Just so everyone understands where the starting point for any economic discussion begins and ends, tax rates have little to do with taxes paid. They only have a bearing on the taxes that the electorate realizes that they pay. The real taxation of the country is in direct correlation to what the government spends, period, dot, end of story. We all remember that Barack Obama famously stated as a candidate in 2008, "Let me be clear, for 95% of American Families, you will not see one penny of increase in any of the taxes you pay." He then promptly levied a record burden on all of us, and then claimed that the evil rich sneakily shifted that burden somehow onto the down trodden.

Governing by dictatorial decree does not work. It works even less in a free society than it does for the dictatorial societies. Just ask Louie the XVI or Idi Amin Dada how it worked for their nations. One of the problems with our elite class of politicians who have decided to rule over us by executive fiat is that they have not a single clue as to what the heck they are doing. I don't really mind that arrogant imbecile who will tell me relentlessly how much smarter than me he is. I only mind him when he has the authority to inflict his arrogant stupidity upon me in the form of economy killing decrees, which he may honestly believe will be to my benefit. One of the genius statements invariably made after each of these periods when the Democrat's policies lead to unnecessary economic hardship is this, "don't judge us by our results, our hearts were in the right place."

Last night on MSNBC, Chris, "Tingles," Matthews whined that many American businesses were hoarding cash, and not performing their purpose, which in his mind is solely to hire more workers, and that this is purposeful so as to have the economy tank in concert with the 2012 Presidential Election. Where does one start with this idiotic conspiracy theory? How about here, yes, American businesses are reluctant to invest their cash. It is in the reason that I disagree with Tingles. If it were your cash, would you put it at risk right now? Businesses, just like you, had to work for that capital. With the environment that exists for those people today, I don't blame them. They do not know what their tax burden will be in 6 months, let alone in a few years. What they do know is that the President of the United States is traveling the globe telling anyone who will listen that business people are evil turds who stole their wealth off of the backs of the people whom they employ. They also know that if their businesses somehow succeed, despite the weight of the current bonanza of overbearing regulation, the government plans on taking every penny past a certain level of approved profit.

Next point, someone may wish to tell Tingles and the Zero that a business' function is not to hire people. A business is there to make a living for its owners. Hiring people is a function of that end. Businesses make a profit by providing a needed or wanted product or service for the community as a whole, and many times employment of others is a consequence of that, but the business community owes nothing to the community beyond providing those goods or services for which it would be paid. Having Barack Obama and Chris Matthews announce yet again that Barack Obama decreed in January of 2009 that all businesses should begin hiring will still not cause that to happen.

What would create jobs would be to provide an environment where businesses could operate without the government placing itself in the way of success. some regulations are necessary, in order to provide a level playing field as far a preventing fraud and promoting transparency. When the government tells farmers that milk spills present the same dangers to a community as purposefully poisoning a water way, or that Americans are too stupid to buy the light bulbs that are better for them, that is waaaaaaaaaaay too far.

If you owned a business and it were your money at stake, what would you do? Our country does not need 4 more years of a man who has never successfully run so much as a lemon aid stand to tell us what will get economic activity going again. We need a man who actually has some semblance of an understanding of economic reality. Mitt Romney is not enough of a free marketeer for my taste, but he is one hell of an improvement over the Clown currently in charge.

Cross Posted at Musings of a Mad Conservative.