Economic Issues
As we are all aware, the economy has taken a sincere downturn and we have not had a recession this bad since 1980 (if I got my facts right). According to the New York Times columnist Michael Falcone, both candidates for the presidency are facing some issues regarding their stances and policies on the economy. John McCain proposes a "Jobs First" plan and also pledges to "balance the federal budget by the end of his first term by curbing wasteful spending and overhauling entitlement programs, including Social Security." Just as a reminder, McCain's idea to reduce spending is to put a one year pause on all federal programs. Moving on, "McCain's campaign released a statement this morning signed by 300 economists, including several Nobel Prize winners and a long list of economists from the academy and policy communities, supporting the McCain economic Plan." This sucks! That could be really beneficial for boosting McCain's standing amongst conservatives and undecideds. Regardless of his assertion that "he is not expert in the subject of the economy," and the fact that "voters will associate him with the economic policies of the Bush administration. He has embraced President Bush's stands on central issues like tax cuts and trade policy." Although McCain asserts that his plans and policies on the economy are different than Bush's, essentially the Bush plan is like a white chocolate mocha and the McCain plan is like a caramel mocha. The people are still sick of mocha and may want a latte or a soy chai or a green tea.
Barack Obama's difficulty is "connecting with working-class voters" and with "tax increases." Unfortunately, many Americans do not understand that in order to get ourselves out of this hideous recession and debt that Bush has left for us, there are going to be tax increases. If McCain hits office and keeps cutting taxes and keeps us overseas in Iraq and Afghanistan, we will continue to spiral into deeper debt. Which would you prefer? If the people think only of themselves and their generation, they would love McCain's policies. If the people think like Winona LaDuke and think of the generations ahead, Obama's plans are much more heathly. Just a small rant. Obama also faces the effects of his remarks "last week that he might 'refine' his Iraq policy." Although I am quite upset about this statement as well, I understand Obama's argument that he has not really changed his policy, people just didn't read his plan accurately. We are just upset with his plan. He will, however, have to deal with the attacks from republicans stating that he is "flip-flopping" on Iraq. Additionally, many Clinton supporters are raising some hell over the sexist treatment of Hillary during the campaign and Obama's minimal effort to stop the attacks.
Interestingly, the conservatives are "preparing to do battle with allies of Sen. John McCain in advance of September's Republican National Convention, hoping to prevent his views on global warming, immigration, stem cell research and campaign finance from becoming enshrined in the party's official declaration of principles." I find it difficult to imagine McCain winning this election if many Republicans are resisting his policies from become a part of their platform. This is apparently the wrong kind of change for his own party.