Both Presidential candidates, Sens. John McCain and Barack Obama delivered remarks that outlined their approaches to fixing the economy this week. American voters are understandably concerned about the economy the most, and many will be choosing the candidate they believe would offer the best solutions to alleviate the country’s economic woes.Sen. McCain spoke yesterday to the National Federation of Independent Business, a group of small-business owners in Washington.   He presented no alternative to the tired old “supply-side economics” model, championed by every Republican President since Ronald Reagan. McCain’s economic agenda items are: reduced regulation; cuts in corporate tax rate and government spending; and–no surprise to anyone who follows the issue,–more free trade agreements. To McCain trade is about “the ability of American workers to benefit from exports to other nations.” Of course, had that been the story on trade, there would be no opponents to free trade agreements. However, our staggering $700.3 billion trade deficit, and the millions of American jobs displaced as a result of it, show that Americansdon’t so much benefit from exports to other nations, as they become disadvantaged because of the avalanche of imports from other nations. Senator Obama outlined his own economic plan at the kick-off for his swing states tour in Charlotte, N.C.  His plan included a $50-billion stimulus package that expands unemployment benefits; a $10-billion housing fund to help families who are facing default on their mortgages; tax credit of up to $500 per person or $1,000 per family making $50,000 a year or less; and a middle-class tax cut for families earning $250,000 or less.Trade did not figure prominently in Obama’s economic plan, but the truth is, jobs are at the core of Americans’ economic well-being. And they need to stay in the U.S. Tax cuts or one-time economic stimuli from the government are not going to fix the entrenched lingering imbalances in our economy that have lead to greatest stratification in our society since WWII.

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