Because this is our first post, I have no one to respond to. I will state that I believe the government should find a way stabilize the economy without putting us too much further in dept. This would mean helping private business owners as well as big businesses get their businesses growing and making more money again. However, they should do this without establishing too much government control. In addition they should give bigger tax cuts to small businesses to help them run. Americans want to trust the government, but the government is taking too much control and not improving the situation enough. The government bailout and stimulus plans seemed to be a good idea to many people. It hasn’t however done what many politicians thought it would do. The government did well in helping big businesses stay running, but job losses are higher and so is the unemployment rate. Now as the government votes on a new Federal Reserve chairman more questions arise. In the article from the Yakima Herald, Uncertainty surrounding upcoming Bernanke vote raises economic fears, it says that Bernanke is not trusted by Americans lately because of the way the Fed has been using the money. If he is not reconfirmed, however, more distrust will arise. “The dollar would fall, higher interest rates would follow, and it would be harder for the government to pay off its debt,” the article says. The senate would gain more control over the minds of the Fed if he isn’t reconfirmed. This would give more government control, which shouldn’t happen. In giving tax breaks to small businesses, they could grow and create more jobs. The creation of jobs would help the economy. Also, if tax breaks were given, people could start other small businesses. In my opinion small businesses make up most the economy and help feed the bigger companies more. This would help create more jobs than did the way of the stimulus package by throwing money at the situation. But with all the complaining of government, we should really be trying to see if the biblical model of government is being upheld. Should we step aside and let the government control things to help benefit us without protest. In my opinion I don’t think so. The biblical model of government relationship to the economy is the government upholding laws and giving help to those who need it. They should keep giving benefits to the jobless and retired by keep their hands out of everything else. If they give just a little push, I believe the American people can make things better.
the first thing we have to do is get rid of OBAMA and put Sarah Palin in.
We should do less inports and do more of are own stuff. We should do more export, to get more money we need. we are doing really bad for what we have now. the less we spend, the more money we can keep.
Obama should stop getting out bail out money to the companies that are hurting when they use part of the money to give their CEO's multi million dollar bonuses to them.
We should be giving the milk surpulse product to the foriegn country that need help instead of getting them money to spend of other things, is would also help the dairy industry.
Taxpayer money or stimulus money is not being used efficiently. Bigger government and more debt is not the way to revive the economy. A strong central government will bring more problems than good things. I agree with Kevin the government taking control of everything will not increase and better our economy. Also while big business does employ many people. But the small businesses are a major part of our economy and yet they received little help compared to that of big business. Many of them were hurt worse than the big businesses. We need capitalism to get rid of our debt because small businesses are the driving force behind the economy. The government spending taxpayer’s money on things that ultimately only help a few people will just increase debt. For example Congress approved bailout money for AIG, then AIG shortly after payed out one hundred million dollars in bonuses for its employees. The problem is that the government should not pay bailout money to the people that are responsible for this economic downturn in the first place. The executive branches leadership is not helping anything. President Obama is an inexperienced leader. He is going about trying to fix the economy in the wrong ways. His stimulus money is just digging a bigger hole of debt. His health care bill may help poor, who already receive help, and he wants to place the burden of paying for it on business owners. This bill would require them to provide health care plan which could cost 20-25% more in total payroll. Thats a staggering figure to a small business and will not promote growth and create new jobs. With more small business and less government handouts our economy should slowly revive itself and grow again.
The government is doing what they think is absolutely necessary to get our country out of debt, and while some of it may be necessary, a lot of it is excess. It is impossible for the government to be running well and for every person to be doing well all of the time. There will always be times of decline but eventually it will straighten out. The government sees the depression as a time to panic, which it undoubtedly is for most people. However, if the government over-corrects in certain areas, it will only worsen our economic state in the future. While government bail outs and other such ideas may help people out in the present, it will create short comings in the future. I agree with Kevin’s views on helping small businesses and the government not giving people enough successful promises to trust. Unemployment is such a prominent problem in America today, and focus is put on creating jobs and having bigger companies bring in more people. Like John said, focus on small businesses has been totally lost, even though they were hit strongly. America is built on people’s hopes and hard work leading to success, but if the government focuses so strongly on saving bigger companies, smaller companies don’t stand a chance. With the government spending so much non-existent money on saving companies, people will eventually begin to depend on the government for their success. If this happens, the drive to start new businesses or to work for your own success will become obsolete. If the government continues to spend money on saving people to try to get out of this time of economic downfall, the process of natural correction will be corrupted. Though the government should be there to support its people and help in national situations, over-correction will be a big mistake on the government’s part.
The government should not try to take control of the economy. There needs to be some governmental involvement, but we cannot rely on the government to fix all of our problems. I think the best thing that the government can do to save the economy right now is create more jobs and support small businesses. Small businesses are the core of our economy because they support the larger businesses. I agree with Kevin that creating jobs would stimulate the economy. Once we get more people working, we will not have as many problems with welfare and health care for those without jobs. Also, Kevin’s idea of giving small companies tax breaks would definitely be helpful. If the small, privately owned companies can prosper, then certain regions can prosper. As regions start gaining stability, the states and ultimately the nation can flourish through economy. There have been many efforts towards creating jobs throughout the nation, but it is hard to create job openings if there is no work needed to be done. It is difficult for a business to pay a person for work that is not necessary. There is a new incentive that the Obama administration is contemplating though. It is the idea of giving tax credit to businesses that create new jobs. According to the New York Times, “Employers would receive a credit worth twice the first-year payroll tax for each new hire.” This was implemented in the 1970s when it created about 700,000 jobs. I think this is a great incentive for businesses to hire new employees. The government would have to be careful with this idea because the businesses that receive the tax credit could start relying on the government’s money which would not be beneficial in the long run. It is helpful when the government steps in and shells out money. But like Janelle said, when businesses rely on the government too much, they will not work hard enough for their own success. The Biblical model of government and economy involves the government stepping in to help, but it also involves the people working for themselves and helping other businesses along the way.
The government must find a balance of helping the economy and putting in place restrictions to prevent this problem again. The bailout plan is already in activity so stopping it is impossible, but making sure all the money is used correctly is not. We must make sure this large investment is used to its maximum potential. To stimulate the economy and not fill the pockets of those who pockets in most eyes are already full. The bailout at this rate will cure our economy of some of its problems but that’s just the instant fix not long lasting. That is why it is necessary to have people in charge when the bailout is finished and the quick stimulus is over. We need someone to continue to build the economy with strong fundamentals and a concern for the greater good. That is why the government is attempting to appoint a new chairman of the Federal Reserve. This issue is twofold and very difficult; first they can’t take a long time deciding on whom, because the absence of a chairman can cause catastrophic irresponsibility, which economists believe could lead to a “double dip” recession. Second, the people and foreign trade may think our government and economy are flawed because the government is taking too much control in a supposed independent business. A fear of the government is the appointing of a new, intelligent chairman would bring a rise in interest rates, which being better for the economy would make it harder to pay back the debt they owe. Again the views of the people and the government conflict, which honestly make no sense in consideration of what the point of the founding of the country is. I agree with a previous article written by Kevin Dejong that by helping small business that could fuel bigger companies and thereby creating more jobs. That throwing money at the problems will not go away. Slamming your head into the wall may seem right but still isn’t. As the bible says the government should help people and look for their best interest. Perhaps if certain people did and not what they wanted, and would have not abused their power the problems now could have been avoided. But of course this is speculation and my opinion. In conclusion, as u can see it is a very delicate balance to fixing the economy without destroying other things. That’s why at this point we hope everyone elected was the correct choice.
