It's an old political saw that the state of the economy is the overriding issue determining the outcome of an election... that no matter what other issues are being touted, the state of the economy trumps all the others.

No doubt there is much truth to it, as there is to most old saws. A poor economy means public unrest, which can translate into changed votes, or votes that might have been non-votes without economic dissatisfaction. People who are out of work do have the time to go vote, and may be angry enough to do it.

Should we blame politicians for a poor economy, or give them credit when "times are good"?

For many decades, we've been taught that government can control our economy, that government spending, or tax policies, can spur economic development, create jobs, and encourage investment. Who preached that to us? Politicians, and those trying to please politicians.

The U.S. economy is, or was, basically a free economy... a free market in which individuals operate with the goal of making money for themselves. In the relatively short 250-year history of the U.S., our economy went from virtually nothing to the most amazing and resilient economy of modern times. It was a nation built largely by the work and enterprise of immigrants fleeing oppressive government in their homelands.

The simple damned truth is that government can only hurt the economy.

Consider that we hear politicians touting tax cuts as "helping" the economy... and of course they're right. Tax cuts do help the economy, and bigger tax cuts help more, because every dollar that goes to government in taxes is a dollar that "goes dead" economically speaking. It's a dollar that otherwise would have been spent in a way that would spur economic improvement... in higher wages, increased investment, or new businesses and new jobs. Certainly, some of that tax money eventually ends up getting back into the economy, through government spending, but only after a big chunk of it is wasted through inefficiency that the private market would never, ever tolerate. Tax dollars going to government support massive bureaucracies, unbelievable paperwork, extravagant salaries and pensions, and, inevitably, graft and corruption.

When we hear politicians mouthing off about how they're going to improve our economy, the very best they can honestly be claiming is that they're going to cut taxes, cut spending, and get the hell out of our way. In other words, the only way politicians can help the U.S. economy is to stop what they've been doing and to undo what they've already done. They can help the economy by repealing regulations, repealing laws, repealing existing programs, reducing government expenditures, and reducing taxes. If you want to give them credit for doing less... fine, but that's like thanking someone for loosening their stranglehold on your neck.

I continue to be amazed at the resilience of the American economy, still probably the strongest in the world, despite a behemoth government that wastes half of our economic output, but we cannot put up with this economic stranglehold forever... our economy can break down.

Witness the forked tongues:

On March 10, the eve of his trip to Ohio to "focus on jobs," President Bush claimed that "we're creating jobs - good, high-paying jobs for the American citizen"

We who? We in government? We in the U.S.? We in the GOP? We in the Bush administration? Where are those jobs? I can tell you what kind of jobs are available here in Minnesota. There are jobs that go a-begging... in health care, or taking care of the elderly and the disabled (excuse me, "special needs"). In education, there are lots of special education jobs. Of course, there are other government jobs too... they'll welcome you into military service. Those are the jobs created by government... created by government regulation, requiring the rest of us to pay for the care of others. Those are not jobs that improve the economy in the way that a factory or retail establishment does. What those jobs do is increase the cost of those services being provided.

Here's the real state of job creation:

Last week, the government surprised economists by announcing that only 21,000 new nonfarm payroll jobs were created in February, far short of the consensus forecast of 125,000 and the 150,000 or so jobs per month needed to keep up with population growth.

That's not job creation, it's a job loss... at least 104,000 more people added than jobs... simple arithmetic.

Because of the farce of politicians claiming that they control the economy, Bush should be held accountable, and so should Congress. Hold them accountable, not because their schemes didn't work, but because they won't fess up to the simple truth that everything they do hurts our economy, and that the only government solution is to just stop what they're doing. Period.

Don't assume for a second that I'm recommending that you all vote against Bush and for Democrats instead. If there is any significant difference between the R's and D's it's that Democrats do even more economic harm than Republicans.

If you're sick of this stagnant economy, or out of work, or underemployed, or tired of fighting your way from paycheck to paycheck, you only have 2 possible ways of at least registering your anger... by taking your votes away from both of those corrupt political parties, and either giving your votes to Libertarian candidates, or, as I suggested in  The ultimate protest vote, placing write-in votes for NOTA... none of the above.