Debt Limit - A Guide to The Federal Debt Made Easy

The United States debt limit explained. A satirical short film taking a look at the national debt and how it applies to just one family.

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Crystal Wright - Sequester was Obama’s Idea - Make him Own it!

President Obama is good at spending money and very adroit at blaming Republicans for the many failures of his presidency. Four years under his belt and another four to go and Obama continues the blame game with gusto. Now Obama is topping his own standard of hypocrisy and blaming the $1.2 trillion sequester on Republicans when the idea was Obama’s in 2011.

“And that’s why it’s so troubling that just 10 days from now, Congress might allow a series of automatic, severe budget cuts to take place that will do the exact opposite,” declared his Royal Highness Obama.

Let’s get this straight, it’s Congress’ fault sequestration, also known as the automatic spending cuts, is about to happen even though it was Obama’s idea? Apparently, Obama also never said in November 2011: “I will veto any effort to get rid of those automatic spending cuts, domestic and defense spending. There will be no easy off ramps on this one.”

Oh, well he’s Obama and the media doesn't hold him accountable to a record much less his words. The first round of $85 billion in yearly automatic cuts for the next ten years is set to rip March 1, 2013. In his usual haughty tone of denying culpability, Obama continued:

“So these cuts are not smart. They are not fair. They will hurt our economy. They will add hundreds of thousands of Americans to the unemployment rolls. This is not an abstraction -- people will lose their jobs. The unemployment rate might tick up again."

If the sequester isn't “fair”, why didn't the president get serious about solving the problem of government spending and debt in 2011 during the debt ceiling talks? Instead, Obama proposed the sequester to which Republicans in Congress objected in favor of serious budget belt-tightening?

In the summer of 2011, Obama waged a PR war demanding Republicans in Congress raise the nation’s debt ceiling (its ability to borrow) so Obama could spend more money. Republicans said they would only raise the debt ceiling (now $16.5 trillion) if Obama agreed to cut government spending. When the two sides couldn't agree to significant cuts and Obama rejected House Speaker Boehner’s offer to raise $800 billion in taxes, the White House proposed “sequestration.”

If the sequester, again OBAMA’S IDEA (see page 326, The Price of Politics), isn't “smart” and “will hurt our economy” why didn't Obama deal with it in January 2013 instead of demanding $600 billion in tax increases on higher earners over 10 years. This amounts to $60 billion a year, which will pay down less than 5% of Obama’s $1trillion yearly deficits/over spending habit.

Obama didn't want to deal with the sequester in January so Congress kicked the can down the road until March 1, 2013. Voila, here we are less than 10 days away from sequestration with the Commander in Chief once again demanding action from Congress, as if he is a bystander to government not part of it. Half of the $85 billion in cuts would come from Defense and the other half from discretionary domestic spending, which is only a 5% cut. The Wall Street Journal calls it The Unscary Sequester, reminding readers Hurricane Sandy aid was $60 billion to put things in perspective.

We've seen this act before from Obama: 2012 and 2010 Bush tax cut stand off, 2009 stimulus, Obamacare, Dodd Frank, etc. His script is always the same, “Congress do it, do it now. Republicans you are getting in my way, you are bad. I’m the first black president. I deserve anything I want and will not be held to the same standards of my predecessors.”

This is what Obama is saying and he’s getting away with it. Why? Because Obama enjoys a “fawning media” who perpetuates his preposterous narrative and because Republicans are lousy at PR.

Republicans fail to stay on message. Instead of telling their own story, Republicans always chase Obama’s narrative of himself and the GOP. Over the past four years, particularly during the 2012 presidential race, Obama was deft at changing the subject from his failures to the gender, race and class wars, Bush, Romney’s taxes, etc.

How does the GOP beat a media maverick like Obama? First, Republicans need to let sequestration happen and force Obama to take responsibility for the mess he’s created. Second, House Speaker Boehner and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell need create a consistent message and tell their team to stick with it!

For example: “This president refuses to get serious about the real issues facing this country and instead wants to play the blame game, passing the buck like he’s not a part of the problem but a bystander to it.”

“The sequester makes no cuts to mandatory or entitlement spending which according to the Congressional Budget Office , are the main drivers of our unsustainable debt for the next 75 years.”