The government should assist in the recovery of the economy by lowering taxes and making it easier for small businesses to grow instead of trying to regulate it all through big government. The mindset of the government now is to try and bail out the economy by establishing itself as key to recovering the economy. By making these decisions the government is becoming a bigger and more integral part of our life. I do not think that big government is the answer to our economic problem. I believe the answer to getting out of this recession is for the government to help small businesses flourish. The biggest step the government has taken is to pass the controversial stimulus plan. In this plan $787 billion dollars was set aside to be integrated into the economy thus creating and saving jobs. According to the article from the New York Times this plan has saved or created about 63,000 jobs. This does not mean that there were 63,000 jobs created because the number can be thrown off because of the uncertainty on the amount of jobs that were saved because there is no concrete way to measure how many jobs are saved. Also according to this article it has helped the economy recover a bit at first but then leveled off again. The article was supposed to show that the plan was working but it shows that it is moving slowly and does not give me any confidence in the stimulus plan. Another aspect of the plan that discourages me is that the money that is supposed to help everyone is being wasted. An example is that a Florida school district spent $350,000 dollars on a survey that parents of special needs children if they would answer a short questionnaire and then receive a free iPod. Thus spending stimulus money but not helping anyone earn a job. The stimulus plan in theory is not a bad thing but government plans often do not help everyone the way it promised or to the degree it promised. In my opinion the best thing the government could do is to help small businesses grow. I definitely agree with Kevin and John on this topic. Small businesses are the backbone of our economy. They provide the largest percentage of jobs in our country. The government should try to help out small businesses by giving them tax breaks and giving them incentives to hire more people. If a business has a smaller percentage of their money going to taxes then they can expand and make more job positions. When a small business has an opening it creates a job for someone to work. The stimulus plan just creates temporary work like building roads or construction. It opens up some jobs but when the project is done the people are out of work again. For a lasting change the government needs to encourage long time growth and prosperity of everyone and not just some short term goals. I believe that the biblical model would be smaller government. The government should let people work hard and live their lives and the normal cycle of recession and prosperity will happen. The government should provide a protection of rights but give the people freedom in business. When the government gets to active in everyday life then they can rack up debt very quickly which causes stress on everyone else because of higher taxes that usually accompany large debt. Government can help push Biblical ideas through taxes that help the needy and welfare but I believe it starts providing too much power to the government.
The first thing the government should do is create useful jobs for people who need them. As we discussed in class, the government is trying to create jobs such as construction and road maintenance etc.... But as Janelle mentioned earlier with the issue of dependency on the government for success,and leading into another issue the government should deal with in our economy; government hand outs have become so ingrained in our culture that there is not as much motivation to get a job as there should be.
Social, welfare, and and the bailout program are all debated issues today. They are all necessary to our economy but in my opinion, have been very abused. I think the government needs to regulate how companies spend bailout money and how the money for social and welfare programs are spent. Bailout money should not be used to provide bonuses and there needs to be serious limitations on the conditions for which money is given to people through social and welfare programs because they have started to be taken advantage of.
If the government lets programs, companies and people do whatever with they want with the money they are given, it is extremely unfair to the working people that money was taken from through taxes. This kind of behavior from the government goes against what the Biblical model of the what the government's relationship with the economy should be. As we read in the article from "Christian Political Action," a just government should provide order, balance freedom with order, pursue equality and strive to have active citizen participation. Not regulating how social, welfare and bailout program money is spent goes against pursueing equality by unfairly using tax payers.
Another point the government should work on in the economy is the treatment of small businesses. I agree with John's point of view that governmental focus on small businesses has been lost.Small businesses are a vital, driving force in our economy. Going against the Biblicl model of what a government's relationship with the economy should be, large companies have recieved much better treatmnet than small businesses have. Instead of inhibiting the growth, founding and prosperity of small businesses, the government should be trying to help these much needed businesses. Through things like tax breaks, not forcing hefty medicare expenditures and incentives for small business owners, the government could help stimulate this crucial part of the economy of the U.S..
Today government is trying to take too much control, and that control is being taken away from us citizens. The question what more can the government do to help us today can be answered in many ways. First we must consider some of our problems like national debt, or unemployment rates then we can analyze how we feel our government can fix it. One of the ways right now for government to get involved is by creating as many jobs as possible. Problems that we may face though with government trying to help fix some of the problems is that they are getting too involved and are gaining too much control over us. I would have to agree with Analisa and Kevin, both say that we need to create more job opportunities. When people are working they are earning a steady income, and when you have a steady income coming in you are able to pay off your bills and loans. One problem today is that government is giving out too much money to welfare and other bailouts to try and help these people get back on track, but once you start handing out this money, you are losing it as well. To help with the national debt government came up with the Stimulus Plan. This plan was made to help us and government know exactly where our money is going towards, and how it is being spent. In the articles in class we were able to read some pros and cons to this plan and whether or not we feel that it is working. Government parties believe that the plan is working because they gave out 256 billion dollars and as of November we have only spent 110 billion dollars. People feel that if we haven’t spent the money that was given to us that we are doing well. That is not the case here, just because we haven’t spent the money doesn’t mean that we are clear of all debt. These bailouts are set up to help get people back on track but government themselves need to get on track. To get this economy going again we need to build up our small businesses. Like Brent and John said the small businesses are our backbone. How could they possibly be a backbone to us? Well when you have a small business you need employees to help maintain the company. With unemployment rates at an all time high why not start up a small business to help find some employment for those who need it. Dr. Chad Moutray said, “Small businesses drive the economy.” When you get small businesses going, it helps with our economic growth, it gets people motivated to do something with themselves, and to make a living. If we were to be running our government in a Biblical way we would need to start out by helping anyone who is in need. We are told in the Bible that we are to help one another. We always have comments to say when it comes to welfare, but according to the Bible isn’t welfare good in some sort of way? I mean if we are told to help the needy then why not have the welfare set-up, all that money is going to somebody who feels they need it. But the problem isn’t that we are helping people in need, the problem is that everybody feels that they need it and we are running out of money to give out. We need to revaluate what welfare is, and who it is really meant for because not everybody needs to be getting all this government support. In conclusion government can help by trying to stimulate the economy a little more, but can’t get to involved with it because they may gain to much power in the end from us.
