The democrat president, the democrat controlled congress, and the republican minority have been playing the political game of taking care of their special interest groups for so long that they have no idea of how to deal with the realities of this economic crises we are currently in. Their bail-out plans, their stimulus plan, and their budget plan, is proof of how out of touch they really are.
So, let me explain how our American economy works. Part A, we (the American people) by products from people who make products. When we (the American people) don't have money we can't buy products. So, it really doesn't matter how much money you give to banks, auto companies, or any other businesses if we (the American people) can't afford their products. Part B, high interest rates (like high taxes) drastically reduces our (we the American people) spending. As hard as it might seem to credit card companies by having a lower interest rate people would be able to pay more towards their debt, likewise, it is hard for some in our government (not we the American people) to understand that by lowering taxes will actually create for the government more money. Part C. Government funded projects (shovel ready and infrastructure projects) will not create permanent jobs. The US government is already the biggest employer in America and it has never been profitable, making it bigger won't make it better or profitable. The money we give the government, in the form of taxes, is completely mismanaged to the continuous detriment of our economy. It won't cost trillions of dollars. Naturally, democrats and republicans won't like it because trillions of your dollars won't be going into the pockets of their special interest groups. In my stimulus plan I would enact what I call the ???Fair Interest Act???. The ???Fair Interest Act??? is the maximum amount of interest that can be charged for the following; on home loans, on credit cards, on mortgage loans, on personal loans???4.0%, student loans ???2.0%, and other type loan rates will be announced. The FIA will exist for the next three years (or longer). As people start making big dents into their debts they will have more disposable income. They will be more inclined to spend that disposable income because of an absence of high interest rate fear. All homeowners can refinance their existing mortgage. The way this refinancing package would work is like this; 35 years at 4% plus the first 5 years goes towards principle. I would place caps on fuel. A $1.00 cap on jet fuel, a $1.00 cap on diesel fuel, and a $1.25 cap on regular unleaded. This is temporary, at least for three years. This will allow businesses to reduce consumer cost and free up more disposable income for consumers to spend. I would also reduce all corporate taxes to 10% for the next three years I would reduce all small businesses taxes to 5% for the next three years. I would suspend any B2USB taxes for the next three years. There are no deductions for any businesses
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The Republicans’ Road Back
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And so conservatives again find themselves in opposition. One model of opposition, pursued by some on the left over the past eight years, would now have the right descend into anger and acrimony, and hope to emerge eventually with a new vessel but no real new ideas. But that is not the way back for conservatives. Those who argue instead that the way back lies in relearning the lessons of Reagan and his practical conservatism are correct. But those lessons describe a general approach to public policy, not a simple recipe for solving every novel problem.
Those lessons include the need for a commitment to economic growth, free trade, a strong defense, traditional values and a creative restraint of the welfare state. But more than anything they point to the need to apply these general principles in a constructive and engaging way to the problems of the moment—understanding that the moment and its problems are always changing in this never-resting country. They suggest that standing up for principle and proposing incremental policy reforms are not mutually exclusive. A governing conservatism requires both.
The insight that brought the reforming conservatives to power was that the opposition must offer an alternative. And so the challenge for conservatives today is not only to explain what is wrong with the Democrats' prescriptions but to lay out what they would do differently and why, especially with regard to the severe economic crisis we now confront and the unusual response it requires.
The right does have some serious proposals to draw upon—in health care, for instance—though not nearly enough. And it has a few potential leaders, too, in governors like Bobby Jindal and Mitch Daniels, and members of Congress like Eric Cantor and Paul Ryan. These are not sufficient for a comeback just yet, but they have little chance to be heard for the moment in any case. That is the work of the next few years for conservatives: sharpening their knives against the worst of what the left is advancing, even as they sharpen their pencils for some creative policy development.
The right has never lacked for eulogists, but eulogies are no more apt today than in 1993 or 1977. American conservatism has long been an unusually intellectual political movement, reaching for core principles while reaching for power. In its newfound opposition status, this disposition at first makes it seem out of sorts. But properly executed, a reconnection with conservative ideals and then their application to practical problems is not a sign of breakdown on the right but a description of the road to recovery for conservatives, and for America.
Levin is the Hertog Fellow at the Ethics and Public Policy Center and author, most recently, of "Imagining the Future: Science and American Democracy."
© 2009
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