April 15, 2008
The Facts
Today John McCain laid out the details of his plan for the economy that included how he planned to fix things if he is elected President. Some of the things he talked about was the excesses of traders & speculators, poor planning by politicians, tax problems, corporate greed among CEO’s who bring on our market problems then are rewarded with millions of dollars, the current recession, and squandering of our tax dollars by politicians. He said he will veto any bill that has earmarks in them; declares to eliminate corporate welfare; and revise the tax system to a simpler, flatter, and fair tax code. He also addressed the things he is proposing to help the economy between now and Election Day.
My View
Two months or so ago I wrote off John McCain as a viable candidate for fixing the problems brought on by the current Bush administration. The reason I did so was because he caved in to the five “big mouths” of the Republican Party; Limbaugh, Hannity, Ingram, O’Reilly, and Coulter. This extremist right wing group attacked McCain so bad that he bowed down to them. They were suggesting Republicans cross over and vote for Clinton in the general election. However, over time, he has reverted back to most of his basic beliefs.
McCain still insist on about three things that I do not agree with. First and foremost is his insistence that corporations need more tax breaks. He and others still taunt the 35% tax bracket that corporations are held to, but they never mention the fact that most corporations never pay that much. With the tax loopholes, “fuzzy math”, and deductions, they pay nothing close to 35%. Hundreds wind up paying no taxes at all. (In the near future I will be posting a very detailed report on corporate taxes.) The second thing I disagree with him on is how he really intends to pay for all the tax cuts. And finally, I have a real problem with his seemingly unwavering stance on the Iraq war. Not that I think he should just say ‘ok, that’s it; lets pull out’; but he has to set specific goals and a specific time line for achieving those goals. Then he must say if we haven’t got there when the time line runs out, we are out of there. Otherwise, the war will go on for 100 years and we will be no further along in achieving peace than we are now.
Having said all these things, I will say for the first time during this political campaign that I am eyeing McCain very close as someone I would support for President. However, I still reserve my final decision until a later date.
I think it’s very important for everyone to read John McCain’s economic speech. If you do, do so with your country in mind, not with your personal biases and/or your personal interest in mind.
Filed under: Presidential Campaign, Republicans
