Restore the free markets! (Get out the way Government)

What happened to the bailout programs that were supposed to put the economy back on solid footing? Even after trillions of dollars spent – the unemployment rate is still edging higher, consumer confidence is low, and the threat of a “repeat recession” still looms. Have we put too much faith in our government? Absolutely. The market can usually correct itself over time without any assistance from the government, but when the government intervenes – it can sometimes do more harm than good. And given that the market has been edging consistently downward lately…it is clearly evident that going deeper into debt and throwing more money (paper) at the problem isn’t helping. Therefore, raising the debt ceiling without counterbalancing efforts to dramatically reduce spending would be insane.

But where did all of this “big government” sentiment come from? How did we get to the point where we allow our government to expand in the most important sectors of the economy? Our government is in healthcare (Medicare, Medicaid, & possibly “Obamacare”), mortgages (Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac), education (student loans), retirement (social security), and now the private sector (GM, Chrysler, private banks, etc).

Our current path is unsustainable and not the intent our founding fathers had for this country. America has grossly become a two-tier economy…where a small percentage of the country retains a significant portion of the wealth created. While the majority percentage of the country fights tooth and nail to make enough money to sustain their living standards…and whatever we can’t afford to pay…we vote to have government pay for it. We want our homes more affordable, we want lower taxes, we want loans for education, and we want someone to pay our healthcare and retirement expenses.  But who will pay for this?  Where does the money come from?  We eventually pay through inflation, taxes, and debt.  America is on the verge of imploding.

But traditionally, America has always been a country of small government and our “let freedom ring” mantra helped to establish the premise that propelled this country’s greatness. At one time we built cars, roads, bridges, buildings, sewer systems, etc. and sold our products (refrigerators, shoes, cars, technology, etc.) to the rest of the world. In other words, people worked hard and depended on themselves, family, community, and their employer for their current and future needs. Historically, it was normal to work for only one or two employers for your entire life…and relying on their pension plan to cover your living expenses and medical care once you were no longer fit to work or retired.

As of late, however, the Feds have been manipulating the market and the economy by printing money and also keeping interest rates artificially low in an unsuccesful attempt in reviving the economy.  Unfortunately, they’re inadvertently causing unemployment to rise, forcing businesses to hoard cash, and causing inflation bubbles to increase in size. How difficult it is for us who only have a 401K plan for retirement to see our portfolio constantly go up and down! Nevertheless, severe austerity measures, like those seen in other parts of the world, will probably come here to roost as a result of our “too big to fail” government.

My words to our government:

Get out the way government and let the people (i.e., the free markets) restore the economy! We’ll lead and you’ll follow....not the other way around!

Here's an interesting article:  Interesting article...

http://seekingalpha.com/article/274310-david-tepper-tells-cnbc-qe3-will-come-only-if-the-stock-market-falls-substantially

BE FREE