The U.S. government announced its largest ever budget deficit.  The U.S. government ended fiscal 2008 $454 billion in the red.  “Handout” Hank Paulson stated, “This year’s budget results reflect the ongoing housing correction and the manifestation of that in strained capital markets and slower growth.”

Thanks for nothing Hank.  We all know that tax revenue is going to be down as the economy slides into recession.  What Paulson forgot to mention was how the bailout costs are going to look on future budgets.  It’s not going to be pretty.

Then there was this article on Bloomberg today.

Oct. 15 (Bloomberg) – President George W. Bush said U.S. taxpayers will get back “most” of the federal money spent in an effort to calm financial markets and he’s optimistic that the economy will recover.

Not that any of us at B&B actually believed it, but wasn’t it just last week that the Fed heads and sociopaths in Washington were telling us this would be a profitable move for taxpayers?  How quickly things change.

Depending on how you look at it, you could be in for a rare treat today.  I have yet to really mention anything surrounding the coming election on Nov. 4.  I try to avoid both writing about politics and political discussions as a whole.  The main reason being the gag reflex that shoots up in the back of my throat.  But before you click the little ‘x’ in the upper right corner of your internet browser window, allow me to explain.

I am going to break this down in a way you’ve probably never heard before.  It will probably upset some of you, and if it does, I would love to hear your comments via email.   Anyways…

I feel that in all fairness, I need to inform you a little bit of where my political stance lies.  I’m a conservative.  Let me rephrase, I’m an economic conservative.  Please don’t confuse that statement.  I am NOT a republican and couldn’t relate less with today’s neo-cons.

I vote on economic issues and economic issues alone.  According to polls, the overwhelming majority of Americans say that the economy is the number one issue they will be voting on come Nov. 4.   So according to statistical probability, the majority of my readers will have the economy in mind when they enter their particular voting booths.

Candidates Debunked

Without further ado, let’s get right into the three musketeers: Bush, Obama, and McCain.  I guess the myth that I really want to debunk is the notion that Obama is the candidate for change and McCain is a conservative Republican.  This is simply not true.

What change is he talking about?  Are we going to enter a period of fiscal responsibility, ending deficit spending and actually running a balanced budget?  Is Obama going to implement policy that ends monetary looseness and limits the Federal Reserve’s ability to inflate our currency?  Will he promote an economy based on manufacturing and exports over a service based economy?  The answer to all of these questions is no.

Also, neither of the political parties is innocent when it comes to the expansion, encouragement, and deregulation of derivatives markets and other exotic lending practices.  I hate to say it, but the Democrats supported these practices more adamantly than the Republicans did.  You see, liberal economic policy encourages consumers to live beyond their means.  In doing so, the short comings can be made up with their neighbors checkbook.  Plain and simple, that’s liberal (Keynesian) economic policy.

For all of you Bush supporters who do so to simply call yourself a Republican, I’m sorry to say that Bush is BY FAR THE MOST ECONOMICALLY LIBERAL PRESIDENT WE HAVE EVER HAD.  Conservatives from decades long gone are probably rolling over in their graves knowing that Bush claims to be in the same group.

McCain is the same story.  You see, whether it’s McCain, Bush, or Obama, the differences are really non-existent.  Americans have taken deficit spending and monetary inflation to be a NORMAL PRACTICE.  Are you kidding me?  With each politicians, it’s not a matter of if they will spend, it is instead a matter of where they will spend.   Here me when I say, we will soon see the affects of years of deficit spending come to roost. 

We live in a time where Americans want something for nothing.  That is why we have earmarks and pork barrel spending.  That is why special interests drive American politics.

Please remember when election day rolls around, McCain, like Bush, is not a conservative Republican, and Obama’s notion of “change” exists only in fairy land.

Nicholas Jones
Analyst, Oxbury Research