![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
shadowkat[If you haven't already done so, please fill out my political/lj poll - go here: http://shadowkat67.livejournal.com/374888.html}
The US is about to slip into a recession according to the media. (Actually I think they are in deep denial, the US already has. And I think it's not just the US but Global. Like it or not, we affect one another. We can no longer be isolationist or nationalistic, this is a problem that we have to solve together or not at all. Got to give the World Banking Industry credit - they've already figured this out on their own - according to the paper this morning they are gathering together funds to bail out big financial corporations and banks. Now if only our governments can get with the program. I'm no economist, but even an idiot can see that our capitalistic system went a bit insane, unfettered and unregulated, greed got out of control and we are now reaping the results. That said, it occured to me today, what the heck are the US Presidential Candidates economic plans. We've done the character debate to death and let's face it that's largely subjective anyway, no one should be voting completely on just that.]
Anywho here's links. If you are a professional economist or economic expert and can provide insight? Please do so.
Salon.com describes John McCain's Tax Plan which would cut taxes even more thant George Bush has
Curious. How does John plan to pay for the military and defense? Out of his own pocket? Always wondered about this - defense contractors and consultants tend to be pretty pricey, a nice submarine costs quite a bit. Not to mention the salaries of everyone going overseas, their medical care, and disability insurance. So if you cut taxes, and you have a trillion dollar deficit, how do you pay for the troops overseas?
This reminds me a bit of some of my friends and credit card debt. They overspend on their credit cards, then transfer to another one, and another one, until finally they have to pay about 1,000 a month to pay it off. Stupid. But apparently human nature.
Barack Obama's Emergency Economic Plan, detailed on his site
From Invesztor Centric - Barack Obama and John McCain battle over the Economy
According to this article, which may or may not be reliable, feels a bit fiscally conservative, but I could be wrong :
Obama seems to propose tax cuts for poor and middle income, while raising taxes on the rich, capital gains, and businesses. Also pulling back troops from Iraq. McCain proposes tax cuts on the rich, capital gains and businesses - to ensure jobs and not pulling out troops from Iraq. Obama wants to spend more money on health care and domestic issues, McCain less. Obama wants to spend more money rescueing our economy, McCain believes we should rely on businesses and the market to do it - not sure how McCain plans on paying for all his defensive efforts. It's basically the difference between a more "socialistic" approach and a more "capitalistic" approach. My frustration with both plans - is that I want a middle ground. We need to update those laws established in the 1930s to deal with this issue. Regulations. Anti-Trust. Etc. But this is just one opinion. The thing of it is - Clinton was much the same way as Obama, yet he handed us over a surplus, while Bush/Reagan gave us a deficit. So...my take is "DEFENSE" is far more expensive than domestic issues, plus Congress does come into play here. They are supposed to check some of this. They haven't at the moment, the bastards, but they are supposed to.
I don't know how reliable this next link is, since it is by commentator Ken Oblierman, McCain's Economic Plan created by Republican Lobbyist
Also not sure about this one: Economic Plans Compared
This blogger did some digging and has compared the economic plans side by side, complete with cool cartoon graphics! And having done a quick read through? It's actually less biased than I thought. She breaks down each of the economic plans with numerical bullet point and headings, making it easy to understand.
For each candidate's platforms:
John McCain: http://www.johnmccain.com/landing2/?sid=google&t=newlanding&r=johnmccain
Barack Obama:http://www.barackobama.com/index.php
How Barack and John will change our tax bills: CNN Money Article about Tax Plans
Not sure about reliability or biasis.
Congressional Record on the Economic Policy issue Barack Obama supported in Congress:
http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Barack_Obama/Economic_Policy
(This is RELIABLE. And unbiased.)
And here's a site that has a debate over the two plans along with comments, and experts supporting them, and a poll on which one you agree with, go here:
http://www.opposingviews.com/questions/who-has-the-right-plan-for-america-s-economy
[It appears to be reliable and unbiased.]
This is depressing, but also possibly the most reliable - it comes from the Tax Policy Center, a non-partisan Tax Policy Center.
Here it is: http://www.taxpolicycenter.org/UploadedPDF/411750_updated_candidates_summary.pdf
(Note it is a PDF not html format)
What the rest of the world thinks: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/uselection2008/2049446/Barack-Obama-beats-John-McCain-in-European-vote-US-election-2008.html
The skinny? The Russians love McCain and see him as the one to lead us out of economic debt. Of course they also love George W. Bush. They tend to prefer fiscal conservatives.
The Europeans prefer Barack Obama.
Considering how bad the Russian Economy has been for the last several years, I'm not sure I'd value their opinion on anything, but that's just me. (The Europeans on the other hand have the Euro, which kicked the dollar's ass recently, and have been doing MUCH better.)
An interesting blog post about Barack Obama's Economic Policy - stating it is actually more Capitalistic than one thinks. This is based on the NYT Magazine article that my Dad read a while back - where he told me Obama's plan is fairly pragmatic, and that it takes the best portions of the last five President's economic plans, yes including the Bushes and Reagan.
Go here: http://www.portfolio.com/views/blogs/market-movers/2008/08/20/barack-obama-economic-policy-wonk?tid=true
Here's the New York Times Magazine piece by economist David Leonhardt - an economic Columnist for the NY Times. The piece compares the two plans and analyzes them. It's an interesting article - stating Obama is a pragmatist taking portions from several different plans.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/24/magazine/24Obamanomics-t.html?_r=1&hp=&pagewanted=all&oref=slogin
[Sorry for the length - I tried to shorten a bit by cut-tagging.]
