Though people try to pin a lot of the present economic mess on President (George W) Bush 43, he isn't guilty on a lot of it. Does anyone remember Ross Perot saying of NAFTA, "I can hear that sucking sound" going south if (former President Bill) Clinton passes this as he did?
NAFTA or “Shafta” as I called it, is entangled in this amorphous thing call free trade. In many respects trade which is not fair gives away our competitive advantages, can indeed compromises environmental quality and worker standards regardless of what folks purports, but such deals do meet the bottom line of unfettered profits as well as the quest for cheap labor.
As Hardy said to Laurel, "another fine mess you’ve got us into". It seems few have read the proposed Obama/Pelosi/Reid Stimulus package(s) which lays out spending the likes of which we have never seen, government socialization of banking with the automotive businesses to follow, nationalize health care with the computer based records system which will allow the government access to all your health information [even though Obama, Palin and Biden wouldn’t release theirs], and forestalls doing the real work of infrastructure repairs until its time to vote again for our representatives.
Obama is trying to ram this spending bill of pork and earmarks through before the American public wakes up. Thankfully some commentators have read it.
There should be no vote on the economic stimulus plan until Treasury Secretary Geitner rolls out the next plan for banks which reportedly exceeds an additional $800 billion. With the call for Paul Volker to head the economic advisers, a car czar and all these other political appointee paybacks to head things many had a hand in, one can only ask who is in charge or who’s on first? One thing is for certain, it is not the citizens and our pocketbooks.
If you want to create jobs which will benefit all of our citizens, why not provide:
- Small business stimulus to eliminate their taxes for one year, halve the rate the following year and equalize them with the corporate rate. It is small businesses which create over fifty percent of the jobs in America. Allow small businesses to buy medical insurance as a collective and not subject those with less than five employees to benefits requirements. [probably less than 100 billion]
-Expand the US Coast Guard and Public Health Departments by 100,000 to ensure emergency response capability in every county in the USA and baseline access to health services such as immunizations and screenings which would include mental health services. [less than 100 billion]
-Build “the wall” to slow the flow of illegal immigrants as the level of gangs in California and Texas demonstrates we are about to lose control of our borders if we don’t do things differently. [less than 100 billion]
-Give one billion dollars to every state for infrastructure repairs on federal roads, bridges, and highways with priority going to those projects which are already shovel ready. [50 billion]
-Give no more money to banks, but allow homeowners mortgage relief from those who already took money with a half payment holiday for one year and the balance tacked on to the last loan payment. [already gave the banks the money]
-And since we are in such a generous mood, give each taxpayer $5000 tax free to spend as they’d like.
All of this would cost less than the $800 billion which even the Congressional Management Office of the Budget says present bills would and these simple measures would stimulate the economy and create thousands of jobs.
Editor's Note: Dr. Ada M. Fisher is a physician and the NC Republican National Committeewoman. Contact her at P. O. Box 777; Salisbury, NC 28145; telephone (704) 223-ADA1 [2321]; [email protected]
Dr. Fisher's opinions are her own and are not necessarily those of Katy's Conservative Corner. We thank her for sharing them with us and invite her to do so again.
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