting a chokehold on the life of the economy that, too quickly, will make it impossible to recover fully. Like holding a pillow over a patient’s face and calling it good medicine, right up until the patient expires.
About that chokehold. Today, the Federal government is controlling the private sector like nobody’s business. It adds layers of costly hoops to jump through, which slows production and increases consumer prices, but does nothing useful. And, since higher prices can’t cover all the added costs, businesses cut back on production and employees. Research and development budgets are reduced, retarding advances. The end product or service, when it’s finally delivered, is worse and it costs more. Three cheers for lose-lose.
It’s the debt. The debt is a hot topic because it’s the single greatest threat to our way of life. The Government is spending, just this year, 2/3 more than it’s getting in taxes. And it’s not using the money wisely or even well. Take the almost $1 trillion Stimulus bailout. It has created zero sustainable growth, as in none, nada, zilch, while the housing industry remains flat on its back and unemployment soars. It gives you the warm and fuzzies all over.
Taxes to the rescue. The Obama administration periodically floats the idea of a value added tax. Why? Because, the Administration won’t curb spending and it can’t continue borrowing at its current pace indefinitely. That means getting money the old fashioned way, through taxes. A lot of higher taxes. Each tax hike is like a vacuum. You can hear the giant sucking sound as business growth and personal worth deflate all across the Country.
The “new normal” is inevitably what Big Government imposes. If you like it, then you should be ecstatic because you’re almost there. If you don’t accept it, your opportunity is coming. The fall election is your chance to give “change we can believe in” a whole new meaning.
See you on the left-side.