“Don’t Sell Me Short”, by Andy Mitchell
Apparently, the United States is in the beginnings of a recession. At least, that’s what we’re told. Every viable news source (yes, even FOX news) has had the “recession” in their top headlines. I’ll be the first one to admit that something as convoluted as the economy is sometimes very difficult to understand. So, when the world’s greatest economy (at least I think it still is; I know the Euro is worth more than the dollar as of this writing) starts to decline, we panic. But what really causes the economy to crash, or at the very least descend? It all, apparently, starts with the stock market. This, tied very closely to consumer spending and demand, controls the price of goods and services and keeps everyone happy. When the nightly news reports that the DOW is down, or that the NASDAQ has went up, I have no idea what they are talking about. And, unless you have stock in these ambiguous entities, or you are very well educated in economics, I doubt you understand either. Or, maybe you do. Maybe I’m the only one in the dark. Whenever these ups or downs are announced, I usually get a snack or turn the channel. This isn’t a sign of apathy; to the contrary, it merely shows my greater concentration upon the other aspects of the news and frees up my time for other thoughts and ideas. We are spending too much; Billions for war (not healthcare). Within the past years, we have spent (no, sank) so much money on the “War on Terror.” Although I can’t think of a better way to spend that money right off the top of my head, (healthcare, education, infrastructure, jobs for millions of Americans-not people living in other countries) it matters little in this argument. President Bush has been pushing a tax break for the American people. This break would give Americans money back and help businesses. As far as I see it, we have spent too much money already. During a time when the United States is more in debt than ever before, you do not give away money. It is funny to me that the government cares very little about people until the economy is in shambles. Homeless; you’ll be alright. Need healthcare; buy it yourself. Can’t afford food for tonight; get a job. The economy is in trouble; give everybody money! I understand that their economy is also our economy, but the people pushing for the tax break may be the very ones that stand to lose the most on Wall Street. The idea is that the American people will spend their tax break. Don’t get me wrong; I’d love to have an extra $800. Who wouldn’t? But, at what cost will the tax break come? Trickle-down theory does not work. The wealthy Americans will not spend their money. That’s how they got to be wealthy in the first place. It will go directly into the bank and never see the light of day. It may give somebody a few dollars more of interest each year. The only thing a tax break will do is take the millions of American minds off of the fact that the United States is in a recession for about two or three months. We’ll spend our money. We’ll take a vacation. We’ll buy HDTVs. We’ll get something that normally we wouldn’t get because of our financial situations. After it’s all said and done, we’ll be in debt more so than before. But, of course, some of us will have really nice televisions. And a nice television makes all the difference in the world. -Cheers
