The US government and the Federal Reserve seem intent on committing economic suicide

Current policies are EXACTLY the OPPOSITE of those required to turn things around.
The government (both parties) and the Federal Reserve seem intent on commiting economic suicide.

There will never be any real economic recovery in America unless disposable incomes of ordinary people start to rise instead of plummeting as they have done since 2001.

Current policies accelerate the current trend of  lower disposable incomes of the middle class and ordinary people, they are already falling at an alarming rate.

The middle class and the poor have recently been additionally hit by :-

A huge $200bn tax hike on the middle class and working poor in the Fiscal Cliff deal.
Increasing food and gas prices due to the Federal Reserve policy of stepping up their printing from $500bn a year to $1tn a year.
This double whammy has already started to show up in things like Walmarts February sales figures and $4 gas in California.

Current government and Federal Reserve policy ensures a prolonged and deep US recession starting in 2013.
You can add in Europe's recession - Europe is America's largest export market.  

In order to turn the American economy around the following things need to be done.

Immediate cuts of over $1tn a year in Corporate Welfare.
Give a huge tax break to middle earners and below. I favor immediately raising the personal income tax thresh hold from $8,700 to $45,000. 
Stop the $1tn a year bailout to the big banks and Fed printing. 
Break up the Corporate cartels that now operate in each major industry. 
Reinstate the Rule of Law. 
Jail senior bankers for 30+ years for their white collar crimes. Fine the big banks $200bn for the same.
Completely reform Corporation Tax. Current policy is strongly in favor of large multinationals and strongly against small businesses. 

It looks like the Chinese are now realising the increasing level of stupidity within the American government and the Federal Reserve and are now trying to delay the date of the collapse in the US Dollar and American economy.
http://ian56.blogspot.co.uk/2013/02/china-is-now-trying-to-delay-date-of-us.html  



What needs to happen in more detail to turn things around



Immediate cuts of over $1tn a year in Corporate Welfare. 
Corporate profits are at record levels. 
It is VERY EASY to see how this can be done - here is a list of actions to take. 
http://ian56.blogspot.co.uk/2012/11/it-is-very-easy-to-cut-1tn-from-federal.html


A COMPLETE REVERSAL of current policy to RAISE disposable incomes of ordinary people instead of seeing them continue to plummet.   
I advocate raising the income tax thresh hold from $8,700 to $45,000 as a first measure.
That would cost $500bn a year.  

Stop the Federal Reserve bailing out the big banks to the tune of $1tn a year. 
Ordinary people will pay for ALL of these handouts eventually.
They have already starting paying in the shape of higher gas and food prices. 
They will pay more in the future in the shape of higher levels of unemployment, higher levels of poverty and lower disposable incomes for over 99% of Americans.  
http://ian56.blogspot.co.uk/2013/01/the-2tn-of-excess-bank-reserves-is.html
http://ian56.blogspot.com/2013/02/there-is-no-way-out-for-federal-reserve.html

Break up the Corporate cartels that now operate in each major industry. 
Banks, oil, pharma, food, arms (hardware), arms (software), Media, Food, Monsanto etc. and soon to be Healthcare. 
Immediately reinstate Glass Steagal for the banks. 
Record Corporate profits are a symptom of a lack of competition in the market place. 
INCREASE COMPETITION. 

Reinstate the Rule of Law 
The strength or otherwise of the Rule of Law is THE most important factor in determining future GDP growth rates.
The Rule of Law no longer applies to rich elites whatever white collar crimes they commit. Barack Obama has openly stated he will not prosecute the persons responsible. 
Bernie Madoff got 102 years for stealing $8bn in his Ponzi scheme. 
Several people have stolen far more than this from ordinary Americans. 
I would prosecute and handout 30 years+ hard jail time to Lloyd Blankfein, Jamie Dimon, Hank Paulson, Tim Geithner and at least a couple of dozen of other senior bankers. 
I would fine the big banks $200bn+ for their crimes. 
It is easy to see how the 12 big banks that manipulated Libor could be fined an average of $10bn each.
Then there are the various mortgage frauds, massive and endemic money laundering and outright thefts (such as $1.5bn from MF Global segregated client accounts) etc. 
http://ian56.blogspot.co.uk/2013/02/a-governments-duty-is-to-protect-its.html

Completely reform Corporation Tax. 
Multinationals pay next to nothing while small and medium sized businesses pay 25% to 30%. 
As a first step I advocate a flat tax of about 25% - no loopholes, no tax breaks whatsoever. 
I would make the first $100,000 of profits TAX FREE as a huge tax break for small businesses. 

