The 2008 Election and Taxes

Most of my life, politics hasn’t been a priority for me but as the economy craps the bed and America looks to be losing it’s competitive edge, I’m looking for change.  America needs change and taxes will be an important part of my presidential vote.  The October ‘08 issue of Inc. Magazine had a great article breaking down each candidates tax proposals, Tax This; Tax That.   Below are the key proposals for both candidates that Inc. Magazine has highlighted:

McCain
Key Proposals:

• Extend the Bush tax cuts
• Dramatically scale back the estate tax
• Make permanent the Economic Stimulus Act’s more generous limits for expensing
• Lower the corporate tax rate

Obama
Key Proposals:

• Cut taxes for all but the richest 1 percent
• Eliminate capital gains taxes for start-ups
• Cut taxes for firms that add jobs in the U.S.
• Close corporate loopholes and eliminate tax shelters

Both candidates are definitely looking to cut taxes, especially under the current conditions as the US faces a recession along with a worldwide economic slowdown.

Analyzing the proposals of both candidates, I feel that Obama’s plan would fare better for the middle class and America.  Obama’s proposals includes a variety of tax credits like a $4,000 refundable credit against college tuition, extending the Earned Income Tax Credit to more low-income Americans and expanding the Child and Dependent Care Tax Credit.  One proposal that really stood out to me was getting rid of income tax for seniors making less than $50,000 along with the other credits really looks like it will help the people that need it the most.  With McCain’s proposal many American’s will also enjoy a cut in taxes but nothing really stood out to me.

Now down to business. How are these candidates going affect me and Pure Adapt, Inc.  Here is a what Inc. Magazine highlighted for each candidate on business:

McCain
“As for the candidate’s business tax agenda, McCain would lower the top corporate income tax rate from 35 percent to 25 percent; he has also proposed, without offering specifics, measures that would expand the corporate income tax base. He has pledged to end preferential treatment for oil and gas companies and would establish a permanent research and development tax credit of 10 percent of wages spent on R&D. And for five years, businesses would be able to expense certain equipment purchases immediately. He also would make permanent the more generous limits for Section 179 expensing that were included in the recent stimulus package — a move that could be especially helpful for small businesses. On the other hand, he would repeal the Section 199 deduction for “domestic production activities,” a deduction meant to encourage businesses to keep jobs on U.S. soil. The deduction will reach 9 percent in 2010.”

Obama
“For businesses, Obama is proposing incentives to invest in small businesses and tax credits for small businesses that purchase health insurance for their employees. He would eliminate capital gains taxes for investors in start-ups and small businesses (terms that remain undefined by the campaign) and permanently resurrect the R&D credit for all companies.”

Both set of proposals will help businesses in America but I like the cut of Obama’s jib a little more.  I feel that Obama is focusing on small businesses slightly more than McCain.  I am part of a small business of many in America which makes their tax proposals on business so important to me.  I feel strongly that small business is a major make up of America and promoting small businesses will help America flourish again and push innovation to keep America strong.

Whether it’s Obama or McCain their proposals will surely help Americans financially. Either way both candidates need to cut government spending and live up their proposals.  I am personally favoring the Obama and Biden ticket with their tax proposals that look to focus more on the middle and lower class and small business.

It’s Not a Bailout

The financial crisis that we’re currently facing needs to be dealt with.  It’s only going to get worst the longer we wait to take the necessary actions to contain this problem.

The thing I hate the most about what is currently going on is that everyone keeps calling it a “Bailout Package”.   This is not a “Bailout”.  There is something fundamentally wrong with our financial system that needs to be fixed. This is an Investment in America!  Using the taxpayers money the government will be buying troubled assets that will make a return, that doesn’t sound like a bailout.  Bill Gross from Pimco has even done the numbers which came out to 7-8% return for these assets, watch this video of Bill Gross on CNBC.

I’m all for free markets, but under the circumstances that we’re in from a plethora of actions taken in the past, intervention is absolutely necessary.   I think it’s healthy to have contraction during an economic slow down when businesses fail or get bought out. This is survival of the fittest, but when you have only 2 investment banks left that may go under is a red flag that there is something wrong and action needs to be taken.

The “Investment in America Bill” did not pass the first time around in the House of Representatives and Dow Industrial Index spiraled down 770pts.  It took a drop like that for people to think twice as the markets dwindled down through the rest of the week.  Maybe if the media didn’t call it a bailout for Wall Street more people would understand that there was a problem that needed to be fixed.

The problem is that the credit markets are frozen right now.  Financial institutions need the capital to start making money again.  If we don’t do anything with the credit markets, things will only get worse.  Banks can’t afford to lend money, then they can’t make money.  No lending means people can’t borrow money for housing or cars.  That means the housing market will continue it’s downward trend along with other industries.  The economy will come to a halt and we’ll head into a recession, unemployment will increase and consumer confidence will be shattered.  We’ve been in bad times in the recent past but we’ve always had credit to keep things going.  Without credit you can see the chain of events that will lead us into a depression.

This really does suck.  I’ve lost money myself along with many others, but how about those they are nearing retirement. They may have lost a good percentage of their funds as it looks like there weren’t many safe havens in the market, even in checking or savings accounts.   Failure to act under the circumstances has probably cut the wealth of many individuals.

We can’t be playing the blame game cause it’s a combination of greedy lenders and overly optimistic borrowers taking on debt that doesn’t make sense with other factors that have gotten us into this mess.  We can’t be harping on how we got to this point but instigate a solution to get out of it and learn from our mistakes.   I hope it isn’t too late but there is an upside to the delay of the bill.  There is probably more benefits to the taxpayers and they deserve it and I agree that there needs to be oversight of this government entity, CEO compensation regulation, and the taxpayer has to make out.

IT’S NOT A BAILOUT
IT’S AN INVESTMENT IN AMERICA