June

• 'It's the Economy, Stupid': Ask the Advisers, NPR, Talk of the Nation (June 30, 2008).
  
• Tax plan face off: Obama vs. McCain, Chicago Sun Times (June 30, 2008) by Abdon M. Pallasch .
  

  "Obama's staff told the Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center he would raise the rates for people in the top two brackets -- about 2.5 million filers out of 100 million-plus. People in those high tax brackets would see the tax rate on their capital gains hiked from the current 15 percent to 20-28 percent."

• Transcript: Ed Rendell, Rob Portman, Fox News Sunday (June 29, 2008)
  

  "Well, let me start out by saying that the Tax Policy Center, an independent, bipartisan institution, said that if you make less than $250,000 a year in this country, if you're in the 80 percent down in terms of income, Senator Obama's tax cuts will put more money in your pocket than Senator McCain's. That's number one."

• Obama Courts Seniors With Tax Break, The Wall Street Journal (June 28, 2008) By Deborah Soloman.
  

  "While those with incomes under $50,000 would get relief under the Obama plan, his broader economic proposal would actually raise taxes for almost 10 million senior households, according to the Democratic-leaning Tax Policy Center.."

• Taxing Issues, National Review (June 27, 2008) by Eric Cantor.
  

  "Consider Sen. Obama’s pledge to lift the cap on the Social Security payroll tax for all earners for whom all income over $102,000 is currently exempted — above $250,000. The Tax Policy Center estimates the huge new tax increase would reel in .4 percent of GDP each year."

• What Obama means by tax the wealthy, CNNMoney (June 27, 2008) by Jeanne Sahadi.
  

  "That lack of specificity concerns some tax experts. "If Obama is hinting that those making more than $250,000 would pay a higher payroll tax rate ... it would fundamentally change the way Social Security operates and run the risk of making the program look less like social insurance and more like welfare," Tax Vox blog editor Howard Gleickman wrote for the Tax Policy Center."

• Recheck of claims against Obama prove them false, The Tennessean (June 27, 2008) by Susan Bond.
  

  "The average Tennessean stands to save more money on taxes under Obama’s plan than McCain’s plan. According to the Tax Policy Center, a nonpartisan group, 89 percent of Americans will pay lower taxes under Barack Obama than under John McCain."

• Obama, McCain Likely to Step Up Government Role in U.S. Economy, Bloomberg News (June 27, 2008) by Rich Miller and Lorraine Woellert.
  

  "Eric Toder, of the Urban Institute, said no matter how the cap-and-trade system is set up, it will mean more government bureaucracy. ``One way of the other, it's going to be adding complexity,'' he said. ``There's going to be a lot of special pleading by companies looking for exceptions."

• First Hard Numbers on Obama Tax Plan Show Dramatic Tax Redistribution, Hawaii Reporter (June 27, 2008) by The Tax Foundation.
  

  "In Tax Foundation Fiscal Fact, No. 132, Tax Foundation president Scott Hodge uses revenue estimates from the Tax Policy Center to show that Obama's plan would greatly accelerate the decades-long trend toward a federal government that depends for tax revenue almost exclusively on a few high-income people."

• Secondary Sources: Fed Postmortem, Transparency, Obama and Taxes, The Wall Street Journal, Real Time Economics blog (June 26, 2008)
  

  "Who Pays Taxes?: On the Tax Policy Center’s TaxVox blog, Bob Williams explains how Barack Obama’s plan would raise taxes on an elderly couple by $150, despite a pledge to eliminate taxes for elderly households with income under $50,000. Obama’s plan “increases corporate income taxes, which indirectly affects the elderly (and others who own assets). And that gets to part two of the answer, what economists call “tax incidence” — who actually pays a tax. We assume that the incidence of the corporate tax falls on people who own assets by lowering their pre-tax rates of return. This assumption is controversial. Clearly, somebody must pay the tax. It could fall on shareholders, employees, customers, or a combination of the three. It could even affect asset income or wages more broadly, cutting returns for investors who own non-stock assets or reducing compensation for workers at firms outside the corporate sector."

• Obama and McCain: Different -- and Evolving -- Visions for the U.S. Economy, Knowledge@Wharton (June 25, 2008)br />

  "According to the Tax Policy Center, a joint venture between the Urban Institute and the Brookings Institution, the two candidates' specific non-health tax proposals would reduce tax revenues by $3.6 trillion (McCain) and $2.7 trillion (Obama) over the next 10 years, or approximately 10% and 7% of the revenues scheduled for collection under current law."

• Ill., Calif. Sue Countrywide, NPR, All Things Considered (June 25, 2008) by Cheryl Corley
  
• Obama's Social Security Fine Print, Wall Street Journal (June 25, 2008) by Donald L. Luskin. (subscription required)
  

  "According to the nonpartisan Tax Policy Center, Mr. Obama's new tax would siphon off 0.4% of gross domestic product annually. Combined with Mr. Obama's other tax-hike initiatives, "the total tax on labor would be close to 60 percent. In high-tax states like California and New York, the top rate would be even higher."

• $10 million fund launched to highlight tax policy, Philanthropy Journal (June 25, 2008) by David Whitford.
  

  "With the Opportunity Fund, the Tax Policy Center will be able to broaden the scope of its activities," Leonard Burman, director of the center, says in a statement. "From more analyses of tax issues involving the environment, energy, business and international trade to major investments in our economic models and increased public education through expanded communication."

• Social Security: Saving Us From Ourselves, CQ Weekly (June 23, 2008) by Clea Benson.
  

  "In 2007, federal income tax breaks for retirement saving exceeded actual savings by more than $60 billion, according to one study by the Tax Policy Center, a joint project of the Urban Institute and the Brookings Institution."

• The evolution of John McCain, CNNMoney.com (June 23, 2008) by David Whitford.
  

