Worried About Washington, Not China

The big labor offensive in the Democratic Congress is rattling the stock market.

If big labor has its way on card check and ending the secret ballot, along with unionizing TSA screeners, it sets up an anti-competitive dynamic that would roll back private sector productivity, diminish economic growth and profits, and push government spending higher.

The Shanghai flu briefly infected the stock market, but there's more to it as my friend Jerry Bowyer points out. He's right, and as I wrote in the WSJ op-ed last week, all this labor saber rattling has also contributed to the stock market slowdown. Further fueling the stock market slowdown is Rep. Charlie Rangel’s (D-NY) plan to raise taxes on the top two income tax bracket earners (33% & 35%).

The good news is the Dow is up 100 this morning -- testimony to continuing confidence in Goldilocks.

More good news is Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson. Hats off to Mr. Paulson for his stand up performance defending the Bush boom, as well as his current attempts to prod China into additional liberalization of their banking system and economy.

But the big stock market threats are coming from Washington, not China. The Democratic Congress is anti-stock market, anti-growth, and pro-tax hikes. Not good.