Sunlona.com

It looks like the Joe the Plumber strategy is not working because people are not interested in fictional political claims about taxes. Now, it is the time for Desperation Strategy II, Joe the plumber’s economist and foreign policy advisor. It is like Hollywood at its best taking a fictional character and making people believe it is a real story.  Hollywood does it for entertaining people and not to win an election. The presidency of the United States is not a fictional position, and we do not need a candidate who believes in fictional issues and strategies.  Proposing a tax strategy to manage the economy is not socialism; nationalizing the natural resources such as oil, gas, mineral, and essential services such as the banking, and transportation is socialism.  In the capitalist and socialist society taxes are needed to run the government. The government needs taxes like businesses need sales. In 2006, every dollar the government spent came from personal taxes (39%), social security and Medicare taxes (32%), business taxes (13%), borrowing (9%), and other taxes (7%). The government spent our money for social security and Medicare (36%), national defense (23%), social programs (19%), community development (12%), interest on the debt (8%), and law enforcement (2%).

The individual tax payers contribute more in taxes than businesses and that’s why the tax break should be for individual taxpayers. The business that makes more money should pay more in taxes because our tax system is a progressive tax system which means if you make more money you pay more in taxes. The argument that giving a tax break to businesses will generate growth is not a good argument in the current economic conditions.  In the current economic conditions, giving a tax break to individuals is a good economic strategy to stimulate growth. Businesses are going to be prosperous only if the customer has money to spend. A tax break for businesses is not going to generate revenues for business if the customer does not have any money to spend.

Bloger@sunlona.com

Joe the plumber is a losing strategy because it is based on the assumption that one day Joe may buy a business, make income of more than $250,000, and may have to pay higher taxes. This is not a game changing strategy rather it is a strategy of desperation. It is a fictional strategy.  The fiction belongs in Hollywood for producing entertaining products and services.  The voters are smart, and they are capable of differentiating between fiction and facts before they vote on November 4^th, 2008. The country is facing severe economic problems and we need solutions to our economic problems, not the solutions to fictional problems.  We need to ask ourselves whether we want someone in the White House who believes in fiction or facts. The fictional evidence of weapons of mass destruction was the basis for the war in Iraq, and now we are being introduced to the fictional economic problems and solutions. We need to stand up and just say NO to the fictional tax situations and solutions to economic problems.  Joe the plumber is the old game of chicken and eggs in politics. The question here is whether the egg came before the chicken or the chicken came before egg. If you see the chicken laying eggs, the answer is chicken comes first or if you see a chicken hatching from the egg, the answer is egg comes first. So, the answer may depend upon a situation. The current economic situation is our economy is slowing down, the stock market is down, and financial institutions are on the brink of bankruptcy and the government is bailing them out.  It means the economy comes first and then the taxes.  The Joe the plumber argument is a secondary argument. If you do not have an economic plan to generate revenues for businesses what is the use of fictional taxes. Let’s talk straight and address the issues facing the county and stop playing chicken and eggs game.

bloger@sunlona.com

In every presidential race, the word “experience” is always used to distinguish one candidate form another. Usually candidates use number of years spent in politics as a measure for their experience. The number of years spent in politics, whether at the federal level or state level is not a good measure of experience, and it does not qualify anyone to be the president of the most powerful nation in the world. Being part of a federal or state bureaucracy for a number of years suggests that the politician successfully adapted to the bureaucratic machine and has experience in handling the routine procedures and policies of the bureaucratic system. In this age, experience in bureaucratic systems and procedures is not enough to make good economic, global political, technological, and national security decisions. In reality the experience that counts in a political office is the experience of the staff surrounding the politician. Most of the time, it is the staff members who are more educated and experienced than the political candidate, and the politician makes decisions based on the more experienced staff’s analysis and recommendations. Another word that is widely used in a presidential race to distinguish one candidate from another is the word “tested”. The fact is no one is tested until he/she becomes the president. The presidency is a unique position and one has to be in office to be tested. A President running for a second term may be a proper candidate to use such a word to distinguish himself/herself from other candidates. Therefore, the use of word tested in the political race is a more personal marketing slogan and politicians are using comparative marketing to influence the voters.

bloger@sunlona.com

In next few weeks we will be selecting a new president and we need straight answers from the presidential candidates. If we ask the questions that are important to us and demand straight answers from the presidential candidates, it will be easier for voters to decide who is best suited for leading the most powerful nation in the world. Here are the ten questions that we think are important at Sunlona.com for presidential candidates to answer to the voters.

Top Ten Questions for the Presidential Candidates

1.         What is wrong with our economy? What are your plans to solve the current economic problems and stimulate the future economic growth?

2.         What energy crisis are we facing today? What are your plans to solve the current energy crises and make us self-sufficient in the future?

3.         How would you end the war in Iraq, and when do you plan to bring our troops home so that the billions of dollars that we are spending in Iraq can be spent at home?

4.         Explain why your healthcare plan is better than the other candidate’s plan? History has shown that it   is difficult to pass a healthcare plan through Congress, What will you do different to make sure your plan is passed by Congress, if you are elected President?

5.         We are behind in math and science education compared to other countries, what will you do to improve math and science education in our country?

6.         We are part of the knowledge-based economy and intellectual capital is the key to the future growth of the economy. What is your plan to make the U.S. competitive in knowledge-based economy?

7.         Transportation and communications is the back bone of our economy today. We need to build new roads, bridges, and communication networks to support our economy. What is your plan for building our country’s infrastructure?

8.         Do you believe that global warming is a serious issue that we need to address today? If it is a serious issue, what will you do as President of the most powerful nation in the world to address the global problem?

9.         America has lost its image in the global community in the last few years due to its foreign policy, what will you to rebuild our country’s image in the global community?

10.        How will your national security policy different from the previous administration and what will you do to improve intelligence gathering so that you can make better decisions to protect our country.

bloger@sunlona.com