Congratulations, Mr. Barack Hussein Obama and Mr. John Sidney McCain III. You are now going head-to-head for the unenviable position of bringing a wounded nation back to its feet.
Based on a Reuters factbox and the two candidates’ official websites, I’ve listed the main economic points for each candidate. They offer two radically different models for the nation.
Part 1: OBAMAVILLE
A green society of telecommuters where poor families enjoy tax credits, children can skateboard without helmets (they have free health insurance, after all), and words like “Iraq” and “loan shark” are things of the past.
(Photo credit: Democracy in Action)
HEALTHCARE
Give healthcare to kids
Keep the current job-based system intact, but expand government healthcare so that it covers children. What his government will do for the 40+ million adults without healthcare coverage remains unclear.
IRAQ
Get out of Iraq
Remove troops from Iraq within less than 1.5 years of taking office.
TAXES
The rich pay, the poor get credits
Let Bush’s tax cuts on the wealthy expire. Raise capital gains tax rates. Implement tax credits of $500-1000 that will “eliminate income taxes for 10 million Americans.”
FREE TRADE
Expand and make it fair
Renegotiate NAFTA so that it “works for American workers.” He also plans to increase free trade.
EMPLOYMENT
Build a society of green, scientifically-advanced telecommuters
-Double federal funding for research.
-Subsidize automakers so that American workers can build fuel-efficient vehicles.
-Sponsor job-training programs in green/sustainable areas such as green technologies.
-Require 25% of electricity in the US to come from renewable sources, such as wind, by the year 2025.
-Raise the minimum wage.
-Put more federal money into after-school programs; promote flexible work arrangements such as telecommuting.
THE SUBPRIME CRISIS
Give people a break
-Revise bankruptcy laws to make them more lenient on consumers.
-Increase regulation on the mortgage industry.
-Create a universal mortgage tax credit (averaging $500) for homeowners.
-Provide a credit card rating system to simplify credit card shopping for consumers.
-Drive shady payday loan outfits out of business by encouraging banks and other legitimate lenders to make short-term microloans .
Conclusion: I’m all for tax credits for my income and mortgage. And green technology is absolutely fundamental for long-term forward movement in the economy. But where is the government getting the money to fund this? I mean, the only papers the Feds are rolling in right now are I.O.U. slips…
PART 2: McCAINLAND
We’re gonna kick some ass in Iraq and pull out victorious within five years. Private health insurance will become more competitive, so average Joes and Josephines to afford policies. Kids will have a better education. The government will be run like a Navy SEAL team, with no excess pork and no corruption. Thanks in part to this, Social Security will be saved.
(Image Credit: The Washington Note)
HEALTHCARE
Still up to us, but a break for seniors
Implement tax credits to boost an open-market system where the public picks from competing policies. McCain hopes that healthcare insurance will move away from employer-based systems and into private consumers’ hands. He would also lower Medicare premiums.
IRAQ
We’re gonna kick some ass
McCain wants to keep troops in Iraq “until the war is won,“ which he claims can happen by 2013.
TAXES
More of the same
Keep Bush’s policies of tax cuts for the wealthy intact, while also cutting corporate tax rates.
GAS PRICES
Gassackwards
Remove federal gas taxes for a period in the summer, “giving a boost to struggling families seeking a vacation.”
FREE TRADE
More of the same
Keep current policies in place; promote low barriers to trade.
EMPLOYMENT
Better-educated kids, hope for the future, and unemployment bootcamp.
-Promises to save the social security system without raising taxes.
-Increase educational opportunities for children by allowing them a free choice of schools to attend.
-Overhaul unemployment insurance and turn it into a program that helps retrain and relocate people who have lost their jobs. Funding community colleges and technical training programs will be part of this effort.
INTERNAL GOVERNMENT POLICIES
Make the US government a lean, mean accountability machine. Free up more money for better causes.
-Will single-handedly veto any earmarked or pork-barrel bills.
-Promote accountability and performance in the federal workforce.
-Cut wasteful spending anywhere he sees it, in defense and non-defense programs. Get rid of government programs that do not work.
