Weighing in on the economy

THE ECONOMY: MY OPINION

my two cents

So yesterday was a big day for the United States of America as S&P downgraded our credit rating to AA+ from AAA. Consequently, the markets worldwide and the US dollar took a dive while Gold made new highs.

President Obama issued a statement which basically was more of the same mantra I've heard since he took office; that the government needs to tax the rich more and the government has to create more jobs by green-lighting construction jobs. Then some a handful of politicians started calling this the "Tea Party Recession" and began blaming the conservative movement for this so called double dip recession. The democrats then accused the republicans of having no plan to create jobs for America, unlike President Obama who had a plan.

Personally, as a young businessman who owns a handful of successful businesses, I would like to tell Obama and his colleagues that the government has no business in business.

"Mr. President, it is not the government's job to create jobs. President Obama, you don't create jobs by building roads by awarding select unions huge contracts, and hoping they will spend the money in the economy to stimulate it. Jobs are created by the private sector when they are needed by that same company to answer demand. I create jobs, McDonalds creates jobs, Walmart creates jobs, not the government. If the market was just left alone, and not goosed by the government or manipulated by the Federal Reserve, things would have been okay by now. Yes, people who borrowed too much for their homes would have been foreclosed on, and housing prices would have dropped, but that's needed. Businesses would have shut their doors, people would have lost their jobs, but new businesses would fill their shoes, and people would be hired again." - Me

I doubt he would read that...

But President Obama and his former democratic Congress, and the Federal reserve, insists on more stimulus, more bailouts, and more corporate welfare. Printing money has sent the dollar plunging, and because America doesn't manufacture anything anymore, the price of almost everything shot up! Gas shot up because the dollar plunged, not because gas companies got greedy. Gas is traded in U.S. dollars, and when the dollar plunged, it made it cheaper for other countries to buy gas.... and well, the price went up. Of course, Obama and the democrats will just blame George Bush for everything I just mentioned...and the rich.

To all those who still believe Obama is out for the little guy, let me ask you, "Which little guy did he help out?" I'm the little guy. You're the little guy. But I didn't get any of that stimulus money. Big corporations and big unions did. They got bailed out because they were too big to fail.... I thought in business, if a business makes a mistake, they should suffer the consequences by losing customers, sales, or shutting their doors. How about all the small businesses? Were they too small for him l to care?

Now I'm not sure what side of the fence you sit on when it comes to politics, but the truth is rather scary despite your political affiliation. Our nation faces a gigantic national debt at 14.5 trillion dollars, a debt of $46,000 per citizen. Or if we are just counting those who pay taxes, $130,000 per tax payer. Yes, most Americans don't pay taxes. Our nation is literally broke and we are paying off the interest on our bonds by printing more money. Whose fault is this? It's the politicians, both republican and democrats. They got us here by creating program after program and giving countries money that we don't have. Eventually, we will all have to pay higher taxes. Or...our tax code would have to be rewritten.

I realize most American's mosey on through life without caring what goes on in D.C., but in our day in age, they should, especially now.

How does this affect your wedding plans in Hawaii? Honestly...I don't know. But it's not good. I do know that everything is going to get a lot more expensive. Jewelry, rings, because the price of gold is through the roof, will be very expensive. So if you want a gold wedding band...get it...now. Traveling to Hawaii will be a lot more expensive. Qualifying for that home loan, we'll that's already tough.

There is a silver lining though throughout all of this. It's that we are all-in-all, our own little economy. While politicians can screw with our nation's prosperity, our personal prosperity still has very little to do with them. As long as we save, invest, and spend wisely, we'll all do okay. While these times do require a bit more of all three....if we do exactly opposite of politicians, we should come out through this rough spot unscathed.

Well, that's my two cents for today... I'm off to bed.

Steven Young

The Political Wedding Guy tonight