The economy: It's about us.

Have you been to a book store lately and browsed the "hot titles" or current events/social sections to see what was new? It seems like every other title is either about how great the Obama ideology is or how bad it is, but there is not one title that is about 'us', the American people; the people who put Obama in office; the people who his policies affect. No one wants to talk about it from our perspective, and it's not only annoying but treasonous in my opinion.
At the risk of sounding like a nationalist (i.e. national socialist) I am choosing to take up this argument because the truth is that both sides of the fight as it concerns our Federal Governments current domestic and economic policies have no ones interest at heart but their own. Oh sure, they try to make us think otherwise by using fancy language and complex economic formulas to confuse and/or convince us that they know better and that because they are the only ones smart enough to understand it all, that we have to take their word for it and trust that they know what they are talking about. The problem is, I happen to be one of those outside of the system who really does understand it-and I don't need them to tell me (at least) whether or not Obama's domestic and economic policies are bad or good for America.
But since this is about us-the American public-and since I feel more obligation to my fellow man than those whom we have elected to office, I am going to take the time to explain some simple economics to you.
First, allow me to assume something, something which I have experienced often in my life: the average American does not understand how Capitalism works. This isn't a slight on anyone, and in no way am I saying you are stupid, but, it has been my experience that the average person in our country, even many whom are college educated, have no real understanding of how our (American) economy works relative to what helps it grow and to what makes it contract (shrink). This is no fault of your own as our government funded public educational institutions have gone to great lengths over the last 75 years to make sure that the 'average' American stays woefully ignorant as to how American economics and politics work. With that said here is 3 things that economists know works for our economy: limited (or a decrease in) taxes-particularly on employers and corporations, limited (but necessary) regulatory controls at the Federal Governmental level and governmental incentives to spur research and development and growth of new industry.
Here are 3 things economists know does not work in our economy: increasing taxes-particularly on incomes and corporations, strict and unnecessary Federal regulatory controls, and Governmental involvement in the private sector economy (whether through regulation or attempts at competing in the marketplace).
How do we know these things? History.
History tells us, that after both FDR and LBJ passed the broadest sweeping and most expensive socialist domestic policies in our history that our economy recessed for years afterward. In the case of FDR, his New Deal package of bills was necessary for the time due to the Great Depression, but even he recognized that they should only be temporary laws (which they were until LBJ came along and helped to make them permanent), and after they were passed, the economy shrank further (something our schools like to skip over as it relates to us working out of the Great Depression is that FDR's policies weren't working and that it wasn't until we were forced into WWII that our economy came around).
History also tells us that the Federal Government is horrible at business. Amtrak, the USPS and the USA Today are all easy and relatively recent examples of poor business attempts by the "Fed". And we need to look no farther than the current state of our National deficit's to see that our Federal Government has no clue how to run or operate on a budget (and yet they have the audacity to tell us that, as individuals, we need to 'tighten our belts' in terms of the money we spend-!?Que).
History also shows us that in times when Capitalism is left alone-not unregulated per se, just not over regulated-that we experience great periods of economic growth. Of all the recent presidents Bill Clinton seemed to understand this best. He didn't let Capitalism run amok like the domestically truant Bush did for 8 years and he didn't over regulate it either. He simply left it alone. One of the deregulations which he did allow, however, was within the telecommunications industry which is what lead us out of our early 90's recession into a 5 year period of rapid growth. Although, just like all growth, there were growing pains associated with it and the growth was much to rapid which, in the end, caused a partial collapse. But this was no fault of Capitalism, this was just how Capitalism works (relative to whether its being over regulated or not-there is fine line to regulation). And, if anyone had noticed the "bust of the tech bubble" had no where near the affect on our economy as Bush's lack of regulatory watch-dogging had during his administration-the way too long 8 years of it.
In sum, what history shows us is that, when Federal Governments make economic policy that is more about government growth and control, than about personal growth and freedom, economies suffer, which mean we suffer.
This brings us full circle to what I started off with: all these books attacking Obama's policies or supporting them. None of them truly cover the economic's of his policies from our perspective. No, they only cover them from the particular partisan perspective of the respective writer which is either a far left liberal or a far right conservative. True, they attempt to draw us into the discussion, but their attempts are thinly veiled at best, and in either case, they attempt to skew the information in their favor just to make them look better, all the while succeeding in doing nothing but alienating one side or the other while at the same time muddying the waters as to what is really going on and alienating the people they are trying to win over to their side of the debate.
So, in an effort to clear up the 'water', so to speak, I will put down (yes, put down) Obama's economic policies much more simply and succinctly than any book today can...Here are a few more things that history tells us: 1. That large governments are unsustainable without the leadership of a dictatorship (and still they are not permanently sustainable). 2. That governments who claim economic growth through growth in govermental jobs are parasitic to economies because, 3. It forces the over taxation of a small percentage of the population which is usually the most productive and the most intelligent of them. This in turn leads to (4.) the smartest and brightest of a population to flee to more economically relaxed nations.
Now, I don't ask you to take my word for it, all I ask is that you do the research for yourself-look back at history (honestly) and see what it tells you about how Capitalism works and under what conditions economies grow and shrink, then reexamine what Obama's domestic and economic policies are and then ask yourself (honestly) if you still think that Obama's domestic and economic policies will work. Seeing as how his policies are about them (the government) and not about us (the average American) your answer should be obvious-unless you see 'us' as including the goverment. If so, then I have to believe that you believe the needs and aims of our government are the same (at least relative to today). And if that is the case, then there are a lot of things besides how Capitalism is supposed to work that you may not understand either (No offenses I hope).