How Politics Affects Our Personal Finances

When my friend who has an MBA in accounting told me how our voting decisions could be compared to the act of Halloween trick-or-treating, I had to listen. Now he was talking on my level.nnnRobin Hood Idea Drilled Into Our Subconsciousnn“It’s simple,” he said. “Obama wants to redistribute the wealth, like Robin Hood, and McCain wants to cut everyone’s taxes.” nn“What’s wrong with redistributing the wealth?” I asked. After all, that old fable about Robin Hood is ingrained in our subconscious. On a deep level, we all know that we should help out those in need."nn“Those against McCain’s tax plan think it’s their right to take money from the rich and give it to the poor,” he said.nn“Shouldn’t the rich help out the poor?” I asked.nnnAre You Entitled to Profit from Your Million Dollar Idea?nn“Yes, but is it right to demand that they do this? Shouldn’t people help each other out because they want to?” he asked. “What if you had a great idea that made you a million? You worked your whole life to come up with an idea and suffered through the process of idea after idea not working out until you hit a breakthrough and finally became a millionaire? You’d feel good, right?” nn“Sure. I’d feel that I earned my million dollars. And then I’d probably look back at all my bills I had incurred from all the bad ideas and just about break even.”nn“But you wouldn’t break even. Because if Obama’s tax plan gets in, then 62% of your income will now go to taxes. I’m including social security taxes and all the other withholding taxes in that amount.”nnnWith School Loan Payments, I Now Have Nothingnn“So now on the million dollars that I just made, I only get $380,000? That’s not even enough to cover the costs for the expenses that I had to get to the million dollar idea. And did you calculate in my school loan, which is 10% of my income?”nn“That makes it 72% of your income then. And that income isn’t net income; it’s gross.” The more he spoke, the more depressing it sounded.nn“It’s gross income? That means I’m taxed even more! Now I worked myself to the bone and I have nothing at all! I can’t live off 28% of my gross income.”nn“Now you’re thinking like a business man,” my friend said. nn“If I work my whole life to come up with an idea that helps others, I should be paid for it,” I said. “If I work my whole life to come up with an idea that brings money that puts me in the hole, I really didn’t accomplish anything. And now I have no incentive to work on any other ideas.”nn“Exactly. And if you have that realization that you aren’t going to be able to make money from your ideas, so will other brilliant, idea-generating Americans who are capable of contributing to the future. Taxing people, at a high level, rich or poor, does not work. You have to look beyond the numbers and look at the effect on motivation, on desire to succeed, on desire to own your own business and earn your American dream,” my friend said.nnnIt’s Not About Stealing from the Poor; It’s About the American Dreamnn“The Democrats make up the majority in Congress and have been raising taxes locally for years now and there has been no redistribution of the wealth. The poorest people are still poor. The middle class still can’t get ahead. The way to get ahead is through education, not giving people money and especially by not promoting whole families to get free money from welfare without working for it. Getting ahead through education can be even something as simple as educating yourself on a topic until you find a solution for someone. Then you market that solution. Money comes in from solving people’s problems.”nn“Well what about Obama’s claim that he’s going to cut everyone’s taxes?”nn“If you listen carefully, you’ll hear him say that he’s going to repeal Bush’s tax cut that was initiated awhile ago to cut taxes. You see, the Republicans did cut people’s taxes. In Obama’s plan he says people will be taxed at a rate of about 50% but when he repeals the tax cut, you end up paying more taxes than 50%. In the meantime, you can’t accuse him of lying because he would have cut taxes. The problem is that he then raises them. He’s trained as an attorney and you must really listen hard to what any attorney says to determine the truth.”nn“What’s the bottom line here?” I asked my friend.nnnObama’s Trick or Treat Policynn“Think of it like this. Your kids go out trick or treating. They get all dressed up in their costumes, go knocking on Obama’s door. ‘Trick or treat’ they say as they open up their candy bag. What does Obama say as he peers into their open bag of candy?”nn“He gives them candy and says Happy Halloween?”nn“No. He says, ‘I’m taking your candy so I can determine who should really have your candy! I’ll give it to whoever I think is best.’ What do the kids do?”nn“Cry! They came for candy and they left with less candy than before.”nn“They go running home to their parents and tell them what happened. And Mom and Dad come back at Obama and say that what he’s doing is not right! Nobody is happy! They want change!”nn“But they got change! They just assumed that the change would be good. The changes will not be good.”nn“Right. Always watch the words of any attorney. They’re trained to be skillful at deceit,” my friend warned.nn“If we wait until the kids are already out there trick or treating at Obama’s house, then it’s really too late. The candy is already gone out of the candy bags.”nn“Exactly! Instead of ending up with a treat, you end up with a trick.”nnI now realize just how important it is to vote this election.nnnnnn