We Like Big Government, But We Hate Taxes | Newsweek Newsweek - Robert J. Samuelson

We want healthcare reform and an economic recovery today. However, public funding of these objectives will only serve to raise our debt and future inflation rates. We must find a way to fund this recovery with private funding. The question is - how? The answer is right under our noses yet no one sees it. Rather than taxing the rich to pay for healthcare reform, the government needs to focus on creating a new treasury bond. Maybe label it an R series, standing for recovery. These bonds should have a minimum of a five to ten year term with an interest rate no less than 5%. This process will get that private money out of savings accounts paying peanuts, and into funding healthcare and recovery measures. If you want to get wealthy Americans to pay for health reform, do not simply tax them. They will only resent you, find better ways to hide their money, and ultimately vote you out of office. Instead, give them incentives for funding health reform and recovery, while allowing them to feel good about their investment.

The author is absolutely correct in asserting that private money is preferable in funding our recovery. Let us work to give private money an incentive to return to the market. By the way ... this post is not written by a wealthy American. It is written by an out of work autoworker ... just in case anyone thinks I am plugging for the rich ... I am not. I am merely making the observation that until we give them a reason to invest in our recovery, they will fight against every dollar we take from them.

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Posted By: rswedlow @ 07/26/2009 12:07:33 AM

wow scary very scary
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Posted By: rswedlow @ 07/26/2009 12:06:23 AM

Well put John. The more govt funding we take, the more opportunity we give them to pry into our lives. However, as a displaced autoworker, please dont ask me to give up those unemployment checks ... at least not until i graduate school. Yes, as soon as I got laid off last year I took out student loans [unsubsidized] and went to school to retrain for a new career.
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Posted By: rswedlow @ 07/25/2009 11:58:07 PM

We want healthcare reform and an economic recovery today. However, public funding of these objectives will only serve to raise our debt and future inflation rates. We must find a way to fund this recovery with private funding. The question is - how? The answer is right under our noses yet no one sees it. Rather than taxing the rich to pay for healthcare reform, the government needs to focus on creating a new treasury bond. Maybe label it an R series, standing for recovery. These bonds should have a minimum of a five to ten year term with an interest rate no less than 5%. This process will get that private money out of savings accounts paying peanuts, and into funding healthcare and recovery measures. If you want to get wealthy Americans to pay for health reform, do not simply tax them. They will only resent you, find better ways to hide their money, and ultimately vote you out of office. Instead, give them incentives for funding health reform and recovery, while allowing them to feel good about their investment.

The author is absolutely correct in asserting that private money is preferable in funding our recovery. Let us work to give private money an incentive to return to the market. By the way ... this post is not written by a wealthy American. It is written by an out of work autoworker ... just in case anyone thinks I am plugging for the rich ... I am not. I am merely making the observation that until we give them a reason to invest in our recovery, they will fight against every dollar we take from them.