  "It'll be expensive - the independent Tax Policy Center estimates, optimistically, that McCain's plan would add $4.5 trillion to the national debt over the next ten years, compared with $3.3 trillion for Obama's plan - but McCain insists that he can balance the budget in four years with promised savings from running a tighter ship and increased tax revenues as the economy expands."

• McCain and Obama on Tax Reform, BusinessWeek (June 23, 2008) by Chris Farrell.
  

  "That breakdown of the two tax plans comes from the Tax Policy Center, a joint venture between the Urban Institute and the Brookings Institution. Its recent analysis captures the essential difference between the two tax approaches."

• Obama, McCain Channel Clinton, Bush Legacies on Economy, Taxes, Bloomberg News (June 23, 2008) by Matthew Benjamin.
  

  "Both their tax proposals have a back-to-the-future quality,'' says Leonard Burman, director of the nonpartisan Tax Policy Center in Washington. "McCain would extend President Bush's tax cuts and lower marginal tax rates on companies, and Obama's list of targeted tax breaks would have looked perfectly at home in one of President Clinton's budgets.'"

• Obama opposition to drilling shows he just wants to tax the rich, The Tennessean (June 22, 2008) by Phil Valentine.
  

  "The Tax Policy Center says Obama's tax plan would push the effective tax rate on the wealthiest individuals to near 60 percent when state taxes are figured in."

• Tax cuts, but for whom?, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel (June 21, 2008) by Craig Gilbert.
  

  "About 60% of households would owe less under the McCain plan than under current law, but most of those in the lower income brackets (the bottom 40%) would get no tax cut, according to the Tax Policy Center, a joint project of the Brookings Institution and the Urban Institute."

• High Stakes for the Filthy Rich, The National Journal (June 21, 2008) by John Maggs.
  

  "To put this in perspective, if Obama's previous tax plan would raise an average of $700,000 apiece a year from the top 150,000 households, the new proposal would add at least $400,000 to the bill, according to a rough estimate by Len Burman, co-director of the Tax Policy Center."

• Big Promises Bump Into Budget Realities, Washington Post (June 21, 2008) by Lori Montgomery.
  

  "Obama also vows to extend the Bush tax cuts for families who earn less than $250,000 a year. According to an analysis by the Tax Policy Center, a joint project of Brookings and the Urban Institute, his tax plans would deprive the Treasury of nearly $900 billion in his first term, and increase the national debt by $3.3 trillion by 2018."

• Editorial: McCain descends into double-talk, St. Petersburg Times (June 21, 2008).
  

  "According to estimates by the Tax Policy Center, a similar program offered by Fred Thompson during his short-lived campaign for president would have increased the deficit by about $600-billion annually."

• Obama, McCain Priorities Differ, But Neither Will Balance Budget, Investor's Business Daily (June 20, 2008) by Jed Graham.
  

  "The left-leaning Tax Policy Center concludes: "Obama's generosity comes at a price. . . . He'd raise the national debt by a staggering $3.3 trillion over the next decade, and that includes more than $900 billion in promised revenue raisers that TPC could not verify." After excluding unspecified revenue-raising measures, the Tax Policy Center finds McCain would raise the debt by $665 billion more than Obama. But that doesn't factor in either McCain's planned spending cuts, or Obama's spending plans for health care, infrastructure, education and energy."

• Obama win likely to mean Social Security tax hike for wealthy, McClatchy Newspapers (June 20, 2008) by David Lightman.
  

  "Obama's plan would help cut the projected Social Security shortfall by about half, by raising an estimated $629 billion over the next 10 years, according to an analysis by the Urban Institute-Brookings Institution Tax Policy Center. "Kudos to Senator Obama for kicking off the discussion," said Leonard Burman, the center's director and a former Clinton administration Treasury official, "but let's hope that policymakers soon move beyond the simplistic solutions."

• Secondary Sources: Commodity Prices, China Jobs, SWFs, McCain, Wall Street Journal Real Time Economics Blog (June 20, 2008).
  

  "Howard Gleckman of the Tax Policy Center’s TaxVox blog says that John McCain’s ambitious plan to reform corporate taxes is disappearing. “Earlier his spring, McCain was talking about allowing companies to expense all their capital investments in the year they are made… Back then, McCain had not yet answered one big question: What would happen to the tax deduction companies take for their interest payments?"

• Perry: Obama's tax policy would `devastate' economy, The Houston Chronicle (June 20, 2008) by Associated Press. (appeared in Wichita Falls Times Record, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, and KHOU-TV)
  

  "Gilson pointed to a new report from the non-partisan Tax Policy Center stating that Obama's tax plan will provide middle-class families with tax cuts three times as large as those they would receive under McCain's plan."

• Obama, McCain diverge on taxes, The Detroit News (June 20, 2008) by Carolyn Lochhead. (appeared in San Francisco Chronicle)
  

  "Taxes would fall most sharply for lower-income groups while rising sharply for top earners, according to a new analysis by the Tax Policy Center, a joint think tank of the center-left Brookings Institution and Urban Institute."

• Taxes, Integrity and Character, Yahoo News (June 19, 2008) by Joe Conason.
  

  "According to the nonpartisan Tax Policy Center, the McCain proposals would render almost one-quarter of their benefits to the top one-tenth of 1 percent of taxpayers. Those are households with annual incomes over $2.8 million. Families in the lower 60 percent of the income scale would receive 8 percent of the McCain plan's benefits. This scheme will result in the loss of at least $4 trillion in revenue over the coming decade, as our physical infrastructure crumbles."

• A Comparative Tax Story: Obama, McCain, and Ike, Alternet.org (June 18, 2008) by Sam Pizzigati.
  

