by Linda Zirion

Created on: October 23, 2008

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!

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