The Deficit Strawman

It is all the rage now for politicians of both parties to decry our huge national debt and that reducing that debt needs to be our number one national priority. “Horsepucky!” as Colonel Potter would say on M*A*S*H. I don’t recall a word being said about it when Ronald Regan increased the national debt by more than any other president since; though Bush seemed to try. To me, it seems like more political subterfuge to attack Obama and the financial crisis he inherited and has not been able to fix with a “not give an inch” Republican congress.

For those who might remember a little history this was Herbert Hoover’s faux pas when he said deficit reduction was the top priority of his administration. Didn’t help then, won’t help now. That is not to say it is not a big problem, it just not the biggest one now and the timing is wrong.

As I see it, the major problem today is the inequitable distribution on income and wealth among the citizens of the country. We have been going down this road for over 30 years and now things are a mess. Cutbacks and debt reduction sound sensible to micro economists but they really aren’t. The economy needs stimulation to get going and it has not been stimulated enough.

Corporations are sitting on the profits waiting for who knows what before they start investing and employing. But they are sure willing to pau their upper management huge salaries and bonuses for shoddy bad work. And the ultra rich seem perfectly happy just sitting on the wealth.

The infrastructure of the country has been going downhill since the Eisenhower years and needs to be fixed. Our priorities in transportation in this country are a joke. We use the most inefficient mode of transportation possible, truckers to move things about, and everybody has to drive their own vehicle to get anywhere. This is due to special interest groups that have feathered their nests at the expense of the common good. We need to spend to get the economy going and we need to spend on the infrastructure. It seems like a no brainer to me. And also we need to develop technologies for the future, green ones. It is morally responsible and also profitable. What more could you want.

These are the things that will get the wealth of the country into the hands of the many rather than the few and the economy will benefit. Getting the wealth to the middle class will allow for them to reduce their own debt and invest in the country with their own ability to save and build the country.

Trickle down economists and just using a county fair shill’s trick to keep our eyes off the pea, and we get conned into losing our money to these tricksters.

The question is simple, “Are you better off than you were before supply side/trickle down economics came into play? No. Just look at the numbers.