Why Dave Ramsey Should Support Obama
I want to start this off that I am a huge fan of Dave Ramsey. I have listened to his show for about 8 years now and have seem him grow a company into a very large entity based on something he believes in.
As I was washing dishes this morning a thought came to me. I started to think about the stance that Dave takes on finances and then thought “You know what? He should support Obama”.
Now I don’t know if Dave has come out against one candidate or not but based on what he has said in the past it seems that he is leaning towards the republican candidate.
There are 2 issues that I think he should support Obama on.
1. Tax Policy
I have studied the tax policies of both candidates and I feel that Dave should lean towards Obama on this one and here is why.
One of the biggest things about Dave’s program is that no matter how much income you make you can be “rich”. Yes it might take longer depending on your “shovel” as he calls it (Your income) but regardless if you follow his baby steps and stay away from debt that you will end up “Living like no one else”.
The thing is that about 95% (My statistic) of people that have called in to his show all have incomes below $200,000. They are good people making 50k-80k and yet are able to pay off their house and build wealth. Old men will call in and say “Well I got about a million five in the bank” and Dave always follows up with with “How much did you make a year?” And the answer is usually something like “Oh never more then $35k a year working at the factory”. These are the exact people that will be helped with the Obama tax plan.
Think about it: What kind of jobs make $200k or more? Not many unless you are a Doctor or a Lawyer or some top notch sales man… rarely do you make $40k a year and then all the sudden got a promotion into $250k. Joe the Plumber supports a candidate based on a pipe dream (pun TOTALLY intended) that if he was to buy a business that he all the sudden is going to make $250k a year. Even the boss that owns the business says that it probably would only be a $100k a year job and would require a lot of expansion to make it to $250k.
We need to get off this kick, and Dave would agree with me, that to be rich you have to have a “rich” income. And the true rich are those that have saved and are working the baby steps to build slow wealth with medium shovels.
And on that platform he should support Obama.
2. Health care
One of the leading causes of bankruptcy in America is medical debt according to a Harvard study done in 2001. Dave hates bankruptcy with a passion and discourages it to anyone that suggests it. I think in the 8 years I have been listening I have heard him say once that someone should get a bankruptcy. He didn’t actually say it out right but the guy basically had $500,000 in (oddly enough) medical bills and made like $20k a year. He didn’t say “oh you just need to file bankruptcy” but allude to the fact that he didn’t know of any options and that it would take you years to ever get out from under this.
The health care plan of Obama works to make health insurance not only affordable but also reform the industry so that we don’t have people who have $20k in medical debt even after paying $1000 a month for insurance!
Again, Obama.
The policies of Obama really help the middle class keep more of their money and that seems to be what Dave should be supporting.
In all I guess this is just an idea and I should probably next time think about the Red Sox losing and not on anything intelligent while washing dishes.
Just something to generate discussion on the matter. So please… discuss away! :-)
MB on November 6th, 2008
Your point that Dave wants to help middle class people is true. Your points on tax and health insurance are wrong. Dave believes in helping the income groups you reference but not via a government handout and he sure does not want the government getting its hands into our healthcare system. Dave correctly asserts that most things the government does, it does not do well. This is why you will see Dave tend to support conservatives for the presidency. He believes in helping through VOLUNTARY giving and job creation. Both of which depend on low tax rates for ALL income levels. Obama wants to take from the rich and give to the poor and take a government sized administrative fee out of the pot to boot!