  "In 2009, says the Tax Policy Center, taxpayers making over $2.9 million a year will pay 28.3 percent of their incomes, on average, in federal taxes if John McCain tax policy becomes law and 39.2 percent if Barack Obama has his way."

• Obama Kisses Billions Goodbye, ABC News, Political Radar blog (June 18, 2008).
  

  "At present, income subject to Social Security taxes is capped at $102,000 per year. Eliminating that cap and imposing the Social Security tax on all income, as Obama suggested last year, would have raised $1.5 trillion over ten years, according to figures provided to ABC News by the non-partisan Tax Policy Center."

• New Effort Seeks to Educate Americans About Tax Policies, The Chronicle of Philanthropy (June 18, 2008) by Caroline Preston.
  

  "The Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center, a joint project of the Urban Institute and the Brookings Institution, hopes to use a $2.5-million challenge grant from the Gates foundation to create a $10-million fund to analyze tax issues."

• Three Questions for McCain, The New York Times (June 18, 2008) by David Leonhardt
  

  "Fast forward to last week, when a Washington research group called the Tax Policy Center set out to estimate the budgetary effects of Mr. McCain’s and Mr. Obama’s plans, after having talked with the campaigns about the details. Almost immediately, the center’s report became the yardstick that journalists and bloggers used."

• McCain and Obama Tax Policy Proposals, WAMU, The Diane Rehm Show (June 18, 2008).
• What they plan to do with our money, The Tucson Citizen (June 18, 2008) by Billie Stanton
  

  "Each has tax proposals that were just parsed by the Tax Policy Center of the Urban Institute and Brookings Institution, nonpartisan think tanks."

• An ounce of skepticism for Obama's energy plan, Scripps News (June 18, 2008) by Dale McFeatters
  

  "The nonpartisan Tax Policy Center says Obama's tax proposals would reduce federal revenues by $2.7 trillion over 10 years -- when the government is already running $400 billion a year in the red -- and that was before he raised the possibility of a cut in corporate taxes."

• ‘Middle-class tax cuts’ and reality in 2008, Christian Science Monitor, Patchwork Nation blog (June 18, 2008) by Dante Chinni
  

  "Last week the Tax Policy Center, a left-leaning think tank, released its preliminary analysis of the Obama and McCain tax plans and found that both candidates would cut taxes for the vast majority of Americans."

• Obama missing chance to campaign as a tax cutter, MarketWatch (June 18, 2008) by Rex Nutting
  

  "According to the Tax Policy Center's analysis of the two candidates' tax plans, 80% of taxpayers would get more from Obama's cuts than from McCain's. About 95% of taxpayers would pay less under Obama than under current law (which ends many of the tax breaks passed in the past decade)."

• Your World in Charts: "Tax Plans for All" Edition, The American Prospect, Ezra Klein blog (June 17, 2008) by Ezra Klein.
  

  "Anyway, Paul Krugman lays this out better than I've been able to, and also links to The Tax Policy Center's analysis of Obama and McCain's tax plans. It's a great backgrounder for folks interested in this stuff, and concludes: Although both candidates have at times stressed fiscal responsibility, their specific non-health tax proposals would reduce tax revenues by $3.7 trillion (McCain) and $2.7 trillion (Obama) over the next 10 years, or approximately 10 and 7 percent of the revenues scheduled for collection under current law, respectively."

• Obama Plans Spending Boost, Possible Cut in Business Tax, The Wall Street Journal (June 17, 2008) by Bob Davis and Amy Chozick
  

  "Sen. Obama has proposed a variety of measures that would raise taxes on individuals at the top end and provide tax relief to middle- and lower-income households. Under his plans, those in the middle would see their after-tax income increase by 2.4%, or $1,042, according to a nonpartisan analysis by the Washington-based Tax Policy Center. Americans with incomes above $2.8 million would see their after-tax income decrease by 11.5%."

• Today on the presidential campaign trail, The Associated Press (June 17, 2008) by Ann Sanner and Jerry Estill
  

  "The Tax Policy Center, a nonpartisan joint project of the Brookings Institution and the Urban Institute, gives a preliminary estimate that over the next decade, McCain's tax proposals would reduce federal revenues $3.7 trillion while Obama's cuts would amount to $2.7 trillion."

• Obama calls for sweeping reforms in Flint address, Detroit Free Press (June 16, 2008) by Chris Christoff
  

  "Obama said his tax plan would save the Letterman’s $1,400 a year. He noted a study by the national Tax Policy Center which concluded that McCain’s tax plan would save the Lettermans only $113."

• Fiscal Poison Pill, The New York Times (June 16, 2008) by Paul Krugman
  

  "Barack Obama’s tax plan is more responsible than Mr. McCain’s: relative to current policy, the Tax Policy Center estimates, the Obama plan would raise revenue by $700 billion over the next decade, compared with a $600 billion loss for Mr. McCain."

• McCain, Obama pitch economic plans, The New York Times (June 16, 2008) by Paul Krugman.
  
  

  "Barack Obama’s tax plan is more responsible than Mr. McCain’s: relative to current policy, the Tax Policy Center estimates, the Obama plan would raise revenue by $700 billion over the next decade, compared with a $600 billion loss for Mr. McCain."

• Fiscal Poison Pill, USA Today (Associated Press) (June 16, 2008)
  

  "An independent, liberal-leaning think tank, the Tax Policy Center, issued an analysis of the candidates' tax plans that concluded that McCain's would primarily benefit very high income taxpayers, while Obama's would increase taxes for the wealthiest."

• Orthodox responses to taxing issues, Financial Times (June 15, 2008) by Clive Crook.
  