The current practice of large Corporations diverting US generated profits to off shore tax havens to avoid Corporation Tax would be stopped - this alone would generate additional revenues of about $200bn a year. 
There are a multitude of other tax breaks for large Corporations that are industry or company specific. These also would be stopped.  (I would lower Corporation Tax later after a HUGE reduction of income taxes for middle earners and below.) 
Small and medium businesses are the TRUE job and wealth creators - they are being discriminated against and suffering unfair competition because of current government policy. 
http://ian56.blogspot.co.uk/2013/02/bernie-sanders-identifies-128bn-of.html

Scrap Obamacare
It will be a huge burden on the middle class. 
It is the equivalent of a 3.8% income tax hike - but the estimated costs are forever rising so it will no doubt turn out to be higher. 
It will lower disposable incomes, lower the average standard and quality of Healthcare, raise price inflation of just about everything (businesses are already putting up prices to cover their expected increases in costs) and make seniors die off quicker.
Somebody has to pay to cover the currently uninsured, that someone will be the middle class. 
Obamacare was specifically designed to make lots of profits for large Healthcare companies - that is why Romney is so much in favor of it.
http://ian56.blogspot.co.uk/2013/01/the-affordable-care-act-should-be.html

Stop the pointless wars that are only being pursued in order to increase the Corporate profits for the bankers, the arms companies and the big oil companies. 
This would save about $800bn a year (some of which has been included in Corporate Welfare above). 
Obama is now expanding the resource wars into Africa. Stop it.
Withdraw from the Middle East and leave them to it. If the Arabs and the Muslims want to fight amongst themselves - let them. Don't give them a unifying cause to fight against or attack or be enemies of America. 

Restore civil rights for ordinary people.
ALL of the recent laws, EO's and measures listed in here should be immediately reversed. 
http://ian56.blogspot.co.uk/2012/11/obamas-civil-rights-violations.html

Stop the expansion of the Police state.
$10's of billions are now being spent each year in order to spy on every single American - including their bank account transactions.

Reverse the current policy of increasing petty regulations.
It is killing entrepreneurship and small businesses in this country.
Large businesses are better able to absorb and overcome the cost of government bureaucracy - they have economies of scale.
For small businesses, the obstacles placed in their way by the government often mean they never start up in the first place, let alone expand into the job creators of the future.

Restore the system that made America GREAT.
A system of friendly competition between relatively small political and economic units called States.
We now have a MONOPOLY system.
Governance is almost completely monopolized by the Federal government and the states retain very little power.
The Federal government now takes the vast majority of taxes - completely opposite to the system the Founders envisaged and the system that made America great in the first place.
There is now monopoly control of the money supply and market manipulation of interest rates by the privately owned  Federal Reserve bank - for their owners profits and against the interests of all but a handful of Americans.
Competition is ALWAYS GOOD.
Monopolies are ALWAYS BAD - except for the monopolist.
http://ian56.blogspot.co.uk/2012/10/the-case-against-barack-obama.html
http://ian56.blogspot.co.uk/2012/11/the-case-against-barack-obama-democrat.html


The Fiscal Cliff Deal - a financial analysis
http://ian56.blogspot.co.uk/2013/01/fiscal-cliff-deal-obamas-corporate-sell.html 

I believe. I have a DREAM. I have a DREAM that America's problems will one day be widely recognized and thence be fixed. 
I BELIEVE that one day the electorate will wake up from their torpor. I BELIEVE in America.
http://ian56.blogspot.co.uk/2013/01/i-beleive-i-have-dream-i-have-dream.html

The global and US economy in general and what needs to be done to fix things.
http://ian56.blogspot.co.uk/2013/01/a-global-economic-summary-why-paul.html

Still Report SR70 State of the Union 2013

Other economic facts, charts and figures 
None of them paint a pleasant picture at all.
http://ian56.blogspot.co.uk/2012/11/unemployment.html