Debate/taxes/etc

October 7, 2008

Really fed up with the debate tonight.  Very disappointed in much of the way each candidate basically use every question just to push out their talking points.  It’s like Palin on steroids, and they’re both guilty.  The first question was the worst, I think, and it went downhill from there.

I’d read Dave Ramsey’s plan for ‘fixing’ the economy, without the $700 billion bailout package from last week. Dave’s plan was far simpler, but more dramatic.  Eliminate capital gains taxes was the big one.  Frankly, it seems like that might be the only that that would be needed.  That one move would (even in today’s market) flood the market with more money, especially for short term investments.  Currently capital gains taxes on short term gains might run you 25-35%.  Dropping that to 0%, perhaps even just for 2-3 years, would provide a huge *and easily understandable* benefit.  Don’t water it down with 400 pages of unrelated crap.

Obama’s on the Peace Corp topic now.  I may comment more later.  Just a depressing debate right now.

UPDATE: McCain - “we need a panel of experts, then get a recommendation, and have Congress vote it up or down”.  Wasn’t that basically the Paulsen recommendation, which got ballooned from 3 pages to 400+ pages?  And this after McCain ’suspended his campaign’ to push it through?

UPDATE 2: “Speak softly and carry a big stick”.  Ridiculous, in that he’s trying to draw a distinction between McCain’s approach (non-committal but leave open the option of ‘big stick’ actions), and Obama’s position (we will go in to a country - Pakistan as an example - to get Bin Laden).  “I won’t be telegraphing my punches, like Obama has done” is blood-boilingly maddening disingenuousness (or stupidity, and I don’t think McCain is stupid).  McCain has basically “telegraphed” to every country on the planet that he has a big stick, and the threat of potential invasion/violence/war instigated by the US is an ever present possibility, and any country may feel the wrath of the ‘big stick’ *without warning* from a McCain administration.

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