25 of 27 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Concise and Open-Minded!, July 28, 2008
This review is from: How to Ruin the United States of America (Hardcover)
In "How to Ruin the United States" I expected to see the standard conservative line, given Stein's conservative background. Instead, I was pleased to instead find thoughtful comments, documented with a few facts, as appropriate.
I especially liked his sections on "Voodoo Economics" and immigration. Stein believes our government is engaged in economic malpractice by running large deficits during times of prosperity, pushing the Kool-Aid of supply-side economics that says cutting taxes gives us something for nothing, and persecuting the oil industry - vital to our survival.
Stein reports that the discounted present value of unfunded liabilities from Medicare and Social Security total $88.2 trillion as of 2007 - about $290,000 per citizen, and 6X our annual GDP. He also asserts that the 2006 drug benefit costs are even larger, though I'm not certain I'm on board with that conclusion.
Milton Friedman attributed about 60% of the increase in health care costs to U.S. involvement in Medicare and Medicaid; the proportion of government spending on health care has risen from 1/8 in 1919 to about one-half in 1997.
Turning to our ballooning federal deficits, Stein attributes them largely to Arthur Laffer's theory - introduced without benefit of validity during Reagan's terms. Supposedly, people would work harder if they were taxed less, resulting in an overall increase in collected taxes. Reality, however, is that the number of hours worked/week has barely moved since Bush's tax cuts, and are considerably less than 1959 when the top bracket was nearly 80%. Further, overall labor-forced participation has hardly changed since Bush's cuts.
Almost $1 trillion in personal income taxes was collected in 2000, prior to the cuts; this dropped to $794 billion in 2003, and only returned to $1 trillion in 2006. Meanwhile, our national debt had gone up over $2 trillion. (Stein does concede that corporate profits did increase - on the other hand, what else could they do when tax expenses were decreased?)
Stein is also concerned about increasing income inequality, seeing it as a moral issue. As for those accusing oil companies of price-fixing, Stein easily dismisses their conspiracy theories with long-term data showing inflation-adjusted oil prices (until recently) lower than decades prior.
Stein also considered immigration (especially illegal) to be an important topic. He traces that problem's start to legislation passed by Sen. Kennedy in 1965, along with subsequent amnesty etc. programs. Anchor babies, relatives, sham marriages, etc. acerbate the problem, while their numbers and failure to assimilate clearly undermines American culture.
Interesting, and refreshing!
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28 of 35 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Ben Stein for President, June 30, 2008
This review is from: How to Ruin the United States of America (Hardcover)
A deep insight into the state of our country, what it was built on, and how far we've strayed from the ideals of our founders. The authors have addressed serious problems that our country is facing in a truly comical, yet straightforward fashion. A definite must-read for everybody before casting your presidential vote.
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19 of 25 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Our Country, July 19, 2008
This review is from: How to Ruin the United States of America (Hardcover)
This book should be required reading for Americans who do not think ours is a great country. Those who do not believe that we are surrounded by enemies should read this book. Those who criticize and mock our core values should examine the book.
Stein and DeMuth outline the basic values on which our country was built: a belief in God, a belief in ethical behavior, a belief in freedom, and a willingness to fight to defend our way of life. The authors point out how a liberal media and a liberal academe have helped create a moralless community of lazy complainers in our country. If you're the sort who snickers at phrases like "My country right or wrong" you would not enjoy this book.
The authors offer great insight about the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and the threats from Iran, North Korea, and Venezuela. They point out the ill effects of an open-borders immigration policy. They assert that a crisis looms because of the unfunded demands of Social Security and Medicare combined with a cut-taxes-but-spend-anyway government, all riding on a stupendous national debt.
It's a great little book.
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