It seems like every election in recent years is about the middle class. It doesn’t matter if the candidate is a Republican or Democrat; they “care” about the middle class. “I’ll do this…” and “I’ll do that…” for the middle class seems to be their mantra while they are on the campaign trail, arguing how they are a friend to them while the other one is the enemy. Well, I would like to tell the current candidates and all future candidates that I don’t care about the “middle class.”

Yes, that is what I said. I don’t care. I don’t care about some arbitrary category of individuals. What I do care about all the individuals, regardless of class. This constant game of class warfare has to come to an end. As the Declaration of Independence states, “All men are created equal.” A person making $50,000 is no more important than a person making $1,000,000. A person living on the streets is no less important than a person living in a nice suburb. So why are the candidates wasting our time with this?

I want a candidate to get on the stage, look America in the eye, and state, “I don’t care about the middle class. I care about everyone.” I want a candidate that will work to ensure the tax burden on all taxpayers is reduced, not just token tax credits being allocated to a particular segment of society. This is done by focusing our resources on items that improve our national security readiness, infrastructure for commerce, investing federal funds into regional markets that are hurting to create business environments that will bring in new companies, and eliminating the special interest group tax deductions for the tax code.

Taking a responsible business approach to the spending of our taxes can lead to a positive return on investment, resulting in future annual surpluses. In return, the government can lower the tax rates on all taxpayers and could even raise the tax-exempt level for many more at the same time. Why our candidates do not campaign on this platform boggles the mind. I’m left with only two possible explanations. The candidates either do not understand how our economy works, or our candidates do not care about our taxpayers and see no reason to be fiscally responsible. I will let you decide which explanation is correct. In the mean time, I will continue to wait for the candidate that does not care about the “middle class.”

Barring a repeat of 2000, in one weeks time we will wake up with a new President-elect to be sworn in office in January 2009. In many states, early voting is already underway, with some states experiencing record turn out. The rest of the voters will go to the polls on Tuesday to cast their vote for one of many presidential candidates, with the John McCain and Barack Obama receiving the majority of votes. Who will win is the $700+ Billion question.

Before the financial market imploded and the credit began to freeze, it was a tight race between McCain and Obama. Both candidates were riding the momentum they received from their conventions and were traveling around the country explaining why the public should vote for them. Then, the financial sector started to crumble, causing McCain to “suspend” his campaign and head back to Washington while Obama fumbled with his response to the growing crisis. Unable to get a bill up for a vote, but comfortable enough that it was on the right path, McCain flew in at the last moment for the first Presidential debate. Two debates and a rollercoaster ride on the stock markets later, McCain’s position in the polls slipped greatly. The drop in the polls has caused many states that went for Bush in 2000 and 2004 to shift towards Obama over the past few weeks, including states like Virginia, Florida, and Ohio.

Over the past few days, we’ve seen the national polls begin to level out and in some cases draw closer together. This gives the impression that McCain might be back in the race, though he has an uphill battle. He is still behind in a few key “Bush states,” and the gains he made in Michigan and Pennsylvania have been lost and probably out of reach. The positive movement he is making in the national polls trickle down to the key states, there is a chance he can still win. However, I think there are too many variables at play against him. That being said, my projection for what we will see this time next week Barack Obama receiving 278 electoral votes and a call from John McCain congratulating him on a hard fought campaign.

Barack Obama (Blue):  278 electoral votes
John McCain (Red):  260 electoral votes

Every election has “those people” who make you step back and scratch your head in an attempt to figure out what they were thinking. In the past week, two such individuals have surfaced. One person obviously needs professional mental help, while the other person has too much time on their hands. Ladies and gentlemen, I would like to introduce you to Ashley Todd and Chad Michael Morisette.

Ashley Todd, an unpaid McCain campaign volunteer, caused a stir last week when she reported that she was attacked at a Pittsburgh ATM. According to her initial account, the attacker grew more aggressive when he discovered she was a McCain supporter by identifying a McCain sticker on the back of her car. In retaliation, he carved a “B” in her cheek. However, her failure to seek medical attention, the lack of her photo showing up on the security system for the ATM in question, and lack of activity on her bankcard let the police to question her account of the attack. After investigations, she confessed that she made up the attack. She faces a least one charge for filing a false police report.

