Uncertainty, and an obviously economically-illiterate president has businesses paralyzed.
Businesses can even survive high taxation - not well, and not broadly, but they CAN function in almost any environment, witness the black market - BUT THEY WON'T ACT WITHOUT A REASONABLY PREDICTABLE OUTCOME.
Uncertainty is the worst possible situation, and because businesses have
a) no idea WTF he's going to propose next, although it'll probably be bad for them
b) if any of the nonsense he spouts/supports is going to survive USSC scrutiny
c) what the democrats are going to do when their utopian idea of universal healthcare - even the tiny step towards it - gets (probably) shot down
d) what the underclass is going to do if/when obama fails to win in 2012, since they've been fed this pap that he's their savior.
e) no matter how bad we're at, Europe's even WORSE (so no refuge there) and as much as Asia appears stable, US mfg'rs are starting to figure out that doing biz in China is like drunkfoocking a fat chick, might feel great at the moment, but the consequences are ugly. And as much as China != Asia, if China's giant house of cards starts to fall, well, then Asia's going to make the economic crisis in Europe look absolutely trivial.
This isn't rocket science. This situation is tailor made for businesses to take their cash, bank it or invest in very quiet, very safe ways, and tell the government economists with all their fake 'incentives to grow' to go straight to hell until there is SOME course forward.
Right now businesses are turtling. You don't get turtles to come out of their shell by hammering on their carapace and say "Hey, it's safe, come out now!"