“Since he became president in 2009, Obama has added $6 trillion to our debt, which stands at $16.5 trillion. He has refused to cut government spending even though the Congressional Budget Office warns our debt threatens the country’s future.”

“If unemployment remains above 7.5%, as the Congressional Budget Office projects through 2014, it will be the longest period in 70 years and the sixth straight year under Obama’s presidency the jobless rate has stayed above 7.5%.”

With a lousy record like Obama’s: persistently high unemployment, largest debt since World War II, and a faltering economy, Obama shouldn't have gotten re-elected much less be blaming Republicans for anything. But Obama is better at spinning his version of reality. It’s time for the GOP to step up its game or stay in the corner and get punched.

Crystal Wright

Crystal Wright is a black conservative woman living in Washington, D.C. Some would say she is a triple minority: woman, black and a Republican living in a Democrat dominated city. She’s contemplating moving back to her home state of Virginia, where her vote would count for something. By day, Crystal is a communications consultant and editor and publisher of the new website, conservativeblackchick.com. Crystal earned a Bachelor of Arts in English from Georgetown University and holds a Masters of Fine Arts in Theatre from Virginia Commonwealth University.

Wright is the principal owner of the Baker Wright Group, LLC , a full service public relations firm, specializing in communications counseling, media relations, message development, media training and crisis communications. The firm’s approach is straight forward counseling: an unvarnished approach to public relations.

Visit Crystal's Website by clicking HERE

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Austin Hill - Job Creation Nation: America Faces Harsh Realities In 2013

The political conventions have passed, the August jobs report is out, and many Americans are said to be “giving up hope.”

So how can we jumpstart our greatest engine of economic growth – the American small business market – and get our economy growing again?

Regardless of which presidential candidate wins this November, in 2013 Americans will have to focus on saving, and expanding, the small business marketplace. The sector of our economy that makes up nearly 60% of the entire American private sector workforce, and creates between 60 and 80% of all new jobs, has been under attack over the past few years by politicians who have created lots of bad laws.

And if Americans are serious about expanding actual employment (rather than merely expanding government welfare and entitlement programs), then we will have to make better choices at the ballot box, and hold our elected leaders responsible for making serious changes. To start, let’s consider consider this harsh reality: the so-called “fiscal cliff” is real, and President Obama’s proposed solution to it is potentially lethal.

Under current federal law, both income tax rates and Social Security tax rates are set to rise dramatically on January 1st of 2013. Along with these tax increases, a dramatic reduction in government services will take hold at the same time.

This confluence of private citizens having more of their money taken away (higher taxes), and a reduction of government services (which means that private citizens will have to fill the gap and spend more of their own money) is expected to trigger a new recession next year. As a means of preventing a “double dip,” both Republicans and Democrats in the Congress have proposed that taxation rates be frozen where they are at, and held steady in 2013.

But President Obama has insisted that taxes should be raised on so-called “rich people” next year, and has refused to do what most economists and many members of his party have said is the one thing that could save us from another downturn.

And with the President polling as well as he is, it seems apparent that millions of Americans are far more excited about his “make the rich pay” rhetoric than they are aware of the consequences of his proposals. Obama supporters may get their wish in November, but it will come at a painful price – a price that all of us will pay.

And here’s another harsh reality: Americans need to get comfortable with other people’s financial successes. Since the early days of his first presidential campaign in 2007, Barack Obama has been pouring fuel on the fires of resentment and envy towards the wealthy. As a political strategy this has worked well for the President, but as government policy this has been bad for all of us.

The President’s tax-hike push is a perfect example, as many of America’s small businesses are set-up under the I.R.S. code as “Sub-chapter S” corporations. These are businesses wherein the company profits are reported to the I.R.S. directly as personal income by the business owners and are subject to personal income tax rates – and many of these business owners are being targeted by President Obama for an income tax-hike.

If the President gets his wish, and the government begins confiscating more money from the owners of Sub-chapter S corporations, by definition this leaves less money in these corporations for hiring and expansion. Thus Americans have a choice to make – do we want to employ our President for another four years so he can satiate the hatred some of us have towards “the rich” and take away more of their money? Or would we like private business owners to have money available to employ more of us? From the way things appear right now, we probably can’t do both.

