Despite the ongoing nonsense of "fast and furious" and the pending SCOTUS decision on the ACA, most Americans will still likely vote their pocketbook, and who they think will be best for it. The choice between Republicans and Democrats generally boils down to "Lower Taxes!" -vs- "Safety Nets!". The Republicans push the line that we know better what to do with our money (even though we don't), and if we end up on the street with a paper cup and an "I will work for food" sign, it's just because we weren't personally responsible. Democrats err on the side of caution, acknowledging that a few "welfare queens" are a worthy price to pay to ensure fewer people end up in complete poverty.

Rarely acknowledged because it clashes with our American-centric world view is that there are factors outside of our personal control (and control of the federal government) that have a huge impact on our economy. Because The Market is international, the economies, banks, and investors around the world have a direct effect on our own economy. When banks (either U.S. or otherwise) make risky investments, the ripples travel across the seven seas to every other country.

Thus it was our initial meltdown in fall of 2008 that created a domino effect in Europe which is still felt to this day. The problems it caused are reflecting back on us even today. Last week, the DOW fell 250 points on news of disappointing economic data from Europe and China, as well as slashed growth projections here in the U.S. (oil fell as well, which is actually good news for consumers). The next day, Moody's downgraded the credit rating of most major U.S. banks, including Morgan-Stanley. Why? Their continued investments in derivatives (which caused the initial meltdown), as well as other risky investments.

It was investment in those risky products that caused problems in Europe as well. Countries like Ireland and Iceland which had balanced budgets for decades were suddenly in trouble. Greece and Spain were on the precipice of default. To protect the Euro and the economies which depended on it, a decision was made: austerity.

The European austerity model sounds awfully familiar: cut government spending and proportionally raise taxes on the middle class (NOTE: This is done via increasing the VAT, a national sales tax, which effectively increases proportionally more for the lower economic stratas. In the U.S., cutting taxes for the rich has the same effect, proportionally).

Nobel Prize-winning economist explains why this doesn't work: It assumes confidence will return to the market, something which is rare and slow when it happens:

Remember when Dubya told people to "go shopping"? That's the idea of making people (and companies) confident to spend money. It didn't work in Europe, as their continued economic woes continue to show. Considering the international aspect of large companies, there's no reason to expect it would work any better here. On top of that - the Republicans want even less regulations on businesses, despite direct evidence that the financial crisis wouldn't have occurred had the Republicans not removed the safeguards on the banking industry.

And yet - this is what the Republicans continue to push. Romney's biggest doners got to hear details of his plans over the weekend at a Rich Donor's Summit:

Utter nonsense, to be sure. I would LOVE to ask him what the federal government is doing that is preventing Home Depot from hiring people.

This all points to the importance of the impending election. Romney - if elected - would (supposedly) eliminate regulations and drastically cut government jobs. How does making people unemployed help the economy? How does a reduced budget deficit automatically translate into higher employment? It doesn't. That's just one facet of why this election is so important to every person in this country.

Which is why it's a bit shocking to learn that 1 in 4 voters are currently undecided. There are some on the extreme fringes (both left and right) that might consider both of these candidates to be "the same". To the rest of us, though, the differences on economic policy - not to mention social issues, and international attitude - couldn't be more different. These candidates aren't cyphers which require further investigation. It's pretty clear where they both stand on just about everything.

Even worse is the mentality of the Republican voter. When one in five Republicans still believes that President Obama is a Muslim (and apparently if he was it would matter for some reason), you have to wonder what other nonsense they believe. It's embarrassing for our country.

With so much at stake, it's important to understand how critical education is. In this case, the education needs to narrowly focus on how taxes, government spending, and jobs are intertwined, and how the plans of the presidential candidates will effect those. It's time for a reality check, paid in full.