John Sidney McCain III

He is probably the best known of the candidates running and certainly has the most extensive public record. He is undoubtedly a war hero. His book Flags of our Fathers is a great inspirational read for all ages and political leanings. He has the strongest stated position on the current war on terror but his desire to compromise often leads him to not follow through on his stated convictions. In other words, his actions are often in conflict with his promises.

Unfortunately, he is not a conservative.

He voted against the Bush tax cuts he now says he would fight to leave in place. But, what about making them permanent? They are all due to expire in 2010 so “leaving them in place” is not enough. What about the Fair Tax?

He is more interested in compromise than he is in doing what is right or in the best interest of the country.

No child left behind came about because of his compromise with Ted Kennedy. This has significantly worsened education in this county because it is implemented as every child held back to lowest common denominator.

He is anti free-speech. No, he doesn’t say he is anti free-speech but the McCain-Feingold legislation limits political free speech. It is undoubtedly unconstitutional but has never been challenged. The first amendment exists to protect political free speech. The fear at the time the Constitution was drafted is the needed to guarantee that at any time in the future a budding Thomas Paine would be free to express his or her own brand of Common Sense. McCain-Feingold expressly tries to limit that type of political free speech.

From an investor’s point of view, what would it like with President McCain?

• Less favorable capital gains treatment - he has a history of class war fare and this is one very fertile area for those pandering to buy votes.
• Unfavorable inheritance treatment - he believes in redistribution at death. He thinks the exclusion should be $10 Million and a rate of 15% on top of that. The problem is taxes have already been paid on all of that during the lifetime of the decedent.
• Higher marginal tax rates - He opposed the Bush tax cuts and is way too willing to compromise with tax hungry Democrats.
• Higher social security and medicare taxes - He is against any kind of privatization.

An investor would have to be much more aggressive in tax avoidance in their investing decisions. That could mean less affordable housing and higher over-all interest rates. Capital would be harder for startups to raise and small businesses, which employ the majority of US workers, would have a much more difficult time surviving than they do now.

The plus side is, investors who are well positioned with ready access to cash reserves or low cost lines of credit will be able to pick up some really great deals.