And here’s harsh reality number three: Americans have to stop Obamacare from wiping-out small businesses. A central feature of this law is the mandate that businesses provide healthcare insurance to their workers. It sounds great – workers will now be “guaranteed” health insurance – but once again, the “make somebody else pay” approach is heaping more weight on the shoulders of small business owners.

Americans must decide how serious they are about job creation – even if it means that some jobs won’t include health benefits. If we honestly want employers to employ more, we must force the Congress and the President to fix this devastating component of Obamacare next year.

And here’s yet another harsh reality: Americans must stop making small businesses a scapegoat on illegal immigration. Roughly two-thirds of Americans want our national borders secured and a coherent immigration policy, yet for over a decade Washington has refused to do the former and has scarcely attempted the latter.

Amid the frustration, businesses have become the target of Americans’ wrath. If business owners would simply quit hiring illegals -so the reasoning goes -the illegals would go away.

Mitt Romney has pledged that, if elected, he will seek to require American employers and workers to register with the federal government’s “e-verify” website, as a means of policing the problem. But this adds even more bureaucratic burdens to small business owners, and ignores our failed immigration policies and un-secured borders.

Do we want politicians who merely tell us what we want to hear? Or do we want leaders in our government who can actually enable businesses to grow? Americans must become more discerning-and face some harsh realities.

Austin Hill

Austin Hill is an emerging American voice, addressing culture-defining questions through books, talk radio, web, speaking, and interviews. His recent books "White House Confidential" and his new title "The Virtues Of Capitalism" show his range from whit-infused writer to thought-provoking expert on the intersection of philosophy, religion, politics & culture. Hill helps to make the complex seem simple when exploring capitalism, socialism, and other "Isms".

He is an editorial contributor to national publications such as U.S. News & World Report, a columnist with TownHall.com, and is a popular expert-host on radio from leading stations in Washington DC, Chicago, Phoenix and Los Angeles, and nationally with networks such as Fox NewsTalk Radio.  He hosts the "Austin Hill Show" weekday mornings at Fresno, California's Talk Radio 105-9 KMJ-FM,  and weekday afternoons at Boise, Idaho's Newstalk 580 K I D O radio.

Hill holds a Bachelor's Degree in English Literature from California Polytechnic State University at San Luis Obispo, and a Master's Degree in Philosophy of Religion and Ethics from Biola University in California.

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Austin Hill - Stark Economic Realities After The Hope-And-Change Hangover

“I thought I could get free healthcare by making someone else pay for it...”

Those words appear in a clever graphic that’s making its way around Facebook – perhaps you’ve seen it.

The sentence sits atop a photo of an attractive young adult woman, likely in her late 20’s or early 30’s, as she stands looking forlorn with her eyes cast downward.

Then the sentence beneath the photo explains the woman’s new discovery: “…Now I realize that I am that somebody else.”

As Facebook posts go, this one qualifies as witty, yet the economic reality of the Obama agenda is no laughing matter. Thanks to President Obama and his party in Congress that forced Obamacare upon us, every American who works and produces income is a target for more government confiscation of their money.

For those of us who treasure our freedom -and who know better than to take it for granted- the realities of Obamacare are terrifying. But for those who are just emerging from a hope-and-change hangover and are only mildly irritated by the “bummer” of higher taxes, a few questions are appropriate. First, consider this: why did you ever believe all the President’s promises about healthcare in the first place?

Barack Obama spent the first two years of his presidency crossing the country and making promises about “healthcare reform.” “If you like your Doctor, you’ll be able to keep your Doctor.” “Healthcare reform will be a job creator.” The promises were never ending.

But even a cursory understanding of history over the past fifty years or so depicts a bleak picture for governmental promises. Whether it’s Chairman Mao’s China, Castro’s Cuba, Kim’s North Korea or Chavez’ Venezuela, the lesson is the same: governmental leaders who promise to provide for your every need are ultimately seeking to spend other people’s money for their own selfish purposes. Were Obama supporters so ignorant of history that they are genuinely surprised by his deception?

And here’s another important question: who manages wealth the best – private individuals and groups, or politicians and government bureaucrats? For most of my adult life the United States federal government has been fairly respectful of every American’s right to create, and possess wealth, and has mostly avoided being punitive towards the wealthiest in society.

