This just in from the geniuses at MSNBC.

Since Obama signed the stimulus into law, the economy has lost more than 2 million jobs and the unemployment rate has climbed higher than the White House predicted it would have ever reached without the stimulus.

Some companies say stimulus money helped avoid layoffs. Independent government auditors found that stimulus aid to states helped keep teachers off unemployment lines. But overall job numbers continue to suffer.

——————-

Well, duh! If you have a magic printing press to make money, a magic international credit card to borrow money, or can take money from the working masses by force, you can do all sorts of things for teachers (and other government workers).*

I offer this humble insight. Whenever government acts, it must proportionately suppress in another area. This is a very real phenomenon for Blue Table Painting. Every month I get a little slip from my accountants. It has a dollar amount on it. The dollar amount is equal to about 15-20% of the total payroll. Half of it represents “with-holding”, the tax levied on the labor of the worker. This effectively means that for every ten working years, they must spend one of those laboring for the Federal Government. The other half represents the “employer contribution” which is the matching portion that the company pays.

The “employer contribution” is a business expense that indirectly holds down wages, in my estimation. If that money were freed up, I believe that the free market would see most if not all of that money into the pockets of the workers. If you do not believe this, then you need to explain why every job in existence doesn’t pay minimum wage (the free market is what lets you earn $15.00 an hour when the law says only $7.25).

So, I go in every month to the bank (shudder) to turn over the fruits of our labors. One army in every six we paint goes to the government. And not the government that provides police, roads, firemen (that’s local government, or paid by gas taxes). If I did not pay that money I could hire one or more new workers. But those sweet BTP jobs in the private sector never materialize because the money is funneled elsewhere. We have to make do with a smaller studio, buy less materials, and spend less on advertising. Less jobs for all the people that provide those things.

The tax accountants (who are in the floor above us, and now next to us) took over two-thirds of our studio space even though they produce no good nor service that anyone would want were the sixteenth amendment (income tax) to be repealed. They grew and I shrunk. How can that be? Plus I have to pay them for the privilege. I pay for my own tax collector’s wage.

The Federal Government has told my workers that the with-holding money is safely put in a trust for them in the case of disability or old age. Do you believe it? Take a look at your last Social Security statement. It says, effectively, the program is going to be broke before they get benefit from it.

The generation before me stood idly by while the Social Security program (remember that little slip that I take to the bank with a bag of money every month?) was added to the general fund. The Feds then blew the money on other things.

What can you do about it? Use your power of communication to spread sound principles to other humans. And vote independent. And vote for candidates that will shift power of any kind to a more local level. The real problem in my estimation is a lack of education on the part of the common man. I count myself guilty here. For twenty years I waved my little flag and exulted in a feeling of “patriotism” instead of asking questions.

So, there you have it. Everytime you see a bridge built by the government, there is another project (which may have actually been demanded and needed by private citizens) that was destroyed/aborted/obliviated by taxation.

.

PS- This is only one side of an argument. I welcome differing views. Look here for more comments.

.

*I also might point out that teacher’s wages are funneled into unions (by force, again) that in turn are generally supportive of Democrat party candidates.