Senators Obama and McCain On The Economy

Obama and McCain outlined their approach on how to revive the nation's economy.  Both their plans rely heavily on taxes.  Like Reagan-Bush and Bush 43, their's is a tax policy and not an economic policy so it will not result in a sustained economy or job creation on a sustained basis.  They seem to have learned nothing from the last three Republican Presidents concerning the economy.

 

McCain's Plan:  (1)  Reduce regulation. (Like as if Bush paid any attention to regulation)  (2)  Cut Corporate Taxes;  (3)  Expand free trade agreements;  (4)  Cut Government Spending;  (5)  Maintain Bush's tax cuts for the wealthier Americans.

 

Obama's Plan:  (1) Expand health insurance for all;  (2)  Reducing income inequality;  (3) Raise taxes on Wealthy Americans;  (4)  $50 Billion economic stimulus plan and tax cuts for middle income Americans.

 

McCain plans to pay for his proposal by reducing spending but Republican Presidents and Republicans in Congress including McCain do not have any record of reducing spending.  In fact the Republicans are the biggest spenders of all time and deficit spenders at that.

 

Obama plans to pay for his proposals by raising a variety of taxes including increasing capital gains rate to 20%; increasing taxes for families with incomes over $250,000. and ending the cap on Social Security income now set at $102,000. by also taxing income over $250,000.

 

McCain and Obama's announced plans are not an economic policy to answer the serious problem facing America.  Neither one mentions balancing the federal budget, so they are committed to keep piling on debt which is the main cause of our economic problems.  The United States can not keep paying a half trillion dollars a year just to pay interest payments on the national debt.

 

Where do they stand and what are their plans for the Greening of America, for conservation to reduce Energy usage; for reducing gasoline prices?  Both voted for Bush's energy bill that gave the Oil and Gas Companies $17 Billion in tax breaks.  The Oil and Gas Companies really needed that;  yea, tell me another fairytale.  They should both be urging congress to reduce the speed limit on the Interstate system to 55 MPH like President Carter did.  It worked and worked well.  In fact both of them should be in Washington introducing that measure.

 

I have commented before that stimulus packages do nothing to create a sound economy.  In fact they come after the economy goes south.  In other words, after the fact.  The idea is to have a sound economic policy that is broad based with the intent of balancing the federal budget.  We are near ending eight years of an administration who has wrecked the economy and put the country into record debt.  The President, Republicans and Democrats in Congress have offered no way to pay for the war in Iraq and the cost will soon hit the trillion dollar mark and climbing.  Sadly, Obama and McCain are AWOL on the issue.

 

We the people are asked to believe in change, yet both candidates have had an opportunity to change things in Congress but failed to do so.  New we have their proposals concerning the economy that also fails to change the status quo or to answer our economic problems.

 

We are told that this is an important time in our history, yet, we have two candidates without any original thought and still stuck with recycled proposals that are supposed to pass as an economic policy.  Where are Americas true leaders for the future?