  

  "Measured against current law (ie, against a baseline that assumes the Bush tax cuts expire on schedule in 2011) and excluding healthcare (which involves some additional tax changes) Mr McCain wants to cut taxes by $3,700bn over the next 10 years. Mr Obama wants to cut them by $2,700bn. That amounts to a 10 per cent cut in revenue for Mr McCain and a 7 per cent cut for Mr Obama. (The estimates are from the non-partisan Tax Policy Centre of the Urban Institute and the Brookings Institution.)

• Editorial: A Perot moment, Los Angeles Times (June 15, 2008)
  
  

  "Yet a report last week by the nonpartisan Tax Policy Center estimated that the net effect of Obama's proposed tax hikes and cuts would cost the U.S. Treasury $2.7 trillion more over 10 years than if the Bush tax cuts all lapsed on schedule and the alternative minimum tax continued expanding. (The center projected that McCain's proposal would cost the Treasury $3.7 trillion.)"

• Obama to focus on bolstering Michigan's future, The Detroit News (June 15, 2008) by Gordon Trowbridge
  
  

  "In fact, Obama has proposed significant tax cuts for low- and middle-income families. The campaign points to an analysis last week by the nonpartisan Tax Policy Center that found Obama's plan would cut taxes mostly for those with moderate incomes, while McCain's would provide only modest benefits to families in most income brackets but a big boost to those in the top 20 percent of incomes."

• McCain, Obama offer competing tax plans, San Francisco Chronicle (June 15, 2008) by Carolyn Lochhead.
  
  

  "As much as Obama blasts the Bush tax cuts, he would expand large portions of them, promising even more tax cuts for middle- and lower-income groups. Taxes would fall most sharply for lower-income groups while rising sharply for top earners, according to a new analysis by the Tax Policy Center, a joint think tank of the center-left Brookings Institution and Urban Institute. Obama's campaign contends that no one earning less than $250,000 a year would see any tax increase."

• Political Economy: Taxing Patience, CQ Politics (June 14, 2008) by John Cranford.
  
  

  "So far, it’s pretty routine stuff. And neither McCain nor Obama is suggesting anything like a wholesale change in the income tax system, although both candidates would make a few significant adjustments at the margins. As researchers at the Urban Institute-Brookings Institution Tax Policy Center put it in an analysis last week: “They both have a back-to-the-future look to them."

• Editorial: Wanted: Fiscal responsibility in candidate plans, Kansas City Star (June 14, 2008).
  
  

  "McCain proposes to close the budget gap by cracking down on pork-barrel spending. That’s a fine idea. The nonpartisan Tax Policy Center warns, however, that McCain will find it difficult to reduce spending enough to cover the revenue losses called for in his tax plan. The same caution holds for Obama’s plans to close loopholes, the research group says."

• Obama Highlights Rising Energy Costs, Washington Post "The Trail" blog (June 14, 2008) by Glenn Kessler.
  
  

  "An analysis of McCain's tax cut plan by the nonpartisan Tax Policy Center found than nearly 29 percent of his tax cuts would flow to individuals making more than $2.8 million. (Such taxpayers, the top one percent, tend to pay a significant proportion of overall income taxes."

• McCain, Obama Trade Fire on Tax Plans, FoxNews.com (June 13, 2008))
  
  

  "The study they referenced this week was a preliminary report out of the Tax Policy Center, which concluded that while both candidates offer “substantial” tax cuts, those breaks benefit two different classes of taxpayers - and both plans drive up the deficit. The report said McCain’s plan would offer “huge” breaks for high-income households, and Obama’s plan would offer more relief to those on the bottom of the scale.."

• McCain will repeal the AMT. Wait, no ..., CNNMoney.com (June 13, 2008) by Jeanne Sahadi.
  
  

  "According to a report released this week from the Tax Policy Center, which used numbers provided by the McCain campaign, the candidate is now proposing to permanently patch the AMT, but to do so in a way that eventually exceeds what Congress has been doing so far."

• Candidates Strongly Differ on How to Tax the Rich, NPR (June 13, 2008) by John Ydstie.
  
  

  "If you're among the richest Americans, the top one-tenth of 1 percent, the difference between McCain or Obama in the White House could be stark. Len Burman, director of the nonpartisan Tax Policy Center, says that under McCain, those rich taxpayers would, on average, get a $270,000 tax cut from McCain, but with Obama in the White House, they'd face a $700,000 increase in their tax bill. So if you're rich, you could see nearly a million-dollar swing in your tax bill, depending on who wins the election."

• Electing a Spender in Chief, TheStreet.com (June 13, 2008) by John Fout.
  
  

  "A study by the Tax Policy Center, an offshoot of the Brookings Institution and the Urban Institute, analyzed the recent budget implications of each candidates' proposals. The news from the report is bad: "Senator Obama's plan would add $3.3 trillion to the national debt (including additional interest costs) while Senator McCain's plan would add $4.5 trillion. This does not include the cost of expanding health insurance coverage and assumes that Senator McCain's proposals phase in and phase out on schedule. It also assumes that all of the candidates' optimistic revenue offsets materialize."

• Check Point: Will the Real Tax-and-Spender Please ’Fess Up?, The New York Times (June 13, 2008) by Larry Rohter.
  
  

  "In a study of the candidates’ plans made public Wednesday, the nonpartisan Tax Policy Center concluded that in contrast to Mr. McCain, “Senator Obama offers much larger tax breaks to low- and middle-income taxpayers and would increase taxes on high-income taxpayers. The study said, “The largest tax cuts, as a share of income, would go to those at the bottom of the income distribution,” whereas “Senator McCain’s tax cuts would primarily benefit those with very high incomes.”Other groups that focus on tax and economic policy are preparing similar analyses, but say they regard the Tax Policy Center’s assessment as highly reliable, based on its work in the past. The study did question some of Mr. Obama’s calculations, noting, for example, that “both candidates may be overoptimistic in their revenue targets for closing tax loopholes, Obama probably more than McCain."

