Bill Meyers for Congress!Bill Meyers for Congress!Basic Position: I advocate giving Americans a Fair Deal in our economy.
The Thompson/Bush policies of taking from the poor and middle
class and giving to the rich must be reversed.
Overview:
The economy has turned into a disaster for the majority of Americans,
from minimum-wage high school dropouts to $100,000 a year former
computer programmers. Under Reagan, Bush, and Clinton, our blue-collar
jobs were exported to other countries. Under George W. Bush, with
the help of all too many Democrats in Congress, our white-collar
jobs are being exported. Taxes on the very wealthiest Americans
have been abolished, while too many Americans wish they even had
a job to pay the heavy taxes that working Americans must still
pay. Mac jobs and Wal jobs are anti-family, anti-American, and
a threat to our economic security.
The American economy is a large and complex thing. To understand what is needed to restore us to health, you need to know a few things that the TV and most politicians don't want you to know or believe.
There's no such thing as a Free Market. You've heard the saying "there is no such thing as a free lunch". There are certainly markets, and some are freer than others, but the ideal of a Free Market is a myth. When rich and powerful people want to make sure that you, the ordinary citizen, get screwed, they claim it is the Free Market. Did your job go to Mexico, China, or India? They'll say it is the Free Market. Does a corporate CEO get $120 million a year in pay for bossing around minimum wage workers? They'll say that is a Free Market. But in fact these same people use the government to control the economy to their own adantage. Are you starving? It is the Free Market!
All markets have costs, the cost of setting up the market, the cost of maintaining the market, and the cost of getting people and goods to the market. In fact markets consist of people. Markets are made by people. On Wall Street they have people working who are called "market makers." Their pay, for instance, is a cost of the market. So even in stock speculation there is not a free market.
Markets are made by people, which is why you don't see a free market in CEO pay. If every CEO position were put out to bid, with the low bidder who meets the minimum requirements given the job, CEO pay would be much, much lower than it is now. Why does this elite that screams Free Markets at you and me use closed markets to set their own pay? Because they are greedy, and when they have the power the rig any economic game that they play so that they win, and you lose.
So what do we really need, if the Free Market can't solve all our problems? We need a combination of markets, rules of fair play, competition, and cooperation. We need to protect our families and communities. We need to stop using tax dollars to subsidize corporations that destroy small businesses and bust labor unions. We need to make sure that every American has a productive job.
Some people think if they are smart or strong that they should use their brains or brawn to prey on the weak. I reject that philosophy. It is the philosophy of criminals and psychopaths. When it is made into the economic policy of the government and businesses, as it has been during the last two decades, it criminalizes the government and poisons the minds of businesspeople.
I stand for restoring integrity in American business and government. Follow the links to learn about my Trade Policy, Tax Policy, and Social Security.