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RSS FeedObama v. McCain: Whose financial-crisis cure is best?
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| Obama | 56% | 36 votes | Total: 64 votes | |
| McCain | 44% | 28 votes |
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Add to FavoritesObama vs. McCain: Whose Financial-Crisis Cure is Best?
Barack Obama's plan for helping us to get out of this financial nightmare is the most painfully obvious choice if we'd like to mobilize our economy any time soon.
His ideology is to use the "trickle up" effect. You know, the opposite of the "trickle down" effect that we've been using for the past 8 years? The one that isn't working. That also happens to be the one that John McCain wants to continue if he were given a term or two in office. With the trickle down effect, the rich and big business get tax breaks so that they can "create jobs." And as a result of job creation, consumers can have disposable income to once again drive the economy. The problem with this ideology, especially in this economy, is that businesses don't have much incentive to create jobs in a slowing economy because they don't have a demand for their product in most cases. Business wise, it would be smarter and more beneficial for them to pocket that money. And if there is a demand for their product, fewer people have the money to buy it. It's not hard to see that because the middle class, who are the predominant drivers of the economy, don't have very much disposable income, companies are hurting. They are hurting so much in this slowed economy that they are actually cutting jobs or shipping jobs oversees, so that they can have cheaper labor costs!
The trickle up effect, on the other hand, would allow for the middle class to get some tax breaks, so that we can buy products and drive the economy once again. It's as simple as supply and demand. Once the demand grows, a businesses need for supplies and an adequate work force follows. Furthermore, businesses get tax breaks for so many things now. Anything from business dinners to training for their employees, or any other benefits they allow for their employees can be written off already. It's a win-win situation for everyone. John McCain said it himself when he ran against Pres. Bush, "When you are at a certain level of comfort, there is nothing wrong with paying somewhat more." Again, it usually balances out because once you reach a certain income range, there are so many loopholes in which to obtain a lot of your money back. That's a fact.
Aside from the tax ideologies, Obama and McCain differ on two major stressors on our economy: the war in Iraq and regulation of our financial markets.
While McCain wants to stay in the war in Iraq and "win" this completely nonsensical war, Obama wants to phase our soldiers out quickly and responsibly. Now however you feel about McCain's war record or the war in Iraq itself, it's hard to justify staying in financial terms considering that this war is costing us $12 million per month. This is especially true when you factor in that even Pres. Bush conceded his original stance of staying away from time lines. And this was at the request of the Iraqi government, no less. So Obama wins the argument on the financial aspects of the war. We have to get out!
Lastly, there are the financial markets and the crashing heard 'round the world. McCain wants to have a free market and "de-regulate," by his own tongue. Obama wants to regulate markets so that greedy fat cats won't have the chance to have us as taxpayers, nor our children and their children have to bail them out like this ever again. We are billions upon billions of dollars in debt because of all of the de-regulatory activity that has gone on in our markets. And look where we are. No one is being held accountable. No one is losing any sleep over it, unless of course your money or your 401K was lost. Or perhaps you are one of the millions of Americans who will have to help pay for this debt, that you had absolutely nothing to do with. Well, then it might bother you a bit.
Barack Obama is the best chance we have of sorting through this mess and digging ourselves out before it gets even worse. And it can get much worse. Obama is the only candidate on the ballad who has had a consistant message throughout this campaign. Some say that he's new, so we can't trust him. Of course, one could argue for us all to look at what happened with the experience that we trusted.
Learn more about this author, Ulovit.
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McCain
Obama v. McCain: Whose financial-crisis cure is best?
Senator Obama's speeches are much easier to hear than Senator McCains, they sound so much more hopeful, a few of us in the forty to fifty thousand dollar income range might even get a little relief - if we don't lose our jobs. With everything he is proposing to do however he is raising spending so much that it is very obvious we need more money than ever just to cover his new programs.
The most troubling to me is taxing incomes of 250 thousand dollars and up, this sounds great to us that make less than that. When you look around the area that you live in and think about that number it starts looking very different. In my neighborhood 250 thousand dollars is not the rich or upper class people. A 250 thousand dollar income in my neighborhood is the family owned gas station around the corner with three employees, it's the hardware store down the road with six employees, it's the little grocery store about a mile away with five employees, and it's the little Mexican restaurant - the only restaurant within 30 miles of me, with 4 employees. All of these businesses are really struggling right now; to hit them with more taxes could easily put them out of business. That gives us 18 lost jobs in a very small community in California where our unemployment benefits have already run out! The government is going to have to step in and help these people only driving up the monies that Obama is going to need to "spread the wealth." Now living in the small town that I live in I no these small business owners and in my opinion they are not wealthy, they put most of their incomes right back into their businesses, it's the only way to keep their doors open.
McCain has plans as well, but he says he'll not be raising any taxes in today's economic environment to pay for his plans. He wants to hold government spending to a budget, now isn't that a novel idea! He wants to go through all the existing programs and take a hatchet to the ones that are not working! (Obama agrees this needs to be done however he thinks a scalpel is a better tool.) McCain promises to veto any bills, no matter how good, if there filled with pork! I personally never understood how pork barrel spending was ever allowed to run so amuck! Let us think about this, our state has to ask for help because we can't pay our unemployment benefits so will just include a new telescope for the library at an extra 200 thousand dollars, now the government knows we need those unemployment benefits covered so they feel they have to vote in the whole thing!?! Absolutely unbelievable and what's more unbelievable is how long it's been going!
I've never thought of McCain as a flip-flopper, he will take on issues, no matter how popular or unpopular, and no matter which party Democratic or Republican, is backing them. He will tell us what he is thinking and follow through with what he has said. As an example - When the vote came up to support our troops McCain stated he was for the bill but would vote against it if it had a time limit for withdrawal. Obama stated he was for the bill and would support it. They both voted against!
Learn more about this author, Linda Zirion.
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