i am a lifelong republican. deep at heart i feel that when government bureaucrats take over a task they will ultimately bungle it badly. a bureaucracy is inherently inefficient. politicians wasting my hard earned money through taxation is galling.so why would i choose to vote for barack obama? why, when i heard of mccain's bump from the convention, did i nearly buy a yard sign for our front yard and a bumper sticker for my car?
here is a recent article that has been floating around in my head since i read it last week. fascinating stuff.
income inequality can be devastating to a society. sure, i want those that have talent and work hard to be compensated handsomely for their work. the quality that comes from american corporations is born out of the competition in the american markets where lots of money is to be had for the company with the best product.
however, when it becomes too easy for those at the top to cut all others out of the potential to also rise through hard work, then a detrimental grinding poverty and hopelessness may continue to descend on large swathes of america.
income inequality is a real phenomenon. if you were wondering where your income and educational level sits amongst your american peers then look here under 'how class breaks down'. it may surprise you where you sit on the totem poll.
ultimately though, this graph is the message i took from the article:
"The table...shows that families at the 95th percentile fared almost as well under Republican presidents as under Democrats (1.90 percent growth per year, versus 2.12 percent), giving them little stake, economically, in election outcomes."sure, i'm skeptical of a couple guys from princeton telling us that democrats are better for the economy and for the poor in america...but the idea set forth here is fascinating. that while democrats may raise taxes here and there...the income of the most wealthy rose at similar rates regardless of the party in office...and at the same time--something was done about the shameful income inequality that continues to widen.
capitalism at its heart is heartless. it is least suited to benefit the sick, young and elderly. it would follow that a good capitalist government would then look after these segments of society in a manner ethical and compassionate.
am i off in this? have i been brainwashed somewhere along the line?
49 comments:
Paul,
Thanks for the links on your post. My thoughts on the subject are similar to yours.
Darin
Paul,
It's Ivan from the U student ward. My wife got into this blogging thing and I have really enjoyed reading your posts.
A few comments, the economic expansion that is nearing an end with the coming recession is the first in the history of the country that the middle class has actually seen a decrease in income. The top five percent of income earners and especially the top one percent have seen income increase in such a manner that really hasn't been seen since the pre-labor movement and formation of workers unions. As a fiscal conservative I fear that the next economic slowdown will be due to wage disparity and the formation of a "ruling class" in our society. I find it interesting that corporate CEO's claim that the free market shouldn't be interfered with when jobs are being shipped overseas, but we see so many support the bailout of fanniemae and freddiemac with the CEO's suffering with their compensation going from 22 million a year to 18 million. In Japan, the average CEO makes ten times the average employee's salary, and in the good ol' USA the number runs between 200-300 times the average employees salary. As the income gap widens, the supply and demand economic model tends to work in a manner we haven't seen in the history of the country. Economic expansion happens when consumer confidence is high and the middle class spends. We are going to have a middle class that will be afraid to spend because their income has decreased. We are also seeing a "ruling class" develop. With the repeal of the estate tax (even though the repubs try to make it sound horrific by framing the tax as the "death" tax) that doesn't affect anyone with less then 15 million dollars, we are seeing economic control shift to the elite, that won't really know what it is like to struggle, lose health care benefits, struggle to pay back student loans to finance their education, or have increased gas prices really affect their life. Bill Gates and Warren Buffet have decided not to pass their inheritance on to their children because they don't want people running the economy who don't understand what it really takes to make it. Their children will have the benefits of a education and other things without great sacrifice, but those of us who aren't as financially blessed as they are will still be able to compete with them.
I find it interesting that Warren Buffet has endorsed Barack Obama. I think Warren understand that our shift to the right has hurt the country. Bush has put this country deeper into debt then every President before him combined. I know your no Bush defender, but the republicans have no right to speak about decreased spending etc. It's OK to be a Dem, have James Faust and Harry Reid taught us mormons anything? My wife and I are registered Dems, Melissa is really a Dem and I'm just a Utah dem. (because the Utah republican party is nuts) I lean a little more republican on the national scene. Glad to see that your supporting Obama. I'm leaning that direction but I like McCain as well. Obama's choice to not accept public financing and choose a douche bag like Biden for V.P. has soured me a little bit towards him, but I'm sure I'll come around to being excited about him again.
