What If John McCain Became Our Next President?

Fresh off a victory in New Hampshire, John McCain’s camp must be feeling good right now. McCain is one of the front runners to win the Republican nomination, so it is not too much of a stretch to ponder how things might look for investors if McCain were to become the next president of the United States.

McCain plans on keeping the Bush tax cuts, doing away with the alternative minimum tax (AMT) and making it harder to raise taxes in the future, according to his website. The following excerpt from McCain’s campaign website essentially sums up his plan for investors:

“Reward Saving, Investment and Risk-Taking: Low taxes on dividends and capital gains promote saving, channel investment dollars to innovative, high-value uses and not wasteful financial planning. John McCain will keep the current rates on dividends and capital gains and fight anti-growth efforts by Democrats.”

Campaigning in Michigan leading up to that state's primary, McCain told a crowd in Grand Rapids that he was "aware of the economic difficulties here in the state of Michigan," according to the Boston Globe. "I am aware that you have high unemployment. I'm aware that the state of Michigan has lost jobs and that there are tough times, tough times here in the Heartland of America."

McCain suggested utilizing community colleges for education and retraining of workers, and "offered instead the prospect of introducing retraining schemes, particularly in potentially new green technology jobs," according to the Guardian Unlimited.

Thus it appears things would likely turn out okay for investors if McCain were to become our next president; he does not plan to increase taxes. If nothing else, investors can expect things to at least remain about where they are now.