BLOCK RAISING THE DEBT LIMIT!!!

Threats by government officials that not raising the debt limit will cause the U.S. to default are seditious. There are innumerable ways of avoiding any sort of default. NOT blocking the raise in the debt limit is the way to future default and economic ruin.

One simple solution is being proposed by Senator Toomey of Pennsylvania. According to the Cato Institute blog, the senator "has a proposal to protect the "full faith and credit" of the United States by requiring the federal government to make interest payments a top priority....The federal government is expected to collect more than $2.1 trillion of tax revenue this year, while interest payments on the publicly held debt will only be about $200 billion. So even without an increase in the debt limit, the Treasury Department will have more than enough revenue to cover its interest obligations and avoid a default. That being said, financial markets are sometimes spooked by uncertainty. And since Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner began making some irresponsible statements about the risks of default, there is growing interest in legislation by Senator Pat Toomey, a Republican of Pennsylvania, to alleviate the market’s fears. Quite simply, Toomey’s bill would require the federal government to fulfill obligations to bondholders before making any other disbursements. ...If the Toomey legislation is adopted, fiscal reformers will have a powerful weapon at their disposal. Secure in the knowledge that default no longer is a possibility, they can be much tougher in their negotiations with the politicians who favor the status quo."

Sounds good to me, how 'bout you?

MORE ON GOVERNMENT SPENDING AND JOBS

Based largely on the video presented in the previous blog, I submitted a new editorial to the Orange County Register. To read the editorial, click on "GOV. SPENDING AND JOBS" under PAGES in the right margin of the screen.

TOO MUCH GOVERNMENT SPENDING DESTROYS JOBS

Here is a good video that explains this title. Most of those who watch it will learn something useful.

Posted by Daniel J. Mitchell

There is considerable academic research on the growth-maximizing level of government spending.

Daniel J. Mitchell • June 29, 2010 @ 10:35 am

MORE ON THE SEPARATION OF CHURCH AND STATE

If you want to know the truth about the whole sad story of our lost heritage, you must check out David Barton's website--Wallbuilders--it's really great!

http://www.wallbuilders.com/ABTbioDB.asp

THE SEPARATION OF CHURCH AND STATE "DOCTRINE" IS MISGUIDED

Grossly misguided as a mater of fact. To get a taste of how misused this "doctrine" is, check out my latest editorial published in the Orange County Register Febuary 10, 2011. Of course you know that the phrase "a wall of separation between church and state" doesn't appear in the Constitution, the Preamble, or in any of the amendments, yes? To view the editorial, look under "PAGES" on the right margin of the screen and click on "CHURCH & STATE".

GOVERNMENT CANNOT CREATE JOBS

The Cato Institute has brought attention to a telling graph offered by the Federal Reserve Bank of Philidelphia. The graph (below) shows the trends of employment during the 1981 (Reagan) and 2007 (Obama) national economic recessions. Reagan sought to keep government out of the way of the private sector and Obama has tried to use government spending to lead our economy out of its problems. It is obvious which was the best policy. While there are many differences between the mechanics of the two recessions, among the biggest is the amount of government intrusion.
Government cannot create jobs on a net positive basis, it can only cause a misallocation of resources which always results in fewer net jobs. The job of government is to facilitate the flow of resources to the most productive uses, not to disrupt that flow. This usually means they should stay out of the way.