Dollars and Sense

So I'm perusing Yahoo!, which I do far too often for any mild-mannered citizen such as myself, and happen upon an article detailing how some people in Maine (I almost forgot that state still existed) came up with a simple online tool that calculates your taxes under a McCain administration versus an Obama administration.

Obama has made no secret that he plans to raise taxes for families making $250K+ and singles making $200K+. Conversely, those making less would get a cut. I still don't understand how or why McCain even continues to bring up taxes cuz it's pretty obvious Obama has the better plan, unless you're a selfish prick making more than $250,000 and think you should pay less taxes. For the rest of us, i.e. the vast majority of this nation, the tool proves what Obama's been saying: you'll pay less taxes under his administration. I entered my figures and the Obama plan means I'll pay $700 LESS than under McCain's. As if you needed another reason to vote for Obama

I think Republicans and their free-market policies have proven to be fundamentally corrupt. I just don't trust them with my money. People are greedy, the more you make, the more you want to make. Plus, Obama's half-immigrant and I promise you, immigrants know how to save money. I'd trust my money blindly to most immigrants any day.

I've always found it funny how conservatives comfortably attach themselves to Christianity without embracing its most important principles. They forget it when it comes to their money. Tax dollars that help the poor? Poor people should help themselves. It's not the government's job. That's true, but I don't run across too many moneyed people when I'm at work here in Southwest Philadelphia. Wonder why...

I haven't spoken on the whole economic crisis, mostly cuz much of it eludes me. I didn't even step foot into Olin until Junior year, and that was cuz they had a soup that I couldn't get anywhere else on campus. Still, I remember debating the valors of free-market trade in high school government classes and in the end, the advocates' argument always silently rested on one thing: selfishness.

If I'm making over $200,000, I honestly wouldn't complain about paying higher taxes. I don't think it would affect my ability to pay my rent or mortgage, make a car payment, or make it rain whenever I go out to [insert uber-exclusive venue in whatever uber-expensive city I would live in]. Percentage-wise, it would amount to pennies in a well. If that does bother you, you're an ass. Simply stated.

And I don't like the idea of my precious tax dollars being diverted to Wall Street either. Let them fix it. Shoot, public school teachers are essentially government employees anyway, my job is safe. Hearing about all the minutia just reminded me of Animal Farm. The irony that an anti-communist manifesto reminded me of this real-life lesson on the logical ends of unfettered free-market capitalism was sadly hilarious. They're not sending me to the glue factory.

The negotiated compromise that leaked midday yesterday sounded a lot better than the blank check Paulson was asking for. Still, I don't like the premise of the idea as a whole. Surprisingly, the alternate plan devised by renegade Republicans, seemed much more palatable than the compromise, even though people are attacking it. But of all the plans, this one outlined in the Wall St. Journal is the best and most common sense. The liabilities lie on Wall St and they should stay there. Taxpayers, by way of the federal government, shouldn't absorb these losses, shareholders should. The sty is for the corporate pigs, not us.