Murdering Economic Recovery in the Womb

New figures show unemployment has hit 10.2%, but that could be far from the bottom. This from today's Washington Examiner:

As Examiner columnist and practicing economist Irwin M. Stelzer notes in today's edition, some of the traditional signs of recovery look positive. But businesses aren't investing in new jobs, they are instead hoarding cash, waiting for the next shoe to drop in Washington on such issues as health care reform, cap-and-trade, and federal taxes, spending and deficits. "There is a nagging fear among those who closely watch not only the economy but government policy that these nascent economic forces might be murdered in their crib by the current administration," Stelzer notes.

It's time for Obama and Democratic congressional leaders Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi to step back from their radical plans to vastly expand federal power, spending, deficits and taxes, and instead reach out to conservatives in both parties who understand how to make the economy grow with tax cuts, reduced bureaucracy, and lower government spending. In other words, stop playing ideological games and get serious about restoring economic growth before millions more jobs are lost.

Democrats will argue that reforming health care is part of the economic recovery, but nothing could be further from the truth. The economy didn't tank because of the costs of an MRI. I don't know of one economist making this nonsensical argument, unless Keith Olbermann counts as an economist. Of course, I'm surprised he even counts as a TV personality. Leave it to progressive kool-aid drinkers to blame the economy on tax cuts (instead of out-of-control government spending) and a health care system that 8 out of 10 Americans are satisfied with.

If PelosiCare or ObamaCare passes, health insurance will get more expensive, making the economy worse, thanks to the thousands of tax hikes and fees proposed on everything from the uninsured to the overinsured, from doctors who order too many tests to medical device manufacturers, all passed down in the form of higher premiums. Not to mention the draconian regulations and price controls on private insurers.

Add in the crap-and-trade boondoggle to create green jobs (i.e. government jobs producing inefficient energy subsidized on the backs of cheap, profitable, and efficient energy), the unavoidable inflation on the horizon, the possibility of a Copenhagen treaty on climate change that punishes US industrial growth, and the expiration of the Bush tax cuts, and you are looking at a deadly cocktail that will destroy jobs and increase the odds for a great depression.

I wouldn't argue that Dems are killing the recovery in the crib, however. That would suggest the recovery is further along than it actually is. The recovery is still in the womb, and Obama and company are in the process of aborting it in the name of bashing capitalism. No surprise given the Left's fanatical devotion to the procedure. If the sanctity of life isn't worth protecting, what would make free enterprise worth saving?