Economics Primer for the Tea Party

• Lowering taxes will not reduce the federal deficit and debt
• Historically the federal deficit and debt have decreased during periods of economic growth
• Unemployment is the single biggest obstacle to economic growth
• Businesses and corporations add jobs only when there is an increased demand for their products and services
• Increased spending is the only factor that results in an increased demand for products and services
• A decrease in government spending will lead to an increase in unemployment
• Raising taxes on those wealthy individuals who do not spend a significant fraction of their wealth or income will have no negative affect on economic growth

Questions for the Tea Party:
What have you learned?  Virtually every single initiative espoused by the Tea Party will worsen the economy and worsen unemployment.

Will learning that change your mind? Absolutely not!

Why? Rush Limbaugh and Glenn Beck have not told me to change my mind.

Rick Scott - Republican Candidate for Governor of Florida

Rick Scott sent numerous campaign fliers prior to the election including one that “refuted false campaign statements made about him”.  He claims that the charge of keeping double books at Columbia/HCA (where he was Chairman and CEO) was not only good practice, it was mandatory in case you lost one set.

This is actually what happened, excerpted from https://www.theledger.com/article/LK/20100819/News/608091204/LL

(John Schilling was an accountant at Columbia/HCA who informed the FBI of the fraudulent practices at the company)

“Scott’s hospitals kept a double set of books. The one with inflated costs was sent to Medicare. The list of legitimate expenses, often marked “Confidential: Do Not Show to Medicare Auditors,” was kept for internal recordkeeping, Schilling testified in court. Columbia/HCA hospitals had been billing U.S. taxpayers for a variety of expenses that Medicare did not cover, including lavish parties, gifts and other perks to physicians, Schilling said. Physicians received Super Bowl tickets and hunting trips in violation of laws against kickbacks. The list of non-reimbursable items Scott’s employees submitted to Medicare was staggering and eventually contributed to a record $1.7 billion penalty and 14 fraud convictions. It also cost Scott his job. But while Scott has said he takes responsibility for what happened at Columbia/HCA, his campaign also maintains that other companies were doing the same thing and that the fraud case in the late 1990s was politically motivated. Scott was ousted from the company in the ensuing uproar, leaving with an estimated $300 million in stock and compensation.”

Post script:  Rick Scott has just been elected Governor of Florida