The rate of unemployment is 7.2% and it's expected to get worse over the next six months before it gets better. What's astounding is the notion that government can somehow spend us out of this recession. If that were true, recessions would always and forever be slight annoyances easy to overcome with trillion here, and a trillion there.
Bush does carry a lot of blame for this. His incompetence in financial matters shows a lack of trust in the American people, something that has been a hallmark of his presidency, from the Department of Homeland Security and the TSA to his desire to nationalize banks and car companies instead of allowing them to fail for their poor decisions. In doing so, he's left the door open for Obama to spend trillions as if there were no negative consequences in doing so. Bush has wrecked the fiscal discipline of the Republican Party in failing to do the one thing he was so good at - holding the line against wild criticism and prophesies of doom.
If Bush had decided to say no to TARP, the country would have been better off. Bush was our chance at fiscal sanity, and he failed us. Bush's record on spending was always going to be better than the Congressional Democrats, but that kind of thinking is like saying that you're not a drunk because you finished only one bottle of whiskey instead of two. The Bush Administration was supposed to be the grownup in Washington. While we can't blame the follies coming with Obama on Bush, we can certainly look back with regret, and remind ourselves in the future that no Republican who cannot hold the line on spending is worthy of our vote.
How do business owners react to this? This story is apocryphal, but it's true. I know a lot of small business owners who have laid people off, scaled back business to just themselves, or shut their companies down entirely in preparation for a brutal 2009. They have no confidence in the new President and Congress to fix Bush's mistakes.
I am being taxed to death and the government thinks I don’t pay enough. I have state taxes. Federal taxes. Property taxes. Sales and use taxes. Payroll taxes. Workers compensation taxes. Unemployment taxes. Taxes on taxes. I have to hire a tax man to manage all these taxes and then guess what? I have to pay taxes for employing him. Government mandates and regulations and all the accounting that goes with it, now occupy most of my time. On Oct 15th, I wrote a check to the US Treasury for $288,000 for quarterly taxes. You know what my “stimulus” check was? Zero. Nada. Zilch.
The question I have is this: Who is stimulating the economy? Me, the guy who has provided 14 people good paying jobs and serves over 2,200,000 people per year with a flourishing business? Or, the single mother sitting at home pregnant with her fourth child waiting for her next welfare check? Obviously, government feels the latter is the economic stimulus of this country.
The fact is, if I deducted (Read: Stole) 50% of your paycheck you’d quit and you wouldn’t work here. I mean, why should you? That’s nuts. Who wants to get rewarded only 50% of their hard work? Well, I agree which is why your job is in jeopardy.
Most of them are already happier, as they've made the money they need to live comfortably, and don't see a reason to work hard just to have the government take their money, and treat them as dirt while they do it. A few have regrets - as business owners, they saw it as their duty and privilege to employ people and run a company.
But we all have our limits. I'm hopeful that the sunshine patriots of the left can ride their optimism to financial success. There's a lot of work to be done, and there is something to be said for hope bringing the change we seek. So if you voted for Obama, it's time you quit your job and start a company. It's your turn to prove your patriotism by making a lot of money and paying higher taxes.
Good luck. I sincerely hope you're up to it.
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