Wednesday, August 17, 2011

On Rick Perry, Warren Buffett, and Jobs

So today is my birthday, and just in time, and for great comic relief, Rick Perry, governor of Texas has entered the Republican primaries to become the GOP nominee for President in 2012. He immediately made a huge gaffe, threatening Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke, and at the same time exposing his own complete lack of understanding of monetary policy. Really, if this guy is threatening people 4 days into his campaign, I can't wait to see what else he comes up with. This is a guy talking about how much he LOVES America. But as I recall, this is the same guy who, on several occasions in the last year, also threatened to take Texas and secede from the United States. Where's the love, huh? I'd love for this guy to get the nomination and run against President Obama. That could be fun.

Speaking of President Obama, he's out on a bus tour encouraging folks to hold their congressional representatives accountable for last month's debt ceiling debacle and to push them to get busy to work on legislation that might produce some jobs to finally help that 9.1% unemployment rate. I mean, since all the tax cuts for the rich have clearly not worked, I think it's time to try a completely different angle. Even Warren Buffett understands that he and those in his tax bracket, as Americans, have not had a whole lot asked of them in the last 30 years,  "My friends and I have been coddled long enough by a billionaire-friendly Congress. It’s time for our government to get serious about shared sacrifice." He knows that millionaires and billionaires will continue to invest and will continue to get richer even if they do have to pay a little more in taxes.

It's time our "representatives" actually started representing us, the people who go to the polls and do the voting, and not the big corporate donors to their campaigns. Americans are hurting. It's time our congressmen and women went to congress not as Democrats and Republicans, but as Americans, to work out real solutions for the American people they represent who are hurting in this economy. It's time to quit playing games and quit playing politics. It's time to fund the projects that have been proposed that will put Americans to work. 

Maybe I'm just a simpleton, but it seems to me that if you fund a bridge in Missouri, you have to employ people to build the bridge, all kinds of people. From engineers to contractors to builders, there are a lot of disciplines needed to build that bridge. Then you have to get steel from Pittsburgh, and now a steel plant in Pittsburgh needs to hire a couple of guys, then you have to transport the steel, so you have to hire a guy to transport it. What I'm saying is, if you fund one project, it's going to stimulate a lot of economic activity. If Congress would get off it's collective butt and start approving and funding all these proposed projects, instead of trying to destroy each other's political careers (Mitch McConnell I mean YOU), joblessness would decrease and economic activity would increase. You see, when the rich are not creating jobs, and the people don't have money to buy stuff, it is good for the government to step in and either directly or indirectly, create jobs. It puts more money in the hands of the poor and middle class who will go out and buy the stuff that will improve the economy. All government spending is not bad, contrary to what the "Tea Party" may think.

And as far as the rich creating jobs, Warren Buffett had something to say about that too, "And to those who argue that higher rates hurt job creation, I would note that a net of nearly 40 million jobs were added between 1980 and 2000. You know what’s happened since then: lower tax rates and far lower job creation." Congress and the President must allow the Bush tax cuts expire at the end of 2012, no ifs, ands, or buts. Buffett says he would raise rates immediately, so I'm being generous with my time frame, particularly since it's already law. I would encourage everyone to read Warren Buffett's op-ed piece in the New York Times, and then write a letter to your Senator and Representative encouraging him or her to read it and take it to heart.

As I said at the beginning, today is my birthday, I'm 31 today. And if you'll notice on the right, there is a place where anyone can make a contribution to the blog. Any donation is very appreciated and helps me to keep it up! Thanks to all my readers!

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