Political Equinox

As many of you know I define myself a a Moderate Republican focusing on low taxes (especially corporate & capital gains). Tax & Economic Policy are the chief issues for me, and I share that belief with many of my fellow Americans.

This election is posing a problem for me that goes beyond issues and rhetoric. I have yet to decide upon a candidate, I’m struggling internally and I haven’t found the answer just yet.

If I take a straight take on issues I probably agree with John McCain more than Senator Obama. But taking an honest look at both men, they’ll both do a fine job. Neither one is going to ruin America, we’ll be fine no matter who is elected.

My …

Tags: America, Barack Obama, candidate, healthcare, John McCain, obama, president, republican, social security, taxes

If you haven’t heard of the FairTax, you really should check out the proposal. It’s a 23% national retail sales tax that replaces all current federal taxes including the income tax, payroll taxes, and corporate taxes, among others. In order to ensure that the burden of this taxation is not taken on by the lower class, the FairTax includes the prebate. The prebate gives money to every American family before the month begins up to the poverty level.

Bringing Capital Back Into America

Currently there are some $10 trillion dollars of capital that has been moved away from the United States into foreign assets in order to shelter these assets from the aggressive and oppressive United States tax laws.

All of this …

Tags: America, economy, FairTax, income tax, money, taxes

Presumptive nominee Barack Obama promises a windfall profits tax on American Oil companies. He claims this will force them to bring jobs back overseas and that the proposed tax will help the middle class, but Obama seems to be missing a major point in the situation.

Like many companies in America, a majority of these companies are traded on a stock exchange, whether that be AMEX, NYSE, or NASDAQ. Therefore, when these publicly traded corporations make a profit, those profits head to the shareholders in the form of dividends. And when they don’t get dividends, the value of the company often rises which gives the shareholder an increased value for their shares. (Sorry to go through the stock market tutorial, but …

Tags: America, Barack Obama, Gas, IRS, Middle Class, obama, Oil, president, taxes

Our Final Run-Ins
We did not expect this day to be as fruitful in terms of engaging with political candidates and surrogates – we figured the candidates would be on such a frantic schedule that exactly nailing down where they would be seemed very difficult.
We were wrong.
We ate at a restaurant called Olde Main Brewing Company in downtown Ames, not really expecting anyone to show up. In walked Ted Danson and his wife Mary Steenburgen. Normally I’d be floored by seeing people like Danson and Steenburgen, but we had run-ins with so many different people of fame that I just assumed we should leave them to their …

Tags: Barack Obama, candidate, Congress, huckabee, iraq, IRS, Kennedy, Mike Huckabee, money, obama, president, republican, ron paul, taxes, The Caucus

Thank you for stumbling onto Political Equinox – a blog dedicated to a balanced examination of the major issues of our time.

About the Editors

You can read the full biographies about the editors on the About page.

Patrick McAlister is sophomore at Wabash College in Crawfordsville, IN. He politically tends to lean towards the left; he believes in an emphasis on strong public education, equal protection under the law, and helping those in need. He is also, however, a strong proponent for government efficiency and strongly dislikes government excess and waste.

Neil Kelty is senior at Carroll High School. Republican values tend to dominate his political leanings embracing lower, simpler taxes and smaller government, in terms of efficiency. Neil is also strong …

Tags: republican, taxes, Wabash College