I Just Cannot Help Myself...

I told myself that I wasn't going to do this. I thought that I would take a week to think about different issues and find some other interests to talk about. But I just cannot help myself today. Tonight is the last and final debate between McCain & Obama at Hofstra University. What will we learn?

I'm not sure how all of this will play out. It seems to me that I obviously think differently than the majority of people being polled in America(that's not uncommon). I do hope that the issues that Americans want to hear will come out in tonight's debate. According to most news outlets the important topic is the economy. So if it's the economy I'm curious if McCain will be able to shed light on Obama's economic plan.

This morning on Fox News there was a discussion on how 80% of the top CEO's in the nation favor McCain's economic plan over Obama's. In fact, 6% fear that an Obama administration with his policies would bankrupt America within a 3 year period. One CEO went on to say that Obama has show his inexperience in many of his ideas - one of which is the increase on capital gains tax. Today the Obama campaign came out with the witty reply by saying that basically this is laughable since this year not many people are seeing capital gains.

I chose to share all of this with you because it's relevant to this election. If the vast majority of America's CEO's see an Obama presidency along with his economic policies as dangerous to the economy shouldn't someone besides FOX News be talking about it? Are they discussing this on NBC, ABC, CBS, CNN, or MSNBC? Or are you simply hearing that most people say that they trust Obama on the economy more so than McCain? It makes sense since a Rasmussen poll recently learned that a majority of Americans favor increasing taxes on the top 5% and redistributing their wealth to the middle & lower class. This is simply amazing to me.

If it's about the economy then why don't people have a better understanding of McCain & Obama's policies? I was talking to my father the other day and he said, "Well, they say McCain is going to start taxing health insurance..." All I could say was that the statement was untrue and that I had looked it up. You see, my dad doesn't have cable. He cannot watch something like FOX News to hear both sides of an issue. No - he's stuck with the networks who have been in the tank for some time. What McCain's policy does say it that all American taxpayers will receive a tax credit {$2,500 per individual/$5,000 per family}. This will allow people WHO CHOOSE to buy their own health insurance coverage rather than having their insurance tied to their employer. McCain's plan will start taxing the money that your employer takes out of you paycheck for health insurance (this is the change) but according to the Tax Policy Center the new credit more than covers the additional taxes, leaving you with the insurance you have now, and with a little more money in your pocket come tax time (between $700 and $1,600). In the end, should you choose to pay out of pocket for health insurance [which is what my family does] you have as much money as your employer does to pay for your insurance. Ask yourself this question: How many people do you know that are tied down to a job they hate simply because of "benefits"?

McCain also wants to eliminate taxes on unemployment, allow retirees to keep their money in 401k's longer, drastically reduce capital gains taxes, and allow for shopping in the health care market. In the end what this means for the taxpayer is less government and more individual responsibility and freedom. A recent analysis of the McCain health care plan by Roger Feldman and Health Systems Innovation found that it would reduce the number of uninsured Americans by 27 million - well over half of the present total and all without forcing anyone who now likes their coverage to lose it.

There is no doubt in my mind that Obama is more articulate that McCain. And there is a large group of people in this country who want a president who looks good and speaks well. However, shouldn't this election come down to policy rather than popularity? I think so! Obama's economic plan is socialism - plain & simple. McCain's plan is to allow people to keep more of their money and reduce government spending instead of making government bigger and the deficit larger.

Let's make this very clear: You have a choice come November 4th. What kind of leader do you want? What kind of economy do you want? I think the choice is clear. If you are undecided and this is all about the economy then you must look at the facts. But let me also say that this election is also about national security and winning the war on terror and finishing the job in Iraq. Look at the policies and the records and vote on principals.

Thanks for reading.