• Obama combats darker side of Internet politics , AFP (June 13, 2008)
  
  

  "Citing a new study by the non-partisan Tax Policy Center, Democratic Senator Claire McCaskill said one-quarter of the benefits under McCain's tax plan would go to people earning more than three million dollars a year."

• Campaign Notebook: McCain steps up push to win over disaffected Clinton backers (second item), The Boston Globe (June 13, 2008) by Foon Rhee.
  
  

  "Obama was armed with a study that suggests that his proposals would give families making between about $38,000 and $66,000 a year an average tax cut of $1,042 - three times more than the $319 in savings they would get from McCain's plans. The biggest gap would be for the 0.1 percent of taxpayers with incomes of more than $2.9 million a year, according to the Tax Policy Center in Washington. They would pay $270,000 less under McCain, but pay $702,000 more under Obama. Both plans, however, would dramatically increase the federal deficit, the study found."

• Economic woes loom large for McCain, Obama, Associated Press (June 13, 2008) by Jim Kuhnhenn
  
  

  "Economists of various ideological persuasions, however, view McCain's assessment as inaccurate or exaggerated." The nonpartisan Tax Policy Center: "The Labor Department reports came in a week that Obama had set aside to feature his economic plan. At the same time, an independent, liberal-leaning think tank, the Tax Policy Center, issued an analysis of the candidates tax plans that concluded that McCain's would primarily benefit very high income taxpayers, while Obama's would increase taxes for the wealthiest."

• Iraq-et Men From Mars, National Journal "The Hotline" (June 13, 2008)
  
  

  "Economists of various ideological persuasions, however, view McCain's assessment as inaccurate or exaggerated." The nonpartisan Tax Policy Center: "Senator Obama offers much larger tax breaks to low- and middle-income taxpayers and would increase taxes on high-income taxpayers."

• Candidates' tax plans raise U.S. debt, The Washington Times (June 13, 2008) by David M. Dickson.
  
  

  "Sen. Barack Obama's tax plan would make the U.S. tax system more progressive, while Sen. John McCain's tax policies would make the system more regressive - but both of them would raise the national debt by trillions of dollars, according to a study of their tax agendas by the Tax Policy Center."

• McCain holds town hall without rival; Stumbles some during televised event, The Washington Times (June 13, 2008) by Stephen Dinan.
  
  

  "The Obama campaign responded by pointing to a new analysis from a budget group, the Tax Policy Center, that says Mr. McCain's tax plan, while cutting most taxes, would largely benefit upper-income Americans. The analysis says Mr. Obama raises taxes on the wealthy and lowers taxes on lower-income folks."

• Obama vs. McCain: Who will reduce your taxes more?, The Tuscon Citizen (June 13, 2008) by Brian Tumulty.
  
  

  "The presumptive presidential nominees of the two major political parties each would reduce taxes for a middle-income household earning $66,354 a year by about $1,000 in 2009, according to an analysis released Wednesday by the nonpartisan Tax Policy Center. The tax analysis comes just more than a week after Barack Obama clinched the number of delegates need to secure the Democratic presidential nomination, making it nearly certain he will face Republican John McCain in the November election."

• Obama vs. McCain: Everyone, Under the Bus!, MSNBC's "First Read" blog (June 13, 2008) by Domenico Montanaro.
  
  

  "“In a study of the candidates’ plans made public Wednesday, the nonpartisan Tax Policy Center concluded that in contrast to Mr. McCain, “Senator Obama offers much larger tax breaks to low- and middle-income taxpayers and would increase taxes on high-income taxpayers.” The study said, “The largest tax cuts, as a share of income, would go to those at the bottom of the income distribution,” whereas “Senator McCain’s tax cuts would primarily benefit those with very high incomes.“Other groups that focus on tax and economic policy are preparing similar analyses, but say they regard the Tax Policy Center’s assessment as highly reliable, based on its work in the past. The study did question some of Mr. Obama’s calculations, noting, for example, that “both candidates may be overoptimistic in their revenue targets for closing tax loopholes, Obama probably more than McCain."

• Taxes: McCain vs. Obama, CNNMoney.com (June 12, 2008) by Jeanne Sahadi.
  
• Economists? Who, Those Guys?, MSNBC's "First Read" blog (June 12, 2008) by Carrie Dann.
  
  

  "McCain's ribbing of economic experts comes on the same day that the Obama campaign is touting a new study from the Tax Policy Center with favorable conclusions for Obama's tax plan. Analysis by the group, a Washington-based joint venture of Brookings and the Urban Institute, found that Obama's plan would deliver three times the tax break to middle-class Americans than would McCain's proposal. Senior advisor Doug Holtz-Eakin responded to the study on a conference call today, saying that the Tax Policy Center's methodology "makes some fundamentally unrealistic assumptions" about, for example, the impact of tax increases on small businesses, and that its analysis should be taken "with a grain of salt."

• Obama Keeps Focus On Dueling Tax Plans, The Wall Street Journal's "Washington Wire" blog (June 12, 2008) by Amy Chozick.
  
  

  "According to a study by the Tax Policy Center, a non-partisan organization, both candidates’ economic plans would cause more damage than improvement. McCain’s plan could stimulate the economy but also grow the deficit, while Obama’s plan could create a deficit and complicate the tax code."

• Obama, Kaukauna talk taxes: Middle-class deserves the breaks, he says, NPR (June 12, 2008) by Greg J. Borowski.
  
  

  "A report this week from the nonpartisan Tax Policy Center found Obama’s plan would provide three times more in tax cuts for the middle class than McCain’s approach, something Obama touted Thursday."

• "Middle class could see bigger tax benefits under Obama, Minneapolis Star Tribune (June 12, 2008) by The New York Times News Service.
  
