From the Inside Flap
Are Americans better off today than they were before Barack Obama was elected to office? Americans for Tax Reform President Grover Norquist and economist John Lott don't think so, and in Debacle: Obama's War on Jobs and Growth and What We Can Do Now to Regain Our Future, they argue that huge increases in government spending, mounting debt, massive new regulations, and higher effective marginal income taxes are seriously hurting the country.
Exploring the ways in which Obama's economic policies have contributed to the high unemployment rate, slowed economic growth, produced dramatically higher national debt, and damaged the housing market, Norquist and Lott contend that Obama's views on spending, taxes, and regulation have worked to harm--rather than help--our recovery from the so-called "Great Recession."
Arguing that the Obama administration used the financial crisis more as an opportunity "to do big things" than to solve the country's economic problems, the book examines the players involved in the meltdown, Obama's failed attempts to put the country back on track, and much more. Rejecting the President's use of Keynesian economics as a way of giving money to wealthy political supporters rather than as a legitimate way of understanding how the economy operates, Norquist and Lott offer a fresh perspective.
The cost of Obama's policies have greatly outweighed the benefits, and Norquist and Lott have solutions for getting the country back on track. Offering a comprehensive 12-step plan that covers everything from reforming the federal tax code to reducing industry regulation, Debacle outlines a clear path to putting America back in pole position.
GROVER G. NORQUIST Is President of Americans for Tax Reform (ATR), a taxpayer advocacy group he founded in 1985 at the request of President Reagan. ATR is a coalition of taxpayer groups, individuals, and businesses opposed to higher taxes at the federal, state, and local levels. It organizes the Taxpayer Protection Pledge, which asks all candidates for federal and state office to commit themselves in writing to oppose all tax increases.
JOHN R. LOTT, JR is an economist who has held research and/or teaching positions at the University of Chicago, Yale, Stanford, UCLA, Wharton, and Rice, and was the chief economist at the United States Sentencing Commission from 1988 to 1989. Lott has published over 100 articles in academic journals. He has authored six books including More Guns, Less Crime; Freedomnomics; The Bias Against Guns; and Are Predatory Commitments Credible? He is a contributor and a weekly columnist for FoxNews.com. Lott's Opinion pieces have appeared in several publications, including the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, the New York Post, USA Today, and the Chicago Tribune, and he has appeared on television programs including ABC and NBC National Evening News broadcasts, Fox News, The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer, and the Today Show. He received his PhD in economics from UCLA.
