Would someone please explain to these guys in Washington that it is not their job to tinker with the economy? They need to stay focused on the limitations on their power, not continue to look for ways to expand it. They really aren't all that smart, nor do we need them to steer our businesses.
From POLITICO:
Most politicians in the most powerful positions in Washington agree in private that there are a half-dozen or so big things they could and should do that could put a rocket booster on the U.S. economy — but they are too timid to say it in public.
This is the clear takeaway from conversations we have had over the past three months with top lawmakers, officials, their senior aides and the CEOs who advise and lobby all of them. Many of the conversations were private but many were not.
The current tax-and-spending debate only flirts with what these insiders say needs to be done. Instead, top White House and congressional leaders talk privately of the need for tax reform that goes way beyond individuals and rates; much deeper Social Security and Medicare changes than currently envisioned; quick movement on trade agreements, including a proposed one with Europe; an energy policy that exploits the oil and gas boom; and allowing foreign-born students with science expertise to stay here and start businesses.
“Both Democrats and Republicans privately agree,” Warren Buffett told us. “They just don’t want to be the first to speak out on their side.” Erskine Bowles, a Democrat who meets regularly with officials at the White House and in Congress, said lawmakers often plead to him: “Save us from ourselves.”
The lure of having participated in designing the next boom economy is very enticing to lawmakers. But according to the POLITICO piece, the desire to get the credit gets in the way of getting anything done.
Sen. Rob Portman (R-Ohio) recalls a clinic Bowles held for senators on long-term fiscal issues. Of the 45 senators who came in and out, almost all agreed on what needed to be done — but few wanted to say it. The reasons are simple: the polarization of Congress, the habit of wanting to claim a political triumph instead of being party to a bipartisan policy win and the belief the other side simply isn’t on the level and trustworthy.
But there is another reason why many in America are starting to wonder if trusting any of these men with the kinds of decisions they are being called upon to make is good for the long term. It seems that once big businesses and multi-national corporations made government a player in their game of profit seeking, the rest of us became enslaved.
The country’s most influential CEOs, who have been meeting with Obama and congressional leaders on these very topics, are telling them if they do some or all of this, investment, market growth and jobs will quickly follow.
Bank of America CEO Brian Moynihan said long-term commitments to measures such as tax reform and trade would provide a “certainty premium” that would help bring corporate cash off the sidelines. “If we can just allow people to keep their confidence up by getting some of these issues off the table,” he said, “you would see the economy grow and momentum continue to build, and unemployment continue to ease down, and housing starts [go] up and housing prices [go] up. All that will continue to build on itself.”
Prior to the Civil War government kept a very tight lid on corporations. During Teddy Roosevelt's term in office we got the Sherman Anti-Trust Act and a renewed concern for the power of large corporations controlling the market. But today corporations not only have a corner on the market in areas such as food production, but they hold patents on seeds and control what other farmers can grow on their own land through lawsuits.
Since the railroads showed how corporations could influence politics, large corporations have been using their power to push government toward certain decisions.
Most corporations hire lobbyists who promote their interests in Washington or state capitals around the country. The lobbyists look at various bills that are making their way through the governmental system and determine how it will affect the corporation. The bottom line is always money. Corporations do not want to see government push through legislation that might hinder the opportunity for an increase in profits.
As personal citizens, management within a corporation is likely concerned with environmental issues or the opportunity for family members to take time off to be with a sick loved one. As a corporation, however, these issues can cost the company from increasing revenue – or worse, work at a loss. Therefore, it is vital for the corporation to push through their agenda rather than promote an agenda for the good of the country. This is possible because the corporation is able to donate large amounts to political candidates, something that private citizens are unable to do. [corporatehx.com]
While you are busy trying to keep your home, put your kids through school and plan for the future of your own family, others have persuaded you to give them a fat paycheck so they can go off to Washington, cozy up to corporate lobbyists and find a way to help certain businesses make more money by the use of government taxation, regulation and legislation.
This Christmas, instead of a nice Currier and Ives card, why not send your Congressman a note that simply says, "I'll be watching you like a hawk."? That's what they deserve and really, that's what you owe to your kids.
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