Reagan's tax cuts left us with the biggest debts in history and gave us 4 years of recession under Bush. Part of that problem was rampant deregulation which brought us the S+L debacle and lot of other white collar crime. At the same time it brought us racial strife and urban riots. These were caused by the underclass feeling ignored while the upperclass partied. Dont think they dont notice.
Reagan and both Bushes also have a policy of getting the IRS off our backs. That means underfunding enforcement of major tax cheats and making it difficult to collect from the big-time tax evaders. Also they underfund the SEC and EPA enforcement divisions so more corporate crooks get away with it. The problem is as bad as ever now under GW.
Reagan and GW Bush both almost encourage(d) people to rebel against taxation and government controls. It's never said but implied. They also encourage corporate fraud through lax enforcement. For instance, almost one half of Reagan's cabinet was indicted in some way or another. All corruption related stuff. And GW's cabinet is full of Enron types and others with insider deals going way back. As a result they do not serve the people but mainly their own special interests.
Clinton's grand success combined fiscal responsibility with entrepreneurialism. He raised taxes and brought us record economic success and low unemployment. That seems to be the right mix. Unfortunately the capitalistic spirit went way too far. Economic success ran away with itself. Instead of trying to cap it, the powers in charge let it run amok. Clinton failed us on that point, not recognizing we were having too much of a good thing and talking it down.
Therefore, seems the logical right mix is responsible entrepreneurialism, an effort to balance budgets even if it means higher taxes, keeping the markets honest but also reassured that DC is running a tight ship, the investing those tax dollars in education, more efficient healthcare, progressive infrastructure and a generally better America to live in. That also means strong law enforcement (especially with white collar crimes) and strong enough military and CIA, but not too much. And our #1 challenge now is to gradually get off oil altogether as our primary energy source. That will take ingenuity, commitment and massive incentives and investment. Oil has become our achilles heel, as Bin Lauden, Iran in the 70's, OPEC, Venezuela, the Saudis and Saddam have proven. Now oil interests want our wilderness areas. Oil dependency may also someday bring a nuclear bomb into our country. Only because the Islamic fundamentalists resent our partially owning their countries, and having troops stationed there. Once we dont need their oil they will leave us alone. And vice versa. I say good riddance. And hello a cleaner, more successful America. |
