Relative Burdens

Tax policy in a nutshell:

Econ 102

McCain pounds away on the tax issue, lying along the way:
“These are tough times. Tough times in Wisconsin. Tough times in Ohio. Tough times all over America,” McCain told thousands packed into the picturesque downtown of Cedarburg, Wis. “My opponent will raise your taxes. My tax cuts will create jobs. His tax increases — increases, [...]

Brookings Lays Out Tax Differences

If you’re looking for an explanation of how McCain and Obama differ on tax policy and how those differences would affect you, the Brookings Institution has it (warning, PDF file). It’s a lot to get through and I don’t have any immediate reaction.

McCain’s Health/Tax Plan Scrutinized

The Dallas Morning News has a look at McCain’s proposal to tax employer health benefits as income. It’s just the start of the publicity this will get, I think. It’s also the kind of thing that can turn an election.
North Texas employers are not saying they would drop employee coverage altogether if Mr. McCain’s plan [...]

McCain/Obama Tax Comparisons

Let’s see … Obama wants to give me a tax cut, and eliminate taxes for seniors making under $50K a year. The latter would be good for my 80-year-old mom, who is under the threshold, lives totally on Social Security and investments, and is getting socked with big tax bills every year. 
McCain likely would cut [...]

High Speed Rail Referendum

Robert Cruickshank runs an advocacy blog in support of the California High Speed Rail initiative that’ll be on the ballot this fall in my home state. In his latest post, countering anti-rail/anti-initiative comments from the Howard Jarvis/Prop 13 group, he makes an excellent point:
What prosperity California still has today is the product of past public [...]

Back to the Future, Tax-Wise

Obama’s top economic advisers have an op-ed in the WSJ laying out their guy’s tax plan. Interesting point of emphasis is to peg many of its provisions to the Clinton era’s tax structure. That’s a good move, strategically, as it sets up the question, “Are you better off now than you were eight years ago?” [...]