Prez Politics ’08

by Amil Imani

Obama’s economic plan is a recipe for long-lasting disaster. Keep in mind that wrecking anything, as opposed to building things, requires very little time and effort. Obama’s plan is deceptively attractive, while in reality it is a huge wrecking ball that will capsize the already listing ship of our economy. Here is a partial list of reasons why. Judge for yourself.

Obama is proposing a trillion dollars in new spending. Where is he going to get the money, given the government’s present huge budget deficit? From the filthy rich and blood-sucking corporations, that’s where, he says. A terrific vote-getting scheme. But will it work?

Obama doesn’t tell you that in the present world money is like water. It flows to the lowest ground. And the lowest ground for money is found in places where it can make more money  — not locations where it is seriously tapped by government. For example, Ireland where the corporate income tax rate is 11% and not the United States, which has the second highest rate in the world. As it is, one of the biggest reasons that many corporations set up their businesses abroad is the high cost of doing business here at home. Hence, a great many jobs are lost to overseas enterprises.

Obama doesn’t tell you that rich people didn’t get to be rich by being stupid. The minute they hear him talk about "spreading the wealth around", they shift their money to safe havens where Obama can’t get to it. Like those hedge funds run by George Soros and other big Democrat donors.

Obama doesn’t tell you that much of the money invested in this country is from non-Americans, who do so not because they are philanthropists but because they believe in the American genius and our creative hard-working people who know how to produce wealth. Once they see Obama the taxman, they sell their holdings and move their money to safer havens. The result is that American company shares drop in value, companies won’t be able to raise cash to do product development, so they will shut down their research departments and layoff workers. Or, they simply move their entire operation, or parts of it, abroad.

The American economic genius is based on the principle of empowering people at all levels to succeed financially through their own efforts. The government must empower all individuals to succeed and not to take money from the successful and spread it around.

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Here’s a new ad from the McCain campaign:

And here’s my story. You see, I really am Joe the Plumber, too…

Hi, my name is Doug the welder. In many ways, I am like Joe the Plumber– Although I am at the point where I DO own my own business, and Joe isn’t quite there yet, the “dream” or goal of independence and self-reliance continues. Having started our small business with my wife during the recession of the late Eighties/early Nineties, we have long held the goal of  building an enterprise as nearly recession-proof as possible, and always tried to be as frugal during good times as in bad in order to stay as fiscally healthy as one could reasonably be. With a sound business model and good employees, we seem poised to ride out the current economic storminess. We know that it will require no small amount of work and yes, maybe (no- not maybe, definitely, because there ALWAYS is) even some heartache, along the way. That’s OK, as this is the essence of being a small business operator—and always has been. I suspect that Joe the Plumber is well aware of all of that—he has probably watched his boss encounter it all through the years—and yet, he still retains his dream. Why is that? Could it be that for him, like me, that his “pursuit of happiness” includes controlling his own destiny?

Democratic presidential wannabee Barack Obama tells everybody not to worry… only those making over $250,000 will pay more taxes. His running mate Joe Biden says he doesn’t know many plumbers that make over 250 grand. Of course, as always, the devil’s in the details. Now just so there’s know misunderstanding, I don’t “make” over two hundred and fifty thousand dollars. As a matter of fact, there have been many times since 1989 that I didn’t make anything—and there were a few times where I actually lost money. But where we stand now, like any small business employing nine people with perks and benefits that owns the real estate (and pays those taxes too) and multiple machines and pieces of equipment (always subject to breakdown and repair costs), we “handle” far in excess of the figure being bandied about—but we don’t put much of it in our wallets—it’s always “in play.” This is where Joe the Plumber and Doug the welder are vulnerable—on the books we handle the money, but at no time is much of it really ours to keep. Of course, I won’t lie, and I’m sure I can safely bet that Joe, like me, and probably many of you reading this column, certainly would like to earn more than a quarter million dollars that we can keep and spend as we choose, someday. What’s wrong with that?

Of course there’s nothing wrong with that. And I, like Joe the plumber, know that attaining such a princely sum won’t be easy, because we both know that someone like the tooth fairy isn’t going to show up during the night and slip the cash under the pillow. If we are to earn that amount, we are going to have to take great risk, work extra hard, and sacrifice a bit of leisure and play time. In exchange for a willingness to do these things, we reap the fruits of our labors. This is the American way. Up until now, that is… 

You see, Barack Obama’s going to change all that. Once in office, in concert with the Democratic-controlled Congress, President Obama and his sidekick Biden will see to it that things will be different from now on. Because in addition to Joe Biden stating his belief that is “patriotic” to pay taxes, we have found out, thanks to the answer given to Joe the Plumber’s question of Barack Obama, just what they have in store for those of us that work and strive to make money… what their promised “change” really means.

This is how John McCain told the story this past Saturday during his weekly radio address:

“Joe explained that he works for a small plumbing and heating company. He’s been thinking about maybe taking over the business when his boss retires. Problem is, that would make Joe one of millions of small business owners who face a sudden increase in taxes under my opponent’s tax plan.”

McCain continued:

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