Elections 2010: Sorting Out Political Fact From Fiction
Despite rumor to the contrary, politicians sometimes tell the truth. But that doesn't make it easy to filter through conflicting charges from candidates from the two leading parties. Here's a brief guide to sorting out a couple of the major competing claims.
Generally speaking, both sides claim to have great respect for entrepreneurs, but express that in different ways. Many liberals would let tax cuts for high-income earners expire. Conservatives say that would hurt small business owners -- but conservatives usually also oppose any spending measures that might help stimulate the small-business economy. On healthcare, the lines are clear: Liberals support the recently enacted national healthcare plan, while conservatives would repeal all or parts of it.
Now let's look specifically at some of the main charges.
Republicans: Democrats are irresponsible spenders!
Democrats: Republicans are irresponsible spenders!
The Debunker's take: The Republican-sponsored expansion of Medicare prescription drug coverage in 2003 will add more to the national deficit than the economic recovery program of the last couple of years -- plus the healthcare law, plus the bailouts. Republicans are, if anything, less fiscally responsible than Democrats because they attempt to maintain the fiction that it is not necessary to raise taxes and, in fact, is possible to cut taxes further than Democrat-controlled Washington has done since Obama's inauguration. You heard right: Federal taxes are lower now than when Obama took office.
Now let's examine what the Democrats and liberals are saying about the conservatives.
Democrats: Republican policies are responsible for the recession.
Republicans: Democratic policies haven't brought out enough recovery, soon enough.
The Debunker's take: The economy is in far better shape today than when the Republicans lost control two years ago. Taxes are lower, unemployment is lower, the Dow Jones is higher. Things could be better, but the Great Recession is over. Talk is cheap. Results speak louder than words.
Chances are excellent that, especially for this latest recession, government policies had less to do with what happened than the effects of the business cycle. If so, all the rhetoric about who is to blame for the economy is a monumental waste. Then again, if your candidate is the one who is swept into power or secured in place, it's all been well worth while.
Mark Henricks has reported on business, technology and other topics for The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Entrepreneur, and other leading publications. Follow him on Twitter @bizmyths.
Image courtesy of Flickr user Rob Boudon, CC2.0