S&P Offers Sound Advice

S&P Offers Sound Advice

April 20, 2011

The U.S. economy is in trouble. Government spends far more than it takes in. The economic ratings firm Standard & Poor’s has lowered its outlook on America’s economic future to “negative.” This means that unless things improve soon, S&P might lower America’s Triple-A bond rating to DoubleAa. It is the first time since S&P started assigning outlooks in 1989 that the country was cited as less than economically stable.

The problem is we have become a nation in which nearly half of us are takers from the slightly more than half who are makers. Those producing goods and services that people want are feeling the strain of higher taxes and federal regulations and an attitude that if you’re a success, you owe people who aren’t.

The president talks of a “social compact.” Where is that in the constitution? What the government owes people is freedom and opportunity. Charity ought to reside with churches and other private groups. The threat of an empty stomach is a great motivator. Paul, the apostle, would be judged insensitive today because he wrote, “If a man will not work, nether shall he eat.”

Cal Thomas is a nationally syndicated columnist based in Washington, D.C.

S&P Offers Sound Advice