Obamanation baby.
sorry about the novel
paul.
interesting indeed.
i heard obama's chief economic advisors (one of them at least) state basically a similar idea:
that those at the top fare essentially the same under either party, but the those at the bottom have a much greater access to prosperity.
it's interesting to see in numbers what see was trying to get across in the interview.
ivan: welcome! fun to hear you two are democrats. remember that couple that moved into the ward and announced their democratness over the pulpit during their first speeches to the ward? it struck me as odd. certainly your style of speaking of politics when the subject comes up feels more circumspect.
i didn't realize your wife is so pro-obama. it will be interesting to see what happens. the republicans have certainly locked in a large portion of the rural middle/lower class for their moral stances when it would seem that perhaps their fiscal policies may not be benefiting them.
outsourcing is a tough issue. on the one hand i agree with the idea of globalization and that america can adapt to become a service style economy. but sometimes i wonder if all other countries and their economists are telling us the emperor has clothes, but the last laugh will be on us when we don't produce any real goods anymore--and the rest of the world can hold us hostage to their products and then create their own 'service economy'.
hard to know.
peter: nice hearing from you as always:)
and darin: nice to hear from you as well.
i admit, i was expecting to hear more outcries than support about this post...
outcries? you posted three links to the times.
second, who is going to complain against middle and lower class people getting their share of the pie.
and third, most of us are way below the $180,000 mark. so obama's plan is a good fit for us personally.
then again. we haven't heard from the usual republican suspects yet?
matt? TMF? gabrielle?
The only thing I worry about is it all talk?? Will things really change under Obama's presidency for the better? There are some very important issues that he is for that I really am against. I am not sure who I will be voting for. I have had many discussions with our best friends here in Colorado, (who do have a sign and a bumper sticker that read Obama '08) and I'm still not convinced. I go back to my core.
I think there may have been a little brainwashing from NYC?? However, I know that you do your research, and I don't comment because I don't want to get bashed from NYC. I believe that we are all entitled to vote the way we want and believe. I would never say otherwise.
I'm really struggling this time around. I'm not convinced that Obama is the right choice. I'm not convinced that McCain is the right choice. However, I do believe that I have to vote for the lesser of two evils. It is my American duty. So, I'll see where my vote will go come November. Not to mention that Colorado is a very important state this election.
brainwashing from NYC? What is this? Jenni, what problems do you have with Obama? Let's hear them.
thank you for commenting jenni.
you don't have to respond to the hipster in the corner if you choose not to:)
peter: aren't you done with dental school in a few months? i think your tax bracket is about to change...
First, let me preface by saying that I'm still undecided. In Obama's favor I think that he is very well spoken and looks and acts the part. I think he really is a decent human being. However, I don't agree with abortion, gay marriage, his health care plan and his lack of experience with the military.
I think John McCain is old and I don't like that he is so "hell bent" on winning the war in Iraq. I think that is just stupid!
I agree that the middle class are struggling. I do want that to get better. I hate that the rich just keep getting richer and that pretty soon there will no longer be a "middle class".
I do want things to change. I'm just having a hard time backing up either of the candidates and their running mates.
yeah, but i'm in the air force for the next four years. so i can afford one obama presidency, we'll see about the second one. ;)
but according to your informative posts, i'll fare the same under both parties, so i might as well pick the one that let's everybody sit at the table...
Paul: funny story about that couple that announced from the pulpit that they are democrats. Back when Melissa and I had one child, we went to a little get together to support Scott Matheson for gov. We saw them there, I didn't notice them but Melissa did and started talking to them. They were a little different and I think they liked the novelty of being the "Mormon Democrats." That is a classic memory from our ward at the U, especially when he was speaking and denounced the war in Iraq during his talk, then I can't remember who the next speaker was but he felt like he had to speak out in support of it. Good times. Real quick, I do support outsourcing, I just think that it is funny that the CEOs claim that the "market" needs to run it's course when they are outsourcing, until the market screws them over because of their poor decisions, then we need a government bailout or the sky will fall. When push comes to shove, most dems support outsourcing, even though we lose a fair amount of manufacturing jobs, the U.S.A. increases the amount of higher paying service jobs to help these countries companies develop. I think the Edwards protectionism is poor economic policy. The dems talk the talk, but most of the free trade agreements entered into were done on Pres. Clintons watch. It seems that our country runs best when opposing parties control the executive and legislative branch. Reagan was dealing with a democratic majority in congress, and Clinton (who I personally can't stand) was dealing with Newt Gingrich (my favorite republican, even though he was cheating on his wife and calling for Clinton's impeachment) and the contract with America. The years with George Bush and the republican congress seem to be some of the wors years of our country. They spent like drunken sailors and simply had so much power that nothing could stop them. So I do have some concern with Obama getting in with a democratic majority in congress. Anyway, good post, look forward to seeing some more.
