Rick Santelli's Chicago Tea Party

Tax cuts vs. spending cuts Posted: 03 May 2009 12:48 PM PDT Most of us like tax cuts.  President Bush, along with a Republican majority in Congress, cut lots of taxes.  They cut federal taxes for all taxpayers, the capital gains tax, the dividend tax, and reduced the “marriage penalty” tax.  However, national debt doubled, the budget was never balanced, the Dollar devalued, unemployment rose, and the size of the federal government grew significantly.  The problem?  Overspending.  The federal government spent too much, though some would claim most of the spending spree was justified for national security reasons and the ongoing wars in Iraq & Afghanistan. Currently, there is a vocal segment of the Tea Party movement calling for significant tax reform.  Some want to abolish the IRS and institute a Fair Tax.  Others just want to reduce taxes, both personal and corporate.  Some want a flax tax, while others want to abolish the Federal Income tax and replace it with nothing. But, is the real issue cutting taxes or cutting spending?  Didn’t the Bush Administration demonstrate that if you don’t couple tax cuts with significant spending cuts, then you will increase the budget deficit, pile on more debt, and borrow more from China?  Should tax cuts take a back seat to spending cuts for awhile?  Or, do you believe both can be achieved at the same time?  If so, where would you make the biggest spending cuts in the federal budget?

Steve Forbes blames the Federal Reserve Posted: 03 May 2009 12:17 PM PDT On Fox and Friends this morning, conservative economist and former Republican presidential candidate, Steve Forbes, blamed the Fed’s monetary policy for the bubble collapse on Wall St.  According to Forbes, a weak dollar policy played a major role in the financial collapse. From 2002-2008, the US dollar Index lost over 25% of its value.  Fed Chairmen Alan Greenspan and Ben Bernanke ramped up the printing presses and artificially lowered interest rates.  Yet, the Bush administration spoke little of the dangers of dollar devaluation.  And in the 2007/2008 Republican presidential primaries, Ron Paul was the only candidate to address the issue (this is not an endorsement of Ron Paul).  Independent Party candidate, Ralph Nader, and Libertarian Party candidate, Bob Barr, also discussed the follies of the Federal Reserve.  As far as the Democratic Party, it appears as if no one raised the alarm bells either.  In fact, Obama kept Bernanke, even though Bernanke printed (and continues to print) trillions of dollars out of thin air and failed to predict the crisis. What do you think should be done about the Federal Reserve?

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