Chad Michael Morisette took his aggression out on the McCain-Palin ticket in a slightly different manner. Instead of filing a police report on a suspected attacker, he hangs the focus of his aggression in front of his home. The victim is none other than Sarah Palin. Above her, John McCain appears out of a flaming chimney on his roof. Mr. Morisette states that this is only a Halloween display and does not bid ill towards the two candidates, but local residents are taking offense to the display. The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department does not view the display as a hate crime, though some (including myself) may disagree.

It is a shame that people like this feel that it is acceptable to act out in this manner. There is no need to inject fear and hate into the election like this. May people learn from the mistakes made by Ashley and Chad.

Related articles:
Los Angeles Times – “Effigy of Sarah Palin hanging by a noose creates uproar in West Hollywood”
United Press International – “Palin, McCain display sparks outcry”
FOX News – “Effigy of Palin Hanging by Noose is Halloween Fun, Owner Says”
Associated Press – “Police: McCain volunteer made up robbery story”
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette – “McCain volunteer admits to hoax”

In reading the political forums today, I came across the following statement in defense of Obama’s claim that “95% of Americans will get a tax cut.” I couldn’t help but laugh that someone believed this statement enough to write it, but I’m not posting it necessarily for the sake of humor but rather as a basis for discussion.

Creating opportunities to become rich for 95% of people is not socialism.

First of all, the analysis done on Obama’s tax plan reveals that there isn’t an actual tax rate cut, but rather a series of deductions and credits taxpayers can make when filing their taxes. Such deductions and credits include:

• a $500 to “make work pay” for people making less than $75,000
• a $4,000 college tuition tax credit
• up to $6,000 tax credit for child care

Unless you make a certain amount of money or are in a position to take advantage of things like the college tuition credit or child care credit, you won’t be seeing a major change in your taxes, and the tax rate itself will not be decreasing. So, this puts a hole in the initial argument that 95% of Americans will receive a tax cut.

Secondly, the tax changes don’t create opportunities for people to become rich. If you are capable of maximizing your credit savings, then you could potentially receive over $10,000 in credits or refunds a year. If you are capable of receiving and stashing those credits away without touching it for 40 years, you could save half of a million dollars, which may or may not be a lot of money in the future depending on inflation. On the other hand, if you are attending college and paying childcare (as mentioned in the credits listed above), you will probably need to use some of that $10,000 to pay your bills. Additionally, as you finish taking your classes and your children grow up, you lose those credits, so the $10,000 credits/refunds suddenly disappear.

Lastly, income redistribution is designed to create a “classless” society, a tenet shared by socialists. Our nation has a history of some sort of income redistribution, including programs such as welfare, unemployment, and tax refunds, though the purpose was not to equalize the financial situations of the population. The same is with Obama’s tax plan. If Obama were to equalize the economic situation of all Americans, the credits would not be dependent upon many variables but would rather be a flat rebate based upon income.

For additional analysis on Obama’s tax plan, I recommend the following articles:
The Wall Street Journal – “Obama’s 95% Illusion”
PolitiFact – “Under Obama’s tax plan, ‘95 percent of you will get a tax cut.’”
The American Spectator – “Searching for Obama’s 95 Percent”
Alex Chediak – “Obama’s ‘95% will get a tax cut’ Illusion”

With two weeks left in the election, race is once again popping up in the campaigns. While the McCain campaign itself has done a good job of trying to avoid the race aspect of the campaign, his supporters as well as the supporters of the Obama campaign keep finding ways of injecting the hot topic into the conversation. The latest guilty parties include Colin Powell, Rush Limbaugh, Alcee Hastings, John Murtha, and Michelle Obama herself.

Colin Powell made his most anticipated declaration of endorsement this past Sunday on Meet The Press. After months of playing coy with the media, it was expected that he would throw his support behind Barack Obama, even though he is a member of the Republican Party. When asked if the endorsement would be a sign of racial favoritism, Powell said:

I can’t deny that it will be a historic event when an African-American becomes president. And should that happen, all Americans should be proud — not just African-American, but all Americans — that we have reached this point in our national history where such a thing could happen. It would also not only electrify the country, but electrify the world.

This comment drew criticism from talk radio personality Rush Limbaugh. While he is not a big supporter of John McCain, he is a conservative and highly critical of Obama. After listening to Powell’s endorsement of Obama, Limbaugh drafted an e-mail asking:

Secretary Powell says his endorsement is not about race. OK, fine. I am now researching his past endorsements to see if I can find all the inexperienced, very liberal, white candidates he has endorsed. I’ll let you know what I come up with.

