Raising taxes now is an idea only a Keynesian would suggest

The invisible hand of the market place doesn't exist for Keynesians. They must control the market place. Thereby, making it impossible for us mere mortals to comprehend its complexity without their guidance. Their constant meddling in economic and public policy has made this an abstruse and chaotic world.

Raise taxes as an economy is failing? Increase tuition when people cannot afford a college education now? Increase the size of an already overwhelmingly large government? What will this accomplish?

Well, it'll take money from those who can use it intelligently to expand our economic base by creating new businesses and expanding those which already exist. When an economy expands, the tax base expands. When the tax base expands, the government will collect greater revenue. Alas, when the government has more money, it often increases expenditures without reducing debt. When debt continues to grow without limit, a nation goes bankrupt. And so it goes.

So, let's keep our taxes as low as possible. They're too high now! Worked for Adam Smith, Murray Weidenbaum, Milton Friedman, Ludwig von Mises, Friedrich Hayek and Arthur Laffer. Worked for Presidents Kennedy and Reagan. Why won't it work for us? Let's reduce spending! Increase saving! Let's have some fiscal sanity for a change. Let's retire Keynesian economics ... it's a bad idea. Fiat money doesn't work. Continual deficit spending doesn't work.

And let's not forget the necessity of energy independence. When we achieve that goal, we're on our way to economic nirvana if the pols and Marxist academics will allow it (that'll happen when pigs fly). But, that's a long-term solution, which isn't suitable to the Keynesians.

Seems the only thing we learn from history is that we don't learn from history. Perhaps we can start 2009 with economic common sense. What a novel idea?

D. Kennedy has been an Ahwatukee Foothills resident since 2002 and is a retired independent insurance agent.