You might call this a case of “blaming the victim.” A recent headline on an Associated Press article read, “Wary consumers endanger recovery.” The story said consumers’ doubts about the supposed “recovery” are “threatening to drag down the economy.”
The gist of the article was that heavy spending by consumers could spur economic growth, but that shoppers just aren’t cooperating with that plan.
Unfortunately, the unsound economic policies and reckless spending put into effect by the Obama administration and congressional Democrats have a great deal to do with why consumers are not rushing to the retail stores and the car lots and the real estate market.
The American people just don’t know what Washington policy is coming next that may leave them less disposable income or even destroy their jobs. So, many are sitting tight on what money they do have and declining to do very much spending beyond what is necessary.
Taxes are one of the big unknowns.
The Obama administration has declared over and over that it will not raise taxes on anybody except “the rich.” Yet Democrat lawmakers are already hinting that they will raise additional taxes on far more than just “the rich.”
One of the most powerful Democrats in Congress, House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer of Maryland, admitted it will be “difficult” for the president to keep his pledge not to raise taxes on families earning less than $250,000 a year.
Rep. Hoyer said an extension of middle-class tax cuts should be only temporary and that it’s time for a “serious discussion” about the future of that tax relief, The Washington Post reported.
No wonder consumers are nervous!
They have no way of knowing whether they will soon be hit with higher taxes, or whether tax increases on their employers – the frequently criticized “rich” – will lead to additional layoffs at a time when unemployment is already about 10 percent.
If consumers – and businesses – lack confidence in the economic path our nation is following, they can hardly be blamed.
If Washington would like them to regain confidence in the U.S. economy, it should stop spending money we don’t have – and it should most definitely stop its irresponsible talk about economy-crushing tax increases.