Obama's Big Government Speech
Obama’s Big-Government Speech is a Big Mistake
Washington – Obama’s speech on the economy today demonstrates a pervasive ignorance about the causes underlying the current crisis or a deliberate attempt to hoodwink the American people. Topping his list of reasons for the housing crisis were the absence of a big-government regulation scheme, “tax cuts for the wealthy,” and the war in Iraq. Few reputable economists would concur with this fanciful thesis.
“On the contrary,” said Club for Growth President Pat Toomey, “a lighter regulatory hand and lower taxes for all Americans played a key role in the economic growth the country has experienced over the past twenty-five years. With the country on the verge of a recession, it is tempting to forget the success of the past two decades and a half, but only last year, the market was climbing to new heights. This economic growth, low unemployment, and better standard of living were a direct result of less government, not more.”
Obama holds up FDR’s big government New Deal as a model for how America should respond to the current economic challenges, but he neglects to mention that FDR’s platform of massive government spending, sky-rocketing taxes on the “wealthy,” and invasive regulations crippled Wall Street and Main Street alike and plunged the country into a second depression in 1937—a depression within the Great Depression.
“Now Barack Obama is determined to repeat the mistakes of the past, proposing a slew of new tax hikes and an entirely new regulatory regime that is bound to stifle the innovation and dynamism that has been so integral to the growth and success of the investment banking industry,” Mr. Toomey continued. “This dynamism has lowered the cost of capital for American companies, created a vast array of investment options for American savers, and created thousands of great jobs for American workers.”
“In times of economic challenges, there is a tendency to overreach and call on the government to save the day, failing to realize that reckless government solutions usually cause more harm than good. This was the case with Sarbanes-Oxley, and it will most likely to be the case with any rush to impose additional regulations on investment banks.”
Posted at Press Release at 1:13 PM | TrackBack
