Barack “Class Warfare” Obama
Writing by abuhatem on Monday, 9 of June , 2008 at 1:30 pm
I just finished watching Barack Obama’s absolutely disgusting speech on the economy in North Carolina today, his first speech of the general election campaign. The Guardian has a summary of the speech available here.
Here is the basic gist and summary:
Free markets and ownership do not promote prosperity. Expanding the private sector and promoting economic growth only benefits the rich. Tax the hell out of rich people, and Exxon and every big corporation, and use the benefits to help the poor through a million new programs and expanding big government.
Obama was right on one thing during the speech, that you can’t just keep spending money you don’t have, and that it wasn’t fiscal conservatism. And the man is probably better than John McCain who will raise taxes (he voted against the Bush tax cuts twice), tax the hell out of companies for his “climate change” plans, increase defense spending and keep the war in Iraq going on. Yet, isn’t it funny that after all of this tax-and-spend your way into prosperity was debunked years ago by people such as Friedrich von Hayek in his Road to Serfdom, people are still taking it up and believing it?
The amount of growth and wealth in the American economy since Ronald Reagan cut the abysmal Carter-era marginal tax rates, through the Bush administration and including Bill Clinton who also kept taxes very low in comparison to former democrats (Clinton’s top marginal tax rate was about 40% while Carter’s was in the 90% range), has made America the richest country in the world. Complain about corporations and oil companies all you want, Mr. Obama, but the sheer amount of annual real GDP% growth has gone up so high in the post-Reagan era of low marginal tax rates (which includes Clinton) than in the malaise of the Carter years.
Just look at this graph to understand the difference between the GDP growth rates under Carter, and then Reagan, Bush, Clinton, and Bush who despite their economic flaws did benefit from the slashed marginal tax rates (recessions, or negative GDP growth, are in red) :
Under Reagan, and Clinton for the most part growth rates were phenomenal. Under Clinton people even expected us to be living in a “New Economy” without recessions. Despite this big error, if Obama expects to tax and spend his way into prosperity through interventionism and central planning then he can expect Carter-esque malaise. Intervention and central planning destroy wealth, while the market creates prosperity (this is the utilitarian argument, the market also is the only possible way of respecting natural rights and ensuring justice or “social justice”).
And no offense at all to Jimmy Carter. Although his economic policies were wrong, he has been one of the greatest patriots for peace in my life time, and certainly amongst ex-presidents. And peace is more important than prosperity, and also the key to prosperity (as our preemptive, aggressive, and unnecessary wars destroy our economy).
Category: American Politics, Economics
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