Jenni: fair enough. What would you say Obama's positions are on each of those three issues: gay rights, abortion, and health care.
Next, I don't believe anywhere in the constitution is military service a requirement for president. in fact, the country is built on the idea that there is a civilian commander of the military. this provides a nice balance to the military-industrial complex that has taken rise in America. i suggest everyone watch the movie Why we Fight. okay? okay.
ivan: i'm with you on the mormon democrat couple...a little much--but entertaining.
i thought bill was an outstanding president. slimy, but good. i liked how he would bring his case to the american people on primetime news and tell it like it is--convincing me that he was often choosing the difficult but hard decision.
i too am worried that obama would be working with a democratic congressional branch. much better to have opposite parties in the legislative and executive branches. you have to push through more realistic bills and you have to be moderate and explain yourself to get things done.
jenni: hard to know. hard to know. i believe more and more that barack is the definite way to go. little doubt remains in my mind.
mccain will stop at nothing to gain power and his shameless misinformation at this point in the campaign is deplorable.
please don't vote for mccain. bring colorado home for obama--and tell your ward and stake friends to do the same :)
hipsters: is there an outlet to get 'mormon's for obama' signs into these key western states (new mexico, colorado, nevada etc?)
matty: this means you. vote for obama. he'll make your wildest dreams come true...
paul.
i emailed that slogan to the obama campaign months ago. never heard back or saw anything. even offered to design it for them.
picture them.
obama rainbow logo with a moroni standing in the middle of the O. with the words mormons for obama.
we might have to make our own and send it their way.
and i completely agree about the mccain straight-lies express.
oh paul. have you donated any money to obama yet? you seem convinced and even proselytizing for obama, but have you put a small donation of $25 or more where your mouth is....? if he's going to continue to compete with the RNC and public financing, he's gonna need a little from all his supporters...
nice work peter:)
i'm mulling the donation over. i did't give to romney...so it would be a big step.
maybe i'll start will baby steps by getting my yard sign from his overpriced site rather than from the DNC site...
The Mormon population here in Colorado is McCain all the way. Let's just say that if I did vote for Obama I would be the only Mormon to do so. If I even say that I'm undecided there are gasps and then long talks about why I need to vote for McCain. There are also lots of McCain signs in lawns here. I see very few Obama stickers. I think McCain has Colorado. At least my city.
Jenni: currently colorado is 55%/45% for McCain. This could still be contributed to a bump from the convention. Obama still has a fighting chance, what with your democratic governor and all. So, please vote for Obama to put an end to the straight lies express...
Hmmmm.....
I still don't know why people try to attribute all of the challenges that life presents and the current economic status of the nation to political parties or persons (not to mention our future). I still feel that most of the problems we face are societal in nature.
I have felt that the democrats have traditionally sought to find a whipping boy for all of our problems, but I see no difference in how the republicans have been acting (if not more so in their villainization tactics). To say that I am disappointed in the Republican party-turned-machine is an understatement. They lie and say the love and follow their constituency (freedom, faith, and fiscal responsibility), but they don't really care about them anymore.
But my problems are not their fault. I don't blame big banks for giving out crappy loans. I don't blame companies for outsourcing jobs (they are all just trying to make a buck like the next guy). There isn't any person or group of people to blame for it all and there isn't a person or group of people that will fix it. So when I vote, I look for someone that can help us as a society to take more responsibility for our own lives, the lives of the innocent and defenseless, our land, and our country, because it is ultimately only us as a people that will be able to fix our problems, not the few in the front. They will never really fix anything, but they all say they can. They have dienfranchised us of the real power by convincing us that they have it (and oh, by the way, they need more of it), and they will change it. Lies.
