[FITZ]

And is Bush really cutting government spending to match the cuts in tax revenues from manufacturing companies that are leaving in droves? Also when the laid off employees don't pay taxes, is the government cutting back? One thing worse now than we had before the 1930s is our enormous welfare system, how do we cut that back without getting riots?

[The Westerner]

"It is not the world slowdown that has caused this performance collapse, but the interaction of entirely self-inflicted wounds: over-regulated labour markets, a relentless rise in the government share of the economy, a growing tax burden, regulation out of every orifice and a desperate rearguard action against all and every attempt to dismantle state aid and subsidies."

Does this sound familiar? When people complain about manufacturing leaving America or about the cheap labor in China--I always think of these points. America is marching toward the same destruction due to the over-regulation, taxation and the massive welfare state. I agree with the writer above about the importance of a gold standard, too.