Fox Business to Tackle Red Ink

This morning I had the opportunity to visit with one of my favorite broadcasters, Eric Bolling of Fox News and Fox Business, for this blog. The purpose was to learn more about his fascinating career that has included professional baseball, being one of the world's largest commodity traders, and his work in cable business television. He began that TV career with CNBC and is has been a pioneer at the Fox Business Network. I will be going more into Bolling's story in a future article. For this piece, I want to mention that Bolling will be one of the many Fox Business personalities who will be involved in the coverage of what the Network is calling "Red Ink Week."

In a press release, the "Fox Business Network (FBN) declares the week of June 1st 'Red Ink Week.' The American government, and so the American taxpayer, is now drowning in red ink. How much of this will be billed to your family and your future generations? Have we ever seen anything like this before? Has anyone? Do we have a reasonable expectation of getting out of it?" What I appreciate about this is that the network is taking this subject on with the passion it so greatly deserves. There is no "dry" detachment like the subject of a history book, but the sounding of an alarm, which is so greatly needed. The network has our attention, the burden on them now will be to help us calmly navigate through our national challenge.

The press release went on to say that "FBN will have a full five days of coverage dedicated to uncovering how the government is spending taxpayers’ money and what the long-term implications of the auto industry and bank bailouts will be for taxpayers of today and tomorrow. Politicians, industry experts, and business leaders will be on hand to go through the line items and discuss how much of this will be billed to our families and future generations." It is refreshing that the network will be focusing on where these policies are having their biggest impact. They are studying the financial institutions, factories, and main street businesses being pounded by government action and the people who work in these actual industries. It is important to get the perspective of policy makers, but it is more important to see where these policies are showing their biggest impact.

The coverage begins Monday, June, 1st through Friday, June, 5th at 7 PM Eastern Time. If you have money, you are going to want to watch this programming.

Kevin Price is Host of the Price of Business, the longest running show on AM 650 (M-F at 11 am) in Houston, Texas and on AOL Radio. His articles often appear in Chicago Sun Times, Reuters, USA Today, and other national media. Steve Moore of the Wall Street Journal calls Price the “best business talk show host in the country.” Find out why and visit his blog at www.BizPlusBlog.com and his show site at www.PriceofBusiness.com. You can also find Price on Strategy Room at FoxNews.com.

Cut in Deficit Shows Tax Cuts Work

Newspapers around the country are reporting that there was a significant drop in the deficit for the first five months of the budget year. How significant? More than 25 percent than it was a year ago.

Was this due to a significant decline in spending? No, federal spending is at an all time high.

Was this due to a huge tax increase? Not yet, but we do know future tax cuts are going to the way side because the Democrats have pledged to not support new ones and abolish as many as they can of the ones on the books.

According to the White House and the Congressional Budget Office, the reduction in the deficit is due to a dramatic increase in revenue. The San Diego Union Tribune reports "for the first five months of the budget year, revenues are up by 9.3 percent to a record $954.4 billion." If not due to a new tax increase, what is the cause of this increase in revenue? The tax cuts passed earlier in this decade would be the single biggest contributor.

Tax cuts make it cheaper to participate in economic activity and makes the potential for profit worth the risk of lost income. This is, of course, tax cuts that are geared towards those who are paying the most in taxes, because they also are the creators of wealth. I have argued this point over and over again. The tax cuts work and we should demand Congress to remove more barriers to wealth creation in order to get more revenue, more jobs, and more prosperity. Remember what John F. Kennedy stated so eloquently: "A rising tide lifts all boats." The tide he was talking about was tax cuts that would have a profound ripple effect on the whole economy. He was right then and it is right now.

State of the Union: The Brief, But Powerful, Case for the Tax Cuts

The President's State of the Union speech, substantively, was fairly typical. "We need to balance the budget in the next five years" is something we have heard for six years and this time Bush can blame others if (when) it doesn't happen since he will be long out of office.

I will say that I am glad that he doesn't see tax increases as part of the solution to the deficit problem. One thing the President did articulate, but was largely ignored by the "talking head" news pundits, was that the deficit has been decreasing rapidly over the last few years. This without a tax increase? The economic growth driven by the tax cut has created more taxable activity, leading to a reduced deficit. Why would Democrats increase tax rates, which would likely reduce business tax activity, and thus reduce revenues? It is the politics of greed. They would rather crush economic growth, even if it hurts revenues and jobs, as long as it also hurts the very wealthy. It simply doesn't make sense. There is a quote, attributed to Abraham Lincoln, which was "you can't help America's poor by making America poor." This statement should be on the walls of both Houses of Congress.

The Democrats claim they have no problem with tax cuts, they just want them geared towards the middle or lower classes. These tax cuts are called "demand side" cuts, which leads to people buying a new stereo or TV. The President's tax cuts, on the other hand, are geared towards "supply" and lead to great economic formation, job creation, increased business activity, and (eventually) higher tax revenues, which we are seeing is true in the Bush cuts. I hope Americans are not fooled by the rhetoric. The Democrats tax approach will hurt more poor than help, destroy more jobs than create, and hurt revenue rather than generate.

If people are having a hard time understanding how cutting taxes increases revenue, just think of Wal Mart. Wal Mart has among the lowest price points for any retail company in the world, yet it is also the most profitable store of its kind. The lower cost per item, leads to more items sold, and then higher revenue. The same is the case for tax cuts. Such policies reduce the cost of business, leads to higher production, lowers prices, more items purchased, and higher revenue. Tax cuts work, let's keep them working for America.