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What is especially disturbing however, is that his is little different from the liberal viewpoint of the ’30s depression. Liberal tweedledoom and tweedlegloom arguments have remained essentially the same for 70 years. Devoid of fact and rooted in a pretend reality (socialism lite), their prescriptions for what ails us remain foolish.
Governments exist to do three things. Most important is protecting the country. That is why there is a military, a state department, etc. Second, government exists to protect its citizenry. Police officers, lawyers, prisons and so on exist to do that. And finally, it does those things citizens cannot otherwise do for themselves. To the liberal, that means almost everything.
Our nation and its freedom is priceless. But, if we didn’t have to spend our tax dollars to defend ourselves, that money should go back to the taxpayers and not to another idiotic liberal scheme.
Our armed forces are the best there is or ever was. Since the war against the jihad started they have yet to lose a battle. Young men and women continue to volunteer to serve knowing full well that one political party is completely invested in defeat. Al-Qaida is on the run. The so-called Arab street is allying themselves with us. We are winning.
McDonald says our “domestic economy is in shambles.” Bullfeathers. Here are some facts.
Between 1975 and 2005, the value of U.S. manufacturing output has more than doubled.
In the last 400 years of European presence in America, there has been a trade deficit for more than 350 of those years. We did have a trade surplus during the great depression however. The dollar isn’t the medium of exchange in Japan, Europe or anywhere else. Therefore, the dollars we spend overseas generally return here as investments. The trade deficit is much ado about nothing.
New non-manufacturing jobs pay is higher, not lower. Of 12 categories of hourly workers, manufacturing pay is near the bottom at number nine. Only retailing, hospitality and private service producing industries pay lower. There has been a boom in Internet services, government, banking and securities, insurance, law, accounting, telecommunications, education and health care industries. And the pay is all higher.
There is not increased wage stagnation and wage inequality. Economist Alan Reynolds in his latest book, “Income and Wealth,” says that “the tenacious faith in rising wage inequality and wage stagnation is not driven by economic theory, but by historical mythology.”
There is no “evidence of increased wage inequality,” but there is “an abundance of theoretical solutions in search of a factual problem.” He says, “average real wages and benefits rose by 40 percent from 1973 to 2004.” Moreover, “real consumption per person increased by 74 percent from 1980 to 2004” and that “is the broadest measure of real living standards.”
The middle class is healthy. It is dwindling only if one does not change the definition of the middle class and ignores the upward movement of many of our families. More people have better educations and are paid more. In addition, we are no longer able to easily compare the earnings and wealth of the rich to that of the middle class. That’s partly because the 1986 tax laws changed what the rich report in income.
Corporate income, for example, is now often reported as individual income. It is also difficult to accurately track middle class income because IRAs, 401Ks and a variety of other investment opportunities hide income from view.
Most executive pay is predicated on performance based incentives like stock options. These can only be exercised after a period of years. When the chief executive of a large health organization exercises a stock option for $200 million, stockholders pay for it. Employee pay is not decreased nor are prices for the company’s services affected. There is only one Jack Welch, former CEO of General Electric, as there is only one Hank Aaron. Talents like these come at a premium. They should be paid accordingly.
The gap between rich and poor continues to grow. This is true. The bottom 20 percent of our population, for the most part, doesn’t work. Often, because of age, infirmities, addictions or other circumstances, they can’t work. Consequently, most receive transfer payments in the form of Social Security, welfare and so on.
Increases in transfer payments generally come from inflation-driven cost of living adjustments. As our economy grows and as our country becomes richer and our citizens wealthier, the gap will continue to grow. As it should. Our bottom 20 percent have living standards equal to many other countries middle classes and is equivalent to our country’s middle class of the ’60s.
We are a great country populated by a wonderful people. The future and opportunity it will provide is simply dazzling. However, subscribing to McDonald’s “so thoroughly grim view ... runs the very real risk of underwriting an ignoble and ultimately viscous politics” that can destroy us.
Gudmundson is a retired U.S. Air Force colonel and writes from his home in Rushford, Minn.
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Emil wrote on Dec 11, 2007 9:46 PM: