When Democratic presidential candidate, Barack Obama, can raise $9 million in two days in Hollywood this month, it’s fairly clear that the entertainment world is heavily skewed to the left. Not being on the left makes it hard for me to stomach anything coming out of Hollywood with any sort of political spin. That’s why I was pleasantly surprised with David Zucker’s “An American Carol.” Set to release in early October, this is one of the rare conservative films jam packed with star power. It’s cast includes giants and its message is clear: Freedom has meaning is well worth fighting for!

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The terms “credit crisis” and “housing bust” will be forever stamped upon our generation. Many ordinary and not-so-ordinary people are suffering, and there’s a growing public discontent for the way things have been done. Some are calling for the dissolution of Capitalism in America, declaring that we finally have proof of the failings of free enterprise! The truth is quite to the contrary. This financial meltdown was largely caused and absolutely perpetuited by a series of government incursions into the economy!

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Taxation is an unavoidable part of life. For real estate investors, taxation is a very important variable. Property markets are extremely sensitive and highly influenced by tax policy, so it is important to understand some of the basics. For instance, real estate taxes fall into two categories: transfer taxes (% of sale) and property taxes (% of assessed value charged annually). Changes to either of these two categories will influence broad market valuations.

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According to the statistics it seems so! In an article written by economist Jeremy Siegel (Published 9/5 on Yahoo Finance), it appears that over the last 120 year period stock markets have risen 10.85% under Democratic presidencies, compared to 8.25% under Republican administrations. This trend has only accelerated in the last 60 years, with Democrat returns averaging 15.26% per year versus 9.01% Republican returns. What is it about Democratic presidencies that drive markets nuts?

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One of my friends just brought an interesting article to my attention. It’s a Wall Street Journal opinion piece written by Ari Fleischer (former White House Press Secretary) entitled “The Taxpaying Minority.” From the title you can guess he states the usual stats: top 40% of the population pays 99% of taxes, top 10% pay 71%, and the bottom 40% payNOTHING!

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