Beware... Political Ranting Ahead!

*Read at your own risk!* :)

So I've been debating for two days now about writing this blog, but with all the pent up frustration and anger I've been feeling lately with Obama's political plans, I'm hoping it will help me vent and chill out a little. Trust me, I am in no way, shape, or form trying to change other people's political viewpoints - I am just using my blog as a forum to vent! :) (And please don't send me a nasty comment if you are an Obama supporter. I am already quite sure he is going to win, so just let me have my moment... Plus, I'm not a die-hard McCain fan either. I just feel like he is the lesser of the two evils at this point. Thanks! Ha ha.)

Point of Frustration #1: As you have all probably heard by now, Obama says he will give 95% of Americans tax breaks and will only raise the taxes of those that make over $250,000 or more. "Income redistribution," as he so aptly explained when he talked to Joe the Plumber. While my family would most definitely be included in these tax breaks (as I'm sure just about all of you would be too), I still feel like this is extremely unfair and dangerous. Here's why:

1) People that make over $250,000 or more stimulate our economy a whole lot more than we may think they do. Not only do they spend a lot of money, but they also own their own businesses and corporations. In other words, they supply jobs to those of us in the middle class. When you start taxing these people (up to 60% of their income - $140 billion dollars total, while the rest of us are most likely not going to pay any taxes at all), there will be a huge dip in our economy. Not only will the upper class stop spending as much, but they will make financial adjustments in their businesses. In other words, a bad recession could potentially go to depression.

2) Obama says he will not tax small businesses at this same high rate (I'm not so sure about that, but whatever). Okay, well what about the big corporations and even mid-market businesses? I still feel like it is unfair to tax them at such a high rate because this tax hike will not just affect the head guys in the company (like Obama wants) - most likely, it will trickle all the way down to the middle-class Americans that Obama is trying so hard to help. Case in point: Greg works for Qwest - a large corporation. If they are taxed higher, it will be reflected either in his job wages or potentially in job loss. How could Qwest not make those kinds of adjustments with that high of a tax rate? The thought of it is downright terrifying to me when we have already had such a hard year financially with our different job situations. We can't afford to have either of these happen, and I'm sure most middle-class Americans are the same way right now.

Point of Frustration #2: I will be the first to admit that our country needs some serious help when it comes to health care. We had to pay for our own plan a few months back and it was extremely expensive, with dismal coverage. However, I don't feel like universal health care is the way to go. First and foremost, it will once again put our country into a horrible economic situation. It will be so expensive, and we will never be able to balance the budget (in fact, an independent study that I saw said that Barack Obama's plans would leave us $1 billion dollars in the hole when all his plan are complete - our country is already that far in debt as is!). I also worry that if universal health care is available, employers will stop offering their own group plans. Why would they keep offering it if everybody could get on the government's plan and the employer didn't have to pay for it anymore? Then we would have a horrible health care crisis like in Canada where people have to wait for months to be seen by a doctor. It's a complete disaster waiting to happen...

However, along with all of this, I still don't feel like John McCain's plan is the way to go either. I definitely do not agree with taxing benefits like he does, and I'm hoping if by some miracle he makes it into office, that that bill will not pass. But as they both stand right now, I still think McCain's plan is much better and more sensible for our country.

Wow, I can't believe how much I've already written and I have SO much more I could write, but I think this is enough. In fact, I already feel a little bit better! :) So thanks for listening to my rantings, if you were brave enough to go past the first line! But just one last thing. I really am not a huge McCain supporter either. I sincerely wish we had a better conservative candidate in there right now who is getting extremely upset on the voter's behalf and vowing to get the people who screwed up our economy. But from what I am seeing as an average American at this point, I feel like McCain's plan is 10 x's better than Obama's. The last thing we need right now is a President sending us into even worse financial problems (as a government and individuals) - a frightening thought considering the state of our country right now. I understand that people want "Change" - I do too. But I just hope all Americans understand what kind of "Change" Obama stands for. Our country will be changed alright - but it won't necessarily be in the positive way everyone is believing. Anyway, I need to go do something happy now to get my mind off all this madness, but please forgive me if I ruined anybody's day with my negativity. I promise my next post will be happy! :) -Ash