Additionally, our government’s leadership has been fairly accepting of the notion that when Americans are permitted to keep more of their own wealth, rather than less of it, they usually do productive things with it that ultimately benefit the overall economy. Even Democrat President Bill Clinton’s Council of Economic Advisors noted in 1994 that "It is undeniable that the sharp reduction in taxes in the early 1980s was a strong impetus to economic growth."

Yet today our nation is afflicted with a terrible philosophical malaise – I call it “the politics of envy.” With a President who campaigned on a pledge to “spread the wealth around,” many Americans today make the assumption that the wealthiest among us achieved their earnings by immoral means and deserve to have ever-increasing portions of it taken from them. Likewise the assumption is made that when individuals possess large sums of wealth they only do self-serving things with it, whereas politicians can force wealthy people to expand their businesses and “create jobs” and can spend people’s money in ways that benefit “everyone.”

This blessed view of government seems terrific – but is it really accurate? The agenda of President Obama and his Democrat party has helped create an environment where roughly half of the population pays no income taxes, so presumably the President has spread at least some wealth around.

But have the new controls and mandates and regulations placed on businesses, made in the name of the “collective good” and including the Obamacare mandates, really been beneficial to anybody? As Steve Wynn, CEO of Wynn Resorts, LTD recently noted, “those of us who have business opportunities and the capital to do it are going to sit in fear of the President…” Indeed treating business owners and the wealthy as though they are something less than dignified respectable human beings has produced a stagnant economy, and the constant threat from the President to raise taxes on the wealthy makes matters worse and not better.

And here’s another soul-searching question for the Obama partisans: is America strengthened when growing portions of its citizens are content to live off of the largess of others? According to the Congressional Budget Office, “Obamacare” has led many of our fellow Americans to believe that they simply no longer need to work for a living because of all the “free” assistance they can now get from our government.

This is not just political “spin” or partisan punditry. It comes directly from Douglas Elmendorf, the Director of the non-partisan C.B.O. It was none other than Mr. Elmendorf himself who noted in late 2010 that, outside the healthcare sector of our economy, the greatest impact of the Obamacare agenda will be in the labor market as the program incentivizes people to not work.

Is this really something that puts America on the “right track?” It may be creating more Obama re-election voters but it is certainly not leading our country to prosperity and productivity.

Austin Hill

Austin Hill is an emerging American voice, addressing culture-defining questions through books, talk radio, web, speaking, and interviews. His recent books "White House Confidential" and his new title "The Virtues Of Capitalism" show his range from whit-infused writer to thought-provoking expert on the intersection of philosophy, religion, politics & culture. Hill helps to make the complex seem simple when exploring capitalism, socialism, and other "Isms".

He is an editorial contributor to national publications such as U.S. News & World Report, a columnist with TownHall.com, and is a popular expert-host on radio from leading stations in Washington DC, Chicago, Phoenix and Los Angeles, and nationally with networks such as Fox NewsTalk Radio.  He hosts the "Austin Hill Show" weekday mornings at Fresno, California's Talk Radio 105-9 KMJ-FM,  and weekday afternoons at Boise, Idaho's Newstalk 580 K I D O radio.

Hill holds a Bachelor's Degree in English Literature from California Polytechnic State University at San Luis Obispo, and a Master's Degree in Philosophy of Religion and Ethics from Biola University in California.

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Paul Ryan on solutions that stand in solidarity with the poor

Discussion following Paul Ryan's Whittington Lecture delivered at the Georgetown Public Policy Institute.

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Lurita Doan - A President Who Can Say No

What Americans need in our next president isn’t complicated. Given our nation’s pressing problems, we just need a president capable of saying “NO”. The United States is, once again, at an important turning point, brought to the brink by Barack Obama’s profligate spending. In order to reverse the damage caused by 4 years of Obama’s left-leaning, entitlement-driven, anti-business policies, the nation needs a leader who is willing to stop the fiscal hemorrhaging and just say “no”.

If America is to continue on its path of greatness, continue to be a beacon to the rest of the world, we must get our financial expenditures under control and create more private sector jobs. That is going to require an individual capable of taking a tough stance against further indulgent government expenditures, a leader willing to say – “no”.

Unfortunately, the list of projects, policies, individuals and organizations to whom “NO” must be said is growing quite long.

