Face The State Staff Report
Listening to Steve Forbes, famed publisher and former presidential candidate, is like drinking from a fire hose. The fast talking and quick thinking mogul was at the Denver Marriott Tech Center Monday to discuss what needs to be done in order to save the America’s faltering economy.
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The event was put on by the Heritage Foundation, a Washington, D.C.-based think tank. Forbes, a member of Heritage's board of trustees, identified American monetary policy as a principal part of the nation's credit crisis. He specifically urged the Federal Reserve to stop printing money. Forbes attributed the record high gas prices to inflation, not supply and demand or price gouging.
He outlined a three-fold solution to mending current economic turbulence. Forbes said the President should publicly announce the nation’s intent to strengthen the dollar. Then, he said the Federal Reserve needs to start soaking up extra money while explaining to the public why it is doing so. Forbes accused people and businesses of hoarding cash out of fear that the supply will diminish. The reality, he said, is there is too much cash and it is causing inflation. Finally, he advocated cutting taxes.
“Taxes are the price you pay for working,” Forbes said. “If we raise taxes we’re going to be in real trouble.”
These remarks evoked cheers from the conservative crowd of about 300. Nick Kliebenstein, Republican candidate for House District 33, was in the audience, and identified with Forbes’s “commonsense approach to incentives and penalties.”
“Points he discussed reminded me of what the state legislature and Governor did with the property tax increase,” Kliebenstein added. “They are penalizing people who own homes.”
Kliebenstein was referring to the mill levy freeze that was incorporated into the 2007 School Finance Act and recently declared in district court as an unconstitutional tax increase.
In addition to his advice about taxes and the economy, Forbes had a multitude of criticisms of Washington. As he has done frequently over the years, he called for allowing personal investment options in Social Security. “Allow young people to have personal retirement accounts,” he said.
Another topic of interest: Energy. He praised Republican presidential candidate John McCain for his promotion of offshore drilling. “He can only win on substance,” Forbes said of McCain. He acknowledged Senate candidate Bob Schaffer, who was in the audience, as presidential material and someone who has a firm grasp of fiscal policy.
Forbes ran for president in 1996 and 2000. When asked if he intended to run again, Forbes replied that he is content with his current role as a “political agitator.” He is also the Chairman and CEO for Forbes Inc., an American publishing and media company responsible for the national business magazine Forbes.