There is a lot of argument going on in our nation's capitol over the proper role of government regarding our economy and the free market.  Both the ases and the elephants are entrnched securely for the fight and no quarter given.  If it were not such a serious matter it would be silly.

For the past eight years the Republicans have been busily feeding the same pig that they accuse the Democrats of stuffing trillions of dollars into today.  Neither side has produced much more than government bloat at the expense of millions of tax payers, small business owners and extremely pissed off citizens.

While the conservatives push for free markets and liberals scream "Big Brother, Now!" the average American just wants economic policy  that won't force him to eat his house pets when the money collapses.

GOP Says

Let the free market decide the fate of companies and banks.  This is a good idea in general as it was intervention by the government which forced lenders to make sub prime loans in the first place.  Overall it would have been better for the economy to let the investment banks who failed to be bought out of bankruptcy by banks which made sound business decisions.  The same goes for the auto industry.  Don't provide products the customer will buy and you will fail.

The downfall of totally free markets is that they lead to big business shutting small business out and the rise of cartels.  Some regulation is needed to promote competition.

The Liberals Say

Liberal politicians want strong government regulation of business and nearly every other aspect of life.  They operate on the assumption that only the government can properly manage things.  This leads to massive waste and bureaucracy and too much government spending.  These also cause slow economic growth, inflation and high unemployment.

Common Sense says

The government best enables a healthy economy by:

Intervening in the private sector only to ensure the promotion and protection of small business and the prevention of  monopoly or large trusts.  Promoting the development of small business will lead to innovation and the growth of new industries to ensure the U.S. a place of leadership in the world economy. 

Use tax policy to grow small business and prevent large corporations from eliminating competition in the market.  Healthy competition keeps product quality high and prices down.

Actively promoting and encouraging results based educational excellence.  America is only as strong as her people are.  The current system of rewarding laziness and stupidity for fear of offending some ethnic groups must end.

There are no racial or ethnic barriers to becoming strong performing students.  The children have the tools they need and the desire to learn. 

Instead of dumbing down the system and removing competition  create programs which actively aid the poorer performing students to perform at the highest level they are capable of.  These kids will surprise you at how far they can go when challenged .

 Look at some of the inner city schools in NY and LA for example.  The programs there are highly competitive and rewards are based on achievement. The American Indian public school is a shining example of what these kids can do.

As a result, these same inner city schools comprised  of poor ethnic students have some of the highest graduation rates and highest SAT/ACT scores in the nation.  Simply because they were challenged to perform.  Education is too vital to our nation's future to allow political agendas and feel good pop psychology to cripple it.

Work diligently with our nation's colleges and universities in the development of new technologies.  This is the foundation of the economy of tomorrow.  The nation which  leads in new technological development and exploitation will lead the world. We cannot afford to be left behind.

In conclusion, these are the areas which it would behoove our leadership to move in. Our government must learn to focus it's expenditures in areas which will be profitable.  The trillions of dollars being wasted on earmark programs and wasteful bureaucracy  are criminal and likely to be the ruination of the United States as we know her.