I’m not sure how many of you got a chance to watch the Presidential debates last night, but finance was one of the major topics discussed. Both candidates have defined their fiscal positions and their financial plans for our country’s future. Each has a tax plan, a spending plan and we hope a budget plan. Let’s look at the implications of their policies on the ordinary American.

If McCain is elected, he plans on leaving taxes alone. At least that’s what he said in the debate. After researching a bit, it’s not difficult to find the truth. McCain plans on extending the Bush tax cuts. This means Fortune 500 companies and other mega corporations will continue to pay 100 billion dollars less in taxes. The idea is this saved money will allow them to grow, expand and create jobs. Too bad greedy executives have been keeping it all for themselves for 6 years…

On top of the extension, McCain plans on an extra 200 billion dollars in tax cuts to corporations. This not only applies to mega corporations but small businesses as well.  The small businesses would benefit from this and be able to grow, expand and create jobs. They are able to do this because as revenue increases and they are able to grow, they almost undoubtedly do so.  Mega corporations, when given extra capital, tend to “invest” this money (read: execs keep it for themselves.) McCain also calls for each child to be worth $7,000 in tax breaks instead of $3,500. He would give each tax paying American a $5,000 credit to go get whatever health care they want.

Obama will cut your taxes if you make less than $200,000 a year.  That’s about 95% of us. If you make $200,000 to $250,000 your taxes are unaffected.  If you make more than $250,000, it appears your taxes are going up.  Keep in mind, that means simply that Obama plans on allowing the Bush tax cuts to expire.  It means these people will pay the rates that have already been established.  Look at it how you want, an Obama presidency means those people pay more than they do now.

Obama also wants to give you the option of choosing health care you want. He will mandate that all children receive health care with the consequence of a fine. He doesn’t plan on taxing employer’s health care payments, just cutting costs to make it affordable.

That’s a very, very superficial explanation.  But scratching the surface is all we need to do in order to see who is the better candidate from a strictly financial perspective: Barack Obama. As I said in the last post, deregulation led us into the financial mess we are in.  John McCain and his current campaign supervisor created the legislation to deregulate the financial sector. Now he wants to bring that deregulation to health care, which would no doubt drive up the costs. He won’t give you a tax break, just a credit, which, by the way, will end up costing more since that credit is only a tax refund of what your employer paid.  His plan is bad for business and bad for you.

Obama PROMISES a tax cut to just about every single one of us.  How would you like to receive that economic stimulus package annually? Doesn’t sound half bad, does it? So from a financial point of view, Obama’s plan puts more money in your pocket and makes the most expensive things in this country (health care, education and energy) more affordable.

My advice? Step 1: vote for Obama and hope he wins. Step 2: vote against any incumbent in Congress and replace the lot of them. Step 3: encourage our new leaders to exercise the same financial restraint that every ordinary American must do. The government is not above us. They have no right to spend money they don’t have. Under Obama’s plan, if they manage to balance the budget and only spend what they’ve got, and spend it wisely, then not only will there be more money in our own pockets, there will also be more money in Uncle Sam’s pocket. And if history has shown us anything, it’s that a country’s citizens rarely stay richer than the country’s government for long.  A broke government always leads to economic disasters for the rest of us. It’s in our best interest that Uncle Same thrives; likewise, it’s in the government’s best interest that we the American people thrive. We live or die together. Seems to me only Obama understands that. McCain seems to think a thriving private sector means we’re on the right track. Wouldn’t mean much if the government keeps running up the debt.

So if you want more of your money and you want your expenses to decrease, go for Obama. In fact, go for Democrats all together. I’m usually very conservative, but I mean this. An Obama presidency would be facilitated by a Democratic Congress. It means they could get something done. No need for bipartisanship, the Republicans failed horribly. Let the Democrats have a shot at it. It just may end up being the best financail decision you could make this year.