Our Failed Economic Recovery: Time for a 'Change'?

America's fragile economic recovery is faltering, according to every indicator that matters. Does that surprise you? Really. It's not as if you had no warning. Over 16 months ago, those who read "Will the Trillion Dollar Stimulus Bill Help You or Your Business?" learned that the answer was an emphatic no, as in, "-- this crazy trillion dollar "stimulus" bill will apparently do everything but stimulate the economy."

What more of a clue could you have asked for? Well, there was plenty more where that came from:

America is in trouble. This bill needs to stimulate the economy and add jobs ASAP and with minimal spending. Read my lips: ASAP and with minimal spending.

This bill is nothing but political "business as usual" on an unimaginably large scale at the worst possible time. It will not, in its present form, help you or your business.

And now, 16 months later, everyone's surprised it didn't work. It certainly isn't a pretty picture:

• First-time unemployment benefits are on the rise again; the four-week average for claims is back to March levels. And last week's jobs report showed virtually no job creation in the private sector.
• Home purchases dropped 30 percent in May after a federal incentive program expired. Construction spending also declined.
• In June, consumer confidence plummeted 16 percent to its lowest level since March.
• Our federal budget, budget deficit, and total national debt are all at record levels.
• At the end of last week, the S&P 500 was down almost 15 percent since May 1st.

Now, I'm not going to sit here and say that all stimulus is bad. It isn't. And I'm not saying the Obama administration started all this crazy spending. It didn't. But after TARP, the AIG bailout, the Recovery and Reinvestment Act, the Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac bailout, and the 2010 Omnibus Spending Bill, we're trillions in the hole with little to show for it.

Maybe some of that was necessary to prevent a depression, who knows? That aside, it's certainly done little to add real private sector jobs, help folks make their mortgage payments, or create a sustained economic recovery.

So what is the answer? Not only is the answer simple, but it's a word that Barack Obama and congress know all-too-well. Change. That's right, change, as in change in policy. You know, as in things aren't working, so let's not keep doing the same thing over and over; let's do something different.

And since the specifics are not so simple, here are three guiding points so the Obama administration and congress get it right this time:

1. There's good stimulus and there's bad stimulus. The only stimulus I want to see from here on creates real, private sector jobs and does it efficiently. You know, like adding intelligence to our highway system in and around major metropolitan areas like they have in Tokyo. That sort of stimulus.
2. Make the Bush tax cuts permanent and create additional tax cuts for small businesses that hire and buy stuff. And get this, no tax increases on the wealthy and big businesses to pay for health care, banking reform, cap and trade, or anything else. After all, they're the ones who won't spend, invest, or hire because they're nervous about what may be coming. If we don't put those fears to rest, there will be no sustained recovery. Period.
3. No more bailouts, but incentivize banks to lend to small businesses and renegotiate mortgages to those who qualify; let those who don't default. The same goes for banks with rotten balance sheets. Speaking of which, Fannie and Freddie are the biggest bailouts of all; why am I not surprised that Barney Frank and Chris Dodd somehow left them out of the banking reform bill?

Learn more about Staythecourseitis at: When 'Stay the Course' is a Recipe for Disaster
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