Cincinnatus BLOG *** Political Commentary - Social Commentary

You are Browsing the May 2009 Archive:

Obama Spending + Reduced Tax Receipts = A Massive National Debt For Our Children

  The Obama 10 year budget includes trillions in new spending programs at a time when tax revenues are declining at a precipitous rate. The projected deficit in the Obama Budget is $7.0 trillion for the decade 2010 to 2019. That's the good news! The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) has concluded that, if the Obama budget were approved, the federal government would actually run even larger deficits averaging nearly $1 trillion a year over the next decade. The cumulative deficit from 2010-19 would be $9.3 trillion, according to the report - $2.3 trillion more than the Obama administration's forecast. The main reason for the difference in budget estimates is a difference in economic growth, with congressional views of long-term growth less optimistic than those of the White House. … Continue reading | 7 Comments

“Taxing The Wealthy” Leads to Greater Economic Distortions

After reading that one percent of the households in New York City, roughly 40,000 people, pay 50% of the income taxes in this city of more than 8 million inhabitants, it made be begin to wonder where we were headed as a nation. This astonishing figure brings home the practical consequences of relying on taxes from a small group of high-earners to fund city, state and national budgets. In the case of New York City, the Mayor can only hope that this small group does not become weary of their burden and move to Connecticut or West Palm Beach. If even only a small percentage does, the financial impact on New York in a recession would be devastating. If that problem isn't enough New York City and State will… Continue reading | 16 Comments

The Stimulus Plan – A Wing and A Prayer

Ideology to the left of us, ideology to the right of us -- boldly they rode into the jaws of the unknown, into the mouth of financial hell -- rode the five hundred and thirty five. Theirs is not to reason why; theirs is but vote and whine... For the political class who see the current recession as harbinger of depression, embracing an incomprehensible stimulus plan provides the irrational exuberance of hope. Better to have relied on reason than a potpourri of repackaged old and tired ideas. To argue with either side is a waste of time, as each will abandon reason at the first challenge. As John Locke succinctly put it: "Every sect, as far as reason will help them, gladly use it; when it fails them, they cry out it… Continue reading | 4 Comments

Jobs - Let’s Patent Them

As the world's most inventive country we have the unique opportunity to patent our way out of the current recession and thrive in the 21st century global economy. What should we export to create high paying permanent jobs and redress our balance of payments? Ideas.  It's what we do better than any other country. One country, the United States, accounts for more than one-third of international patent applications. It's time to leverage what we do best, innovate, and create the jobs we need for today, tomorrow, and decades to come. In hard economic times we should be looking ever more closely at our export markets and ask ourselves the basic question: What innovative products can we sell to the nearly 500 million inhabitants of the European Union, the… Continue reading | 3 Comments