Say “no” to America-bashing-- Americans deserve a president who believes that we are an exceptional nation, capable of achieving everything that is good and great. We deserve a president who acknowledges and appreciates the extraordinary contributions in education, defense, industry, medicine, technology and philanthropy that Americans have made to the world in the past 236 years.

But don’t stop there—

Small businesses, entrepreneurs, and job creators are already groaning from the weight of the many and new regulations Obama has initiated in the past three and a half years, so say “no” to the regulatory stranglehold that is stifling our nation’s entrepreneurs.

Say “no” to further bailouts and allow the free market to determine winners and losers-- Solyndra's mind-boggling profligacy, squandering $523 million in taxpayer money in less than two years and filing for bankruptcy protection, should be incentive enough to--

Say “no” to subsidies for absurdly expensive energy schemes that yield little and do nothing to reduce the price of gas at the pump for the average American.

Say “no” to ethanol subsidies and the $6 billion annual gift to the ethanol lobby.

Say “no to expanding entitlements, whether they be food stamps, social security, Obamacare or Medicaid—we can’t afford it.

Say “no” to raising the debt limit; a $16.394 trillion debt ceiling is quite high enough.

Say “no” to bloated federal spending; the federal budget has tripled in three years and that, too, is enough.

Say “no” to czars. With over 40 czars pre-empting and usurping the responsibilities and authorities of their Senate-confirmed doppelgangers, is it any wonder that there is no accountability and no spending discipline?

Say “no” to union pandering—and don’t blame FOX News for your problems when greedy union negotiators demand more and more.

Say no to environmental extremists, who seek to reduce, or shut down, the new production of oil and gas in the name of “greening” the planet and “sustainability”.

Say “no” to dodgy schemes that encourage voter fraud, even when those schemes are advanced by your Attorney General as a way to ensure your re-election.

Say “no” to legal posturing that gives known terrorists more rights than average Americans.

Say “no” to spending more time attending re-election fundraisers than working on America’s problems.

Say “no” to endless rounds of golf—and claiming that important work is getting done.

Say “no” to selecting advisors and appointees who are known tax dodgers and charlatans as czars and Cabinet Secretaries.

Say “no” to incivility in political discourse so that our congress and executive branch agencies can return to working together for the good of all Americans. Of course, leading by example would be an excellent start.

Of course, there are many other areas in which “no” might need to be said—I’m sure I’ve missed a few.

But, as we approach November-- and unemployment remains at historic high levels, as the deficit continues to escalate, as federal government bloat continues, as entitlements expand regardless of our ability to pay for them, and as many in Washington continue to delude themselves into thinking that they can kick the can of accountability down the road for a few more years—responsible Americans , getting ready to vote for the next president of the United States, need to ask themselves one question: how good is this guy a saying “no” and sticking to it?

Lurita Doan

Lurita Alexis Doan is an African American conservative commentator who writes about issues affecting the federal government.

Lurita has been involved in the business community through participation in many trade associations, membership in business organizations including the Young Entrepreneurs' Organization (now Entrepreneurs' Organization) and Young Presidents' Organization, and involvement on charitable community activities.

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Austin Hill - Change, Change, Change - The Obama Transformation is Here

“We are five days away,” the future President famously said in October of 2008, “from fundamentally transforming the United States of America…”

So how does Barack Obama’s “fundamental transformation” look to you now?

If the world seems chaotic to you, you’re not alone. President Obama promised “change” during his first campaign for the presidency, and in less than one full term he’s delivered.

American foreign policy, historically devoted to protecting American interests and championing liberty, is now focused on “outreach” to people who want to destroy us. But the “transformation” has not just impacted America’s place in the world.

Your private world – your day-to-day environment and the cultural norms that order that environment – is changing as well (so is mine). And while it’s difficult to measure people’s changing attitudes, there is clear evidence that Americans are increasingly developing a negative attitude towards work, productivity, and success.

Depending on what poll you’re reading, roughly half of the American population agrees with President Obama’s assumption that “rich” Americans need to be taxed at a higher rate. Concerns about undermining people’s incentive to achieve just don’t matter to many of us – making “somebody else” pay makes a lot of us feel better.

There also seems to be a change in Americans’ attitudes towards working. And while there are far too many of us who are earnestly trying to find work and cannot, there nonetheless appears to be growing numbers of us for whom working is just not a priority.

