Posted by
John Caile on Monday, February 02, 2009 10:55:56 AM
To understand how clueless liberals really are about economics, you need only listen to Barney Frank. His most recent comment was that, are you ready for this, we don't have ENOUGH government involvement in the economy!
Continuing his embarrassing habit of saying things that are self-evidently untrue, the inimitable quasi-socialist also pompously asserted that he's "never seen a tax cut build a bridge or a road."
Uuuh, news flash, Barney, cuts in tax rates have ALWAYS spurred economic growth, leading to INCREASED tax revenues, which are then used to...build bridges and roads (that is, IF the money is actually used to build inrastructure, and not diverted to yet another social welfare boondoggle).
Additionally, reducing taxes on businesses (like, say, construction contractors) make it possible for them to build those bridges and roads at even LESS COST to the taxpayers (provided, that is, that the contracts are awarded on the basis of competitive bids, and NOT on the basis of some race-based "set-aside" program).
None of this idiocy should surprise any veteran observer of the American political scene. With few exceptions, Liberals, from elected representatives to the guy sitting in the cube next to you, are utterly and completely ignorant of even the most basic realities of economics.
Something as simple as the concept of the profit motive is totally foreign to liberals - to them, someone who works for a "non-profit" is somehow more noble than someone who works to make (shudder) money.
But EVERYONE does what they do for profit, because "profit" is not limited to money - in economic terms, profit is ANY reward or gain that you achieve as a result of a choice you make. The truth is that even the social worker does what he or she does because if "profits" them - it makes them feel good about themselves.
Oddly, it is often the "selfless" actions of the social-welfare types that cause the most damage to the very poor and working class they profess to care about (look at the devastation wrought by the modern welfare state since it's inception in the 1960's). Meanwhile, the "selfish" actions of businesses create jobs, provide the products and services that we all want, and genuinely contribute far more to the social welfare than any government interference ever has.
Walmart is a perfect example. They do more good for the poor and working class than all the government run social welfare programs combined.
Naturally, all of this is lost on the social worker types, who think businesses have some obligation to "give people jobs" (they're not, of course - they employ people in order to produce the goods or services they provide). But not only does Walmart hire people from every walk of life (many of whom would likely not be able to find employment anywhere else), Walmart uses the power of the free market to negotiate terms from their suppliers that allow them to offer goods at prices affordable even to the poor - why do you think so many ot them shop there?
These types also believe that the government should force businesses to pay a "living wage" (or whatever socialist term of choice is in vogue at the moment). This is not only wrong; it's stupid policy. Businesses pay a wage based on what the worker can provide in terms of talent, skills, and knowledge - and the scarcity of those qualities in the market, not on what some "caring" liberal thinks they "deserve" to earn.
But beyond that, suppose you decide to punish, for example, pharmaceutical companies (you know, those "evil" capitalists who invest BILLIONS to produce the very miracle cures liberals want for free) by taking away their ability to profit from their investment. Well, eventually you will have fewer and fewer of them willing to take the risks to create the very drugs that, in many cases, actually save our lives.
At the end of the day, the private sector always has, and always will, yield better, faster, and higher quality solutions to the needs and wants of the American people than any amount of government meddling by obtuse idiots like Barney Frank and friends.