  

  "According to computations by the nonpartisan Tax Policy Center, under Obama's plan, the middle of the middle class, or those earning between $37,595 and $66,354, would see taxes cut by $1,042 a year. Under McCain's plan, taxes for people in that category would also fall, but by $319; most of the benefits would go to those making $2.8 million a year or more."

• Lightning Round: The Trouble with Trillions, The American Prospect "Tapped" blog (June 12, 2008) by Mori Dinauer.
  
  

  "Class warfare: The Tax Policy Center has released a report [PDF] comparing McCain and Obama's tax plans. Both run a deficit but Obama's is progressive while McCain's is regressive."

• Dog Bites Man, The New Republic "The Plank" blog (June 12, 2008) by Josh Patashnik.
  
  

  "Via TaxProf Blog, the Tax Policy Center has put out an analysis (pdf) of the Obama and McCain tax plans. Here's the conclusion: If enacted, the Obama and McCain tax plans would have radically different effects on the distribution of tax burdens in the United States. The Obama tax plan would make the tax system significantly more progressive by providing large tax breaks to those at the bottom of the income scale and raising taxes significantly on upper-income earners. The McCain tax plan would make the tax system more regressive, even compared with a system in which the 2001–06 tax cuts are made permanent. It would do so by providing relatively little tax relief to those at the bottom of the income scale while providing huge tax cuts to households at the very top of the income distribution."

• On the Issues: McCain's Tax Plan Aids Wealthy, Says Group, The Washington Post's "The Trail" blog (June 12, 2008) by Perry Bacon Jr.
  
  

  "An analysis of both campaigns proposals by the Washington-based, nonpartisan Tax Policy Center found that for people with incomes between $66,354 and $111,645, Obama's proposals would cut their taxes by more than $1000, compared to around $300 under McCain's plan. But for Americans with incomes above $603,402, Obama would raise their taxes dramatically, by more than $115,000 a year, while McCain would cut them by $45,000."

• Commentary: Start with Spending Cuts, Market Place "Public Radio International" (June 12, 2008) by Kai Ryssdal.
  
  

  "The non-partisan Tax Policy Center's been doing its thing. It's been digging into the tax promises John McCain and Barack Obama have been making. Take health care out of the equation and it turns out both candidates would wind up costing the government money. For Obama: $2.7 trillion less in tax revenues over the next 10 years. For McCain: $3.7 trillion."

• Progressive But Maybe Not Progress, Talking Points Memo blog (June 12, 2008) by David Kurtz.
  
  

  "The Tax Policy Center has released a report comparing the Obama and McCain tax plans. You can read the report, "A Preliminary Analysis of the 2008 Presidential Candidates' Tax Plans."

• Obama promotes middle-class tax cut, Boston Globe "Political Intelligence" blog (June 12, 2008) by Foon Rhee.
  
  

  "The presumptive Democratic nominee will go in armed with a study that suggests that his proposals would give families making between about $38,000 and $66,000 a year an average tax cut of $1,042 -- three times more than the $319 in savings they would get from the tax cut plans of Republican John McCain."

• Tax record catches up with McCain, The Washington Times' DINAN blog (June 12, 2008) by Stephen Dinan.
  
  

  "Now comes a new analysis from the Tax Policy Center that compares McCain's current proposals versus Barack Obama's tax cut proposals. The verdict is McCain's tax cuts are skewed far more to high-income Americans than Obama, who would actually impose a tax increase on upper-income earners."

• Presidential hopefuls back $1,000 tax cut for middle-income households, Gannett News Service (June 12, 2008) by Brian Tumulty.
  
  

  "The Tax Policy Center’s independent analysis of the pieces of each tax package found Obama’s plan would provide $1,042 in estimated tax cuts for Americans in the middle 20 percent of income while Republican John McCain’s plan would provide about $1,009 — $33 less."

• ANALYSIS: Wealthiest would pay $1 million more in taxes under Obama plan, Bloomberg News (June 12, 2008) by Alison Fitzgerald.
  
  

  "The big difference between Obama and McCain is that Obama is clearly more focused on income distribution," said Leonard Burman, one of the study's authors. The analysis, which was done with the cooperation of the campaigns, showed that both candidates cut taxes overall, and fall short of making up for the lost revenue, so their plans would add to the federal deficit. McCain's proposals could exacerbate income inequality by cutting taxes for the wealthy more than for lower-income families, the study said."

• Independent analyst touts Obama tax plan, The Nashua Telegraph (June 12, 2008) by Kevin Landrigan.
  
  

  "The tax cut plan of Democratic nominee to be Barack Obama offers three times the break for middle class families than proposals of likely Republican nominee John McCain, according to analysts working for a left-leaning think tank. Families making between $37,595 and $66,354 of annual income with Obama would get an average tax cut of $1,042 per family while McCain's tax cut for this group would be $319, the report states."

• In 3rd District Primary, economy is the issue, The Salt Lake Tribune (June 12, 2008) by Robert Gehrke.
  
  

  "Both candidates support extending the Bush tax cuts, which are due to expire at the end of 2010, although that and a fix to the alternative minimum tax would add $3.5 trillion to the national debt over the next decade, according to the nonpartisan Urban Institute."

• Obama vs. McCain: Taxing and Spending, Business Week (June 12, 2008) by Jane Sasseen.
  
  

  "According to a new analysis by the nonpartisan Tax Policy Center, a joint venture between the Urban Institute and the Brookings Institution, two Washington think tanks, this round goes to Obama. The TPC took a look at the various tax proposals put forth by the two candidates and estimated that Obama's plan would lead to a boost in aftertax income for all but the highest earners, while taking a smaller bite out of government tax revenues than would McCain's plans."

• Thousands who earn $200,000+ avoid paying income tax, USA Today (June 12, 2008) by Kevin McCoy.
  