The reality of Americans choosing to not work – or, at a minimum, choosing to work less – would seem to be a very intentional consequence of President Obama’s agenda. Indeed, it has long been the belief of the President’s science adviser John P. Holdren that the world would be a better place environmentally if “Americans worked, produced, and earned less.”

This may seem counter-intuitive, yet the numbers don’t lie. As the unemployment rate has recently dropped a bit, so also has the “labor force participation rate” – the statistic that represents the ratio between the labor force itself, and the overall population. Assuming that the Bureau of Labor Statistics is telling the truth, participation in the labor force has dropped to a 30 year low, as roughly 1.2 million Americans recently chose to exit the labor market.

It’s difficult to deny that the decline in the number of people who want to work correlates with the President’s agenda. At the very least, one has to admit that this change corresponds on the timeline with Mr. Obama’s presidency.

Yet within his first three years as our President, we’ve seen the amount of direct federal payments to individual households – both direct payments for specific usages, and for “unrestricted” usages – skyrocket by more than $600 billion. One might argue that these direct payments rose out of necessity because of the recession, although President Obama has slated for another $500 billion worth of annual increases in direct payments between now and 2016. If the trend continues, within the next four years direct payments will account for two-thirds of all annual federal government spending.

But wait, there’s more. A record forty-nine percent of all American homes have somebody living in them who is receiving some sort of federal benefit. And reliance on food stamps has expanded forty-five percent during the Obama presidency, thanks in no small part to the President’s insistence that the expansion of food stamp funding be included in his “economic stimulus bill.”

So has the expansion of “federal assistance” brought about “fundamental transformation?” President Obama insists that it creates a sense of “fairness” in our society. Yet it’s difficult to argue that it doesn’t create at least some incentive to cease being productive.

And then there’s President Obama’s signature “healthcare reform law.” Nearly two years ago the Congressional Budget Office warned that with all the robust entitlements that the law promises, it would most certainly impact the labor market.

Speaking at a little-noted event at the University of Southern California in October of 2010, C.B.O. Director Doug Elmendorf noted that, outside the healthcare sector of our economy, the greatest impact of the Obamacare agenda would be with people’s interest in working.

Furthermore, Mr. Elmendorf stated that, in some cases, Americans would simply choose to no longer work, because their needs for healthcare will be provided by the enhanced Medicaid funding entailed in the Obamacare law.

Proclivities to make somebody else pay, and a declining interest in working – indeed America is being transformed. Will voters choose more of it this November, or will we choose to get back to being Americans?

Austin Hill

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Austin Hill is an emerging American voice, addressing culture-defining questions through books, talk radio, web, speaking, and interviews. His recent books "White House Confidential" and his new title "The Virtues Of Capitalism" show his range from whit-infused writer to thought-provoking expert on the intersection of philosophy, religion, politics & culture. Hill helps to make the complex seem simple when exploring capitalism, socialism, and other "Isms".

He is an editorial contributor to national publications such as U.S. News & World Report, a columnist with TownHall.com, and is a popular expert-host on radio from leading stations in Washington DC, Chicago, Phoenix and Los Angeles, and nationally with networks such as Fox NewsTalk Radio.  He hosts the "Austin Hill Show" weekday mornings at Fresno, California's Talk Radio 105-9 KMJ-FM,  and weekday afternoons at Boise, Idaho's Newstalk 580 K I D O radio.

Hill holds a Bachelor's Degree in English Literature from California Polytechnic State University at San Luis Obispo, and a Master's Degree in Philosophy of Religion and Ethics from Biola University in California.

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Lurita Doan - The Consequences of Federal Regulatory Overreach

Over the past ten years, Democrats have held a singular belief that almost all problems in America could be solved with more regulations and more oversight. Team Obama came to power and a Democrat-led congress immediately pushed through reams of new regulations. Hidden within thousands of pages of legislation for stimulus, financial regulatory reform, home mortgage reform and various small business jobs’ acts, were government regulations that are now strangling American entrepreneurship, American exceptionalism and American independence.

This perfect storm of increased regulations and increased oversight has had a ruinous effect. For example, during the Bush Administration, Congressman Henry Waxman often pummeled the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), demanding more oversight and more regulatory reviews in an unrealistic quest to find perfect, risk-free medications.

