The Chicago Tribune and the AP’s Martin Crutsinger note a survey result that executives think “turmoil in credit and housing markets will be the most significant threat to growth this year”and that “the next biggest threats to the economy now as the possibility the government will impose higher taxes or raise protectionist barriers to foreign competition.”
Since Crutsinger did not identify who would be raising taxes and trade barriers to cause a recession, Rush Limbaugh did the research for the incumbent media noting:
Read More of Who Promises Higher Taxes and Trade Barriers? off-site...What party is out there promising to raise taxes? Doesn't matter. Both Hillary and Obama are promising to raise taxes, and when you listen to Obama tell us why, it's not about raising revenue. The whole purpose of the tax code is to raise revenue, to fund government services, blah, blah, blah. We all know this. But not with Obama. To him, the tax code is to be used as punishment. It's to try to perfect everybody, make everybody equal, it's to punish people who, in Obama's view, have enough. And the same thing with Mrs. Clinton, who's out there saying she wants to take Big Oil's profits and pour them into research on alternative fuels.
So the way I would write this story, "After credit market tumult and troubles in the housing market, the executives listed the next biggest threats to the economy now as the possibility that Barack Obama or Hillary Clinton will be elected president," because they're the ones who are talking about imposing higher taxes and raising protectionist barriers to foreign competition, i.e., NAFTA, and not passing the Colombia free trade agreement.
Hat Tip to NewsBusters
CDOBs says:
Thanks for the confirmation that Sen. Obama is trying to recreate a 19th century model economy.
Trying to destroy Illinois exports is not much of an economic plan. I guess all those executives in the interview were wrong, because Sen. Obama (and Clinton, for that matter) say they must be.
Ardie says:
I guess you don't read history. Tariffs were effectively used in the U.S. for some 120 years to generate revenue to run the Federal Government (they went as high as 60%). The U.S and Germany (the Second Reich) became super-powers by being anti-free traders--using tariffs. Only with free trade policies, pushed by the Democrats, did the income tax of 1913 then become necessary. Obama just needs to impose tariffs on the goods that come into the U.S. which will then create jobs and industries here. With tariffs he could generate no less than 200 billion dollars a year. And getting rid of the bloated military could save another 300 billion. We could get rid of our National Debt easily. Do you people ever read history, btw? Try reading Paul Bairoch, one of the great economic historians, who said that free trade doesn't work.