Wednesday, November 5, 2008

Post election musings

On your point of why I prefer McCain to Obama—I compare their economic agenda and policies; definitely McCain has my vote. I’d prefer right wing economic policies to the left wing any day (health care, free trade, taxes, labor unions: I definitely prefer McCain over Obama) ! On Iraq war, U.S. is going to reduce its presence in Iraq irrespective of whether it is going to be a republican or democrat in white house so it does not matter to me.

I’d rather ask on why all of the rest prefer Obama. Is it primarily Obama’s policies that we like, or is it more due to disgust with the outgoing president Bush? My view is that republicans have badly lost due to their unpopular president (most voters don’t trust them any more); not because of McCain’s projected policies.

Yes, I’d love to hear from you all what you want to see happen under Obama; and Pri will really like it if you post those comments on this blog :)

--R

6 comments:

  1. I guess you come under the 250K+ income bracket, so Obama is definitely not good for you cos you are gonna see an increase in taxes. For the middle class I guess Obama’s tax policies work better.

    --Pi

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  2. For me its a mix of multiple things:

    1. Does the disastrous presidency of Bush bias my opinion? yes.
    2. I am very strongly against the war, and I am not sure if McCain would have put an end to it as quickly as I would like. This does not mean that Obama can put a stop on it immediately, but overall, I would like to see a cut in the defense spending, and McCain to me seems like he will continue the war till ‘US can claim victory’.
    3. Obama is more focused on reducing our dependence on oil and developing clean energy. McCain supports offshore drilling, which I do not think is the answer, but rather a short term patch.
    4. Vice presidential pick shows poor judgment on the part of McCain and I strongly believe she is not capable of leading this country if the need be, in the middle of the umpteen problems that are present today. She really dragged his ticket down with ‘Shout outs’ during a debate and a much longer list.

    There are other conservative/liberal issues such as abortion/stem cell research/gay marraige but I am looking at the economic issues. That said, do I think either of them would have been able to do all that they claim/promise? No. But certainly, we have to differentiate based on what they claim they want to achieve.

    My $0.02.

    --AJ

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  3. A quick note on Pi’s comment. Our income bracket in this area is still very much middle class. We just happen to get burned because the federal tax brackets are not adjusted to state median income levels/ standard of living etc.

    The other big reason why we’ll be heavily taxed is because we don’t own a house (which truly does not make economic sense for us, nor can we comfortably afford one) and as R will readily tell you, the government shouldn’t tell us whether or not to buy a house through their incentives. Anyway, look at the mess it got everyone in, so why not have the same tax rebates for rent as for mortgage payments.

    Coming back to point 1, this is one of the big reasons I personally can NOT agree with the Robinhood approach. The government can NEVER fairly identify whose pocket to reach into and whose to fill up. For much of the middle class it translates into simple tax benefits but there will definitely be a lot of unfair taxing on hard working entrepreneurs while the lazy have lesser incentive to work.

    I’m still happy that Obama won but it’s just not as simple as that.

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  4. Wow, that is well said….

    Pi, on your point on increase in taxes: the place where we live (California ) is one of the most progressive states in the country. With the highest sales tax (8.5%) and high income taxes (9.5%) for families making more than 100K, you would think we would have great social programs and a comfortable life in CA.

    Rather, the state, as always, is so close to bankruptcy that is it is desperate for federal grants to bail it out at this point. That makes me wonder whether the government can ever be competent enough to spend our money wisely long term.

    Continuing on taxes, add a higher federal tax bracket on top of it and the other long list of taxes for the self employed/enterpreneurs (15% payroll tax, medicare tax etc.), how much is left in our pockets at the end of the day to work hard for an extra buck ? This is where I think a few of the activist policies are misguided.

    On the risk of being pedantic here: Do remember that capital moves freely across borders. If U.S. changes its tax policies and labor policies to reduce an investor’s rate of return, capital will just move to other countries… Ultimately, you want private capital to create jobs, not the heavily indebted federal or state governments.

    --RJ

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  5. And for my 2 cents worth, I just think it is a credit to the nation that 50 years after struggling to be equal citizens, a colored man is leading the nation.

    --GG

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  6. This man (RJ) lives on a different plane and speaks a language of his own. I can only hope to understand him one day.

    I agree 100% that there’s much to be happy about. Although I haven’t been swept off my feet by the Obama wave—I suppose when a man resembles your husband there’s only so much you can take of him, I think he does have the charisma and pragmatism we need at this time to restore our faith in this nation. Good luck to him (and all of us)!

    Meanwhile, my soft corner for palin grows bigger (I will wait for some ugly reactions before explaining further :D).

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