When Barack Obama became president, Democrat acolytes took over the FDA and implemented the strategy of excessive regulatory control that Waxman had advocated. And what was the effect?

New pharmaceutical development, once an American competitive edge, has slowed to a crawl and the nation is in danger of losing its leadership in new drug development. In 1996, the FDA approved approximately 45 new drugs—and the world clamored to buy American pharmaceuticals. Now, despite larger budgets, increased manpower and more sophisticated technology, the FDA approves only 20 new drugs each year.

Our competitive edge is eroding. And, in America, the entrepreneurs that once created the world’s most innovative products have been stymied. Inventors and investors worry that no new medical product, regardless of its effectiveness, can navigate the bizarre and expensive FDA path to approval. Americans can thank Henry Waxman for developing the strategy and they can thank Team Obama for the implementation.

The evidence of excessive federal regulation is everywhere and certainly not limited to the FDA. The Economist just ran a cover story, “Tangled Up In Green Tape” lambasting excessive and confusing, EPA regulations in the United States.

In the oil and gas industry, innovation and entrepreneurs discovered new and better ways to tap oil and gas resources that were once trapped and unrecoverable. Fracking, and other new technologies, all developed by private companies, gave our nation a new ability to recover natural gas and oil and production has boomed. But apparently, the added domestic energy and the jobs that have been created are in jeopardy as the Obama Administration starts to marshal fringe and environmental extremists, to reduce, or shut down the new production.

As a recent Wall Street Journal report noted, drilling permits are harder, more expensive and take longer to obtain, if at all. The regulatory clamp is strangling gas and oil production, and Team Obama hopes to tighten it still. Perhaps worst of all, Congressman Waxman and Congressman Markey, who apparently believe that gas prices in America are too low, have recently called for new taxes on oil and gas production and a national tax on carbon.

It seems that, having crippled Americans’ edge in the development of pharmaceuticals, Mr. Waxman and Mr. Obama now have moved on to do the same to domestic oil and gas producers.

For small businesses, the regulatory burden has become a killer. The United States was once one of the easiest places in the world to start a new business, and our culture of entrepreneurial energy was the envy of the world.

No longer.

Throughout America, small companies are struggling under the new, job-killing burdens imposed by the Obama Administration., which seems oblivious to the damage it has caused. Across the nation, new, start-up companies and entrepreneurs with the next big idea are finding it increasingly difficult to attract the capital needed to fund their ventures. Furthermore, the uncertainty that prevails when legislation is proposed, passed, challenged, and then, ultimately sent to the courts for resolution is bad for business.

Even young kids, budding entrepreneurs, are learning that setting up a simple lemonade stand requires government approvals, oversight, and permits.

The explosion in new, regulatory changes that have been pushed through by the Obama Administration are killing job growth and innovation. Sadly, the full crippling effect of these many regulations has not yet been felt. Week by week and month by month, more regulations are enforced that will further constrict our productive abilities.

Democrats and Team Obama seem to believe that more government influence and increased government interference is a preferable situation. They seem to think that all issues are improved and all problems can be made better only by government’s heavy hand.

Some may argue that not all regulations are destructive to our economy, and they’d be correct. But, the Obama Administration’subiquitous level of federal government involvement in almost every aspect of the lives of American citizens seems anti-democratic and certainly anti-liberty. Government overregulation and overreach is killing our economy and destroying the entrepreneurship that built our nation.

Have we not had enough?

I would like to suggest our government impose an immediate moratorium on any new regulations, and consider the damage being done to this great nation. We need to be encourage our job creators and reignite our entrepreneurial spirit.

Maybe, too, it is time for Mr. Obama to resist the most strident demands of those pushing for even more burdensome regulations from the government, and, instead go out and visit (providing the White House can locate one) a kid’s lemonade stand.

Mr. Obama could learn a lot by talking to the kid running it.

Lurita Doan

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Lurita Alexis Doan is an African American conservative commentator who writes about issues affecting the federal government.

Lurita has been involved in the business community through participation in many trade associations, membership in business organizations including the Young Entrepreneurs' Organization (now Entrepreneurs' Organization) and Young Presidents' Organization, and involvement on charitable community activities.

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