George Rebane
San Diego Union Tribune cites (here) that the consumer-driven recession has started in California and nationwide.
Over the past couple years, many economists have said the California economy would not experience a true recession until job losses spread from the real estate and construction industries into other segments of the economy. That day has arrived.
Regardless of who is to blame (and someone always is because we know that there are no natural business cycles), a major part of our electorate will cast votes that strongly declare our country’s ability to tax ourselves right back into prosperity.
We were taught by Bastiat, von Mises, von Hayek, … , and life, that when you tax something more, you get less of it. Tax businesses more, they produce fewer jobs. Look at the EU countries with almost no migration of small businesses into big business. There the little guys regularly get waylaid in Tax Gulch as they try to drive their team up Corporate Mountain. We note the coincidence that unemployment started going up right about when Congress changed party control.
People are beginning to get the idea of the benefits of wealth redistribution. Both candidates’ recovery package (aka The Big Bailout) includes some form of restitution for those whose financial planning went a little awry. It’s just neighbor helping neighbor with five to twenty in the federal pen if you try to short your neighbor. More of liberal cartoonist Wiley’s non Sequitor cartoons here.
Finally, Joe the Plumber did most successfully what McCain/Palin were not able to accomplish on their own. Perhaps this will open up the debate a bit more in the two short weeks left. Here is Ramirez’s explicit statement of what the right is finally saying and the left is quietly celebrating while, of course, denying the whole thing. (Have you noticed how Yahoo! has now joined the MSM. Take a look at their list of political cartoonists here. Can you find a conservative cartoonist in the list?)
rebanesruminations.com 
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