I think that in order to get our economy back to a better state than it is in now we need to do a lot of things differently in our government. Fist off, we have to stop importing so much and need to start making the items that we would import, and we need to try to start exporting more than we are importing from foreign countries like china and India. Also, like as Brent was saying, we need smaller businesses to be able to be successful in this economy for they are the backbone of the country and so in order for them to stay afloat we should give tax breaks and other measures to make sure the backbone of america can stand through this tough economy. Another idea to help the economy would be to stop giving out taxpayers bailout money to big corporations. These corporations are using the money to keep their businesses going, but also there are a large few that use a lot of the bailout money that they get and give out huge bonuses to their executives and CEO's. One of the things president Obama is doing now is trying to boost the economy by using bailout money to fund state jobs, but in my opinion the jobs that we all think is going to help the economy are just temporary and when they run out of projects and funding, unemployment will rise once again and we will be right back in a worse economy than we are now with even more people jobless. The Unions of America have been a very large part in some of our economic downturn because workers are getting paid more and more and getting better benefits which has turned to big businesses outsourcing American labor to foreign countries because of the cheaper labor. Another part to our economy getting better would be if the president would stop signing so many bailout plans and forking over billions which is putting us into debt of trillions of dollars! The bailout plans might seem like a good idea to stimulate the economy now, but if we print too much money then the U.S. dollar will not be worth anything and the inflation in prices of products will be outrageous. We need to slow down government spending; most of the bailout money either gets wasted or goes to big corporations which America does not want. Having monopolies in big business puts all the smaller businesses in the whole and America needs many small businesses to survive and not these large banks and corporations that are getting out of control. Another area that is a big issue is health care. Many Americans are in need of help with the outrageous medical costs. The government needs to do something, but also we need to figure out how to accomplish helping those in need of medical insurance and at the same time make sure that we don't make the national debt even larger by doing so. This is one of the greatest issues of America and there is no one great solution which makes this a tough situation.
The government should help the economy by assisting small businesses. Leaders in the government should also find the balance between spending too much and spending too little to stimulate the economy. Small businesses are the foundation of the United States's economy. They support larger businesses. Small businesses should get incentives for creating new jobs and hiring on people. Bailout packages in the past have not been distributed very well. Money given to big businesses was quickly used for multi million dollar bonuses. The government did not have enough control over what the money was used for. I think the government should give out money in much smaller ammounts with specified places to where it is going.
The 787 billion dollar stimulus plan is in theory a good idea to help the economy. The biggest problem with it is the amount of money being spent. The US is already in over 54 trillion dollars in debt. Passing out billions of dollars to various businesses will do nothing for the economy unless it is all spent. Because the money is being passed out in such large amounts, it is impossible to guarantee that it will be used to help the economy. I think that too much money is being put into the stimulus plan. Spending so much will only put the US into more debt than it can handle. Some money should be used to stimulate the economy though.
I agree with Analisa's point of view on how involved the government should be. The government should be involved with helping the economy, but it can not be too involved. It should help create new jobs and opportunities for people who have trouble holding jobs. Biblically, people should follow what the government does. The government should implement Biblical ideas through taxing and new laws passed to help the economy.
To help the economy the government should slow the spending on foreign resources being imported. Even though the nation is trillions of dollars in debt a few billion dollars would help the economy tremendously. Not only will that save debt but it can also be used to create jobs, but in general to use within our country. Using resources that our within our country, like oil, will help the deficit on imported goods, which in turn can be used to put into our economy to help. The US currently has a foreign debt of $3.8 trillion. Those 3.8 trillion accounts for 7% of the US total debt. If the government could stop even half of the imports that money could be used immensely for anything like Social security and Medicare liabilities. Those crises are starting to reach far into the trillions and every dollar that can be saved will help the people who need their liabilities paid. The government should not use mindless thinking when it comes to spending. A few billion does not seem like much compared to a multi-trillion dollar debt, in which many people view money. The way to help is to hold back and save millions at a time, even billions. A good point stated from Brent’s blog entry is the fact that the government should make it easier for small businesses to grow. How they need to do this is to stop high taxes and allow the funding for the company to happen. Laws and regulations are being changed way too much and often for smaller businesses to adapt. The economy is not developing correctly because of new taxes; therefore we should save on import spending. The government is in an economic crisis because of the immense spending of money. Results of large spending are higher taxes which in today’s age is not treating most small business’s budgets well. Actions need to be taken to halt the decline and slowly progress into a positive economy. To do so the government should cut back on import spending on products like oil and work harder at using deposit’s the US owns. Smalls step like that will help the economy grow into a better place worth living.
Personally, I think the government should not involve itself in the economy more than necessary; people should be able to responsibly handle their own money themselves. In the constitution the government was basically set up to help in instances of emergency and to enforce laws for the safety of the people. Now the government has gotten out of hand with its “help”, from bail-outs to stimulus checks that just thrust us into deeper debt. The current U.S. National Debt is roughly $12.4 trillion; President Obama and his administration spent $2.5 million on a commercial for the super bowl which was only a small slice out of the $340 million campaign reminding everyone about the census. According to our president “When times are tough, you tighten your belts. You don't go buying a boat when you can barely pay your mortgage. You don't blow a bunch of cash in Vegas when you're trying to save for college.” I agree with this statement, but it seems as though President Obama bought the boat on this one. On Glenn Beck’s blog, in which he discusses President Obama’s spending bill on Universal Healthcare, he shares a video clip and on this video clip Obama talks about how some people think that government should not be involved at in the business market and that FDR was wrong in intervening with the New Deal, Obama also goes on to say that “They're fighting battles that I thought were resolved a pretty long time ago.” Glenn Beck references the non-partisan CBO who say that the spending bill will actually lower the GDP by .1 to .3 percentage points by 2019. The CBO also says that if the government were to just do nothing, leave it all alone without spending a dime, there would be less debt and the rate of growth would be higher. The choice seems very obvious to anyone who was to read the blog; the government needs to refrain from “helping” the economy. However, as Janelle pointed out in her essay if we become so dependent on the government bailing us out, our automatic mentality is simply that the government should be responsible for our money and our actions, the government should bail us out when we make mistakes, so if spending more money is what it takes then that’s great. I completely agree with that view. Americans are falling into a slump; there is no accountability whatsoever. When the government starts giving money (that they themselves do not possess) to anyone who does not run their business efficiently and it fails, bailing them out, they are basically saying that they will pick up the pieces for you and that you shouldn’t have to do anything. This is not your fault, we will pay for it. The bailout however, will not fix everything. If a business is being run inefficiently and incompetently, regardless of how much money you throw at the problem, it will not get any better. In 2009 it was said that the $700 billion put up by the government to save banks from going under would not be enough. According to an article written back in January of 2009 on CNNMoney.com, Simon Johnson, an economist and author of the Baseline Scenario blog, said that the banks would need more capital from the government because “their cushion against losses is too thin.” Johnson had estimated the bank’s need at about $1-2 trillion. The government bailouts were not enough and could not really save the banks from going under and kept the constant flow of debt steady.
In conclusion, our country would be a better place for everyone to live in if the government simply quit handing out money. One of the golden rules of business is simply not spending money you do not have. The fore fathers of our country were self-sufficient men. They never intended for the government to make an individual’s decisions (politically and economically) for them. Relying on the government for everything is the dangerous situation that Americans are falling into today and it should start being stopped with reckless spending.
