Originally Posted by
reefraff
http:///forum/post/3232823
As for the original question
First step is to remember that GW Bush did not push a conservative agenda outside the tax cuts and a few social issues. What went on during his presidency could hardly be called a conservative policy regarding fiscal issues.
Right now one of the most pressing issues facing the country is the budget deficit. There can be no doubt Obama and the Democrats have taken spending to a whole new level. We should be seeking a change of leadership just for that alone.
Cutting runaway government spending still isn't going to save enough to dig us out of the hole we are in. If you are ever in a mood for some depressing reading
http://www.concordcoalition.org/
They have been pushing for fiscal sanity in a bipartisan manner for years.
Anyway we need to increase revenue as well. Increasing taxes in tough times won't do that. Even most sane liberal minded economists agree with that for the most part. So what is the other way to increase government revenues? Economic growth. The government has already shown it can't spur growth by spending.
So is there any way the government create jobs and at the same time increase revenues aside from income taxes? One thing the Republicans pushed and the Democrats have put the brakes on since regaining Congress in 07 is natural resource development. If they open up onshore and off shore oil drilling not only do we create jobs, the government also gets leasing fees and royalty payments. Another would be to look at cutting some unnecessary red tape and foolish regulations and laws.
There is a project in Arizona for a "green" refinery that has spent millions of dollars and the better part of a decade and hasn't turned a shovel full of dirt yet do to regulations and environmental wackos who can shut down a project with lawsuits to the point it is no longer viable to move forward. I saw this several times in Montana with salvage logging projects. After a fire the burnt trees have a short time when they are still usable. The environmental groups use a deliberate tactic of tying up the projects with lawsuits long enough for the logs to become unusable. These are just two examples of the environmental groups the Democrat party cater to hurting sustainable economic activity we desperately could use right now.
I think Obama used the 'spending theory' to turn the economy because he knew he would get trashed if he went the tax increase route. You may disagree with this strategy, but it has turned the economy around somewhat. I've also gone with the philosophy that you have to spend money to make money. You just have to hope that the money you spend short term will show larger profits in the long run. Right now, it appears the conservatives are impatient, and aren't willing to see if Obama's spending strategy will come out profitable in the long run.
Oil reserves in the American territories are our 'ace in the hole'. We've always been dependent on foreign oil because it's always been there. The question of the day is, how much longer will it last? Based on the mass oil usage in today's world, is there enough oil deposited underneath the Middle East to maintain this consumption for the next 50 years, 100 years? What happens when the pumps run dry? As dependent as the US is to oil, when that happens, we are hosed. So the Feds will keep our reserved plugged, saving them for that day. Is this the wrong thing to do? Like I said, depends on how much longer the spigot remains on in the Middle east.