The US is about to slip into a recession according to the media. (Actually I think they are in deep denial, the US already has. And I think it's not just the US but Global. Like it or not, we affect one another. We can no longer be isolationist or nationalistic, this is a problem that we have to solve together or not at all. Got to give the World Banking Industry credit - they've already figured this out on their own - according to the paper this morning they are gathering together funds to bail out big financial corporations and banks. Now if only our governments can get with the program. I'm no economist, but even an idiot can see that our capitalistic system went a bit insane, unfettered and unregulated, greed got out of control and we are now reaping the results. That said, it occured to me today, what the heck are the US Presidential Candidates economic plans. We've done the character debate to death and let's face it that's largely subjective anyway, no one should be voting completely on just that.]
Anywho here's links. If you are a professional economist or economic expert and can provide insight? Please do so.
Salon.com describes John McCain's Tax Plan which would cut taxes even more thant George Bush has
Curious. How does John plan to pay for the military and defense? Out of his own pocket? Always wondered about this - defense contractors and consultants tend to be pretty pricey, a nice submarine costs quite a bit. Not to mention the salaries of everyone going overseas, their medical care, and disability insurance. So if you cut taxes, and you have a trillion dollar deficit, how do you pay for the troops overseas?
This reminds me a bit of some of my friends and credit card debt. They overspend on their credit cards, then transfer to another one, and another one, until finally they have to pay about 1,000 a month to pay it off. Stupid. But apparently human nature.
Barack Obama's Emergency Economic Plan, detailed on his site
From Invesztor Centric - Barack Obama and John McCain battle over the Economy
According to this article, which may or may not be reliable, feels a bit fiscally conservative, but I could be wrong :
Obama seems to propose tax cuts for poor and middle income, while raising taxes on the rich, capital gains, and businesses. Also pulling back troops from Iraq. McCain proposes tax cuts on the rich, capital gains and businesses - to ensure jobs and not pulling out troops from Iraq. Obama wants to spend more money on health care and domestic issues, McCain less. Obama wants to spend more money rescueing our economy, McCain believes we should rely on businesses and the market to do it - not sure how McCain plans on paying for all his defensive efforts. It's basically the difference between a more "socialistic" approach and a more "capitalistic" approach. My frustration with both plans - is that I want a middle ground. We need to update those laws established in the 1930s to deal with this issue. Regulations. Anti-Trust. Etc. But this is just one opinion. The thing of it is - Clinton was much the same way as Obama, yet he handed us over a surplus, while Bush/Reagan gave us a deficit. So...my take is "DEFENSE" is far more expensive than domestic issues, plus Congress does come into play here. They are supposed to check some of this. They haven't at the moment, the bastards, but they are supposed to.
I don't know how reliable this next link is, since it is by commentator Ken Oblierman, McCain's Economic Plan created by Republican Lobbyist
Also not sure about this one: Economic Plans Compared
This blogger did some digging and has compared the economic plans side by side, complete with cool cartoon graphics! And having done a quick read through? It's actually less biased than I thought. She breaks down each of the economic plans with numerical bullet point and headings, making it easy to understand.
For each candidate's platforms:
John McCain: http://www.johnmccain.com/landing2/?sid=google&t=newlanding&r=johnmccain
Barack Obama:http://www.barackobama.com/index.php
How Barack and John will change our tax bills: CNN Money Article about Tax Plans
Not sure about reliability or biasis.
Congressional Record on the Economic Policy issue Barack Obama supported in Congress:
http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Barack_Obama/Economic_Policy
(This is RELIABLE. And unbiased.)
And here's a site that has a debate over the two plans along with comments, and experts supporting them, and a poll on which one you agree with, go here:
http://www.opposingviews.com/questions/who-has-the-right-plan-for-america-s-economy
[It appears to be reliable and unbiased.]
This is depressing, but also possibly the most reliable - it comes from the Tax Policy Center, a non-partisan Tax Policy Center.
Here it is: http://www.taxpolicycenter.org/UploadedPDF/411750_updated_candidates_summary.pdf
(Note it is a PDF not html format)
What the rest of the world thinks: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/uselection2008/2049446/Barack-Obama-beats-John-McCain-in-European-vote-US-election-2008.html
The skinny? The Russians love McCain and see him as the one to lead us out of economic debt. Of course they also love George W. Bush. They tend to prefer fiscal conservatives.
The Europeans prefer Barack Obama.
Considering how bad the Russian Economy has been for the last several years, I'm not sure I'd value their opinion on anything, but that's just me. (The Europeans on the other hand have the Euro, which kicked the dollar's ass recently, and have been doing MUCH better.)
An interesting blog post about Barack Obama's Economic Policy - stating it is actually more Capitalistic than one thinks. This is based on the NYT Magazine article that my Dad read a while back - where he told me Obama's plan is fairly pragmatic, and that it takes the best portions of the last five President's economic plans, yes including the Bushes and Reagan.
Go here: http://www.portfolio.com/views/blogs/market-movers/2008/08/20/barack-obama-economic-policy-wonk?tid=true
Here's the New York Times Magazine piece by economist David Leonhardt - an economic Columnist for the NY Times. The piece compares the two plans and analyzes them. It's an interesting article - stating Obama is a pragmatist taking portions from several different plans.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/24/magazine/24Obamanomics-t.html?_r=1&hp=&pagewanted=all&oref=slogin
[Sorry for the length - I tried to shorten a bit by cut-tagging.]
