McCain economy article from Reuters

Here's the article.

The title is McCain seen as best choice for economy. The article is written by Jennifer Ablan.

I remember reading this article, it was re-printed on Yahoo, and thinking that it could basically be summed up in one word: bullshit.

First off, the American people are split up into a number of different groups, when it comes to demographics. Race, sex, financial disposition, location, family status, etc. But there are only three different groups when it comes to the economy of the country. The rich, the middle class, and the poor.

Yes, there are those people that can just reach the middle class from poor... and a handful of people who can grab hold of the rich title from middle class. But grey areas aren't relevant here, unless you're at the cusp. And cusps always hurt, in any generation, from any administration.

In the first two paragraphs... I mean, I can't even believe what I'm reading. First, Wall Street experts are saying that McCain would be best for the country's economy. Then... next paragraph... Wall Street is backing Obama. With cash.

Cue Jon Stewart spit-take.

One of McCain's plans is the eliminate the AMT (Alternative Minimum Tax) plan. Initially set up to have higher income households that had been receiving benefits so they didn't have to pay taxes (or very little) actually start paying taxes. The plan has morphed into something that still taxes households who live in certain high-tax areas and make over $100,000 a year. Seems to be there are some drawbacks as it continues to evolve. But only for people whose household incomes are over a certain amount.

So, one of the things he'd like to do is relieve higher income households the burden of paying these taxes.

I can understand why Wall Street Experts would be in favor of such an idea.

McCain also wants to slash corporate taxes. I would find it impossible to believe that said corporations would pass this savings on to their customers. That is an assumption, but a pretty reliable one.

James Caron of Morgan Stanley goes on to say "In this environment that we're in right now, the last thing you want to have is higher taxes and taking money out of the consumers' pockets."

I see.

This is one of those soundbite sentences that people around the country read and go "Who wants to take more money out of my pocket for more taxes?!?" They don't put it in context. They don't look at the man and see if he's got an agenda.

Take a look at this Money.com article on the breakdown of which consumers will actually be having money taken out of their pockets.

David Bianco, chief U.S. strategist at UBS Investment Research. "Wall Street would welcome McCain with open arms."

Of course they would.

"The market will respond to McCain corporate tax cuts," said participant Alan Ruskin, chief international strategist at RBS Greenwich Capital in Greenwich, Connecticut.

No shit. Less taxes for corporations means bigger profits.

McCain's tax ideas are skewed, as was Bush's, to help the rich. Plain and simple.

We get these three guys to give us their expert opinion, and then we find out that investment industry has given more money to Obama than any other candidate.

So, already the validity of the title of the article is bunk. It's very easy to get three different people who make over $100,000 a year to say "I like McCain's tax solutions better than Obama's".

Wall Street 'experts' are a dime a dozen, and frankly, the country is not in the hands of these people. They make up a small portion of the investment industry and seem to only give a shit about themselves and their fellow financial peers. I have news for these experts. All the profits that those companies that McCain is worried about helping? They all make their money from the 90% of the country that doesn't make $100,000 a year or more. It's sheer numbers. There are more of us.

And as I stated, there is no way these companies will pass along their savings to consumers.

Henry Kaufman sheds some much needed light on the entire scenario. It's too soon to tell who's going to be best for the American economy. And it's true. But time is wasting. You can see the two major candidates buying their time and waiting for the moments when they can say the major lines about the issues Americans think are important. They're waiting for THE opportune moment to grab people's attentions.

But if McCain sticks to his guns, it'll be pretty clear who's got the better policy.

Perhaps I'm over simplifying. I'm sure there are more in depth articles out there on the policies of these two candidates, and as time goes on we'll see more specifics on their plans. But there are certain things in these articles that are pretty clear.

I'm really looking forward to see who runs as an independent, and what their financial policy dictates.