The government has been working hard the past couple of years to try to get out of this “slump” that America is in now, but how much of it is necessary? The government has set up many different types of plans, such as bailouts, giving capital to many American businesses; the Stimulus Plan, creating construction jobs and cutting government spending and tax cut to eighty- five billion dollars; and the HAMP (Home Affordable Modification Plan) Plan, to help the falling home values get back on their feet. Although these plans are helping us now, the government still has to pay for it. Where is this money coming from? Well let’s just say, the government has a high credit card bill of over twelve trillion dollars. The point that Janelle said about the unemployment rate being such a problem to America, I feel, is true. There are over twenty- four million American citizens that are unemployed, according to the US debt clock. This means that the government needs to create something that will give these people the jobs that they deserve. My sister told me that one day in her history class they watched a movie on immigration, and how Mexicans cross the border illegally, come to America and take our jobs, and then take that money and go back to Mexico. This is ridiculous. The American government needs to find away to stop this from happening because they are taking our jobs and then taking our money back to Mexico. Those jobs should go to the unemployed American citizens who have the right to have a job. Another thing that I found shocking was that the government is creating many construction jobs to help give the unemployed Americans a job, but then what? What is the government going to do once the construction jobs they created are completed? These questions have been running through my mind ever since I heard about these jobs. The government needs to find a way to be able to create new long- lasting jobs that they can give to those Americans who need it. So, I think that with all of this spending of money that we do not have, our economy will actual increase, but how the government is going to pay it back, I have no idea. During President Bush’s session as President, he said that the national debt would not succeed past one and a half trillion dollars. Look at it now. And now during Obama’s session, he plans to pay for college students schooling debt, pay for new construction jobs, (which I think is quite useless), and bailing out many of companies. I think these changes are smart of him because he’s not going to be in the white house long enough to have to start paying off the debt that the government has created.
I think the government should try to keep a tighter rein on the amount of money they are spending while starting to drill for more of our own oil within the U.S. The banks should also start making it a little bit harder to get loans so that people can’t run everything up on credit that they don’t have. If the banks are lending money to people who can’t pay it back, then of course they are going to go broke.
As far as the oil goes, I agree with McKracken. The U.S. should be able to produce all of its own oil. If that means building more refineries, then that’s the way it is. The refineries can employ more people throughout the building process and they will need more people to work in them once they are finished. The U.S. is the biggest consumer of oil and the cost of importing it is leading to a fair amount of debt.
It might be time for the government to take a step back overall. As a nation, our debt is almost incomprehensible. Instead of spending billions of dollars that we don’t have, we should be trying to pay that debt down instead of adding more to it. If we know the economy is going to have ups and downs, the regulations that come should not be to keep the economy from going down at all, but to keep it from drastic drops.
Looking at the Bible there is no set system of economics that we need to live by. There are verses that tell us we need to take care of the world and be good stewards. It also tells us that we need to help others and this can include economic measures. However, it never says that people cannot have their own possessions and wealth. It is up to us to be responsible and make good decisions regarding what we do with the things God has given us.
The government is attacking our economic situation completely wrong. They are trying to help the economy with the stimulus plan, but ultimately it is hurting our government. There is one thing that can ultimately sum up our government. Supply and Demand plays such a huge role in our government, and it is a reason the stimulus plan doesn’t work. One example of how the stimulus plan is working is this. In order to make money, one must spend money. A dairy farmer puts in ten dollars to produce 10 gallons of milk, and then sells the milk at one dollar a gallon. The government then gives the dairy farmer ten dollars. The problem is that with that ten dollars, you end up with 20 dollars, and no more production to back it up. So then there is more money than there is product. With all the bailouts, the government is giving all these companies like AIG as John mentioned, lots of money, but there is no production, so ultimately this is making the economy worse. Too much money chasing too few of goods need only one four letter word that will not allow people or a country to prosper. America is in such debt to other countries, that eventually we will be owned by other countries. China is our number one lender, and eventually they are going to want their money. In proverbs it says that a borrower is a slave to the lender. America is the borrower, and we ultimately are the slaves to the countries surrounding us. America owes way too much money to other countries, and eventually we will be at a point of no return. We need to stop spending money that isn’t completely necessary, and focus on paying back the other countries. Our government is struggling in this economy along with the rest of the citizens of America. We need to rid ourselves of the stimulus plan and try to come up with some ways of paying back our debt. I think we should have the treasury have a meeting with Dave Ramsey
The biggest problems are obviously with the cooporations. Treated as if they are person, they allowed more rights and less responsibility than a human person. Regulate the cooporations more, take away their rights as a 'person', and hold the cooporations responsible, and let the big money trickle down to REAL people. Check out 'The Corporation' video here: http://goteach.info/Hopac/videomain.html
The stimulus package instituted by our government seemed to be the "answer" but yet it created a bigger national debt and still has not resolved the economy. Let's look at creating jobs withing our nation....let's look at using our home resources instead of outsourcing to other nations....let's look at utiliizing our natural resources... It will be a hard road back and our economy needs to adjust to a new "norm" but if our government could focus on buidling jobs and not "bailing" out our corportations, being stewardly with our resources and tax dollars the economy could be come more stable and people would be employed.
The government should find a way stabilize the economy without putting us too much further in debt. This would mean helping private business owners as well as big businesses get their businesses growing and making more money again. However, they should do this without establishing too much government control. In addition, they should give bigger tax cuts to small businesses to help them run. Americans want to trust the government, but the government is taking too much control and not improving the situation enough. The government bailout and stimulus plans seemed to be a good idea to many people. However, it hasn’t done what many politicians thought it would do. The government did a good job in helping big businesses stay running, but job losses are higher and so is the unemployment rate. Now, as the government votes on a new Federal Reserve chairman, more questions arise. As the article from the Yakima Herald explained, uncertainty surrounding the upcoming Bernanke vote is raising economic fears. It says that Bernanke is not trusted by Americans lately because of the way the Fed has been using the money. If he is not reconfirmed, however, more distrust will arise. “The dollar would fall, higher interest rates would follow, and it would be harder for the government to pay off its debt,” the article says. The senate would gain more control over the minds of the Fed if he isn’t reconfirmed. This would give government more control, which shouldn’t happen. By giving tax breaks to small businesses, they could grow and create more jobs. The creation of jobs would help the economy. Also, if tax breaks were given, people could start other small businesses. Small businesses make up most the economy and help feed the bigger companies more. This would help create more jobs than the stimulus package did by throwing money at the situation. But with all the complaining of government, we should really be trying to see if the Biblical model of government is being upheld. Should we step aside and let the government control things to help benefit us without protest. The Biblical model of government relationship to the economy is the government upholding laws and giving help to those who need it. They should keep giving benefits to the jobless and retired by keep their hands out of everything else. If they give just a little push, I believe the American people can make things better.
Because this is our first post, I have no one to respond to. I will state that I believe the government should find a way stabilize the economy without putting us too much further in dept. This would mean helping private business owners as well as big businesses get their businesses growing and making more money again. However, they should do this without establishing too much government control. In addition they should give bigger tax cuts to small businesses to help them run.
