The Obama re-election campaign tactics are now approaching near-hysterical levels with the unleashing of the White House's pawn Harry Reid accusing Mitt Romney of not paying any taxes over the past ten years, claiming some anonymous source as the author of that charge. He and the other re-election mouthpieces claim that it is up to Romney to prove the charges false in an obvious ploy to force him to release 10-plus years of tax returns so their "truth squads" can rummage through to find any nugget they can demagogue into portraying Romney as a out-of-touch rich guy not paying his fair share.

This and many more attempted smears are on the horizon, as Barack Obama cannot win re-election without destroying his opponent, as he has done in virtually all his previous campaigns for public office. This is particularly true this year, as the facts underlying his stewardship of the economy are devastating.

It has been said, quite accurately, that the United States is going down the road taken by many European social democracies now facing imminent economic insolvency and societal upheaval. But America is further down that road than many realize.

A snapshot of the present-day health of any nation can be ascertained by reviewing two factors: annual government budget deficits as a percent of Gross Domestic Product and the annual unemployment rate. An accelerated level of deficit spending, except in times of a major war (such as World War II), is indicative of a lack of fiscal discipline and tax revenues sufficient to finance those expenditures. These revenues can come about only from a growing economy and near-full employment. When high deficits are coupled with a dramatic increase in unemployment for more than two or three years in a row, that country has embarked on a dangerous road that will lead to insolvency if not addressed quickly.

Some governments run extremely large annual deficits which place an even greater emphasis on raising revenues for ideological reasons, while others simply do not wish to confront reality and reduce spending for political gain. The knee-jerk, but erroneous, solution is to increase the tax burden and pay out ever-increasing unemployment and social benefits, thus stifling economic growth. This is the start of a death spiral unless spending is dramatically curtailed and the GDP grows, creating more jobs and thus tax revenues.

Read more: http://www.americanthinker.com/2012/08/barack_obama_harry_reid_and_american_insolvency.html#ixzz22qqsHxyd