Problem is, Obama has no clue what wealth creation is. Borrow a $ trillion. You can create a million jobs paying $100,000/yr. But you've created zero wealth! Start a billion dollar casino in your state. You've created no wealth. Raise the pay of government workers 10 percent. You've created no wealth. Make a better mousetrap. Now, you've created wealth!

Problem is in today's society wealth does not depend on productivity. Government workers are paid by the hour. Earnings have nothing to do with productivity. Same with manufacturing. Same with most contractors, etc... The only place personal wealth relates to productivity is in small business - a very small segment of the population. Our economic system will only improve when wealth is, once again, correlated with productivity and individual creativity.

Thanks for your nice comment and your consideration of my idea. We're in real trouble and need a serious solution. We've got to wipe out debt and encourage productivity in the real economy. We've gone way too far as a "service" economy. Our wealth is being transferred off shore. There are many ways to compete for wealth in this century. My idea above is just one step we can take. And, you are correct. We need politicians to think out of the old boxes. Keep posting on this subject and maybe WE, THE PEOPLE can bring real change.

Ryan and the Republicans are wrong to oppose raising taxes as part of their plan to reduce the deficit. Tax rates should not be divided between the rich and the poor. There's a better way - between those who create wealth and those who merely redistribute wealth. Non-wealth producing industries include: Politicians, Czars, Political Pundits, Union Executives, Athletes, Actors, Gambling industry, Stock Brokers, Hedge Funds, Community organizers, Lobbyists, Government Employees, Singers,.... Wealth-producing industries include: Manufacturers, Miners, Drillers, Transporters, Retailers, Inventors,.... With this paradigm we can reduce debt while increasing the Nation's Wealth.

I disagree that Republicans "make the case all the time". What I hear is that we're about to have a "fiscal crisis", or "we're about to fall off the cliff", or "hit the wall". What do those things mean? The reason Republicans are merely cutting the rates of increase is because they haven't translated "fiscal crisis" into terms voters can relate to.

Reducing the size of government and cutting the government's deficit will hurt people immediately. Republicans need to explain how Democrat spending and growing the debt will hurt people more. So far, no Republican candidate, pundit, think tank, politician or news media has made that case. Too bad for the election and the country.

"differences in income exist largely because of the values and the hard work of those who make more money." If income differences exist, the solution is NOT redistribution. On the other hand, "values and hard work" are not the factors that should produce larger incomes. A person's contribution to the wealth of the nation as a whole should be the factor that determines what a person earns, whether that wealth was created through hard work or a brilliant new idea. Unfortunately, our free-enterprise system has evolved to the point many get rewarded for lack of production and lack of wealth creation. Hire into a factory. You get paid by the number of hours you work whether you produce anything or not. Same with a government worker. ...

Dear Scott. I don't understand. We're borrowing or printing $1.3Trillion this year and over a $Trillion more every year for the foreseeable future. That is money circulating through the economy. It's equivalent to 23 million average paying jobs. If we take that amount of money out of the economy by balancing the budget don't a lot of people have to lose their jobs before the economy can create enough new wealth to cover the loss? If we keep on borrowing and printing we put off the pain till later. Republicans have to come up with a way to sell pain now rather than pain later. So far, they are not doing a very good job selling that.

If I borrow against my house, I can buy a bigger car, eat out more, send my kids to college (and provide their healthcare), give money to granny, and help unemployed uncle Fred eat and pay his rent. It's especially easy if I can borrow at a low rate or just print some money in my basement. So, why should I stop borrowing? If I stop borrowing, I have to decide which goodies I'll have to cut out. Any of them will adversely affect my lifestyle. I'm not going to trade my SUV in for a FOCUS! I think I'll just keep on borrowing. Next month, I'm going to borrow some more to get a new IPAD!

Jeff. Can you please explain how the Federal Deficit of $1.3T this year affects the employment numbers? It seems to me, the greater the Deficit, the better the jobs numbers look. But, the numbers are phoney numbers. The $1.3T supports up to 26 Million jobs @ $50,000/year, but those jobs are not a result of wealth being created by the real economy. They are only temporary unless we continue to borrow and print more paper.