ReplyDeleteAmericans want to trust the government, but the government is taking too much control and not improving the situation enough. The government bailout and stimulus plans seemed to be a good idea to many people. It hasn’t however done what many politicians thought it would do. The government did well in helping big businesses stay running, but job losses are higher and so is the unemployment rate. Now as the government votes on a new Federal Reserve chairman more questions arise.
In the article from the Yakima Herald, Uncertainty surrounding upcoming Bernanke vote raises economic fears, it says that Bernanke is not trusted by Americans lately because of the way the Fed has been using the money. If he is not reconfirmed, however, more distrust will arise. “The dollar would fall, higher interest rates would follow, and it would be harder for the government to pay off its debt,” the article says. The senate would gain more control over the minds of the Fed if he isn’t reconfirmed. This would give more government control, which shouldn’t happen.
In giving tax breaks to small businesses, they could grow and create more jobs. The creation of jobs would help the economy. Also, if tax breaks were given, people could start other small businesses. In my opinion small businesses make up most the economy and help feed the bigger companies more. This would help create more jobs than did the way of the stimulus package by throwing money at the situation.
But with all the complaining of government, we should really be trying to see if the biblical model of government is being upheld. Should we step aside and let the government control things to help benefit us without protest. In my opinion I don’t think so. The biblical model of government relationship to the economy is the government upholding laws and giving help to those who need it. They should keep giving benefits to the jobless and retired by keep their hands out of everything else. If they give just a little push, I believe the American people can make things better.
the first thing we have to do is get rid of OBAMA and put Sarah Palin in.
ReplyDeleteWe should do less inports and do more of are own stuff. We should do more export, to get more money we need. we are doing really bad for what we have now. the less we spend, the more money we can keep.
Obama should stop getting out bail out money to the companies that are hurting when they use part of the money to give their CEO's multi million dollar bonuses to them.
We should be giving the milk surpulse product to the foriegn country that need help instead of getting them money to spend of other things, is would also help the dairy industry.
Taxpayer money or stimulus money is not being used efficiently. Bigger government and more debt is not the way to revive the economy.
ReplyDeleteA strong central government will bring more problems than good things. I agree with Kevin the government taking control of everything will not increase and better our economy. Also while big business does employ many people. But the small businesses are a major part of our economy and yet they received little help compared to that of big business. Many of them were hurt worse than the big businesses. We need capitalism to get rid of our debt because small businesses are the driving force behind the economy. The government spending taxpayer’s money on things that ultimately only help a few people will just increase debt. For example Congress approved bailout money for AIG, then AIG shortly after payed out one hundred million dollars in bonuses for its employees. The problem is that the government should not pay bailout money to the people that are responsible for this economic downturn in the first place.
The executive branches leadership is not helping anything. President Obama is an inexperienced leader. He is going about trying to fix the economy in the wrong ways. His stimulus money is just digging a bigger hole of debt. His health care bill may help poor, who already receive help, and he wants to place the burden of paying for it on business owners. This bill would require them to provide health care plan which could cost 20-25% more in total payroll. Thats a staggering figure to a small business and will not promote growth and create new jobs. With more small business and less government handouts our economy should slowly revive itself and grow again.
The government is doing what they think is absolutely necessary to get our country out of debt, and while some of it may be necessary, a lot of it is excess.
ReplyDeleteIt is impossible for the government to be running well and for every person to be doing well all of the time. There will always be times of decline but eventually it will straighten out. The government sees the depression as a time to panic, which it undoubtedly is for most people. However, if the government over-corrects in certain areas, it will only worsen our economic state in the future. While government bail outs and other such ideas may help people out in the present, it will create short comings in the future.
I agree with Kevin’s views on helping small businesses and the government not giving people enough successful promises to trust. Unemployment is such a prominent problem in America today, and focus is put on creating jobs and having bigger companies bring in more people. Like John said, focus on small businesses has been totally lost, even though they were hit strongly. America is built on people’s hopes and hard work leading to success, but if the government focuses so strongly on saving bigger companies, smaller companies don’t stand a chance.
With the government spending so much non-existent money on saving companies, people will eventually begin to depend on the government for their success. If this happens, the drive to start new businesses or to work for your own success will become obsolete. If the government continues to spend money on saving people to try to get out of this time of economic downfall, the process of natural correction will be corrupted. Though the government should be there to support its people and help in national situations, over-correction will be a big mistake on the government’s part.
The government should not try to take control of the economy. There needs to be some governmental involvement, but we cannot rely on the government to fix all of our problems. I think the best thing that the government can do to save the economy right now is create more jobs and support small businesses. Small businesses are the core of our economy because they support the larger businesses.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Kevin that creating jobs would stimulate the economy. Once we get more people working, we will not have as many problems with welfare and health care for those without jobs. Also, Kevin’s idea of giving small companies tax breaks would definitely be helpful. If the small, privately owned companies can prosper, then certain regions can prosper. As regions start gaining stability, the states and ultimately the nation can flourish through economy.
There have been many efforts towards creating jobs throughout the nation, but it is hard to create job openings if there is no work needed to be done. It is difficult for a business to pay a person for work that is not necessary. There is a new incentive that the Obama administration is contemplating though. It is the idea of giving tax credit to businesses that create new jobs. According to the New York Times, “Employers would receive a credit worth twice the first-year payroll tax for each new hire.” This was implemented in the 1970s when it created about 700,000 jobs. I think this is a great incentive for businesses to hire new employees.
The government would have to be careful with this idea because the businesses that receive the tax credit could start relying on the government’s money which would not be beneficial in the long run. It is helpful when the government steps in and shells out money. But like Janelle said, when businesses rely on the government too much, they will not work hard enough for their own success. The Biblical model of government and economy involves the government stepping in to help, but it also involves the people working for themselves and helping other businesses along the way.
The government must find a balance of helping the economy and putting in place restrictions to prevent this problem again.
ReplyDeleteThe bailout plan is already in activity so stopping it is impossible, but making sure all the money is used correctly is not. We must make sure this large investment is used to its maximum potential. To stimulate the economy and not fill the pockets of those who pockets in most eyes are already full. The bailout at this rate will cure our economy of some of its problems but that’s just the instant fix not long lasting.
That is why it is necessary to have people in charge when the bailout is finished and the quick stimulus is over. We need someone to continue to build the economy with strong fundamentals and a concern for the greater good. That is why the government is attempting to appoint a new chairman of the Federal Reserve. This issue is twofold and very difficult; first they can’t take a long time deciding on whom, because the absence of a chairman can cause catastrophic irresponsibility, which economists believe could lead to a “double dip” recession. Second, the people and foreign trade may think our government and economy are flawed because the government is taking too much control in a supposed independent business.
A fear of the government is the appointing of a new, intelligent chairman would bring a rise in interest rates, which being better for the economy would make it harder to pay back the debt they owe. Again the views of the people and the government conflict, which honestly make no sense in consideration of what the point of the founding of the country is.
I agree with a previous article written by Kevin Dejong that by helping small business that could fuel bigger companies and thereby creating more jobs. That throwing money at the problems will not go away. Slamming your head into the wall may seem right but still isn’t.
