The Deficit And The Workers.

       Ahh, it's a new year. Happy New Year. Here's a thought, let's resolve to accept actual facts that are proven beyond any doubt. No I don't mean global warming or even evolution. They're theories and I'm talking about the real verifiable facts. So if you're one of those folks who think Adam and Eve kept a herd of dairy dinosaurs or that we're just experiencing natural heating and cooling, so be it. But what about something that is actual, visible, true, verifiable, proven and cross my heart hope to die, the real thing?
       Well then, the U.S. deficit is shrinking, both in dollar amount, from over $1 trillion to $680 billion, and counting, a total decrease of $409 billion. As a percentage of the GDP , it's less than half, down from 9.2% of GDP in 2009 to 4.1% now. These numbers aren't theories, they're actual facts. Now, I'm not going to argue whether having a deficit is a good thing or bad thing, but during a period of high unemployment having a quickly shrinking deficit is definitely not a good thing.
       Why do I bring this up? Because a lot of folks are laboring under the misconception that the deficit is growing not shrinking. When you come to an incorrect conclusion, you're likely to make some costly mistakes. So our country would be far better served if everyone, and especially all those in Washington, were on the same page, and preferably the right page. Don't you agree?
       And I'm not even going to argue who should get the credit for this shrinking of the deficit. It's a good thing, let's just accept that and move on. I do think that everybody agrees that high unemployment is not good for the country and concentrate on fixing that. The only folks who might be happy with high unemployment would be a selfish corporate executive who likes the fact that too many people out of work drives down wages for workers.
       So what if we started doing things that would encourage job growth. Now we could give business and industry more tax cuts, but that won't stop them from sending more jobs overseas or using more robotics to replace workers. But how about an excessive profits tax? How about spending some money on roads and infrastructure improvements? Corporate interests have been well groomed, it's time to groom workers.