"Now that he is the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, however, McCain is marching straight down the party line. The economic package he has laid out embraces many of the tax policies he once decried: extending Bush's tax cuts he voted against, offering investment tax breaks he once believed would have little economic benefit and granting the long-held wishes of tax lobbyists he has often mocked."
In the past, be bucked Bush & many other Republicans by voting against tax breaks for the wealthy. However, "in Pittsburgh last week, in the face of a projected budget deficit of $400 billion and a sixth year of war, McCain proposed extending Bush's tax cuts, including the dividends and capital gains tax cuts, lowering the corporate income tax, allowing businesses to write off the cost of new equipment and technology, banning Internet and new cellphone taxes, and permanently extending the business tax credit for research and development. By McCain's accounting, his tax proposals would cost the Treasury $200 billion a year."
And remember this: as of mid-2005, the Chinese have accumulated over a trillion dollars of US Treasuries. As of Feb. '08, China Investment Corp was close to a deal w/JC Flowers, to put $4 billion into a new fund to invest in ailing US financial institutions. (See Financial Times, Feb. 8)
"The move follows blockbuster transactions in which sovereign wealth funds from Asia and the Middle East have invested directly in beleaguered banks such as UBS, Merrill Lynch, Citigroup and Morgan Stanley.
"The tie-up under discussion would differ from those deals because CIC would be investing indirectly, reflecting the growing worry among sovereign wealth funds of a political backlash as they put more money into well-known foreign companies.
"The CIC would be also less vulnerable to domestic criticism if its investments went sour."
So, who do we believe? The McCain of the past or the present? What will the future McCain look like? Will he find a new residence in Beijing?
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