Democrat and Republican government failures wouldn't be so bad, except that the politically enforced solutions always cost you and I more money. Consider what Democrats and Republicans have accomplished in the following areas.
EDUCATION:
In 1972, according to the
Cato Institute, 2,817 students scored above 750 on the Scholastic Aptitude Test math test. A perfect score is 800. By 1994, only 1,438 students scored above 750. This was despite a larger pool of students taking the test, 30 additional minutes to take it, use of calculators permitted, and many of the hardest questions having been removed in the mid 80's. The Carter administration created the Department of Education in 1979. Congress funded it with $14.5 billion taxpayer dollars. In 2002 a Republican congress budgeted $47.6 billion for DOE. Wouldn't it be wonderful if everyone could own or work in a BILLION dollar company that accrues more authority, more income, and has less responsibility for increasing rates of failure?
SOCIAL SECURITY:
Created in 1935 by the Roosevelt administration, this socialist mountebank was reformed and reinforced by the Reagan administration and multiple Congresses. Today's retirees are paid with contributions collected from today's workers. Surplus funds are used for general government expenditures. What's left in the so-called "trust fund lock box" is similar to the Dumb and Dumber movie brief case with hand written IOU's. If Social Security were sold on the open market it would be classified as a pyramid scheme and would be illegal in every state.
In 1950, there were 16 workers for every Social Security beneficiary. In 1996, there were 3.3.
According to a 1998 Boston University study, an 18 year old earning average income over their lifetime would contribute $723,591 in Social Security taxes. They would only receive $140,000 in benefits. Government has created a system that pits generation against generation, while rewarding disrespect and personal irresponsibility.
MEDICARE:
This socialist morass was created in 1965 by the Johnson administration. The Clinton and Bush administrations along with several bi-partisan Congresses expanded Medicare's reach and subsidy. In Medicare's first year, outgoing payments reached $1 billion. They ballooned to $8 billion by 1971. In 1974, in an effort to contain exploding expenditures, Congress created subsidized HMO's, limited hospital construction, and fixed the length of hospital stay for Medicare patients. Surely these God like powers and dictates would do the trick.
Seven payroll tax hikes later, criminal penalties for doctors and patients, mountains of paperwork for all, and annual budgets of $150 billion have only managed to sabotage what used to be the best health care industry in the world. Citing Bush's $400 billion prescription subsidy, the Medicare Board of Trustees said Medicare will be bankrupt by 2019.
MONETARY POLICY/FEDERAL RESERVE:
In 1770, just prior to the American Revolution, the purchasing power of $100 was equivalent to $2,151 in today's money. In 1900, it stood at $2,130 having bobbed up and down during the preceding 130 years. Each downturn tended to be related to war or state banking policies that allowed fractional reserves (banks print money in excess of what could be redeemed in gold or silver). Like every other business, some state banks were more responsible than others. After each downturn and banking failure, purchasing power tended to move back to its historical value.
All this changed when Congress authorized the Federal Reserve Bank (The Fed) in 1913. This paved the way for successive American administrations to move U.S. currency away from a direct connection to hard money goal and silver, as is required by the U.S. Constitution. This disconnect, allowed government to pursue a policy of
slow steady inflation. They create inflation by expanding the money supply and "selling" this new money to banks at a discount. The banks then loan this new money into the system. Each new dollar waters down the value of every other dollar already in the system. This affect becomes more pronounced the longer the new dollar is in the system.
Inflation means your money buys less every year. Deflation means your money buys more. When money is controlled by the free market and tied to a hard asset like gold, it has a natural tendency to become more valuable. This is due to competitive productivity gains that reduce the cost of most products. The natural result is slow steady deflation. This means we become wealthier without pay raises and our standard of living improves. Now you understand why households in the 1950's needed one income, whereas they now need two.
The Federal Reserve is a private entity that government allows to counterfeit money. The benefactors are government, which receives payment from the banks for the new money; and the banks, which benefit from use of the money before it gets watered down in the system. Cozy, isn't it
I suspect education, health, and personal finance rank high pretty high on most people's list. Unfortunately, the government goofs above are just the tip of the political iceberg. Both parties participated in the creation and perpetuation of these costly fiascos. There is no logical reason to continue supporting political parties that excel at failure, incompetence and theft. Pay no attention to what politicians say. The truth can be found in their actions; and their actions continue to be a disaster for you and me. Do not waste your votes on Democrats and Republicans. They have earned nothing but scorn.
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