As the bible says the government should help people and look for their best interest. Perhaps if certain people did and not what they wanted, and would have not abused their power the problems now could have been avoided. But of course this is speculation and my opinion.
In conclusion, as u can see it is a very delicate balance to fixing the economy without destroying other things. That’s why at this point we hope everyone elected was the correct choice.
The government should assist in the recovery of the economy by lowering taxes and making it easier for small businesses to grow instead of trying to regulate it all through big government. The mindset of the government now is to try and bail out the economy by establishing itself as key to recovering the economy. By making these decisions the government is becoming a bigger and more integral part of our life. I do not think that big government is the answer to our economic problem. I believe the answer to getting out of this recession is for the government to help small businesses flourish.
ReplyDeleteThe biggest step the government has taken is to pass the controversial stimulus plan. In this plan $787 billion dollars was set aside to be integrated into the economy thus creating and saving jobs. According to the article from the New York Times this plan has saved or created about 63,000 jobs. This does not mean that there were 63,000 jobs created because the number can be thrown off because of the uncertainty on the amount of jobs that were saved because there is no concrete way to measure how many jobs are saved. Also according to this article it has helped the economy recover a bit at first but then leveled off again. The article was supposed to show that the plan was working but it shows that it is moving slowly and does not give me any confidence in the stimulus plan. Another aspect of the plan that discourages me is that the money that is supposed to help everyone is being wasted. An example is that a Florida school district spent $350,000 dollars on a survey that parents of special needs children if they would answer a short questionnaire and then receive a free iPod. Thus spending stimulus money but not helping anyone earn a job. The stimulus plan in theory is not a bad thing but government plans often do not help everyone the way it promised or to the degree it promised.
In my opinion the best thing the government could do is to help small businesses grow. I definitely agree with Kevin and John on this topic. Small businesses are the backbone of our economy. They provide the largest percentage of jobs in our country. The government should try to help out small businesses by giving them tax breaks and giving them incentives to hire more people. If a business has a smaller percentage of their money going to taxes then they can expand and make more job positions. When a small business has an opening it creates a job for someone to work. The stimulus plan just creates temporary work like building roads or construction. It opens up some jobs but when the project is done the people are out of work again. For a lasting change the government needs to encourage long time growth and prosperity of everyone and not just some short term goals.
I believe that the biblical model would be smaller government. The government should let people work hard and live their lives and the normal cycle of recession and prosperity will happen. The government should provide a protection of rights but give the people freedom in business. When the government gets to active in everyday life then they can rack up debt very quickly which causes stress on everyone else because of higher taxes that usually accompany large debt. Government can help push Biblical ideas through taxes that help the needy and welfare but I believe it starts providing too much power to the government.
The first thing the government should do is create useful jobs for people who need them. As we discussed in class, the government is trying to create jobs such as construction and road maintenance etc.... But as Janelle mentioned earlier with the issue of dependency on the government for success,and leading into another issue the government should deal with in our economy; government hand outs have become so ingrained in our culture that there is not as much motivation to get a job as there should be.
ReplyDeleteSocial, welfare, and and the bailout program are all debated issues today. They are all necessary to our economy but in my opinion, have been very abused. I think the government needs to regulate how companies spend bailout money and how the money for social and welfare programs are spent. Bailout money should not be used to provide bonuses and there needs to be serious limitations on the conditions for which money is given to people through social and welfare programs because they have started to be taken advantage of.
If the government lets programs, companies and people do whatever with they want with the money they are given, it is extremely unfair to the working people that money was taken from through taxes. This kind of behavior from the government goes against what the Biblical model of the what the government's relationship with the economy should be. As we read in the article from "Christian Political Action," a just government should provide order, balance freedom with order, pursue equality and strive to have active citizen participation. Not regulating how social, welfare and bailout program money is spent goes against pursueing equality by unfairly using tax payers.
Another point the government should work on in the economy is the treatment of small businesses. I agree with John's point of view that governmental focus on small businesses has been lost.Small businesses are a vital, driving force in our economy. Going against the Biblicl model of what a government's relationship with the economy should be, large companies have recieved much better treatmnet than small businesses have. Instead of inhibiting the growth, founding and prosperity of small businesses, the government should be trying to help these much needed businesses. Through things like tax breaks, not forcing hefty medicare expenditures and incentives for small business owners, the government could help stimulate this crucial part of the economy of the U.S..
Today government is trying to take too much control, and that control is being taken away from us citizens. The question what more can the government do to help us today can be answered in many ways. First we must consider some of our problems like national debt, or unemployment rates then we can analyze how we feel our government can fix it. One of the ways right now for government to get involved is by creating as many jobs as possible. Problems that we may face though with government trying to help fix some of the problems is that they are getting too involved and are gaining too much control over us.
ReplyDeleteI would have to agree with Analisa and Kevin, both say that we need to create more job opportunities. When people are working they are earning a steady income, and when you have a steady income coming in you are able to pay off your bills and loans. One problem today is that government is giving out too much money to welfare and other bailouts to try and help these people get back on track, but once you start handing out this money, you are losing it as well. To help with the national debt government came up with the Stimulus Plan. This plan was made to help us and government know exactly where our money is going towards, and how it is being spent. In the articles in class we were able to read some pros and cons to this plan and whether or not we feel that it is working. Government parties believe that the plan is working because they gave out 256 billion dollars and as of November we have only spent 110 billion dollars. People feel that if we haven’t spent the money that was given to us that we are doing well. That is not the case here, just because we haven’t spent the money doesn’t mean that we are clear of all debt. These bailouts are set up to help get people back on track but government themselves need to get on track.
To get this economy going again we need to build up our small businesses. Like Brent and John said the small businesses are our backbone. How could they possibly be a backbone to us? Well when you have a small business you need employees to help maintain the company. With unemployment rates at an all time high why not start up a small business to help find some employment for those who need it. Dr. Chad Moutray said, “Small businesses drive the economy.” When you get small businesses going, it helps with our economic growth, it gets people motivated to do something with themselves, and to make a living.
If we were to be running our government in a Biblical way we would need to start out by helping anyone who is in need. We are told in the Bible that we are to help one another. We always have comments to say when it comes to welfare, but according to the Bible isn’t welfare good in some sort of way? I mean if we are told to help the needy then why not have the welfare set-up, all that money is going to somebody who feels they need it. But the problem isn’t that we are helping people in need, the problem is that everybody feels that they need it and we are running out of money to give out. We need to revaluate what welfare is, and who it is really meant for because not everybody needs to be getting all this government support.
In conclusion government can help by trying to stimulate the economy a little more, but can’t get to involved with it because they may gain to much power in the end from us.
I think that in order to get our economy back to a better state than it is in now we need to do a lot of things differently in our government. Fist off, we have to stop importing so much and need to start making the items that we would import, and we need to try to start exporting more than we are importing from foreign countries like china and India. Also, like as Brent was saying, we need smaller businesses to be able to be successful in this economy for they are the backbone of the country and so in order for them to stay afloat we should give tax breaks and other measures to make sure the backbone of america can stand through this tough economy.
