Spreading the Wealth

One of the fear tactics to try and get people to not vote for Obama is he's a socialist, a Marxist, and will take all of your money to give to someone else. (Kind of like Alaska does when it takes our money in paying for gasoline and give it to its citizens as welfare reverse income tax.) You would think Obama had only run for the presidency to turn this country over to Russia. Hey, it's not him who has put the United States into hock to China!

When it comes to taxes, which nobody likes much, Obama's plan is to tax the richest Americans at a higher rate than they are today and to lower the tax rate on the working class (those making under $250 or 200,000 a year net). He's not doing this because he hates the rich. Obama is looking for programs that will work.

Those of you who fear the increased taxes for those making a lot of money, don't forget the other part of this was a tax cut for the middle class. Since taxes seem to be all some care about. Check out this page for how Obama's proposal (Congress does have to agree) would impact you-- What's your Obama tax cut?. Go down the page and click on the button. Yes, when he gets in, things could change as he sees actual figures, finds out what might now be hidden, but this is the plan.

Obama said we have to rebuild our infrastructure as China is doing to make themselves competitive in the 21st century. He said when we look around us, we don't see anything to show for our current deficit. If we are going to borrow, it should be for things we can see, things that help us compete in the world where we either will be competitive, or we will lose even more ground economically. You cannot be competitive with rhetoric. It takes real actions.

Study McCain's promises, and the truth is he will either have to raise taxes, to carry through his promises, or increase our deficit even more. This is why a lot of economists have embraced Obama's plan. Palin is even worse. She doesn't even know what McCain's plan is as she said we can't possibly cut Defense during a war and McCain already said he would cut Defense where it comes to waste.

McCain has several things he proposes which will increase taxes on the small business owner which he is supposedly so concerned about-- like his medical plan that would lead to more taxable income and the small business owner pays payroll taxes, workman's comp, and transit tax on that increase. For small business owners, who have provided health insurance, their taxes will go up more under McCain than under Obama.

There is a reason for increasing the tax rate for the richest. It is a practical one not hatred of the rich (that is so Rush-ian. The irony is for all his talk about class warfare, it's Limbaugh and his ilk who have done the most to try and make that happen during this election even more than usual. Put down scientists, put down educated people, put down artists, put down some parts of the country as un-American if they don't vote Republican. While they are doing that, Obama talks well about all groups with trying to understand them and figure out what will help their problems.

Obama, and anyone who studies economics for awhile, knows that the middle class is the engine driving this economy. When people in the middle cannot afford to buy things, everybody is hurt. Frankly, the richer you are, the less a tax increase impacts what you can afford. You might have a few less luxuries, but Obama is not talking a confiscatory increase. He's talking of going back to what it was in 2000 before Bush began his descent into financial madness.

Can we ignore the deficit? Keep borrowing from China? Obama has said he will go over government programs to try and eliminate those that don't work (McCain says the same), but policies that involve simply cutting programs won't do enough. Many of those programs will involve job cuts if they happen putting more people out of work.

When he was in the Senate, Obama worked with Coburn from Oklahoma to get through put the government budget online for Google searches. This makes what the government spends transparent, which is what Obama says should be true.

All government spending is not bad for the economy. You build a new bridge, you create jobs. What if we improved our railroads like some other countries? Not only would goods move faster across the country but more people might find the train a pleasant way to travel, and it uses a lot less fossil fuel than any alternatives. It will take improved and new rail lines to make that happen. Obama says this is the kind of thing where government can help and private enterprise might not have the clout or money right now.

Have you gotten that email that claims all our deficit problem is due to programs for illegals? The email uses as sources blogs, some conspiracy sites, as it pulls together a lot of figures (some maybe added in three or four times, all speculation to start). If you look at any government figures online for where money goes, you see the email's figures don't hold up, but a lot of people will never look beyond what they want to see-- they want to solve this problem at no cost to themselves. I do not believe that is possible, not after the eight years of neocon rule.

The accusation that spreading the wealth is bad is ridiculous as all taxes spread the wealth. McCain is not talking about ending taxation nor ending progressive tax rates. He has said in the past that the rich should pay more. It is just logical. He doesn't dare say it now nor mention Alaska's ultimate spread the wealth program which basically is socialist as Palin now thinks is so bad but as she increased that dole to increase her popularity in Alaska (then applied for massive US earmarks as getting the revenue from us wasn't enough; she still wanted us to pay for any infrastructure up there).

Taxes pay for programs, roads and military that we as individuals cannot do. Where did some Americans forget this? This election you again heard McCain repeating the old mantra-- you can better manage your money than the federal government can.

If someone doesn't believe in government, you should not elect them to be at the head of it. They will only make sure it fails. Elect someone who believes in government programs, sees the good they can do, and makes sure they do it.

A lot of people who fear taxes so much just don't realize that there are many ways to have less money like inflation, job losses, investments that suddenly lose value, a crumbling economy. Wise taxation, fair use of the funds, being careful what programs are funded, getting rid of those that don't work, those are ways to make this a better nation for all of us. Prosperity that leaves behind most of the country isn't going to make it better for anybody in the long run.