The United States is the most competitive country in the world. We compete in sports, business, medicine, law, and academia -- even religion. Everythi...
The problem is not entitlements -- Medicare is in surplus until 2024; Social Security 'til 2036. The problem is the president and Congress playing games and refusing to pay for government.
People are frustrated because there's all talk and no action on jobs and deficits. People are frustrated because our competitive country is not competing in globalization. To compete, to create jobs, a value added tax is necessary.
I speak of the "value-added tax," or "VAT." Republicans are horrified that President Obama has a secret plan to pass this tax, and are shouting from the rooftops (of the nearest Fox News building).
Today, the U.S. has the export profile of an eighteenth century colony. Because we've suffered a $5.8 trillion trade deficit in the last decade, Obama should levy a 10% surcharge on imports like Nixon did.
Job loss from the recession will likely rebound when the recession ends. But the job loss from off-shoring won't rebound until we adopt an industrial policy to compete in the trade war.
Washington obscures the Trade War by calling it globalization. Globalization is nothing more than a trade war with production looking for countries cheaper to produce.
The political luxury of being against government has got to stop. Government, not productivity, is the comparative advantage in the Trade War.
The politics of the President and the Congress, influenced by the politics of the financial community, brews into the perfect desertion.
For now, we can solve the problems of our fiscal and trade deficits by eliminating the corporate income tax and replacing it with a 3% value added tax. This actually cuts taxes and raises more revenue.
