Economists for decades have warned against the dangers of big government but the closed-minded liberal establishment still fails to see the futility of increasing the size of government as a means for economic growth. The reason? They do not want to see the truth. Liberals depend on government spending to feed their constituents who in tern support them politically.Take labor unions. Protectionism is without question one of the worst things for any economy yet the Democratic party for years has pushed for higher trade tariffs and fight free trade agreements. They do this because in elections, unions uniformly vote, fund raise and campaign for Democrats.
Politicians, like private economics actors, seek their self-interest. The Republicans are no exception to this. However, the Republicans economic policies ignore special interest because they have no hope of gaining labor union and other groups support. Instead, they support bills that increase the common good for the U.S. economy (with the exception of many Bush spending bills, Bush was a liberal).
I fully admit to be a Republican but that does not discredit my argument. The Democrat's economic policy are narrow and wasteful while the Republicans economic agenda is designed to benefit the country as a whole.
Need proof? Read the current Senate or House version of the "economic stimulus" bill and decide how much of it will actually fix the economy.
Hey John,
ReplyDeleteIn my labor law class we were discussing how most unions (on the whole), are supportive of the D-party for financial reasons and supportive of the R-party for values. It makes sense given the demographic of those needing to be union members.
My professor also mentioned that any money paid in dues--a portion of which may subsequently be contributed to one political campaign or another--is tax deductible. It amounts to about $1.73 for most people...not quite the muscle you'd expect. Regardless, the local unions report to the national and those who are elected to those positions make the decisions about where and to whom the donations are made. I get the feeling that it all evens out in the end.
Speaking of the economic stimulus bill--I'm trying to amass related articles for my seminar paper. Topic: Changing the parameters for reassessing the FICA tax (in order to make Social Security solvent). If you have any more resources--I'd love to take a peak!
Thanks for blogging, guys.
~Jocelyn Mroz
Jocelyn,
ReplyDeleteThanks for the comment. That's awesome your working on FICA. In terms of resources, I would search the Heritage Foundation and the Cato Institute, they have done good work in that area.