How has the president handled the fiscal crisis?
Clearly he’s been a failure. We should’ve been in a good recovery right now. Always, after a sharp downturn, you get, at least initially, a sharp upturn. The fact that it hasn’t happened is [due] to a weak dollar policy, binge spending and massive new regulations.
Will we have a double-dip recession?
I don’t think [so]. I think we’ll show a little more growth in the second half of this year than in the first. But that’s similar to an automobile increasing its speed on a superhighway from 20 to 30 miles an hour. It’s still not up to the 70 or 75 it should be going.
Your ideas for stimulating the economy, creating jobs, and dealing with the deficit?
Stabilize the dollar. A weak dollar means a weak recovery. It leads to private capital leaving the U.S. If the Fed hadn’t printed so much money, we never would have had the housing bubble. And simplify the tax code.
Do you still favor a 17 percent flat tax?
More than ever. About 26 countries have the flat tax; it’s worked wherever it’s been tried. You have a low rate, generous deductions for adults and children, and you can do your tax return on a single sheet of paper instead of spending 7.5 billion hours a year filling out tax forms.
What else do you recommend?
We should reduce tax rates instead of increasing them. We should repeal Obamacare and start over for a more patient-oriented health care system. And repeal Dodd Frank. It does far more harm than good.