ReplyDeleteAnother idea to help the economy would be to stop giving out taxpayers bailout money to big corporations. These corporations are using the money to keep their businesses going, but also there are a large few that use a lot of the bailout money that they get and give out huge bonuses to their executives and CEO's.
One of the things president Obama is doing now is trying to boost the economy by using bailout money to fund state jobs, but in my opinion the jobs that we all think is going to help the economy are just temporary and when they run out of projects and funding, unemployment will rise once again and we will be right back in a worse economy than we are now with even more people jobless.
The Unions of America have been a very large part in some of our economic downturn because workers are getting paid more and more and getting better benefits which has turned to big businesses outsourcing American labor to foreign countries because of the cheaper labor.
Another part to our economy getting better would be if the president would stop signing so many bailout plans and forking over billions which is putting us into debt of trillions of dollars! The bailout plans might seem like a good idea to stimulate the economy now, but if we print too much money then the U.S. dollar will not be worth anything and the inflation in prices of products will be outrageous. We need to slow down government spending; most of the bailout money either gets wasted or goes to big corporations which America does not want. Having monopolies in big business puts all the smaller businesses in the whole and America needs many small businesses to survive and not these large banks and corporations that are getting out of control.
Another area that is a big issue is health care. Many Americans are in need of help with the outrageous medical costs. The government needs to do something, but also we need to figure out how to accomplish helping those in need of medical insurance and at the same time make sure that we don't make the national debt even larger by doing so. This is one of the greatest issues of America and there is no one great solution which makes this a tough situation.
The government should help the economy by assisting small businesses. Leaders in the government should also find the balance between spending too much and spending too little to stimulate the economy.
ReplyDeleteSmall businesses are the foundation of the United States's economy. They support larger businesses. Small businesses should get incentives for creating new jobs and hiring on people. Bailout packages in the past have not been distributed very well. Money given to big businesses was quickly used for multi million dollar bonuses. The government did not have enough control over what the money was used for. I think the government should give out money in much smaller ammounts with specified places to where it is going.
The 787 billion dollar stimulus plan is in theory a good idea to help the economy. The biggest problem with it is the amount of money being spent. The US is already in over 54 trillion dollars in debt. Passing out billions of dollars to various businesses will do nothing for the economy unless it is all spent. Because the money is being passed out in such large amounts, it is impossible to guarantee that it will be used to help the economy. I think that too much money is being put into the stimulus plan. Spending so much will only put the US into more debt than it can handle. Some money should be used to stimulate the economy though.
I agree with Analisa's point of view on how involved the government should be. The government should be involved with helping the economy, but it can not be too involved. It should help create new jobs and opportunities for people who have trouble holding jobs. Biblically, people should follow what the government does. The government should implement Biblical ideas through taxing and new laws passed to help the economy.
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ReplyDeleteTo help the economy the government should slow the spending on foreign resources being imported. Even though the nation is trillions of dollars in debt a few billion dollars would help the economy tremendously. Not only will that save debt but it can also be used to create jobs, but in general to use within our country. Using resources that our within our country, like oil, will help the deficit on imported goods, which in turn can be used to put into our economy to help.
ReplyDeleteThe US currently has a foreign debt of $3.8 trillion. Those 3.8 trillion accounts for 7% of the US total debt. If the government could stop even half of the imports that money could be used immensely for anything like Social security and Medicare liabilities. Those crises are starting to reach far into the trillions and every dollar that can be saved will help the people who need their liabilities paid. The government should not use mindless thinking when it comes to spending. A few billion does not seem like much compared to a multi-trillion dollar debt, in which many people view money. The way to help is to hold back and save millions at a time, even billions.
A good point stated from Brent’s blog entry is the fact that the government should make it easier for small businesses to grow. How they need to do this is to stop high taxes and allow the funding for the company to happen. Laws and regulations are being changed way too much and often for smaller businesses to adapt. The economy is not developing correctly because of new taxes; therefore we should save on import spending.
The government is in an economic crisis because of the immense spending of money. Results of large spending are higher taxes which in today’s age is not treating most small business’s budgets well. Actions need to be taken to halt the decline and slowly progress into a positive economy. To do so the government should cut back on import spending on products like oil and work harder at using deposit’s the US owns. Smalls step like that will help the economy grow into a better place worth living.
Personally, I think the government should not involve itself in the economy more than necessary; people should be able to responsibly handle their own money themselves. In the constitution the government was basically set up to help in instances of emergency and to enforce laws for the safety of the people. Now the government has gotten out of hand with its “help”, from bail-outs to stimulus checks that just thrust us into deeper debt.
ReplyDeleteThe current U.S. National Debt is roughly $12.4 trillion; President Obama and his administration spent $2.5 million on a commercial for the super bowl which was only a small slice out of the $340 million campaign reminding everyone about the census. According to our president “When times are tough, you tighten your belts. You don't go buying a boat when you can barely pay your mortgage. You don't blow a bunch of cash in Vegas when you're trying to save for college.” I agree with this statement, but it seems as though President Obama bought the boat on this one. On Glenn Beck’s blog, in which he discusses President Obama’s spending bill on Universal Healthcare, he shares a video clip and on this video clip Obama talks about how some people think that government should not be involved at in the business market and that FDR was wrong in intervening with the New Deal, Obama also goes on to say that “They're fighting battles that I thought were resolved a pretty long time ago.” Glenn Beck references the non-partisan CBO who say that the spending bill will actually lower the GDP by .1 to .3 percentage points by 2019. The CBO also says that if the government were to just do nothing, leave it all alone without spending a dime, there would be less debt and the rate of growth would be higher. The choice seems very obvious to anyone who was to read the blog; the government needs to refrain from “helping” the economy.
However, as Janelle pointed out in her essay if we become so dependent on the government bailing us out, our automatic mentality is simply that the government should be responsible for our money and our actions, the government should bail us out when we make mistakes, so if spending more money is what it takes then that’s great. I completely agree with that view. Americans are falling into a slump; there is no accountability whatsoever. When the government starts giving money (that they themselves do not possess) to anyone who does not run their business efficiently and it fails, bailing them out, they are basically saying that they will pick up the pieces for you and that you shouldn’t have to do anything. This is not your fault, we will pay for it. The bailout however, will not fix everything. If a business is being run inefficiently and incompetently, regardless of how much money you throw at the problem, it will not get any better. In 2009 it was said that the $700 billion put up by the government to save banks from going under would not be enough. According to an article written back in January of 2009 on CNNMoney.com, Simon Johnson, an economist and author of the Baseline Scenario blog, said that the banks would need more capital from the government because “their cushion against losses is too thin.” Johnson had estimated the bank’s need at about $1-2 trillion. The government bailouts were not enough and could not really save the banks from going under and kept the constant flow of debt steady.
In conclusion, our country would be a better place for everyone to live in if the government simply quit handing out money. One of the golden rules of business is simply not spending money you do not have. The fore fathers of our country were self-sufficient men. They never intended for the government to make an individual’s decisions (politically and economically) for them. Relying on the government for everything is the dangerous situation that Americans are falling into today and it should start being stopped with reckless spending.