Not to say that the election isn't important. We get to choose who is in the front, and leaders are important. We need someone that can inspire us and wake us up and show us how powerful and good we really can be. That is what I loved about Gordon B. Hinkley. He was a true leader, and he didn't make the church better, but he showed us that we could be better and let us know how. How much of his leadership quality was because of experience and how much was personality? But we were ultimately the people that decided to make some changes and follow his lead. THAT is what made the church better under his watch (or at least what made the church worthy of the blessings we have received as a people).
So maybe here in the land of enchantment my wife or I will be the "swing vote" (oh how Kevin Costner has fallen from grace) and decide who is President. I am unsure who I will choose as a leader. I have never liked McCain. He is such a liar, and memories from the primaries still get me hot under the collar. Obama seems to be much more of a leader that people will follow and I like that... but is he going the direction that I hope our society will follow? I remain unconvinced that Barak's compass is true (perhaps slightly like good ol' Captian Jack Sparrow's compass, if you catch my meaning). Sorry, Paul. I, however only have two choices, neither of which I regard as "choice", and I think McCain's compass is even worse.
Bottom line is, Barak is no savior, and no political figurehead will ever be. This The One talk just irritates me, and that is why I have tried to give the hipsters and my father such a hard time. Don't put too much "hope" in their ability to "change" things or you will be disappointed. Americans need to focus more on the right things, on learning, on children and families, on virtue. It is the only real hope we have for a good future, and we are going in the wrong direction with no clear choice on the horizon for a captain to show and lead us to right the ship.
Matt,
Here, here!! I couldn't have said it better. I'm not sure who you are, but I like you.
Paul... before you go making plans for our front yard and our finances, you might want to consult your wife.
And remember the suggestion for us to also give $$ to the cause of Proposition 8 in California.
But then, we are in "spending freeze" mode around here with a house down payment looming in the future...
Paul and I had a good laugh over what people would think if we had an Obama sign and a Proposition 8 sign in our yard.
???
Petey... sorry, I think including Moroni on a "mormons for obama" sign would be a little much...
Jenni... Matt is my brother. Love him, love him. And in his sentiments about the needed moral character of a leader... I agree.
I also agree that our success as a nation depends on our character... in so many ways. Such a thing can't be legislated--as history shows time and time again.
matty: we agree that the republicans have acted repugnantly.
we agree that the major political parties' leadership--democrat and republican--spin their cause in shamelessly false ways to snag the less discerning and/or ideological of their constituents on either side of the aisle.
however, to say, "I don't blame big banks for giving out crappy loans. I don't blame companies for outsourcing jobs (they are all just trying to make a buck like the next guy). There isn't any person or group of people to blame for it all and there isn't a person or group of people that will fix it." seems a bit defeatist.
the banks may have been only been trying to make a buck, and there were far too many consumers at fault for defrauding and seeking stupidly to purchase homes beyond their earnings potential on speculation. however, a small subset of employees at the largest and well-respected banks in the country ran roughshod over consumer rights and ethics in the current sub-prime crisis. this is the key work of government--to be a watchperson on the tower. not unlike president hinckley (to use a certain vernacular).
where is the money watching the banks very closely and assuring that they will not take people's money and run without regard for the law. part of makin' a buck is sucking as much as possible from your 'constituency' and giving as little as possible while maintaining the customer's loyalty. and an employer will pay his employers as little as they will accept while keeping their noses to the grindstone.
just makin' a buck can be a nasty business in the wild west of untamed capitalism.
it is certain that a degrading home-life in america is much of what ills us. however, the children who have been raised on r-rated games and movies with meth-heads for parents will not climb out of the slums by pulling themselves up by their bootstraps. is there money to be made in helping young kids in devastating neighborhoods and home situations? will 30 second tv spots about family and time be enough to save these kids from the savagery of inner city life? perhaps there is more to this community organizing than governor palin would have you believe.
jenni: i have not been brainwashed by the hipsters. if anything, my gravitation towards barack was hindered by their love for him in the face of a nation's uncritical adoration for him in the early stages of the primaries. yes, they chose the better side before me, but their unwillingness to often see both sides of an issue repelled me from their magnetic melodies of hope for change. however, peter's insistence in the end that i read barack's book and the kindness of my friend to loan me her audiobook to listen to while i biked sealed the deal for me.
regardless. if you and matty will read barack's book i think you will find that he, of the two candidates, has his compass firmly affixed and in many ways he sees clearly the problems that face our country and the world.
