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Chrissy Wood
Psychology major
Sophomore
Clinton vs. McCain
Hearing that I must write a paper on the presidential candidates did not give me a sense of confidence. In fact, I was scared. Although I know that this upcoming election is definitely important, I felt very unknowledgeable on the issues and the candidates, and therefore this paper felt very intimidating to me. However, as I began researching the candidate’s websites and looking through articles, I realized that I should stop looking at this paper as being an assignment, but use it as a time to finally educate myself on the big decision we all should choose to make in November. So for my paper I have decided to identify Hillary Clinton and John McCain’s political platforms on tax reforms and building a better economy.
I think it is pretty well known that our economy is not doing so well. With lack of jobs, a low minimum wage, college tuition at a high, and unfair taxing (to name a few), it is no wonder why helping our economy is a huge issue. Hillary Clinton plans to “jump start” the economy by giving $30 billion dollars to help states and cities reduce mounting foreclosures, $10 billion to be added to unemployment insurance, $5 billion for energy conservation grants to create jobs, and $25 billion for home heating grants for the poor
(“Hillary Clinton for President”). All together that is $70 billion to help our economy. If the economy does worsen, she plans to provide an additional $40 billion in tax rebates to working and middle class families (“Hillary Clinton for President”). In general, I think her plans seem very logical, especially her idea to give money to create more jobs for energy conservation. This would not only improve the unemployment rate, but also help our environment.

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When it comes to taxes, Clinton plans to repeal the Bush tax cuts for households who earn more than $250,000 ("The Issues: Economy and Taxes"). I was shocked when I read that someone who may be earning $50 million a year could pay just 15% of their earned income while a person who makes $50,000 a year pays 25% of their income ("The
Issues: Economy and Taxes"). I found that ridiculous and unfair. Clinton believes in the income tax rates for upper-income families that we had in the 1990s. She thinks this would help bring fairness into the tax system.
With Clinton planning to extend tax relief for middle class families, the marriage penalty relief, and the child tax credit, her focus on helping the less privileged is very apparent (“Hillary Clinton for President”). Reforming the AMT, which I found out stood for Alternative Minimum Tax, is another promise of Clinton’s which would ensure sneaky tax increases to not occur (“Hillary Clinton for President”). Another idea is with the rate of inflation increasing, Clinton wants to increase the minimum wage to $9.50 by
2011 so that workers who need to support their families can do so without living in poverty (“Hillary Clinton for President”). Again, she is looking out for the working class.
Another topic she mentions is making college more affordable by modernizing the HOPE
Scholarship Program that would provide tax credits to help young people go to college
(“Hillary Clinton for President”). The more I read on Clinton’s policies, the more I admired her desire for fairness and her ideas to help our country.
John McCain, the Republican candidate, has different ideas to fix taxes and improve the economy. He believes “intelligently-formulated tax cuts and sensible tax reform will deliver much higher growth when they are accompanied by lower spending.”
(“John McCain 2008”). He also wants to make Bush tax cuts permanent, but also plans to

Wood 3 cut estate tax rate to 15%, exempt estates under $10 million, and eliminate alternative minimum tax. (“John McCain 2008”) By abolishing the AMT, middle class families will save nearly $60 billion in a year (“John McCain 2008”). Additionally, he plans to repair programs like Medicare and social security and pay for cuts by eliminating deficit spending. I actually found it very intriguing that McCain plans to “veto every pork-laden spending bill and make their authors famous” (“John McCain 2008”). He believes by doing this America can stop this corruption and wasteful spending, and focus on addressing national priorities.
McCain mentions entrepreneurs throughout his plan when he declares,
“Entrepreneurs create the ultimate job security—a new, better opportunity if your current job goes away” (“John McCain 2008”). He believes entrepreneurs should not be taxed into surrendering and therefore shows his support for small businesses. What I found to be an effective strategy was on McCain’s official website where he actually announces that Democrats are going to cause a $100 billion tax hike which would equal $700 per taxpayer each year (“John McCain 2008”). Hearing this, many people would be drawn to
McCain thinking that he will not cause such a tax hike. Another idea McCain proposes is a required 3/5 majority vote in Congress to raise taxes which he believes will ultimately make is harder to have taxes raised ("The Issues: Economy and Taxes"). He also wants to cut the corporate tax rate from 35 percent to 25 percent, believing that it will reinforce the
United States competitiveness’ (“John McCain 2008”).
After doing the research on the two candidates, I could not help but feel more involved in the news. Although I have more research to do as more issues will arise before November, I feel as though if I had to make a decision now, I would feel confident

Wood 4 enough. I am a registered Democrat voter but I have no idea why. My parents are split voters; one Democrat, one Republican. I am guessing I randomly chose Democrat one day. Whatever the case, I am glad that I am registered as a Democrat, because after researching different issues, I believe Hillary Clinton would be the best president.
I support the way Clinton plans to fix our economy and help the middle and lower classes. I found that McCain was passionate about some issues, such as the war on Iraq, abortion, and supporting the veterans; however, he lacked a thorough plan on many other issues, such as college tuition funding and education. Because of this, I feel as though
McCain is not completely sure of what he believes in and therefore would not be strong enough to be president. I even noticed a few different things between McCain and
Clinton’s official websites. Clinton has her website easily labeled and her main points bulleted to make it clear and simple to follow for the average citizen. On the other hand,
McCain has many issues in paragraph format and often combined with other repeated issues, which makes it seem as though he has more ideas stated then what he really does.
It was interesting to notice the different marketing strategies.
The issue I chose for this paper is especially important, because it affects everyone in our country. My family specifically is hurt by the high taxes, high college tuition, and the overall declining economy. With the economy being so poor, almost every career is affected. My dad is in the mortgage business so you can imagine the effect that is has on his salary with few people being able to afford housing. Also, as one of four children, I am the third to be in college and frankly I do not know how anyone can pay for it anymore. The price of college tuition makes it an impossible dream for some people and is actually one huge factor influencing if I live on campus or commute to college.

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Although my parents help me out the best they can, I must rely heavily on student loans as many, if not most, college students must also do. I am glad Clinton is taking steps to help lower tuition and to give opportunities for people of the working class to attend college at the same time.
Some critics may think the United States is not ready for a woman president or believe Clinton would be too emotional to be president. However, I believe November
2008 would be the perfect time for Clinton to take the lead. She is a strong, intelligent, and level-headed person who realizes when to be stern and when to be empathetic.
Recently, Barack Obama mocked Clinton on her recent support for gun owners’ rights.
According to the Star Ledger , Clinton responded, "I was not offended. Poor choice of words, but I think it was just misspoken” (Scolforo B3). I think it shows great character of Clinton to handle the situation the way she did instead of insulting Obama back. After doing research on Clinton and McCain, Clinton surprisingly impressed me with her political stands and ideas on many aspects of our country. She has logical ideas that could greatly help our economy and this is why I would vote for Hillary Clinton.

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Work Cited
"Hillary Clinton for President." Hillary Clinton. 4/15/2008. 15 Apr 2008
<http://hillaryclinton.com>.
"John McCain." John McCain 2008. 04/15/2008. 15 Apr 2008
<http://www.johnmccain.com>.
Scolforo, Mark. Pa. Voters Divided Over Obama Remarks." The Star-Ledger [New
Jersey] 04/14/08: B3
"The Issues: Economy and Taxes." Politics. 04/15.2008. The New York Times. 15 Apr
2008 <http://politics.nytimes.com/election-guide/2008/issues/economy.html>.