TANSTAAFL

Retail sales dropped “unexpectedly” in May. I have to ask: who doesn’t expect this economy to worsen? I would submit that anyone within reach of a microphone who is telling us that the economy is recovering does so without any conviction. At the risk of sounding like a broken record: nothing this administration, or this congress, has done will provide long-term recovery.

What I find amazing, at least in this article ("
Retail sales drop 1.2 percent in May"), is a statement like this: “The big drop raises new worries about the durability of the economic recovery.” There are no new worries, only the same old ones. There is no expectation of durability or recovery, at least not by anyone paying attention to the actions of Washington.

What do I mean by stating that this administration has done nothing to contribute to the long-term stability and/or growth of this economy? Prior to this president’s ascendancy, we heard the economy described as a depression, the worst since the 1930’s. Since he took office, he and his cohorts in Congress have written, passed and/or signed budget busting legislation related to healthcare, climate change and Wall Street “reform”. They propose to pay for all of these things through both borrowing and higher taxes. Borrowing creates future taxes and higher taxes stifle growth. What of these actions addresses the supposed depression upon which Mr. Obama ran his campaign?

Of course, they rarely use the words “higher” or “new” taxes, unless the words are accompanied by “on the wealthy”. While it may be a tired old mantra to many of us, it is the play on which much of their past success has been built. Make no mistake, however: a tax on anyone is a tax on everyone. Higher taxes on the oil companies translate into higher costs at the pump. Higher taxes on industry lead to higher costs of goods. Higher taxes on “the wealthy” lead to less investment by those people, leading to fewer jobs, leading to higher unemployment, leading to a higher tax burden on those who remain employed. Put simply, and by wiser people than I, there ain’t no such thing as a free lunch.