one anecdote to end. in the face of 23% of germans believing that the american government perpetrated the september 11th attacks (as did a prominent byu professor) it inspires hope that barack was able to rally support in that country during a low point in the international popularity of america...
barack is a different type of politician who came up through the harvard legal environment, the university of chicago as a professor and community organizer and ultimately a guy who grew up in ways very similar to you and i in hawaii. he is keenly aware of the poor around him, but aware personally of the power of capitalism in allowing someone in the middle-class to rise through hard work and enter into one of the highest tax brackets in the country.
not bad when compared with a GI who married into money and has been so closely married to washington lobbyists in and 'big beer' in his own state that his grasp on reality must be tenuous at best. (was that a bit harsh?)
he will pander to moral conservatives for their vote, but these handful of pet issues of the right are just a few issues in a sea of problems facing the country. these moral issues aren't going to be thrown to the wind by barack with his moral core bound to one intelligent, competent wife, two kids whom it seems he genuinely loves and an idealism that could see truly great things achieved.
that last paragraph sounded a bit too flowery, but you can't blame me when when bekah won't let me turn off the disney music (i end my treatise to 'this is the night' from 'lady and the tramp':)
Oh, Paul. I still shake my head at your change of heart. You go back on so much of what you said about Barak.
However, if his words in his book "The Audacity of Hope" are true to his character... which I think they are... then his moral fiber is quite strong. I am enjoying it on audiobook as well. Matty... would you like me to send you our hard copy??
Still holding out for the debates when I can judge the two with less-scripted responses and a side-by-side observation.
I still wish Romney had won the GOP nomination...
I just met a democrat in my ward today. He just moved here from...get this...NYC, where he attended Columbia studying law. Also, he just so happens to be my old roommates brother.
He grew up in Burley Idaho and said that NYC turned him more liberal. Interesting??
does he know stephen or peter?
what's his name.
so he has become enlightened. he would probably buy one or my mormon's for obama t-shirts...
Paul: I read the same article out of the Economist. The fact which the article missed was the law making ability of the congress. It is congress which passes tax policy even though the President may suggest it in a budget item. Therefore, the real article should have been who controlled the tax writing of the congress during those times and the effects the change in tax policy had in the ensuing years--not who was president during which years. I can tell you I am below the Obama 'rich line' in income and I have fared dramatically better under the Bush Tax Cuts than the Clinton years. Jimmy Carter was a disaster although it helped me personally since I had my student loans in CD's which were earning 18% interest since the economy was in such bad shape.
The more important fact is who nominated which justices for the Supreme Court and how they have ruled on social issues. We don't elect the Judiciary. But, we do elect the Executive Branch which does nominate the judiciary. That is where the real power comes from the presidency.
And, from the executive orders on the implementation of law. If the executive branch interprets the implementation differently than the original law; or, if the judiciary changes the meaning of the law by their rulings, then the power of government is usurped. That aspect must be carefully watched in a presidential election.
thanks for stopping by pops! the numbers are pretty compelling as the trend found is most pronounced in the second year of each presidency--the year generally recognized as the most influential for the presidency.
sure, the congress plays a large role, but it is compelling evidence that in the last 60 years the income of middle america is consistently better under democratic presidencies that under republican.
please don't get me wrong. an obama presidency scares me fiscally and i'm scared they will put too much of the health-care industry into the hands of bungling bureaucrats. but mccain, like bush, looks poised to do nothing and allow health-care costs to skyrocket and reimbursement to remain stagnant. four more years of bush/mccain may allow the crisis to come to the point where the american people would wholeheartedly embrace full-on socialized medicine as the only alternative. at least obama speaks with some restraint right now as he speaks of keeping insurance companies intact. the devil will be in the details.
most doctors poled are for health-care coverage for all--universal coverage. the devil will be in the details, and i want the federal bureaucrats out of the picture as much as the next guy. but i want a solution to begin now when the american people are still scared of too dramatic a shift to a socialized solution that would find wait-times sore and the quality of care drop...
polled.
Governments don't change people. People change people. All this talk of change from both sides is facinating. They make it sound as if their plans and policies will magically make us more responsible and virtuous individuals; make big businesses less greedy; make every American open minded; etc. While elections and national leadership are important, I wish more people would follow the Monson plan and actively work at improving their "love thy neighbor" skills. It's a cheap policy and when practiced by large numbers of individuals, it's highly effective for societal and even economic improvement.
i hereby declare this weblog a fight for Jenni's vote. As seen in target="_blank">this article, Colorado may well become the most important state in this election. So, really, it doesn't matter how any of us vote, or if we even vote, as we all live in states that are already determined to go one way or another. But, Jenni lives in a state that actually might have a say in the election.
