Jim, have you had college economic? I have. Government investment is government control. Now they are controlling the auto industry telling them what kind of mileage to get. People don't want small cars. I don't. I like big cars and trucks. I like my comfort, safety, and ability to haul more stuff. I don't want government interference.
Government investment in what? Infrastructure. That is a given, and half the workers in my area are Hispanic. That doesn't help Americans get too many jobs.
Telling business and industry what to make and how much is socialism and eventually communism.
New schools. They aren't teaching what needs to be taught now. Their liberal twisted view of history. I raised 7 kids and I know, have last one in high school now.
Government gets their money from taxes, or prints worthless money to pay for it causing inflation.
Telling us to register our guns so they can eventually confiscate them like Germany, England, and Austrailia did, no way.
Now they are talking about the govenment taking over the banks. Why. Most banks are solvent, and not in trouble. Wells Fargo bank didn't even want government bailout money, but was forced to take it. They said they didn't make many bad loans.
This is my prediction. Obama's policies won't work. We are going to see 10% unemployment this year possibly as high as 15%. Dow down to about 6,000 or lower. Within 2-4 years, we are going to see high inflation to pay for all these bailouts. The economy will automatically begin to turn around in about 3-4 years just because cars will get older, and people will start to replace them. Home building will take years to recover.
Greed caused this problem. Greedy poor people who bought homes they couldn't afford. Greedy young people who charged more than they could pay for. Some greedy bankers who made bad loans, then asked for government bailout. Greedy CEO's who gave themselves big incomes instead of reinvesting the money in new tools and equipment to improve productivity. There is enough blame to go around.
We just need simple regulation from the government to only allow about 80% loans on homes requiring a 20% down payment. Limits on how much credit a person can have based on their income and ability to pay. I saw where one guy in California had several hundred credit cards that if maxed out would be over $2,000,000. He only made about $60,000 a year. Just because he didn't use the cards doesn't mean he should get them. Someone else might have gone crazy buying, then filed bankrupcy. That causes all of us to suffer with higher interest rates.
Sorry about my rants, but we have lawyers as politicians, not economists, or business owners. Most are liberal socialists who want us to be like Europe with very few inovations, 10% unemployment in most countries, socialised health care with no specialists, and long waiting lines to see a doctor. Don't get to choose your doctor either. If Clinton(D) and Phil Graham(R) hadn't deregulated the banks in the late 90's, this wouldn't have happened.