Tonight in his State of the Union speech the President will talk about making investments in things like education, infrastructure, and technology. After which the Republican response will frame all of this investing as spending.
The problem is that Republicans are trying to make the word spending a dirty word. This is a clear example of cutting of one's nose to spite ones face. The problem we have in the US is not too much spending but a lack of spending. Ever since the recession hit Americans have been saving more money. This is especially true of the super rich (the top 2%). Thanks to this over reaction the economic recovery is slower than it should be.
The super rich are paying less taxes than ever and making more money than ever. The same is true of big business. If trickledown economics actually worked this would be a great thing but it doesn't work because the super rich and big business didn't get all of this money by throwing it away. They spend money when there is return on their investment and unless money is getting into the economy, there is no return for them.
The President is looking to invest because investing is spending that has a return and that is what the economy needs right now. Making spending into an evil word only serves to hold our economy back.
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