Failure to Appreciate American Consumers
By Richard McPherson There is a fundamental term most politicians and other government employees seem to not understand. It is these three words:
Consumer spending is the largest component making up America’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP). Consumers spend money ? if they have it to spend. Consumer spending makes up around 71 percent of America’s GDP. Consumer spending is very important to the economic health and well being of America. There are many definitions for GDP. They seem to miss it has three basic elements: 1. Consumer Spending (71%) 2. Consumer Investing (This is consumer money invested to make more money) 3. Government Spending (This is money taken from Consumers) More fully defined GDP takes into account the Cost of Exports minus the Cost of Imports. Here is where the loss of American Consumers jobs because of declining manufacturing and creating goods for sale domestically and for export from natural resources in America comes in. The high unemployment today will exist for quite some time. It does not have to. But government spending required the government to increase the debt and requires more taxes, fines and fee’s to be heaped on the American Consumer. When Government Spending one of the three basic elements of GPD is increased bad things happen to America like Consumers being unemployed; Consumers losing their homes and Consumers being forced into bankruptcy. Politicians and other government employees seem to not understand the importance of American Consumers. Politicians and other government employees are spending more on themselves like increases in wages, benefits and retirement systems, while putting more taxes, fines, fee’s and debt on Consumers. As changes in Public Policy by politicians and other government employees pandering to special interest groups forced the shut down of manufacturing and creating goods for sale domestically and for export from natural resources in America, Consumers lost their jobs. To make ends meet, pay for the ever increasing taxes, fines and fee’s in order to be able to raise their children both parents had to work. I don’t mean women that wanted to go to work ? they were forced to go to work. Mothers that wanted to stay home and raise their children were denied that natural opportunity by politicians and other government employees pandering to special interest groups to spend Consumers money. Now politicians and other government employees are going after Social Security. The problems with heaping on other programs to take money from Social Security have been known for decades. It was the subject of debate when the Democrats led by Lyndon B. Johnson put forth the Great Society and Medicare etc. During the same period other "Unfunded Mandates" came out of the US Congress unabated that wound up being pushed down to the 3,300 counties. By the early 1970's people in California were loosing their homes due to increasing "Property Taxes" so Proposition 13 was put on the Ballot because the Democrat politicians in California led by Jerry Brown (then Governor now Attorney General and candidate for Governor again) refused to stop pushing unfunded mandates down to the counties or stop spending. That should have been a wake up call for the US Congress and every State and County to stop, spending and creating unfunded mandates; it was not! The increased cost of oil made matters worse and yet the US Congress and every State and County failed to stop, spending and creating unfunded mandates. A decade later in 1985 the United States become a debtor nation. Ignoring creating the situation that created America being a debtor nation, the US Congress and every State and County failed to stop spending and creating unfunded mandates. Every baby born today has a $200,000 plus burden to pay. In electing John Kennedy to President in 1960, the Democrats, Liberals, Marxists, Communists, Unions, human and drug traffickers etc., found traction in that they could control the vote to eventually take over America. They learned to be more effective by getting Jimmy Carter elected and then the Clintons elected resulting in the major assault we see today by Barrack Obama. As a side note, it was Jerry Brown in 1974 that endorsed the fraud in setting up the California Energy Commission to tax electricity users 1 mil per kilowatt hour to “aid in the sitting new electrical generating plants in California” when the truth was he first wanted funds to defeat nuclear power (taking $66 million during the first three years) stopping it in 1977, even after 2/3rds of the voters in California voted for nuclear power in 1976. In 2007 the below was true about “Lines Crossing”. Since Obama was elected its today! US revenues will be exhausted by mandatory spending in 15yrs absent very large tax or deficit increases 
Its just accepted as normal for Obama Inc along with other politicians and other government employees continuing the pandering to special interest groups forced is now going after Social Security to take out the older generation that is unable to protect themselves (i.e.; kill off early by creating a miserable life). In California the situation is so bad politicians and other government employees are attempting to get a loan on future redemption revenues from Consumers turning in bottles and cans. Here was the situation for Consumers at the end of 2007: 
Since the end of 2007, most American Consumers have exhausted their borrowing capacity. Politicians and other government employees are pushing “Green Jobs” ? Spain already did starting in 2000. Guess what? It cost 2.1 jobs for every Green Job costing an average of over $700,000 and today Spain is suffering from over 20% unemployment. In 1910 Government Spending as a percent of GDP was 8.03%. Today 2010) Government Spending as a percent of GDP is up to 44.48%. There is little room or incentives for American working or retired Consumers to invest. Those in the upper 10% of Households that could use their resources to create jobs there is little or no incentive, knowing politicians and other government employees are looking out only for themselves by pushing for more taxes, fines and fees. Politicians and other government employees continue to ignore the need to get out of the way and stop spending and to let American Consumers create new jobs in America. Its simple remove all the regulatory barriers preventing American Consumers from creating American jobs. Richard McPherson is Executive Vice President ofDownRange Global Solutions, Inc. Richard is a retired U.S. Naval Nuclear Engineering Officer who began his naval career in the Fleet Ballistic Missile Force and served on staff under Admiral Hyman Rickover. Among his many qualifications, Richard is a qualified Nuclear Submarine Officer, Surface Warfare Officer, Diving and Salvage Officer, Special Warfare Officer and Nuclear Welder. He has also served on the Navy Propulsion Examining Board and the Naval Board of Inspection and Survey. Upon retirement from the Navy, Richard served as the United States Representative to the International Atomic Energy Agency on a six nation group following the accident at Chernobyl. Richard has also served as an advisor on numerous issues within the U.S. Intelligence Community and for Senior Government Officials.