So, the race is on to best sway her vote. May the best side win...
oh and jenni, please don't judge me because i live in nyc. i don't attend one of those elitist ivy league schools. and also, please don't reject my arguments simply because i live here. it isn't a liberal/conservative thing. i reject such labels. it is simply about the best candidate for president...
pops: good to see you fully in the mix. i look forward to this battle for Jenni's vote.
i kind of screwed that link up. but it still works, it just looks ugly. i'm too lazy to fix it.
You know, Stevie... Matty is in a swing state as well...
Ah...Steven I'm flattered. Also, I don't judge you because you live in NYC. I have visited there and LOVE it. In fact, if I were on my own or if it were just Chris and I, I would love to live there. That said, you have your work cut out for you. Both Chris and I are undecided and living in Colorado. After tonight's dinner table discussion I think we are leaning toward McCain, but maybe tomorrow will bring something new.
Paul,
Please tell me that you aren't voting for Obama solely because he claims that he will help out the middle class. I think that is exactly what he wants the middle class to think. As far as taxes are concerned, I do understand that he says he will only tax those making above $200,000 a year and companies. So you say that doesn't hurt the middle class. I say, it absolutely does. First, if companies are being taxed more, what do they do? They raise their prices. Who does that hurt first? The poor...the very people that democrats claim to watch out for. Very sly!! Then who does it target? The middle class. The companies don't suffer. They stay the same. It's us that suffer. Also, with taxing the more wealthy. That again hurts us because the wealthy aren't out buying more and putting money into our businesses. The rich aren't hurting, it's the small business owners that rely on their business that hurt.
Also, I'm not impressed with the commercial that Obama just put out in Hispanic communities. Complete lies. Rush Limbaugh hates McCain and speaks terribly about him. They have very different views on immigration, yet Obama preys off of the less informed and pins McCain and Limbaugh together like they are old "chums" to make McCain less desirable.
Again, let me say that I'm still undecided, but I haven't been very impressed with "your guy" Obama. I think politics is a shady game that I have to play, but don't want to.
jenni don't be swayed by the likes of limbaugh and matt drudge. expand your media consumption to both sides to get a more complete picture of the story. in addition to the conservative press, i suggest you read some blogs to get a different take on mccain and some of his less than truthful tactics. The three i suggest are as follows: talkingpointsmemo.com, thehuffingtonpost.com, and (for a more objective view) politico.com. granted both talking points and the huffington post are far to the left; however, they do press mccain and palin hard on the issues and don't feel a need for 'balance' that the mainstream press does.
I'm not listening to Limbaugh. Have you seen Obama's new commercial...that he endorsed? Also, I tend to not look at blogs. They are biased opinions. I'm not sure what blogs said the bad things about Palin, like her banning books and her only believing in abstinence education in high schools. Of course they aren't true, but they are things being talked about by the democrat bloggers. You can find anything out there to match your opinion. Of course they are going to say terrible things about McCain and Palin and pick them apart. I'm sure there are right winged bloggers out there doing the same thing against Obama. Like I said before...it's a game...a game of opinion. That is why I tend to go back to experience or lack of and not get so wrapped up in what people have to say to support THEIR opinion.
pops: here are some thoughts from the obama campaign about their tax strategy. sounds sound to me. not the scare mongering you get from hannity, laura and company.
jenni: nice to see you talking about the two choices with chris. i agree with stephen's crusade to bring you into the obama fold.
corporate taxes? you're probably right. from an the economist, "How much should the corporate tax rate be cut? Alan Auerbach of the University of California, Berkeley, says it would make sense for America to move more in line with other countries. Unfortunately, in the current political climate, even that idea seems outlandish. But Mr Hubbard, for one, thinks things would be different if voters realised who actually pays the tax. The evidence, he says, suggests that the burden of the corporate tax falls disproportionately on workers. For instance, a study by Kevin Hassett and Aparna Mathur of the American Enterprise Institute, looking at 72 countries over 22 years, suggests that a 1% increase in corporate tax rates results in a 0.8% reduction in manufacturing wage rates. Other studies paint a similar picture. If workers understood that corporate taxes are a toll on the common man, wouldn't they clamour for a rate cut?
