Financial Services forum- Democratic President would be a disaster

By George Dienhart

Cross-posted at IllinoisReview

I ran across this at the excellent Politico website-

'On average, (Financial Services) Forum CEOs saw an 88% chance of recession this year with one out of three members putting that chance at 100%. ... The survey also showed that Forum CEOs believe that the turmoil in credit markets has not yet fully run its course.' But they gave the Fed good marks. They peg overall 2008 real GDP growth to just under 1% (0.92%).
***Rising protectionist sentiment and higher tax rates were seen as significant threats to growth.

The asterisks are part of the Politico piece. I did not add them. The Politico is a non-partisan publication. When they covered this forum, they did so in a fair and balanced manner. If the Politico reported that the top concerns were protectionism and higher taxes, then it is a good bet that those were the main points of conversation. They are also nearly guaranteed to accompany a Democratic president.

To translate- we now have an economy that will grow slowly (the 1% forecast above) over the course of the year. This means we most likely are not in a recession. The economy is growing, and will grow modestly throughout the year. The problem begins next year. After a Dem is potentially elected president. Both Hillary and Obama have rather grandiose spending plans, and neither will extend President Bush’s tax cuts. Both plan new spending to roll out their visions for health care. Both have spoken out against free trade agreements. This behavior is exactly what would be categorized as “Rising protectionist sentiment”. Both would willingly throw the nation into a recession in order to pander to voters. Either would be a disaster as president.

I recently heard a liberal state that Obama would "save the country from economic collapse?" A good conservative pointed out that President Obama would punish the rich (and the middle class) with tax increases. He would punish businesses with more tax increases. Oil companies would be the recipient of a “double-whammy” tax on their profits. Obama is curiously silent when it comes to Sen. McCain’s proposal to suspend the federal gasoline taxes. This real tax relief would be a boon not only to truckers, but also to suburbanites commuting to work. Sen. McCain points out that his plan would be a real economic stimulus. Extra money in the monthly family budget. Extra money that could be spent on mortgages. Lowering diesel costs would also lower the prices on everything that people buy that is shipped by the trucking industry. For those who are interested, that would be everything …

The eerie silence emanating from the Obama and Clinton camps on this matter is purposeful. Both remaining Democratic presidential candidates know that they cannot win with a good economy. If you are Barack Obama or Hillary Clinton, to win, you need a recession. In typical Democrat fashion, they are more concerned with their own future than they are with your future. Not only do they keep repeating the recession mantra- they are happy to ignore the realities of simple economics and propose policies that will suffocate the economy. All in order to be elected. To these two politicians, a November victory is far more important than any pesky voter. The only thing that counts is power, and they are perfectly happy to see countless Americans taxed to the brink of bankruptcy to amass more power.

Conservatives know that tax increases don’t grow the economy, they only grow spending. I only wish that Democrats could learn this…