Our New GOP Depression - Part 7: The Conservative Republican Bill of Goods

My husband, Bob U., wrote a series of articles, which I think are really insightful. This is Part 7. I invite your comments. You can visit Bob at http://bobuhlar.gather.com/

              This is what they taught us to believe:

In order to have consistent economic growth, everybody needs to be employed. In order for everybody to be employed, businesses and corporations need to thrive. A thriving business, whether it is a small business or multinational corporation, will hire more people. Therefore, it is vitally important for all businesses to be profitable and to maximize profits.

The government should eliminate tariffs, duties, and trade restrictions of all kinds. This will allow American consumers to purchase foreign goods for lower prices. It also will encourage foreign countries to drop trade restrictions to American products.

To facilitate profitable businesses, all government regulation should be removed. This includes environmental concerns, safety restrictions and taxes on businesses.

Businesses should be shielded from "frivolous" lawsuits. The best way to do this is to limit the punitive damages that can be awarded a plaintiff.

Union labor is bad for profits. It forces businesses to pay all workers the same wage. Workers should get paid on merit. If a worker does better, the worker should be paid more than a co-worker.

The new economy is global. So, American workers need to compete with workers in third world countries - third world workers willing to work for 30 cents an hour with no fringe benefits. Remove all tariffs and duties that protect the wage level/quality of life of Americans. And forge new trade agreements with no requirements about the treatment of foreign workers.

Companies should no longer be forced to place money into "overfunded" pension programs. There is so much money in these pension funds that there is no danger of any pension fund running out of money.

Companies can offer 401(k) plans. This will encourage workers to take an active part in investing funds for their retirement. Nothing can match the excitement of daily monitoring interest rates, bond prices and the stock market.

The social security program is in severe trouble. Nobody born after 1946 should expect to draw benefits from this insurance program. On second thought, let's hope that baby boomers forget that it is an insurance program. Let's foster the impression that it is a broken savings account or (better yet) a pyramid scheme. This will encourage people to use 401(k) plans and Individual Retirement Accounts.

Government is the problem, not the solution. Despite evidence to the contrary, all government programs and agencies should be viewed as inefficient, bloated bureaucracies. They are staffed by unmotivated, lazy union workers.

Private companies and their workers, motivated by the fear of losing business or losing jobs, are much more efficient than government workers. Therefore, we should "privatize" as many government services as possible.

Americans are hideously overtaxed. Despite the fact that America pays 31 percent of the Gross Domestic Production in taxes, compared to 46 percent Gross Domestic Production for the average European, American productivity is being crushed under this "unbearable tax burden."

            Therefore, all taxes should be cut. It is important that income taxes be cut. But it's even more important that we slash taxes on capital gains (the profits made off rents, royalties, dividends, stocks and bonds) and taxes on corporation profits.

            With more money in their hands, Americans can buy more American-made products, stimulating the American economy. Wealthy Americans, unburdened by capital gains taxes will invest in American companies, stimulating job growth. Their increased income will trickle-down to all Americans. This will also lead to higher government revenues, allowing us to cut taxes even further.

            With all this economic stimulation, we can slash all government programs - especially ones to help the poor and disadvantaged. Welfare recipients should be cajoled into finding a job. Everybody should pull themselves up by their own bootstraps.

            We can eliminate federal funding to education - including college tuition grants and loans. Let the states fund education.

            Eliminate funding to states for federally mandated laws and programs. With their booming economies, states will be able to raise taxes to cover the costs - unless constituents become convinced that states should cut taxes to follow the example of the federal government.

            All these tax cuts, leading to cuts in government programs, will remove the burden of government from the lives of Americans.

In short, we shift our national values from "We're all in this together" to "Every man for himself." Then, we can all live happily ever after.

            Oh! One more thing. We need to spend billions of dollars to upgrade the military. We can fund the 1980s insurgencies in Afghanistan, Iran, and Latin America. By showing the Soviet Union our insurmountable strength, we can win the cold war.

            When it was revealed that this strategy would force the national public debt to rise at a record rate, President Ronald Reagan told us not to worry. His strategy would stimulate the economy so much, that the United States would be able to pay off its national debt by the end of the decade.

            In 1980, the national debt stood at 0.907 trillion dollars. In 1988, the national debt had nearly tripled to 2.602 trillion. By 1992, as Reagan's Vice President, G.H. Bush, lost his re-election attempt against Bill Clinton, the national debt had ballooned to 4.064 trillion.[i]

Tomorrow - Part 8: Religious Repercussions of Reaganomics

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[i] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_U.S._public_debt. -- The United States budget fiscal year runs from October 1 through September 30. By 2000, Clinton held the growth of the national public debt during his eight years in office from $4.064 trillion to $5.674 trillion. He provided three fiscal years of budget surplus (1998 - $ 69 billion; 1999 - $124 billion; and 2000 - $230 billion), but the Republican majority in Congress refused to apply it to the national public debt. By September 30, 2008, President George W. Bush, backed by the Republican majority in Congress, expanded the debt to $10 trillion.