From Bad Policy to Worse

It seems that we are going from one administration that fumbled and bumbled its way through what was called an economic stimulus to a new one that is using the economic crisis as a springboard toward an increasingly socialistic agenda.

Sadly neither the Bush nor Obama teams seem have their eyes on the entrepreneurial engine that has been sustaining us for the past two decades.  Their words of help for struggling Main Street seem to just that -- words.

From Pajamas Media:

The ability to start a small business and grow it into a much larger enterprise is the greatest wealth creation opportunity in America. Studies have shown that 2/3 of all millionaires are small business owners.  Entrepreneurs and their children and grandchildren make up almost the entire Forbes 400 list of richest Americans.

If small businesses are the economic engine that creates jobs, builds wealth, and makes the American dream possible, then naturally our new president plans to support and rely upon them and give them everything they need to pull us out of the economic slump, right?  Well, no.

Small businesses are facing the most hostile climate in a generation, and it is not just the slumping economy and credit crunch.  With the quiet scrapping of the $3,000 job creation tax credit -- which was "never set in stone" according to a senior Obama adviser -  there is no more small business tax relief on the horizon.

And what about that tax cut stimulus that seemed to offer us some hope?  From James Pethokoukis of US News:

But when Republicans meekly suggested cutting the lower two marginal income tax rates, they got a presidential reply of "suck eggs." (Well, more or less.) Heck, economic adviser Larry Summers seemed positively eager on Meet the Press yesterday to eliminate the 2001 and 2003 Bush tax cuts (for everyone it seemed) as soon as the economy shows even the faintest pulse: "I don't think there's any question they have to be repealed. The country can't afford them for the long run. ... As soon as the economy recovers we are going to have to find ways of getting the government's finances under some kind of control."

I am beginning to think all those economists predicting a turnaround beginning the second half of 2009 may be whistling past the grave yard.