I am not an economist....

And, the only thing I know about 401ks is that my dad has one that´s not doing so well. Also, due to my pile of students loans and guilt-induced fear of the private sector, I really won´t have to worry about a mortgage until I´m like 100. So I´ll admit to being, like Sarah Palin, a novice as far as economic issues are concerned. However, I am decently good at pointing out the obvious...so I´d like to share a few thoughts I´ve had in the last couple of weeks:

1. John McCain promises to not raise anyone´s taxes. Fair enough, but I´d also like to point out that this means that he´d maintain the tax code that was last reformed in 2002, by a one, capitalism-loving George W. Bush , who is now regulating the economy like woah, btw.

2. John McCain wants Joe the Plumber to spread the wealth around. Again, this statement is rhetorically appealing, but let's take a closer look at the content. The idea behind giving businesses tax cuts is premised on the reasonable assumption that they´ll reinvest their extra income in a way that makes the economy grow. Now, I am fully willing to accept that an incompetent application of this principle, and not blind greed motivated Congress to approve the Bush tax cuts, but for the last 6 years, really really (insanely) rich Americans have had the opportunity to invest in the national economy, and what have the results been? A huge banking crisis, a massive credit crunch, and a spike in unemployment. I know that government officials are often inefficient and infuriatingly influenced by special interests, but I'd rather depend on their elected asses, than on the consciences of people like Richard Fuld, Martin Sullivan, and the late Kenneth Lay.

3. Taxes pay for things (see I told you I was good at pointing out the obvious). I can honestly say that I´m not overly optimistic about the short-termn benefits of the Obama or McCain economic proposal. If I remember my Smith correctly, the cyclical nature of the economy makes it inevitable that lows will follow market highs (all of you who had me pinned as an anarchist hippie can now shut up). However, I do think that the government can take measures to temper the impacts of flunctuations in the market (see Keynes, I think). Of the two candidates, the only one who is willing to do this is Barack Obama, and his suggestions include taxing people who make large amounts of money (because average Americans buy their products and services, watch their movies and telivision shows, and work on their assembly lines) to take care of pressing issues like healthcare, education, and infrastructure (taxes pay for BRIDGES and their upkeep people!). Moreover, the 5 percent of Americans who would see their taxes raised are so insanely wealthy that Barack Obama's tax cut for the middle class would have no impact on government revenue, and would allow ALL of you to keep supporting small and large businesses. Honestly, I don´t think it´s asking too much of huge corporations to pay more into the government system of a country that has given them so much. To put the very valid crititicisms of American overconsumption aside, if there are benefits to be reaped from it, they should be equally distributed

Like I said, I'm not an economist, but then again, neither are most Americans. John McCain says that the economy depends on small businesses, and American consumers. I agree. Unfortunately his tax proposal (or de facto extension of Bush's) doesn´t back that up.