U.S. jobless rate hits 10.2 percent

[Natural Elements]

Originally Posted by Bob Barr

Many of the things that you list as causing the problems in our economy are directly attributable to government interfering with the economy. Why would you think that government is the solution rather than the problem?

1) credit dry up - mainly because the feds forced banks to make bad loans to unqualified individuals and failed to properly regulate Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac

2) payroll raise - in large part, due to increases in taxes, government fees, and forced unionization

3) taxes raise - government in action

4) licence raise - largely a function of state and local government

5) bank fees raise - at least partially due to taxes and government meddling

6) tight credit and interest rates raise - see point 1 above

7) people don't or cannot spend - in part due to high taxes

eight) companies laid off like hell - see point 7 above - no customers, no sales (using the numeral 8 turns it into a smiley)

Very well Bob, now how can American businesses do their own recovery when some administrations interfered in many ways for many years?

How can we fix that when they cannot reverse things now?

[Bob Barr]

Originally Posted by Natural Elements

Very well Bob, now how can American businesses do their own recovery when some administrations interfered in many ways for many years?

Some of the biggest meddling (government ownership of GM and Chrysler, firing GM's CEO, bank takeovers, pay czars, etc) have only happened over the past 8 months.

Some problems (the banking disaster for example) do span decades and involve multiple administrations. The Community Reinvestment Act started under Carter, expanded greatly under Clinton, and finally bit us in the butt under Obama. Had Fannie Mae/Freddie Mac reforms (proposed, but never implemented, under Bush) been put into place, perhaps some of the worst of the 'housing bubble' problems could have been prevented.

How can we fix that when they cannot reverse things now?

That presumes that the things that have been done cannot be reversed. Some of them need to be. IMHO, the feds doing more will just add to the problems.

[John Scott]

Originally Posted by Bob Barr

That presumes that the things that have been done cannot be reversed. Some of them need to be. IMHO, the feds doing more will just add to the problems.

Bingo.

The economy will continue to go to hell, and sooner or later the people will realize that we cannot afford to allow the gov't t to ruin the economy.

A lot of the destruction of the American economy is willful. The liberals are saying even now that we must put the breaks on the American economy in order to "give way" to the economies in developing countries. The intention is good, but the fact is that a healthy American economy helps economies in developing nations more than failing American economy.

Poor America buys less imports, you know.

[Mia]

Originally Posted by John Scott

Bingo.

The economy will continue to go to hell, and sooner or later the people will realize that we cannot afford to allow the gov't t to ruin the economy.

Just curious. What that a PUN? Did you mean "RUN" or "RUIN"... Either way when the government "runs" the economy, they "ruin" it!