  

  "It's an interesting case study on how people find ways to avoid paying taxes," said Howard Gleckman, a senior research associate and tax blog editor at The Tax Policy Center, a joint venture of the Urban Institute and the Brookings Institution."

• Cheney Pushes for More Drilling; Vice President Also Calls for Extension of Bush Tax Cuts, Washington Post (June 12, 2008) by Zachary A. Goldfarb.
  
  

  "Leonard Burman, senior fellow at the nonpartisan Urban Institute, said Cheney's description of the impact of the tax cuts on the poor was a mathematical trick. He said the impact of the cuts is minimal because low-income people already pay such a small amount in taxes, while higher income people retain a much larger share of their income with the tax cuts in place. "They're basically spinning," Burman said."

• UPDATE:McCain,Obama Tax Plans Would Add Substantially To Debt, Nasdaq online (June 11, 2008) by Patrick Yoest.)
  
  

  "U.S. presidential candidates John McCain and Barack Obama would add trillions of dollars to the federal debt through tax cuts under current spending assumptions, according to a study released Wednesday by the non-partisan think tank Urban Institute."

• McCain, Obama tax plans to boost U.S. debt: tax group, Reuters (June 11, 2008) by David Lawder. (appeared in Washington Post, Boston Globe)
  
  

  "In an analysis of how the candidates' tax proposals would affect federal revenues, the Brookings Institution and the Urban Institute said McCain's plans would cut receipts by $3.72 trillion from 2009-2018 compared with current tax law. Obama's plans would cut revenues by $2.73 trillion over the same period."

• Evening Wrap: Candidates Release Tax Plans, Wall Street Journal (June 11, 2008) by Brian Tumulty.
  
  

  "The study by the Tax Policy Center found that both candidates' plans would also significantly boost the federal debt."

• Candidates Would Cut Taxes But Differ on by How Much, The Wall Street Journal (June 11, 2008) by Deborah Solomon.
  
  

  "The study by the Tax Policy Center, a joint venture of Washington think tanks the Urban Institute and the Brookings Institution, found that both candidates' plans would also significantly boost the federal debt. The plan offered by Sen. Obama would add $3.3 trillion to the national debt over the next 10 years and Sen. McCain's plan would add $4.5 trillion."

• A waste of energy?, CNNMoney.com (June 11, 2008) by Jeanne Sahadi.
  
  

  "Under both plans, all American taxpayers could pay a price for their tax cuts: a bigger deficit. The Tax Policy Center estimates that over 10 years, McCain's tax proposals could increase the national debt by as much as $4.5 trillion with interest, while Obama's could add as much as $3.3 trillion."

• "Economic Choices 2008": The Great Tax Divide, Nightly Business Report (PBS) (June 11, 2008) by Darren Gersh.
  
  

  "The Tax Policy Center estimates Senator Obama would raise their taxes by more than $700,000. Senator McCain would cut taxes in that bracket by almost $270,000. What if you're in the middle, making between $37,000 and $66,000? Obama wants to cut your taxes by about $1,000, Senator McCain by around $300. Burman cautions the tax cuts are being promised just as the Federal budget is straining to support the retirement of the baby boom generation."

• A waste of energy?, Columbus Dispatch (June 11, 2008) by Jack Torry.
  
  

  "Eric Toder, a senior fellow at the Urban Institute in Washington, said that suspending the federal gasoline tax "doesn't produce more energy. It probably would produce somewhat lower prices to consumers, but not the full amount of the tax."

• Obama, McCain Agree to Disagree on the Economy, NPR (June 11, 2008) by Scott Horsley.
  
  

  "Obama's proposal to raise dividend and capital gains taxes would be widely felt. But the vast majority of the increase would be borne by the wealthy. According to the Tax Policy Center in Washington, the richest 5 percent of Americans collect more than half of all dividends and more than 85 percent of all capital gains."

• Economy is top priority for Obama, McCain, and voters, New York Times (June 11, 2008) by Michael Cooper and Larry Rohter.
  
  

  "And his call for repealing the alternative minimum tax, while it would still help some middle-class taxpayers, would still largely benefit the wealthy: some 80 percent of the benefit would go to the top 10 percent of earners, according to the Tax Policy Center, a nonpartisan research group in Washington."

• On the Issues: McCain's Tax Plan Aids Wealthy, Says Group, The Washington Post's "The Trail" blog (June 12, 2008) by Perry Bacon Jr.
  

  "An analysis of both campaigns proposals by the Washington-based, nonpartisan Tax Policy Center found that for people with incomes between $66,354 and $111,645, Obama's proposals would cut their taxes by more than $1000, compared to around $300 under McCain's plan. But for Americans with incomes above $603,402, Obama would raise their taxes dramatically, by more than $115,000 a year, while McCain would cut them by $45,000."

• Obama promotes middle-class tax cut, Boston Globe "Political Intelligence" blog (June 12, 2008) by Foon Rhee.
  

  "The presumptive Democratic nominee will go in armed with a study that suggests that his proposals would give families making between about $38,000 and $66,000 a year an average tax cut of $1,042 -- three times more than the $319 in savings they would get from the tax cut plans of Republican John McCain."

• Tax record catches up with McCain, The Washington Times' DINAN blog (June 12, 2008) by Stephen Dinan.
  

  "Now comes a new analysis from the Tax Policy Center that compares McCain's current proposals versus Barack Obama's tax cut proposals. The verdict is McCain's tax cuts are skewed far more to high-income Americans than Obama, who would actually impose a tax increase on upper-income earners."

• Presidential hopefuls back $1,000 tax cut for middle-income households, Gannett News Service (June 12, 2008) by Brian Tumulty.
  

