For Immediate Release Tuesday, January 13, 2009
Libertarian Party Says Obama Plan Based on Failed Economics
America’s largest third party says that President-elect Barack Obama’s spending plans are based on flawed economics. “If you think Obama’s economic plans don’t make sense, it’s because they don’t,” says Libertarian Party National Chairman William Redpath.
“Americans are taking a look at Obama’s economic plans and scratching their heads,” says Redpath. “And, there is good reason to do so. The theory behind his plan, Keynesian economics, has been unsuccessfully tried by multiple presidential administrations in the past. It didn’t work for President Hoover in the early 1930s. It didn’t work for President Roosevelt in the Great Depression. It didn’t work for President Ford in 1970s. Why does Obama think it will work for him now?”
“Just look at the last eight years,” says Redpath. “President George Bush did more to increase government spending during his administration than any president in American history. Yet, this is the same period in which we entered into economic decline. Is there any reason then to believe that more government spending will pull us out of this decline?”
“Keynesians believe that government can jump-start the economy by creating artificial demand through massive spending projects,” says Redpath. “This debt is later repaid with magic money borrowed from foreign countries, printed out of thin air or from tax increases. But, unfortunately, government can’t spend billions of dollars without incredible amounts of waste, through fraud or worthless projects. So, much of the money taken out of the economy, in order to jump-start the economy, is lost, leaving American taxpayers with a flat economy and even more debt to pay.”
“Politicians like Keynesian-based spending plans because it makes it easy to bring pork projects back to their districts, and they’ll be out of office before they ever have to worry about paying down the debt,” explains Redpath. “It’s all about power. It’s not about helping the American people.”
“Obama’s plans will put the United States another trillion dollars in debt while doing nothing to pull us out of the recession,” says Redpath. “Taxpayers have good reason to be skeptical of the stimulus plan because it is their money backing Obama’s multibillion-dollar boondoggle.”
The Libertarian Party recommends permanent tax cuts for individuals and businesses as an alternative to government spending projects, which have proven records of economic stimulation. The Party also states that any cuts in taxes must be offset by cuts to spending.
For a detailed explanation of the failed logic behind Keynesian economics, please visit here for a video produced by the Center for Freedom and Prosperity.
For more information on this issue, or to arrange an interview with the Libertarian Party, please email Andrew Davis at andrew.davis@lp.org , or call (202) 731-0002.
The Libertarian Party is America’s third-largest political party, founded in 1971 as an alternative to the two main political parties. You can find more information on the Libertarian Party by visiting www.LP.org . The Libertarian Party proudly stands for smaller government, lower taxes and more freedom.
