Economic Chutzpah

   The economy is doing well, with a growth rate of 3 percent in the third quarter, according the Bureau of Economic Analysis, continuing its steady recovery that goes back seven years.
  However, that's no barrier to blaming the Obama Administration for what Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross called the "dismal economy" that the new administration inherited. Or, as the new president said, "I inherited a mess." In his statement, Ross added that once proposed tax cuts are in place, the U.S. economy will come "roaring back."
   Fact check: The economy has been steadily recovering since soon after Barack Obama took office. However, that hasn't stopped the new guy from discrediting the past seven years of economic health and claiming credit for just the past nine months.
   So, since the economy is now doing well, the White House seems to think now is the time to remove all monitoring, guidance and regulation from government agencies and the independent the Federal Reserve so the economy can take off "like a rocket," as the president put it.
   That, and make more money available to the top one percent of business managers, investors and stockholders so they can pass the extra cash down the social and economic strata to consumers and workers and everybody benefits.
   It's called "trickle down" economics, and the theory is that everybody wins. Eventually. In the long run. Over time.
   Reality check: That's been tried before, and it doesn't work.
   The Federal Reserve Board is responsible for trying to keep inflation at a reasonable level and to encourage economic growth, also at a reasonable level. And that means a growth rate of about 2 percent, according to Fed policy.
   More than that means a risk to over-heated growth and potential sudden, sharp drops in the economy. So the Fed is holding back, trying to prevent any soaring growth rate.
   In addition, there is the issue of rising prices even as income levels rise more slowly. It doesn't take much thought to realize that if prices rise faster than income, there's a problem.
   For most people, that is. Except for those at the top 1 percent income level, who will benefit most from the proposed tax plan.
   Which may be why the president is considering changing the makeup of the Fed Board of Governors so the super-rich will become even more super, at the expense of lower-income folk who will pay higher taxes, and higher health care premiums under the proposed fiscal and budget policies of the current administration.