On February 2, 2013, David Eldridge writes in The Washington Times:
The president, speaking in his weekly radio and Internet address, defended the overall economy and warned that too much focus on cutting government spending would backfire.
“We all agree that it’s critical to cut unnecessary spending. But we can’t just cut our way to prosperity,” he said. “It hasn’t worked in the past, and it won’t work today. It could slow down our recovery. It could weaken our economy. And it could cost us jobs — now, and in the future.
“What we need instead is a balanced approach; an approach that says let’s cut what we can’t afford but let’s make the investments we can’t afford to live without. Investments in education and infrastructure, research and development — the things that will help America compete for the best jobs and new industries.”
The president’s remarks come in the wake of Wednesday’s news that the American economy shrunk by .1 percent in the last quarter of 2012 – a contraction that Democrats increasingly are blaming on the Republican Party’s “austerity politics.”
Republicans have focused on reining in government spending since retaking the House in 2010, arguing that government bailouts, stimulus projects and higher taxes are strangling the economy.
Democrats contend the economy would have been even worse without the government spending, and they want to keep priming the pump.
What ever the growth prospects the CRITICAL stipulation needs to be that the ownership of corporate America needs to significantly broaden to provide EVERY American the opportunity to acquire ownership in FUTURE productive capital income-producing assets. This can be accomplished by applying the logic of corporate finance, which uses self-financing asset-backed credit for productive uses to grow the economy. People invest in capital ownership on the basis that the investment will pay for itself. This is were the government can play a significant role in providing to EVERY American the financial mechanisms to facilitate loans specifically for productive capital investment without the requirement of “past” savings.
We need aggressive economic growth while simultaneously broadening private, individual ownership of FUTURE productive capital formation, enabling EVERY American to acquire via self-payment loans a viable income-producing capital estate over time.
Democrats and Republicans need to represent the well-being of ALL Americans with a priority on strengthening the economy and significantly generating income for ALL Americans.
There is a solution, which will result in double-digit economic growth and simultaneously broaden private, individual ownership so that EVERY American’s income significantly grows, providing the means to support themselves and their families with an affluent lifestyle. The Just Third Way Master Plan for America’s future is published at http://foreconomicjustice.org/?p=5797.
