THE TYGRRRR EXPRESS

Happy days are here again. The stock market has shattered its previous high, and is now higher than ever. This benefits everybody in America.

Yes folks, what is good for big business is great for America.

Larry Kudlow has often referred to the U.S. economy as the “greatest story never told.” The stock market and the overall economy are inseparable.

For those who love to carp at President Bush because Iraq has not met artificial barriers knows as “benchmarks,” it is time that those same critics give George W. Bush his due. The economy has met every single benchmark. There is not a cylinder left to be clicked.

Unemployment is ridiculously low. Proof of this is the immigration debate. While this column has remained steadfastly neutral on the immigration issue, an undeniable truth is that if the economy was bad, there would be support for rounding up all illegal aliens and deporting them now. The immigration debate has moved to the left, where even most conservative hardliners admit that those already here will most likely be staying.

Inflation is also quite low. for those who have savings accounts, my condolences. However, people need money to make money, and low inflation and low interest rates means easier borrowing costs. Many Americans fret over borrowing, but the truth is borrowing is good for America. America was built on entrepreneurship, and a healthy economy with low borrowing costs means more entrepreneurs can begin achieving their dreams in the forms of self employment and start up businesses.

The real estate market, while cooling in some areas, is still red hot in others. Low interest rates also lead to that other American dream, home ownership. For the 85-90% of black Americans who vote democrat, they might wish to appreciate that the rate of black home ownership has never been higher. What is also notable is that the most red hot areas are in red states.

True, many people move to Florida for warm weather and Arizona for dry air, but make no mistake about it. Blue Staters have screwed up their own states, and are moving to red states due to low taxes and better job growth. As much as elite northern liberals like to treat southerners as “Bubbas,” the “New South” does exist. In the last decade, Atlanta, Charlotte, Nashville and Gulfport have exploded in population. Many black Americans are moving there for the same reason anybody would move anywhere…better quality of life, and better opportunity. What does this say about those enlightened New England liberals? If they are so great, why are people fleeing blue America en masse? The Census speaks loudly and clearly on this issue.

The stock market is entering stratospheric territory. It has fought back against 9/11, a War in Iraq, and a vicious bear that growled for three years at the start of this century. For those keeping score, the stock market did nothing in the first two years of the Clinton presidency. The bulls returned when the republicans took over congress and began discussing capital gains tax cuts. The stock market began collapsing while Bill Clinton was still in power, and began to recover when President Bush began passing…what you ask? That’s right…tax cuts. Does anybody see a pattern here?

Now some will argue that the stock market is basically fat, bald, rich, white males smoking cigars in a back room. I just had a conversation with the 90s…actually the 1890s…and they want their cliche back. The stock market is about families putting $100 per month into S & P 500 mutual funds. When the bear market hit, leftists like Robert Reich and other Clintonistas stated that people’s 401k’s were becoming 201k’s. Will they now state that people are happy about their 601k’s?

The stock market is a great metaphor for the War in Iraq. Those who left the stock market when the going got tough in 2000, or even 2002 (or even worse, in 1981), did not get to reap the benefits of higher stock prices when the bulls returned. Good news was around the corner, but they had little faith. They only believed bad news. Those who hung tough were rewarded with large gains and a better financial world.

Like Iraq, people who invest in the stock market are rewarded by being patient, not by trying to be “market timers,” or as we call them in politics, “wind blowers.” People who are for the war when it is popular and against it when the polls tell them to be against it are the equivalent of investors who buy stocks high, sell them low, and then complain that the game is rigged for the rich. Whenever liberals lose, the game is rigged. Perhaps if they ever won, they would see the game is fair, and quite winnable.

Not only are real estate and stock prices doing well, but the commodities markets are also doing well. Stocks and commodities traditionally move in opposite directions, but farmers are reaping spectacular profits for their crops, be it corn, sugar, beef or pork. Precious metals dealers are thriving, as gold, silver and platinum do well. The price of oil has risen as well, and yet Americans are calm.

Some would think that more expensive milk and eggs will destroy society, but this is not the case. Farmers going bankrupt is what hurts society. If those who produce food cannot make money, they will stop producing food. As for higher oil prices, Americans are traveling in record numbers.

The pie is not finite. When everybody has more money, they can then transfer it to others by spending it. Although this is economics 101, many people, especially liberals, were busy visiting Europe when they should have been taking this class.

There will be bad economic times ahead one day, but right now times are better than good. They are phenomenal. While much credit should be given to Sir Alan of Greenspan, and of course to George W. Bush, who seems to be able to deal with Iraq while handling a multi-trillion dollar economy, even more credit should be given to Wall Street itself.

Some on the left love to portray Wall Street as Robber Barrons, but capitalism works. Wall Street is not about Robber Barrons. It is about Barrons Magazine, as well as the Wall Street Journal and Investors Business Daily. Yes, some CEOs get 50 million dollar bonuses, but if a person contributes billions in wealth to the economy, then millions is an appropriate bonus.

Most importantly, credit must be given to the American people. 9/11 could have devastated us. Instead it made us stronger. We dug down deep, and found a reservoir of strength. This is not surprising, given how America was founded. This 1776 experiment is not perfect, but it is working better than any experiment in world history. The economy bounced back because the people drive the economy. The State of our Union has never been stronger, because our people are rock solid. Ronald Reagan exhorted us by reminding the doubters that “we are Americans.”

So as we now admit how fabulous the economy is, the important issue is keeping it going. How do we do this? Simple. We continue what has always worked. We keep taxes low, borrowing costs low, cut capital gains taxes, abolish the death tax, and allow workers to keep more of what they earn so that they can invest in the stock and commodities markets. We take away the government’s right to waste money so that the American people spend it as they see fit. We lower the regulatory burden so that people can be free to start new businesses without being crippled by red tape. Most importantly, we only vote for candidates for elective offices that promises to do this, and keep this promise.

As we turn our attention to Iraq, there will always be naysayers. Ignore these nervous nellies. They are the same people that have predicting economic doom and gloom despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary. Some people despise good news for the most selfish of reasons.

For the overwhelming majority of normal Americans, I congratulate you on your success. Despite obstacles, you have earned it. Happy Days are here again. Let us celebrate!

eric

This entry was posted on Friday, July 13th, 2007 at 12:12 am and is filed under POLITICS. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.