While Limbaugh’s comment isn’t racist, it does inject racism. Powell carefully crafted his endorsement to justify his endorsement without discussing race, discussing how Obama is the best candidate that can lead the nation during hard times while avoiding how much they differ on political ideology. Catching this, Limbaugh called Powell on his omission. His challenge stirred controversy across the wed and in the news, but not as much as John Murtha.

Growing more and more controversial over the past few years, Murtha made a statement that not only insulted his own constituents in Pennsylvania, but also turned race as an issue against Obama. In discussing why he believes some in his state won’t vote for Obama, Murtha stated:

There is no question that western Pennsylvania is a racist area.

This isn’t the first time that a high-profile supporter of Obama has accused people of being racists since they fail to support Obama. In many areas of Western Pennsylvania, Bush carried the districts by more than 20%, even though he lost the state overall in 2004 by just 2%. With current polls showing Obama leading in the state by 8-15%, it is curious as to why Murtha might make this comment so close to the election.

Similar to the case of “closet racism” that Murtha is implying, the concept of the Bradley effect has also arisen lately. The Bradley effect is the hypothesis for the discrepancy between opinion polls showing a black candidate leading but loses the election to a white candidate. Even though there are numerous examples of white candidates leading in opinion polls losing in the end, those instances are ignored when someone wants to accuse the voting public of harboring racial views towards black candidates.

Alcee Hastings has a view on race for those in Western Pennsylvania (and the rest of the country) as well. Addressing a crowd of Jewish Democrats, Hastings noted:

If Sarah Palin isn’t enough of a reason for you to get over whatever your problem is with Barack Obama, then you damn well had better pay attention. Anybody toting guns and stripping moose don’t care too much about what they do with Jews and blacks. So, you just think this through.

Maybe Mr. Hastings and Murtha missed the news coverage on the negative backlash Obama received by the general public when an audio recording of him stating how people cling to their guns and religion a few months back. It is difficult to say, but it does expose how racism can exist in any form, and is a concept that is not limited to any particular party or race. Racism can even come from an unlikely source.

In a report being denied by the Obama campaign, Michelle Obama is reported to have a heated conversation with the African Press International. This can be a potentially damning account if verified. According to API, Michelle Obama stated:

African Press International is supposed to support Africans and African-American view. It is strange that API has chosen to support the racists against my husband. There is no shame in being adopted by a stepfather. All dirt has been thrown onto my husband’s face and yet he loves this country. My husband and I know that there is no law that will stop him from becoming the president, just because some American white racists are bringing up the issue of my husband’s adoption by his stepfather. The important thing here is where my husband’s heart is at the moment. I can tell the American people that my husband loves this country and his adoption never changed his love for this country. He was born in Hawaii, yes, and that gives him all the right to be an American citizen even though he was adopted by a foreigner.

Even if the exchange isn’t confirmed, the accusation that “white racists” are somehow thwarting Obama’s chances for victory echoes those similar to the ones we addressed earlier. While there will definitely be some of those that will not vote for Obama simply because he is not white (he is bi-racial), there will also be those that vote for him simply because he is “black.” The Obama campaign itself noted how they could win in the state of Georgia through black pride.

While I wish we were long passed the old concept of racism in our country, it is hard not to see evidence of it in our society, and this election is just bringing it to the surface. It is not Obama’s fault that he isn’t white just as it isn’t McCain’s fault that he isn’t a minority, so their “qualifications” for office should not be skin deep. Democrats and Republicans, whites and non-whites alike need to learn to get passed the color of someone’s skin and focus on the aspects that really do matter. A victory or defeat by Obama will not change the mindsets of those with prejudices, but hopefully the nation will learn to be more tolerant from this election.

Related articles:
The New York Times – “Racial Issues Return to the Campaign”
CNN – “Florida congressman points to Palin to rally Jews to Obama”
Hartford Courant – “Thank you, Colin Powell”
Talking Points Memo – “Will McCain man up and repudiate Rush Limbaugh’s racist smear of General Powell?”
Los Angeles Times – “Colin Powell endorses Obama, breaks ranks with the GOP”
The Politico – “Powell endorses Obama”
Yahoo News – “Murtha: Western Pa. ‘racist’ but Obama should win”
World Net Daily – “Report: Michelle Obama calls Corsi ‘evil’”