small business is a separate issue. again from obama's website on his approach to small business, "Support Small Business * Provide Tax Relief for Small Businesses and Start Up Companies: Barack Obama and Joe Biden will eliminate all capital gains taxes on start-up and small businesses to encourage innovation and job creation. Obama and Biden will also support small business owners by providing a $500 “Making Work Pay” tax credit to almost every worker in America. Self-employed small business owners pay both the employee and the employer side of the payroll tax, and this measure will reduce the burdens of this double taxation."
and about blogs. they may be prone to bias, but they are a democratizing force in the news americans receive.
no longer do dan rather and tom brokaw hold hostage stories they feel might influence americans in the wrong way.
i rarely read an article in any new source without perusing the comments for general consensus among readership.
if a paper doesn't allow comments after its articles i get the feeling they have an agenda. comments from readership evens the score. it doesn't allow biased reporting to go unregulated.
blogs allow for community. they allow for like-minded people to find each other and mull over important topics of the day. conversations are had that were never held before as people sat in front of the painfully biased 'big three' networks.
this is one reason why i have loved the mormon bloggernacle. i'm able to sift through mormon ideas and meet people with broad perspectives. it allows for a more informed life.
oh and chris: welcome to the blog. thanks for commenting!
jenni: but yes. i think obama cares more about the middle and lower classes in the country. i go back to the recent article i have sited ad nauseam about how democratic presidencies are traditionally good for the middle class.
the widening wage gap in america needs to be slowed. i'm not talking about handouts, i'm talking about an even playing field. i'm talking about hard workers not being taken advantage of.
Paul,
I appreciate what you have to say about the blogger world. I think you are right. Also, Chris didn't comment, he really doesn't want to get involved, he has bad flash backs of the last exchange I had with you, Steve and Petey. I do talk to him about your opinions though and then we talk about other opinions. It's made for great conversation. So, thanks for sharing.
jenni: fair enough. that ad was probably unfair. but please, if you are going to take obama to task for putting up ads that stretch the truth, then do the same for mccain. over the past month, he has continually stretched the facts, distorted the truth, and repeated time and time again outright lies. this lack of regard for the truth is very disheartening and i think ultimately proves mccain is unfit for the presidency.
is this a double standard? I don't think so. this kind of thing may have slipped into the obama campaign once or twice (see the spanish language ad and who knows if obama even really knew what was going on with it?), but with mccain there is a pattern that is very very clear. he repeats lies and mistruths. he runs lies in ads. and he is unrepentant about it. then he blames the fact that he is lying on obama for not showing up to town hall meetings. it's sad to see mccain stoop to rovian tactics, the likes of which he was subject to in the primary of 2000.
Jenni, I'm the Chris that Paul was welcoming to the blog. I'm just cursed with one of the most popular names for boys born in my generation.
I need to introduce myself.
My name is Chris Peterson, and I'm Amy and Matt's cousin (our mothers are sisters). Since it seems that most of the commenters on this blog are Fransens and friends I have never met, I am relatively an unknown.
My political leanings - Registered Democrat since I reached voting age.
Background/Qualifications -
Bachelors Degree in Latin American Studies
Masters Degree in Public Administration
3 years working for non profits (Boys and Girls Club & Early Head Start)
2 years working in city management
I have pretty good training (class room and professional) in researching taxes and policies. I actually love taxes...when they are good and well thought out.
Now, I'm not suggesting I am superior to anyone here in any way. I just wanted to introduce myself to you all and let you know were my comments are coming from. You should also know that I grew up California (San Diego area), went to school at BYU, and I now live in North Carolina (the best of all worlds). I don't know if that makes a difference in how any of you will be able to relate to me.
I also want to thank all of you for your active investigations into the presidential candidates. We need more people to do their research on candidates and then go out to educate others who are voting based on traditions, TV ads, or images presented by the media.
As it seems to be a big influence within this blog, I have found a copy of Obama's book and I am currently through the first 2 chapters. In all honesty, I'm not that impressed so far. Maybe that will change by the end. Anyways, it is nice to meet you all, and keep up the good comments.
PA is a swing state...
Swing, baby, swing.
no swingers on this blog...
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