Hillary's growth plan displays stunning ignorance of economic reality
The problem with Hillary Clinton's economic thinking is that there is a level of self-awareness that is simply missing. That's what I think when I read about Hillary Clinton's grand plan for the economy on her website. She proudly writes about her plan to make our economy grow in big bold fonts, but anyone with even the most casual understanding of economics would be embarrassed to write what she did. It demonstrates a clear inability to relate to and understand the laws of economics.
Hillary describes her plan as raising income for "everyday Americans." I am not quite sure what an "everyday American" is; are there people who are only Americans on some days, like illegal aliens who vote on election day?
In any event, Hillary says that to help the middle class, we need to legalize all the illegal aliens (she calls it "immigration reform," but we know what she is talking about). Illegals take jobs from Americans and tax dollars from taxpayers for educational and medical services. That doesn't help growth; it hinders it.
The same goes for her call to increase the minimum wage. When you increase the cost of anything, people use less of it. Fewer people will be hired. It is Economics 101, but Hillary is more like a fifth-grader reading an assignment in fifth-grade social studies show-and-tell.
Hillary also wants to make America the "clean energy superpower," which means impoverishing everyone with higher energy bills as inexpensive coal plants are demolished to make way for cutting-edge Don Quixote technology.
She also wants to fight "wage theft." Is she referring to withholding taxes? I don't think so. She also wants to expand overtime. How is she going to do that? Will she pass legislation requiring employers to pay overtime even when it isn't? Will 30 hours be the new work week? That will certainly kill jobs as each worker becomes more expensive.
Mrs. Clinton also calls for increasing private and public investment. How can you do both simultaneously? The borrowing needed for public spending crowds out private investment. And the only way to increase private investment is to cut capital gains taxes, something I am sure is not on her agenda.
Hillary wants to reform the tax code so the wealthiest pay their "fair share." The wealthiest already pay up to 50% of their income in federal and state taxes, but they receive little or nothing in return, while those who pay nothing get money from others. How is that a fair share for anyone? As for the "wealthy," these people own businesses or invest in companies. If you take away more of their money, who will create new businesses?
Mrs. Clinton also wants to "impose accountability" on Wall Street, whatever that means. Does Wall Street take away people's money through taxation without their consent? Does Wall Street dictate a minimum wage or thousands of other regulations businesses must conform to? Does Wall Street prevent companies from expanding because of a ditch filled with water on their property or a snail swimming in a stream? No, it is the government that does that.
Hillary concludes by saying that strong growth plus fair growth plus long-term growth equals rising income. I don't know what "fair" growth means, but in general, growth does equal rising income. The problem is that the only kind of growth that Hillary's plan will lead us to is negative growth, a contraction of our economy.
Mrs. Clinton flaunts her ignorance of basic economics on her own website, confident that no Republican will call her on it. With most of them, she is probably right. Her tone is so righteous, so self-congratulatory, that it is like the brainwashed rictus of a kamikaze pilot as he crashes his plane into the ship of state, supremely confident that he is building a better world.
This article was produced by NewsMachete.com, the conservative news site.