Barrack Obama and Mitt Romney had different blueprints for the economy of the United States of America. They both focused their attention on the most critical aspects of the economy that include the tax policy, stimulus spending and bailouts, social security, trade and mortgage modification and housing policy. Their plans for the economy were very different and they criticized each other’s plan and credited their own as the best. Romney criticized Obama’s plan by claiming that it had failed the economy of the U.S for the four years he has been in rule. However, Obama defended his plan by claiming that the only reason that it failed in some sectors is due to the failing state of the economy when he took over the presidency.
Romney’s tax policy on individual taxes included the elimination of estate tax, elimination of taxes on dividends, eradication of taxes on interest and on income for individuals who earn below $200,000. In addition, he had planned to maintain the current marginal tax rates. Obama’s plan for individual tax included a 30% tax for individuals who earn more than $1 million and elimination of the Bush-era tax for households with income less than $250,000. On corporate taxes, Romney planned to reduce corporate tax by 25% and make the R&D tax credit permanent. In contrast, Obama planned to give tax credits to manufacturing companies and eliminate tax for companies that dispatch job to foreign countries.
On the issue of stimulus spending and bailouts, President Obama planned to bailout both financial institutions as well as auto companies. In contrast, Romney plan was to allow these companies file for bankruptcy. Obama had proposed a bill that included reductions in taxes and government spending. Romney was against stimulus spending by the government because he believed that it increased the country’s deficit. Instead, he preferred stimulating growth by lowering taxes paid by both individuals and businesses.
On regulation, Obama held that deregulation of banks and other financial institutions was the major cause of the 208 financial crises. However, part of his plan was to eliminate banks that were not financially stable and viable. In contrast, Romney favored deregulation because he claimed that it was vital for development of a business-friendly environment.
On trade, Obama signed free trade agreements with several countries that included Panama, South Korea and Columbia. He also established a program that gave people who held mortgages credits of $3000 every year to help them refinance them. In addition, Obama banned insider trading by members of the congress. Romney had a different plan. He intended to activate all oil and gases leases to ensure that the U.S had enough oil and gas to stop importing. In addition, he planned to eradicate all regulations that suppressed the growth of small businesses s well as change regulations that inhibited the production of oil and alternative sources of energy.
Obama did not comment on his plan concerning how he planned to improve the monetary policy to make it more effective. However, financial analysts predicted that he would reappoint the current Federal Reserve chairman to continue the era of low interest rates to help manage the problem of unemployment. Romney supported a contradictory monetary policy in order to reduce inherent inflation dangers and improve the overall value of the dollar. In addition, he was against quantitative easing because he does not believe with the notion that low rates stimulate the growth of the economy. It was evident that he would not reappoint Bernanke, the Federal Reserve chairman if he became president. He preferred someone who shared in his plans. Both had plans for the economy but Obama’s was more viable and promising.