"Public Means Free In Argentina"

This Blogger is in Argentina this week, a European style Socialist nation.   While on a tour, the Tour Guide told us that "Public Means Free In Argentina".   Of course, Health Care is completely "free" along with university education, the same as occurs in Brazil.   Of course, many people in countries in Europe and South America have overlay insurance because free Health Care in these countries is actually so bad that only the poor use the public system. 

Argentina was once a very rich country until the Socialists took over, "to help the poor" supported by very powerful labor unions.   The story of Eva Peron and her husband, Juan Peron, the Fascist/Socialist Dictator of Argentina, put in power in the 50's by labor unions, began decades of financial chaos and decline in Argentina.   But, the poor still love their Evita, whose picture sits on a large building in Buenos Aires; even though years of Socialist and Military dictatorship resulted in a loss of freedom and the murder of thousands of people that just disappeared. 

But is anything really "free" in a Socialist nation.   Argentina, like all Socialist nations, has very high taxes and lots of them.  To name a few, corporate income taxes are 35%, personal income taxes on world wide income ranges from 9% - 35% and the top rate happens at fairly low income.   There is a 1.5% tax on real estate sales.  Bank transactions carry with them a 0.6% fee.   VAT sales tax is 21%.   There are also various Estate Taxes. 

But here is the real kicker.   In Argentina, Employers must pay between 23% and 27% of an employee's annual income to pay for Social Security and Health Care coverage.  So much for "free" health care.   This contrasts with 7.65% currently paid by employers in the US.  US employees contribute an additional 7.65% to cover their Social Security and Medicare benefits. 

The reality is that this high benefit load in Argentina is actually being paid by the employee whose salary is reduced to cover the employer's contribution.  As an employer, I can verify that this is how it works in all countries.   And, or employers just ship jobs to lower cost countries; hence the reason this sort of thing is a job killer. 

And, the Socialists have made such a mess of Argentina's finances that the peso had to be devalued.   It used to be 1 peso to 1 dollar; but that made Argentina so uncompetitive that it was impossible to export products made in Argentina.   As a result, it is now roughly 4 pesos to the dollar, which makes it a great time for Americans to come to Argentina.   Things are comparatively really cheap in Argentina for Americans.  

However, in the process, people who had savings in Argentina experienced the devaluation of their money.   So, the equivalent of $100,000 in pesos suddenly was worth $25,000.  This is the reason anyone with money began to convert their pesos into dollars and get them out of the country.   So much so, that the government recently prohibited large money transfers because of the capital flight that was occurring. 

Argentina is a case study in Socialist mismanagement of an economy and it has been happening for decades.   In the past, Argentina defaulted on its National Debt.   This is one reason it is very difficult for businesses to get credit in Argentina.  Interest rates exceed 15% on borrowing, if anyone can borrow at all. 

As goes Greece and Argentina will go the United States if Socialist President Obama is reelected in 2012.   Obama's deficit spending trajectory will add another $10 Trillion to our National Debt, if the markets will allow it,  which will not happen.   When the US cannot borrow any more, except at very high interest rates, the Federal Reserve will start printing more money to cover Entitlements.   This will destroy the value of the dollar, which is already happening.  It is not that gas cost $4 a gallon since Obama was elected President.   It is that the dollar has been devalued by 50% because the Federal Reserve has printed Trillions of dollars to pay for the bank bail-outs.  

Contrary to popular belief in Socialist countries, there is no free ride.   More entitlements require higher and higher taxes, which kill jobs.  By the way, our Tour Guide used to be an architect until she lost her job in 2002.   Higher taxes and more regulations to control the economy are no problem for Socialists that constantly invent new taxes as the solution to government financing.  

It is no coincidence that when Obama makes his Class Warfare argument to win reelection, he casts the story in two choices; higher taxes for the "rich", that already pay 70% of all income taxes in the US, or benefit cuts for his PEEP's, those that pay no income taxes at all, those on the dole and public employee union members.   Obama will never talk about actually shrinking the size of government because that would mean fewer public employee union members contributing to Socialist election campaigns.   As such, that choice is never an option for Socialists. 

We must take back our country in 2012 and 2014 to prevent the bankruptcy of our nation.  When this Blogger travels to European style Socialist countries and sees first hand the impact of their Socialist Schemes, I become even more convinced that President Obama and his Socialist pals in government are a clear and present danger to our nation as bad as any external enemy we have ever faced. 

We have to put on our hip boots and drain the swamp that is Washington DC by sweeping these Socialists, at all levels of government, including President Obama, out of office in 2012 and 2014.   If we fail to get this job done, we will lose our national sovereignty in the process.   We can't let that happen.   We have to take back our country in 2012 and 2014 to preserve our freedom, our nation and way of life for the sake of our children and grandchildren.  In the mean time, Cry for Argentina.  Their beautiful country is already lost.