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Politics, Politics, Politics...
It's extremely difficult not to talk about politics when that seems like the only thing going on these days. To be honest, I have been sucked in hook, line, and sinker this time around. Normally I could care less, but this election feels like I'm watching a 737 try to land safely without its landing gear deployed.
The loan freeze part of the economy is somewhat difficult to wrap my head around. So you have small businesses stuck trying to cut payroll with short term commercial loans they can't get, and consumers who are stuck in homes with payments they cannot afford because refinancing is not an option right now. Nor are they able to take out a car loan if they wanted to buy a more fuel efficient car.
We also have these other crazy issues...
- Bringing down the $10 Trillion National Debt
- Paying for $700 Billion Banking Bailout
- Paying for $85 Billion AIG Insurance Bailout + now another $37 billion
- Maybe paying for $??? Billion Defaulted Mortgages Bailout
- Foreign policy issues
- Energy independence
- Healthcare
- Terrorism
- Climate Change
Yikes, I feel sorry for whoever wins the election.
No matter, as American's we have some of the smartest people in the world. In fact Wired Magazine has the 2008 Smart List - 15 People the next President should listen to, see if you agree with them.
Many of us already know who we are voting for and it no secret that we appear to be very polarized in our choice. If you are proud of your political affiliation we haven a few magazines that you will find inline with your viewpoint. If you are Democrat, grab a copy of American Prospect, New Republic, or The Nation. If you are Republican, you may want to consider The Weekly Standard.
 Then there are still those of us who are not exactly sure, and find the partisan media opinions journalism difficult to wade through. I guess the best you can do is just read as much as you can and avoid the television political pundits when ever possible.
I did however find some excellent articles in Inc. magazine that list several tips on how politics will affect your business. The candidates talking about their tax plans and how they will affect your business can be very confusing. Pages 32 and 33 have both sides translated in layman's terms. Concerned about you taxes this year? Pages 61-64 have a list of some of the tax advantages that may go away soon.
May the best presidential candidate win!
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