(EW) Government does not produce wealth, says Common Sense

As the American economy spirals out of control, most American politicians are still caught up in a major economic fallacy: that government, through 'stimulus' spending, can create wealth. President Obama, talking of the stimulus bill, stated "So then you get the argument, well, this is not a stimulus bill, this is a spending bill. What do you think a stimulus is? That's the whole point. No, seriously.That's the point[to spend]." This statement makes it very evident that President Obama believes that the government can create wealth by spending more money. To the contrary, it creates debt.

Let's ignore the deficit for a moment. Let's put aside the fact that government revenue is overwhelmingly applied to pay off the interest on the national debt, allowing it to remain just solvent enough to borrow the bulk of its expenditure. Let's pretend that the entire stimulus was paid for in full by government revenue(your money). Much of the stimulus money was intended for the government to spend to "stimulate" consumer spending, thereby creating jobs. However, what is this really doing? It is taking away money from the American people collectively, and giving it to individual businesses and industries.

The American people are saving their money, not because they don't know where to invest it, but because they don't know whether government policy will allow them secure investment in the longer term. The stimulus bill, in effect, was the government taking money away from the taxpayers, and handing it to Washington-friendly businesses. It's time the American people stop involuntarily bailing out failing businesses. It's time for Washington to realize that only the private sector creates wealth and permanent employment. It is time for the federal government to finally drop the failed Keynesian notion that debt can create wealth.