Anyone phyched about the tomorrow's presidential debate?
It seems like, for McCain, this debate will be a make or break deal. Both candidates have to prove to Americans, or those who can be swayed, that they are the right leader. Currently, Obama is leading with mostly Democrats, and McCain is lagging on behind him. Both leaders have a plan in mind of what they would do to the failing economy, if elected President of the United States. Tomorrow's debate will discuss the candidates' economic policies.
Obama feels that the economic condition would better if a Democrat led the presidency. Obama feels that the government should be involved with regulating the banking crisis, or at least investing in them. Why? "It gives taxpayers a better chance of getting their money out. Potentially, it also gives the Treasury some more direct mechanisms to monitor and apply some ground rules to participating banks." (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/obama;_ylt=ApTqOy0ya7pzsQjdb653G7ph24cA) Obama thinks that top executives should have limits to their salaries and taxpayers must get the same ownership and returns as other investors in the banks. He admits, though, that investing in the banks is not going to do much in regards to solving the current economic crisis. However, the basis of Obama's plan to help the economy is:
• Penalty-free withdrawals of up to $10,000 from IRAs and 401(k)s in tax years 2008 and 2009.
• A $3,000 tax credit for every new full-time job created in the USA by businesses in 2009-10.
• A requirement that banks benefiting from the federally funded bailout provide a 90-day moratorium on foreclosures to give homeowners time to work out a payment plan.
• Empowering the Federal Reserve to provide short-term loans to state and local governments caught in the credit crunch.
(from: http://www.usatoday.com/news/politics/election2008/2008-10-13-obama_N.htm?csp=34)
McCain's plan is a proposal of a 52.5 billion dollar bill. I was looking at an article on yahoo on McCain's plan (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081014/ap_on_el_pr/mccain;_ylt=AhUizegYOQY.qMa3.gQTtzZh24cA), and basically what McCain is proposing is buying the shares in the nation's leading banks. He wants to take the government out of the business of the bailouts and leave them to their business. He also call for a tax cut. More specifically, down to 7.5 percent for two years, in hopes of encouraging people to buy more stuff, spend more money and therefore stimulate the economy.
Does anyone have a preference for either plan?
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5 comments:
I am not sure which plan is better because issues involving economics kinda go over my head, but i prefer Obama's plan to McCain's plan. In my opinion Obama's plan sort of punishes the banks for the mess they got themselves into, while McCain's plan seems to let the banks off the hook. If the banks are let totally of the hook what is going to teach them a lesson? I also like Obama's idea of a limit to how much an executive can earn...maybe this will help stop the super rich from becoming super duper rich.
I think in tomorrows debate we will hear a lot of arguing between McCain and Obama about tax policies. McCain will probably accuse Obama of raising taxes, and Obama will respond that he is only raising taxes on households that earn more than $250,000. Then Obama will accuse McCain of lowering taxes on big businesses...and so on.
I agree with Ana's statement (ps. I love you Ana) regarding how McCain's plan isn't tough enough on the people who caused the economic turmoil. I was a bit surprised by his plan because it involves government intervention (since he wants to bail the companies out). However, Republicans as a whole prefer Laissez-Fare policies, and want weaker business to die out while successful ones prosper. However, McCain's plan goes against this because the government is saving the companies from complete destruction...
Anyway, I think Obama's plan involves punishing the companies for their bad decisions, while McCain's simply lets them off the hook and leaves the American people to fend for themselves.
BAM
Thanks you Nelia for your insight. I didn't really think about how Republicans prefer the whole Laissez-Fare policies when i was reading about their economic plans. But now that you mention it, it seems like McCain is trying to juggle the Republican Laissez-Fare ideas and his desire to help the banks. McCain wants to give money to the banks which does not really go with the whole Laissez-Fare idea, let everything work out on its own. But, he kind of goes with the Laissez-Fare policies by giving the banks money and then letting them be. I wonder how the Republicans are going to react to his plan if he mentions it in the Presidential debate.
I think that tonight's debate is more like the Vice-Presidental debate -- the Democrat simply needs to not screw up, and the Republican needs to show the country that he has what it takes to be the Commander in Chief. Regarding their respective economic policies, I think Obama's is stronger. As Nelia and Ana pointed out, the Republicans generally favor laissez-faire economics. Over the past week, however, I've heard on NPR and seen on the news that McCain keeps refering to less government ownership of the corporations, banks, etc., and more government regulations so things like this don't happen again. This seems as though it goes against the laissez-faire mentality. Also, wasn't McCain the one who objected to government regualtion in recent years? Anyways, I believe Obama's idea of a moratorium for mortgages and a tax increase for the very wealthy will help America more than McCain's plan which seems to be a little too simplistic.
I truly don't believe that McCain can turn the tide at this point because you can already tell that he is desperate. For example, he recently criticized Bush and has also been attacking Obama's character which is not going off very successfully considering the fact that the only ones who are truly buying it are stupid and i mean REALLY stupid people. For example, i recently watched a video showing people calling Obama a Muslim and a person who works with terrorist and should be feared. All and all, unless Obama does something incredibly stupid, he ain't gonna lose
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