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Politics : Formerly About Advanced Micro Devices -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: combjelly who wrote (511563)	9/9/2009 11:42:36 AM
From: i-node	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 1578925

Right. And the rebuilding after WWI, the explosion of technology, the shifting of the US to a manufacturing power house, and the vast increase of personal debt resulting in most people living beyond their means, had absolutely nothing to do with it. What do you think CAUSES a country to become a "manufacturing power house"? Or an "IT Powerhouse"? Or any other kind of "powerhouse"? And yes, when the economy is good you're going to have an increase in consumer debt, and when it is lousy you're going to have a curtailment in that debt. It is a simple, indisputable fact: When you cut taxes substantially, you're going to get a surge in economic activity. There have been four times since 1920 we've seen substantial tax cuts and each and every time we've seen it followed by a surge in economic activity. And it works the other way around, too. When you increase taxes, the economy takes a hit. When Hoover raised taxes in '31, it clearly EXACERBATED the already substantial economic problems. When FDR raised taxes (along with insane New Deal programs), the Depression dragged out for more than a decade. The worst period for our economy in our lifetimes was the period during which LBJ, Nixon, Ford, and Carter were president. LBJ reversed the JFK tax cuts, AND THEN SOME -- raising the top marginal rate to 70% and instituting the AMT. Nixon was one of the worst economic minds of our time, with wage and price controls, wrecking the $35 gold standard, but most importantly, LIKE OBAMA, he mistakenly believed that deficit spending was stimulative and he spent like a drunken sailor. Meanwhile, the unemployment rate DOUBLED. Ford didn't do a damned thing but couldn't control the Democrat congress. Carter's economic policy can best be described as confused. Overall, I'm not sure whether Carter or Nixon was actually worse, but they were both terrible. Carter doubled the budget deficit his first year on the job. The thing that is present in each of these four presidencies is ever-increasing taxes, a LACK of meaningful tax cuts, and the idea that deficit spending will FUEL economic growth. What happened? We both know. Only after Reagan came in and started cutting taxes did the economy turn around -- and the country experienced the longest period of sustained economic growth, perhaps in its history. Tax cuts.