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Over recent days and weeks, America has been shocked by a continued, unfolding crisis involving some of the biggest names in the U.S. financial sector: Bear Stearns, Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, Lehman Brothers, and now AIG. Americans are rightly concerned about our economy and the impact that this Wall Street-bred crisis will have on Main Streets across the country, especially with so many of us accepting the realities of close to $4-a-gallon gasoline, as well as higher prices on food and other items. What’s clear is that the next president must implement a plan that will guarantee Americans a far greater measure of financial security than what we currently have. That means creating more and better-paying jobs, keeping fuel prices down and increasing domestic energy production, protecting Americans’ valued investments, and, of course, keeping the tax burden as low as possible. Those are all goals that would be met by implementing John McCain’s proposed policies and initiatives, which I would like to summarize here, today.
Let’s start by talking about what’s on everyone’s minds right now: The outright mess created by some of Wall Street’s biggest players and the poor management and casino culture evident there. The end result of this recklessness has been the threatening of millions of Americans’ retirement investments, savings, and insurance policies, which in hindsight looks frustratingly predictable. Two years ago, John McCain was warning that we were in trouble in this area, specifically with regard to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. While his warnings then went unheeded, the need for reform is now clear, and that reform needs to comprise three elements:
These are sound, comprehensive, and pragmatic steps that need to be taken — though, of course, the future strength of our economy, job growth, and prosperity for American families depends on far more than implementing just these reforms.
It’s also essential, if we aim to promote job growth and across-the-board prosperity, that we keep taxes low for working families and for small businesses, and keep spending in check so that we are not setting Americans up for tax increases in the future. Barack Obama’s economic proposals are problematic with regard to both of these points. On one hand, he wants to vastly increase federal spending by hundreds of billions over just one four-year term. On the other, he wants to raise taxes — and not just on the “very wealthy,” either, as he often claims. Small-business owners, many of whom bring in just over $250,000 and file under the personal income tax schedule, would be hit by Obama’s tax increases. Paying more in taxes will harm their ability to hire more workers, pay employees more, and offer them better benefits. With so many Americans hurting and concerned about the need for more and better jobs, hammering small businesses is exactly the wrong thing to do; yet it is exactly what Barack Obama implicitly pledges to do. By contrast, John McCain will cut their (and other Americans’) taxes, and keep spending in check while eliminating the most egregious wastes of taxpayer money — something Americans can all agree is a priority.
Another issue of great urgency right now is making sure Americans have
