Who is better for your wallet: What about Gary?!?

Don't worry I didn't forget about Gary

But wait...there's more! Yes, there actually is another candidate and his name is Gary Johnson. While not unpopular, he is less mainstream than Hillary and Trump because of his extremely differing policies. You could say he is the best of both worlds, Republican and Democrat, stereo-typically he is fiscally-conservative yet socially liberal.

    His tax plan is probably one of the greatest policy ideas that he is proposing. It is a consumption tax (sales tax) on any product that is purchased by an individual consumer, (all purchases made by businesses are not taxed.) It is designed to be a "fair" tax because there is only one tax bracket for everyone, and one deduction or "prebate" determined by the poverty level that offsets the cost of

If you didn't know this is Gary Johnson

necessary goods and services. For example, if your monthly prebate is $1000 and you only spend $900 on goods and services for that month (regardless of their necessity), you would have an effective tax rate of less than 0% regardless of income. However, if you spend $1800 and your tax prebate is that same $1000, your effective tax rate would be calculated from that net $800 you spent. Considering the median household income is $51,939 (2014), your effective tax rate would only be 18%, much lower than the 32% you would otherwise be paying in total income and payroll taxes under current laws.

    Another attractive feature is that it stops double, triple and quadruple taxing. With no business income taxes, the money being paid to employees is not taxed. When you are paid, there are no employer income taxes of any type, the only time anything is taxed is the first time it is purchased by a consumer. For example, if you were to purchase a computer, it would be taxed at 23%, but when you sold it to another person or business it wouldn't be taxed again. However, if a business bought it first, they would not be taxed unless they decided to sell it to a consumer (then it would be taxed at 23%.)

    The first and very obvious advantage to this plan is that you would be taxed much less than you are being taxed now,especially if you decide not to do a lot of spending. The second advantage is having a surplus of business income if you own or operate one, because there would no longer be additional taxes on them. This would give you and your business the opportunity to attract better employees with higher wages, invest more on research and development, and effectually expand your business. A secondary benefit of this would be job creation and hopefully a chance to find employment if you need it.

    As far as trade goes, he doesn't have any documented positions on his website for how he views globalism and free trade. However, he generally agrees with free trade but not in how it is currently written and practiced-- he believes it benefits specific corporations rather than economies as a

Gary Johnson Climbed Mt. Everest

whole. He believes that there is no way to fight globalism since that is where our economies are heading, and as a result we might as well formulate our trade agreements to help benefit us in the long run.

    Since he doesn't have any specific plans laid out, it is hard to determine  how his trade policies during his presidency would affect you financially. Based on how he has discussed trade issues in the past, it is likely that he wouldn't impose tariffs that may start trade wars between countries. But I do see him holding countries accountable through the World Trade Organization if they practice unfair trade policies.

    Who is best for your wallet? Who is going to give you the most post-tax income and who might give you better economic opportunity? For everyone, it will undoubtedly be Gary Johnson-- especially since you will be able to keep all of the money that you’re paid, no matter who you are. However, if you live below the poverty line or are a minority citizen, Hillary Clinton has outlined some pretty serious initiatives to help you better your economic situation. Or contrarily, if you make a large amount of money like Donald Trump, then you will most benefit from his presidency. Mr. Johnson, however, seems to be the easiest way for everyone in the country to have increased economic opportunity no matter their race or economic status. With Johnson, everyone wins.