It’s the Politicians, Stupid: Governing Elites have Failed

Democracy and Power 106:  A politician receives no financial gain for good policy or punishment for bad policy.

It is hard to imagine a more stupid or more dangerous way of making decisions than by putting those decisions in the hands of people who pay no price for being wrong. – Thomas Sowell

It’s the Politicians Stupid:  Governing Elites have Failed

Spanish bank crisis, San Bernardino bankrupt, California’s $3 billion train, Greece tax increases, Spanish tax increases, Pittsburg-Scranton-Harrisburg bankrupt, Obama’s budget increases debt by $10 trillion, Senate Democrats have not produced a budget in three years, and many more government failures are all resulting from decisions made by governing elites.  Tragically, people today our suffering because of corrupt or incompetent decisions by past politicians.

Charles Kadlec correctly stated that governing elites are the greatest threat to the middle class – in America and abroad.  Kadlec reports the following in Forbes:

Their effort to refashion society by redistributing income and regulating markets is now hitting the reality of insufficient cash flow. Even worse, the governing elite’s self-love, sense of noble entitlement and arrogant belief that their good intentions trump bad results have led to a series of policy blunders that have destroyed jobs and businesses in the productive private sector, intensifying the government debt crises here and abroad.  

The financial and unemployment malaise of western governments – local, state and federal – are substantially caused by intentional political policies.  In democratically-elected governing systems, politicians please the voting public and push financial burdens onto future generations of workers.  This is universally true and must be stopped.  Not only is this immoral, but it threatens freedom and prosperity for millions of people and future generations.

Presently, democratically-elected governments do not have the money to cover their obligations.  Why?  Past political elites created debt and promised benefits – entitlement. The following are two examples in America:

  • Past politicians promised Social Security and Medicare and, at the same time, raided the tax revenues intended to fund those programs.  Worse, the elites never intended to have a fiscally-responsible system. Intentionally, the elites pushed these financial burdens on future workers.
  • Most state and local governments have granted lavish retirement and medical benefits to government employees.  Again, insufficient sums of money have been saved to honor these contracts.  

Social Security and Medicare are tragic examples of how unscrupulous politicians please real-time voters at the expense of the unborn. 

In1960’s and 70’s, President Johnson (D) and Nixon (R) manipulated (politely stated) Social Security and Medicare.  Johnson hid the cost of the Vietnam War, by including the then-surplus revenue of Social Security into a unified budget.  Nixon increased Social Security benefits by 20% and made sure every senior was informed just prior to the 1972 election.  Social Security was broke in less than 10 years.  Then, the Greenspan Commission had a fix for Social Security in the early 1980s, which never had the intent to make the system solvent.  Today, Social Security is broke.

Today’s workers are harmfully burdened by hundreds of politicians like Johnson and Nixon.    Presently, American workers are taxed at 15% for these two programs.  Where will the money come from to pay the promises to today’s workers?  Either taxes will be increased or benefits will be cut – or both.  Definitely, future politicians will attempt to raise taxes – and it won’t just be on the rich.

Illinois and California are two states, which use tax increases to pay their retirement obligations.  In a lame duck session after the 2010 election, Illinois raised income taxes by 66% to pay for government obligations.  Presently, California is seeking to raise income and state sales taxes.  Again, politicians will always seek more taxes.   

Government debt is a major – if not the biggest – contributor to the Great Recession which is wreaking havoc in the United States and Europe.  Right now, these governments are being forced to refinance their debts.  Thus, France, Spain, Greece, Italy, California and the United States are seeking more taxes.  These taxes will retard economic growth and further stagnate the economies of the United States and Europe.  Alas, the Great Recession continues.

It’s the politicians!  The arrogant and corrupt leaders in democratically-elected governments are the greatest threat to We the People.   Again, Kadlec reports:

As it turns out, the lesson of the first two decades of the 21st century may be that a governing elite with a righteous belief in their power will achieve neither a fair nor a just society. Instead, they have become the greatest threat to the economic security of the middle class and the liberty of the people they seek to rule.