No, Joe - Say It Ain't So!

I watched an interview with Sen. Joe Biden on Public TV this evening. I like Sen. Biden because he is like a pair of old shoes and a flannel shirt - he is just a comfortable guy. He'll talk with you like he is an old friend, even if you have never met.

I was confused by his plan for the economy, however. He would like to do away with tax cuts for the ultra-wealthy, stating that it would put a trillion dollars into the economy. I was kind of thinking that if the government collected an additional trillion dollars, then the government would have an additional trillion dollars, not the economy. I believe in the premise that our economy is driven by the consumer, not the government. Taking a trillion dollars away from the consumer, ultra-wealthy or otherwise, would seem to work against the economy, not in its favor. Just a thought.

Oh, I understand that the government could use a trillion dollars to create government jobs, which in turn could impact the economy. I also understand that it could go to the Department of Education to provide scholarships and grants to pay for educating deserving young men and women. The problem with that, however, seems to be that those jobs and those educations never seem to improve the operation of the government itself. If those jobs were of a professional management nature and those education dollars were paid back by government service, then we could truly benefit. Let's face it folks - bright young men and women do not go get their MBAs to go into the government to manage. They go forth into business to make big money and become the ultra-wealthy.

So . . . if that is the predictable outcome, why not leave the trillion dollars with the ultra-wealthy in the first place and let them buy expensive homes, vehicles, toys, travel, etc. that create jobs for thousands of people and stop trying to believe the government can invest the money in a better way. Sometimes you have to leave well enough alone, even if it provides one less discussion point for the next cocktail party.