The government has been working hard the past couple of years to try to get out of this “slump” that America is in now, but how much of it is necessary?
ReplyDeleteThe government has set up many different types of plans, such as bailouts, giving capital to many American businesses; the Stimulus Plan, creating construction jobs and cutting government spending and tax cut to eighty- five billion dollars; and the HAMP (Home Affordable Modification Plan) Plan, to help the falling home values get back on their feet. Although these plans are helping us now, the government still has to pay for it. Where is this money coming from? Well let’s just say, the government has a high credit card bill of over twelve trillion dollars.
The point that Janelle said about the unemployment rate being such a problem to America, I feel, is true. There are over twenty- four million American citizens that are unemployed, according to the US debt clock. This means that the government needs to create something that will give these people the jobs that they deserve. My sister told me that one day in her history class they watched a movie on immigration, and how Mexicans cross the border illegally, come to America and take our jobs, and then take that money and go back to Mexico. This is ridiculous. The American government needs to find away to stop this from happening because they are taking our jobs and then taking our money back to Mexico. Those jobs should go to the unemployed American citizens who have the right to have a job.
Another thing that I found shocking was that the government is creating many construction jobs to help give the unemployed Americans a job, but then what? What is the government going to do once the construction jobs they created are completed? These questions have been running through my mind ever since I heard about these jobs. The government needs to find a way to be able to create new long- lasting jobs that they can give to those Americans who need it.
So, I think that with all of this spending of money that we do not have, our economy will actual increase, but how the government is going to pay it back, I have no idea. During President Bush’s session as President, he said that the national debt would not succeed past one and a half trillion dollars. Look at it now. And now during Obama’s session, he plans to pay for college students schooling debt, pay for new construction jobs, (which I think is quite useless), and bailing out many of companies. I think these changes are smart of him because he’s not going to be in the white house long enough to have to start paying off the debt that the government has created.
I think the government should try to keep a tighter rein on the amount of money they are spending while starting to drill for more of our own oil within the U.S. The banks should also start making it a little bit harder to get loans so that people can’t run everything up on credit that they don’t have. If the banks are lending money to people who can’t pay it back, then of course they are going to go broke.
ReplyDeleteAs far as the oil goes, I agree with McKracken. The U.S. should be able to produce all of its own oil. If that means building more refineries, then that’s the way it is. The refineries can employ more people throughout the building process and they will need more people to work in them once they are finished. The U.S. is the biggest consumer of oil and the cost of importing it is leading to a fair amount of debt.
It might be time for the government to take a step back overall. As a nation, our debt is almost incomprehensible. Instead of spending billions of dollars that we don’t have, we should be trying to pay that debt down instead of adding more to it. If we know the economy is going to have ups and downs, the regulations that come should not be to keep the economy from going down at all, but to keep it from drastic drops.
Looking at the Bible there is no set system of economics that we need to live by. There are verses that tell us we need to take care of the world and be good stewards. It also tells us that we need to help others and this can include economic measures. However, it never says that people cannot have their own possessions and wealth. It is up to us to be responsible and make good decisions regarding what we do with the things God has given us.
The government is attacking our economic situation completely wrong. They are trying to help the economy with the stimulus plan, but ultimately it is hurting our government. There is one thing that can ultimately sum up our government. Supply and Demand plays such a huge role in our government, and it is a reason the stimulus plan doesn’t work.
ReplyDeleteOne example of how the stimulus plan is working is this. In order to make money, one must spend money. A dairy farmer puts in ten dollars to produce 10 gallons of milk, and then sells the milk at one dollar a gallon. The government then gives the dairy farmer ten dollars. The problem is that with that ten dollars, you end up with 20 dollars, and no more production to back it up. So then there is more money than there is product. With all the bailouts, the government is giving all these companies like AIG as John mentioned, lots of money, but there is no production, so ultimately this is making the economy worse. Too much money chasing too few of goods need only one four letter word that will not allow people or a country to prosper.
America is in such debt to other countries, that eventually we will be owned by other countries. China is our number one lender, and eventually they are going to want their money. In proverbs it says that a borrower is a slave to the lender. America is the borrower, and we ultimately are the slaves to the countries surrounding us. America owes way too much money to other countries, and eventually we will be at a point of no return. We need to stop spending money that isn’t completely necessary, and focus on paying back the other countries.
Our government is struggling in this economy along with the rest of the citizens of America. We need to rid ourselves of the stimulus plan and try to come up with some ways of paying back our debt. I think we should have the treasury have a meeting with Dave Ramsey
The biggest problems are obviously with the cooporations. Treated as if they are person, they allowed more rights and less responsibility than a human person. Regulate the cooporations more, take away their rights as a 'person', and hold the cooporations responsible, and let the big money trickle down to REAL people. Check out 'The Corporation' video here: http://goteach.info/Hopac/videomain.html
ReplyDeleteThe stimulus package instituted by our government seemed to be the "answer" but yet it created a bigger national debt and still has not resolved the economy. Let's look at creating jobs withing our nation....let's look at using our home resources instead of outsourcing to other nations....let's look at utiliizing our natural resources...
ReplyDeleteIt will be a hard road back and our economy needs to adjust to a new "norm" but if our government could focus on buidling jobs and not "bailing" out our corportations, being stewardly with our resources and tax dollars the economy could be come more stable and people would be employed.
The government should find a way stabilize the economy without putting us too much further in debt. This would mean helping private business owners as well as big businesses get their businesses growing and making more money again. However, they should do this without establishing too much government control. In addition, they should give bigger tax cuts to small businesses to help them run.
ReplyDeleteAmericans want to trust the government, but the government is taking too much control and not improving the situation enough. The government bailout and stimulus plans seemed to be a good idea to many people. However, it hasn’t done what many politicians thought it would do. The government did a good job in helping big businesses stay running, but job losses are higher and so is the unemployment rate. Now, as the government votes on a new Federal Reserve chairman, more questions arise.
As the article from the Yakima Herald explained, uncertainty surrounding the upcoming Bernanke vote is raising economic fears. It says that Bernanke is not trusted by Americans lately because of the way the Fed has been using the money. If he is not reconfirmed, however, more distrust will arise. “The dollar would fall, higher interest rates would follow, and it would be harder for the government to pay off its debt,” the article says. The senate would gain more control over the minds of the Fed if he isn’t reconfirmed. This would give government more control, which shouldn’t happen.
By giving tax breaks to small businesses, they could grow and create more jobs. The creation of jobs would help the economy. Also, if tax breaks were given, people could start other small businesses. Small businesses make up most the economy and help feed the bigger companies more. This would help create more jobs than the stimulus package did by throwing money at the situation.
But with all the complaining of government, we should really be trying to see if the Biblical model of government is being upheld. Should we step aside and let the government control things to help benefit us without protest. The Biblical model of government relationship to the economy is the government upholding laws and giving help to those who need it. They should keep giving benefits to the jobless and retired by keep their hands out of everything else. If they give just a little push, I believe the American people can make things better.