Archived Story
U.S. is strong, could be stronger
Published 11:02am Tuesday, December 4, 2012It is so fun to live in this time of economic recovery. We have reason to be extremely hopeful. Jobless claims have fallen 50 percent in the last 30 months. Housing starts are up 41 percent in the last year. Foreclosures are down to pre-recession numbers. The U.S. deficit is shrinking at its fastest pace since World War II.
When we think back to what an incredible miracle this is, it leaves jaws dropping. We are creating about 200,000 jobs a month now instead of losing 800,000, a positive change of 1 million per month. Mortgage interest rates are down to less than half of what they were four years ago. Stock market is up more than 51 percent.
If our House of Representatives removes the blocks it has placed on reducing the national debt, there will be no stopping the U.S. from coming back. There is evidence that more members of Congress are willing to remember the combination of tax increases and budget cuts was the plan President Bill Clinton used successfully to bring us back from record deficits in the 1990s. It can happen again, if we choose it. We are so close.
Will elected officials act on behalf of the American people? Urge your Congress men and women to compromise, and instead of feeding fear and inflating egos, we will once again become a nation “of the people, by the people, and for the people.”
David Larson
Albert Lea
David, do you honestly think this has anything to do with balancing the budget or cutting our national debt? Obama ran up Six Trillion dollars of his own debt and effectively blamed it on Bush for four years. He has no intention of bringing down the debt or making any meaningful cuts unless of course they come from the military. If the President gets his way and the top two percent are required to “give a little more” what will this get us? It comes down to simple math: the revenue raised will fund the govermnent for about 8 days at our current rate of spending. History affirms that when you raise taxes on small buisnesses you kill job growth. A lot of the people in the top two percent are small buisness owners. Why has there has been no talk of entitlement reform of any kind from this regime? A true leader would look at the looming disaster of how we are going to fund Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security not to mention the welfare system and put forth some real concrete reforms that will save them. Not Obama. His feet are firmly planted in midair.
Hi Scott, thanks for your reply. It seems we care about many of the same things – one of which is the national debt. The debt is the number one reason I voted for Obama in the election. His policies have reduced the growth of the national debt faster than any other president in the last 50 years, even faster than Clinton. Yes, the debt has been increasing, but surely you understand the first step to reducing the debt is slowing, then reversing the deficit. It took Clinton 5 years to reverse the deficits of the previous administration; Obama’s task is much more imposing. Republican presidents do not have a good record in reducing debt. In the last 30 years or so alone, they have have outspent Democratic presidents by more than 2:1. Republicans tout they would like to reduce debt, but , at least in recent history, when they get into office, they have done the opposite.
Obama has been a champion for helping small business. He led Congress through 18 tax cuts for small businesses, of which you and I have benefited. His proposals continue to reduce taxes on the first $250,000 of profit for any business or individual. Paying a meager 2% or 3% on the portion over $250,000 is something small businesses and individuals can afford. Raising taxes on the wealthy has never hurt our country, and giving the wealthy more has been shown over the last 12 years to do nothing to help create jobs or reduce the debt. It simply makes no sense economically, or morally, to put twice as much burden on the majority of Americans just to give the rich more of what they don’t need.
It matters not whether I adopt your negative attitude or you adopt my positive attitude. The country is on a course to get better, and it will happen regardless what either of us believe.
I appreciate your passion for your positions. So glad you are involved and care about our country and it’s people. Blessings~