Is the US headed towards a socialist government?

[kandrathe]

Still, if you give this money as incentive to let employers take more employees, making things nobody will buy anyway we are talking about a new 'trickle down system' again. I would feel more like having the government hire people to make things that benefit all (windmills, road construction etc.), of course this is the socialistic thing to do so I don't expect that Obama plans to do this.

Um, rather, if people are working, they buy things with their wages, like food, clothing, health care, and other things good for themselves and their children. If people are not working, then the states will be getting less tax revenue and have increased costs to support them. How long do you think it will take to build enough wind mills to make a dent in the economy? Why should the government decided what goods should be made? Why not let "the market" decide what goods are in demand? The risk here is that what the government decides is needed, really is not needed, which is another name for boondoggle.

Also, a trickle down system is to give capitalists tax breaks in the hope that with increased earnings the capitalists will invest their money creating new businesses and expanding existing ones creating more jobs and demand for skilled labor. Trickle down is not a direct incentive to business to hire workers (e.g. a tax break for every person on their payroll). The government in that case is directly subsidizing the payroll. So, for example, if the average wage is $50k and the government tax break is $5k, the worker really only cost $45K. This means that the cost of business decreases (in the area that is most expensive). This makes your business profitable, which makes stock holders happy and willing to invest more into the future of your company. But, notice that while the government still only gave indirectly $5K to that worker, the company gave them 9 times more ($45k) for their salary. That is the money that the states do not need to give in the form of welfare (dole), and the worker can feed/clothe his own children, and gets to stay in the house that they've been paying a mortgage on for the past ten years.