And missed several others.
First of all, it used to be common knowledge that it's asking for disaster for govt to raise taxes in a slow economy. Obama admitted this in 2009, and has implicitly admitted it again by agreeing to once again to continue lower tax rates. While we're at it, we ought to call this tax policy what it is - current income tax rates. They've been in place for almost 12 years, and have lowered the income tax rates for almost ALL Americans since they were inacted. Calling them the "Bush tax cuts" makes them sound temporary; besides, most of the public doesn't have a clue what they are or what they accomplished when enacted into law. I'll bet the average man/woman on the street will say that this tax legislation was only cuts for "the rich", and nothing could be farther from the truth. What needs to happen is for Obama and Congress to make the current tax policy permanent and stop talking about raising taxes on anyone; the "rich" already pay more than their "fair share". This would relieve a lot of the uncertainty that's holding back the private sector.
Secondly, how about considering the concept of forcing govt to get by with LESS of our money? Every time these irresponsible politicians get their financial a$$ in the proverbial sling we're supposed to give them more of our money to bail out their wasteful spending habits. Of course this starts at the local level with people holding their own elected representatives accountable, and most people don't even know who they are, much less how they vote on spending bills.
In reality about all we can hope for is that the American public will get politically involved at the basic level of politics - the presidential election this fall. They can vote for more of the same (Obama and the Dems) or vote for a move in a more conservative direction (Romney and the GOP). We can't expect to get back to fiscally responsible governance in one election year, but some real progress was made in 2010 and we can continue that momentum in Nov by voting against these liberals that would have this country become a larger version of Greece or Spain.
