Americans who want to put meaning to the words ???headed in the wrong direction??? need look no further than to the economy, and their place in it.
We???ve learned that our most important personal investment at the moment is not our retirement fund (wobbling) or our home (still soggy) or our savings account (a slight whiff of a return), but simply having a job. And that investment for many is not performing all that well these days.
What is becoming clear is that Washington policies are not helping us individually or collectively on any of those fronts. In fact, Washington policies are holding America back.
No one expected a quick, painless or ???soft landing??? recovery after the Great Recession of 2008???picture a Gross Domestic Product chart that looks like a Nike swoosh , not a V - but counterproductive actions such as those by the Environmental Protection Agency and lack of attention to issues such as China currency values are surely prolonging the malaise. More importantly, the direction is pushing America toward less freedom, less free enterprise, less individual liberty.
Those are the messages from our writers in this Special Focus: Economy & Budget edition of Human Events. We asked leading economist Peter Morici to address concerns about China; Carl???s Jr. CEO Andrew Puzder to analyze Mitt Romney???s economic plan; Attorney Karen Harned of the National Federation of Independent Business to explain the adverse impact of Obamacare on small business. Human Events senior reporter David Harsanyi, after interviews with economists, scholars and others, distills the ???Five Ways to Get America Working Again.???
And, as one-time presidential candidate Steven Forbes points out in his article, how America tackles its economic problems will have implications for struggling nations everywhere. Will our example to the world be one of free markets, innovation and entrepreneurship? Will we be like little Estonia, reducing government and encouraging business; or, more like Greece, raising taxes and expanding our debt?
The answer, to an unsettling degree, lies in Washington, and in the November election.
President Obama failed to address China???s economic warnings
by Peter Morici
Mitt Romney needs to tell voters that by developing domestic resources and taxing China's currency manipulation, the current U.S. trade deficit could easily be halved.
5 ways to get America working again
by David Harsanyi
Washington needs to stop crushing the economy and start helping the fragile recovery. Human Events offers five ways to put America back to work.
Supreme Court health care decision costly to small business
by Karen R. Harned
National Federation of Independent Business will continue its fight for small business to have real choice and competition through private-market solutions that do not trample on individual freedom.
America is at a crossroads for freedom, with worldwide implications
by Steve Forbes
???The blunt truth is if the U.S. gets it right, the rest of the world has a chance to get it right. If we get it wrong, the rest of the world is in trouble.???
Mitt Romney's approach would differ greatly from Obama's failed vision
by Andrew Puzder, CEO of Carl's Jr. and Hardee's restaurants
We asked Andrew Puzder, a surrogate for Mitt Romney, to write about what he considers the key tenets of the candidate???s economic plan, and he told us these factors will make a crucial difference in business health, new investment and job creation.