Conclusion: I’m all for a lean, corruption-free government. But how is organizational sharpness going to help Americans cope with increasing food, fuel and other commodity prices? And is increased competition in the private healthcare sector really going to reduce prices by that much?
good comparison
thanks
“Let Bush’s tax cuts on the wealthy expire”
The tax cuts are for everyone, not just the favored special interest groups of the liberal politicians braniacs especially when their definition of wealthy always includes the middle class. In point of fact it has been proven by several politically agnostic economists that raising taxes beyond a certain point does not increase revenue. So villifying one group by not giving them the same tax breaks so they pay taxes beyond that level is at best sub-optimal although a great talking point for people who just listen to sound bites.
This is by far one of the most informative articles ive read on the policies of the two candidates… great read
p.s. Im leaning towards obama
More of the same politico-talk – more tax breaks and credits without mentioning how we’ll pay for them, much less our already exponentially increasing unfunded liabilities. Recent estimates calculate these liabilities (mostly Medicare and SS) to be in the neighborhood of $100 trillion dollars. As a member of GenY, can’t say I’m too optimistic…
Neither one of these men who would be king have the frijoles to admit that we will NEVER be able to leave Iraq unless we stop letting envir-nuts keep us from accessing our own energy reserves. No rocket science here, if the enviro-nuts insist we don’t inconvenience a caribou then we are gonna have to get our oil elsewhere. Canada is churning out high quality crude from its tar sands to the tune of 1,000,000 barrels a day, we could do the same with our oil shale. Canada does not need to import oil, but they would if they had our enviro-nuts blocking progress. Get involved people:
http://www.AmericansForJobsAndEnergy.org
I’d like to see Obama taking that pose in front of a bunch of treehuggers as he defies their selfish demands.
As long as we continue to cater to those that deem us a cash cow, with total disregard for our national interests, we will continue to depress our economy. (as though it needs it) We have hit the breaking point as we speak. Our patriotic energy companies love us to death. Lets all invest in petroleum and try and feed ourselves. Greed is good? You cant feed your family with greed or oil.
Every republican asking where Obama is going to get the money for his social programs, should first ask this question:
Where is McCain going to get the money for 4 more years of war?
The war in Iraq is costing significantly more than any social welfare scheme up for discussion today. Also, the “war is making us safer” argument is irrational as well when you consider that half the cost of the war could provide more than enough homeland security.
It is sad but true that war-hungry overspending republicans are not going to make life better for fiscal conservatives. This election should be a rare example of intelligent business-minded conservatives crossing party lines to protect the US economy (and everyone’s savings account) from war-driven inflation.
they should actually lower the tax rates even more for the wealthy. we should have a flat tax rate from 20-25%. i am not wealthy but I dont want to punish the rich for being successful. with the flat tax then everyone can contribute equally to the income tax (which is an illegal tax by the way) fund. This healthcare system that obama wants, where do you think that they will get the money for that? They are broke! There are 3 things they can do, the first is to increase taxes, the second is to just inflate the currency, basically print money, and third is to sell government securities to foreign investors, but we won’t even cover this because the likelihood of this occurring is slim to none, because of the already slumping dollar. If we increase taxes then the individual becomes less wealthy and more dependent upon the government and if we print more money then the government has more paper dollars but the value of each individual federal reserve note is decreased, hence making prices of all goods and services go up. Making the US population even poorer, and more needy for government assistance in other parts of their lives. This will cause more assistance programs to occur, causing more inflation, lower unemployment, followed by lower living conditions and lower inflation adjusted wages. So basically don’t vote for obama. I don’t support most of what either of these candidates want, but economically speaking McCain is better, because he only wants to spend 62 billion dollars overbudget and obama is 245 billion dollars overbudget. Oh and on the Iraq war figure for obama that is incorrect, because in the september debates of 2007 he was asked if he could guarantee troop withdrawal by the end of his term and he said no! The only “change” there will be if obama is elected is the decrease in inflation adjusted wealth of working, tax paying, ill-informed voting American citizens. Invest in agriculture (like land), get out of the stock market, buy precious metals, and convert look dollars to other currencies of small developing nations
Why don’t they just turn us into slaves and get it over with?