  "The Tax Policy Center’s independent analysis of the pieces of each tax package found Obama’s plan would provide $1,042 in estimated tax cuts for Americans in the middle 20 percent of income while Republican John McCain’s plan would provide about $1,009 — $33 less."

• ANALYSIS: Wealthiest would pay $1 million more in taxes under Obama plan, Bloomberg News (June 12, 2008) by Alison Fitzgerald.
  

  "The big difference between Obama and McCain is that Obama is clearly more focused on income distribution," said Leonard Burman, one of the study's authors. The analysis, which was done with the cooperation of the campaigns, showed that both candidates cut taxes overall, and fall short of making up for the lost revenue, so their plans would add to the federal deficit. McCain's proposals could exacerbate income inequality by cutting taxes for the wealthy more than for lower-income families, the study said."

• Independent analyst touts Obama tax plan, The Nashua Telegraph (June 12, 2008) by Kevin Landrigan.
  

  "The tax cut plan of Democratic nominee to be Barack Obama offers three times the break for middle class families than proposals of likely Republican nominee John McCain, according to analysts working for a left-leaning think tank. Families making between $37,595 and $66,354 of annual income with Obama would get an average tax cut of $1,042 per family while McCain's tax cut for this group would be $319, the report states."

• In 3rd District Primary, economy is the issue, The Salt Lake Tribune (June 12, 2008) by Robert Gehrke.
  

  "Both candidates support extending the Bush tax cuts, which are due to expire at the end of 2010, although that and a fix to the alternative minimum tax would add $3.5 trillion to the national debt over the next decade, according to the nonpartisan Urban Institute."

• Obama vs. McCain: Taxing and Spending, Business Week (June 12, 2008) by Jane Sasseen.
  

  "According to a new analysis by the nonpartisan Tax Policy Center, a joint venture between the Urban Institute and the Brookings Institution, two Washington think tanks, this round goes to Obama. The TPC took a look at the various tax proposals put forth by the two candidates and estimated that Obama's plan would lead to a boost in aftertax income for all but the highest earners, while taking a smaller bite out of government tax revenues than would McCain's plans."

• Thousands who earn $200,000+ avoid paying income tax, USA Today (June 12, 2008) by Kevin McCoy.
  

  "It's an interesting case study on how people find ways to avoid paying taxes," said Howard Gleckman, a senior research associate and tax blog editor at The Tax Policy Center, a joint venture of the Urban Institute and the Brookings Institution."

• Cheney Pushes for More Drilling; Vice President Also Calls for Extension of Bush Tax Cuts, Washington Post (June 12, 2008) by Zachary A. Goldfarb.
  

  "Leonard Burman, senior fellow at the nonpartisan Urban Institute, said Cheney's description of the impact of the tax cuts on the poor was a mathematical trick. He said the impact of the cuts is minimal because low-income people already pay such a small amount in taxes, while higher income people retain a much larger share of their income with the tax cuts in place. "They're basically spinning," Burman said."

• McCain, Obama tax plans to boost U.S. debt: tax group, Reuters (June 11, 2008) by David Lawder. (appeared in Washington Post, Boston Globe)
  

  "In an analysis of how the candidates' tax proposals would affect federal revenues, the Brookings Institution and the Urban Institute said McCain's plans would cut receipts by $3.72 trillion from 2009-2018 compared with current tax law. Obama's plans would cut revenues by $2.73 trillion over the same period."

• Evening Wrap: Candidates Release Tax Plans, Wall Street Journal (June 11, 2008) by Brian Tumulty.
  

  "The study by the Tax Policy Center found that both candidates' plans would also significantly boost the federal debt."

• Candidates Would Cut Taxes But Differ on by How Much, The Wall Street Journal (June 11, 2008) by Deborah Solomon.
  

  "The study by the Tax Policy Center, a joint venture of Washington think tanks the Urban Institute and the Brookings Institution, found that both candidates' plans would also significantly boost the federal debt. The plan offered by Sen. Obama would add $3.3 trillion to the national debt over the next 10 years and Sen. McCain's plan would add $4.5 trillion."

• A waste of energy?, CNNMoney.com (June 11, 2008) by Jeanne Sahadi.
  

  "Under both plans, all American taxpayers could pay a price for their tax cuts: a bigger deficit. The Tax Policy Center estimates that over 10 years, McCain's tax proposals could increase the national debt by as much as $4.5 trillion with interest, while Obama's could add as much as $3.3 trillion."

• "Economic Choices 2008": The Great Tax Divide, Nightly Business Report (PBS) (June 11, 2008) by Darren Gersh.
  

  "The Tax Policy Center estimates Senator Obama would raise their taxes by more than $700,000. Senator McCain would cut taxes in that bracket by almost $270,000. What if you're in the middle, making between $37,000 and $66,000? Obama wants to cut your taxes by about $1,000, Senator McCain by around $300. Burman cautions the tax cuts are being promised just as the Federal budget is straining to support the retirement of the baby boom generation."

• A waste of energy?, Columbus Dispatch (June 11, 2008) by Jack Torry.
  

  "Eric Toder, a senior fellow at the Urban Institute in Washington, said that suspending the federal gasoline tax "doesn't produce more energy. It probably would produce somewhat lower prices to consumers, but not the full amount of the tax."

• Obama, McCain Agree to Disagree on the Economy, NPR (June 11, 2008) by Scott Horsley.
  

  "Obama's proposal to raise dividend and capital gains taxes would be widely felt. But the vast majority of the increase would be borne by the wealthy. According to the Tax Policy Center in Washington, the richest 5 percent of Americans collect more than half of all dividends and more than 85 percent of all capital gains."

• Economy is top priority for Obama, McCain, and voters, New York Times (June 11, 2008) by Michael Cooper and Larry Rohter.
  

  "And his call for repealing the alternative minimum tax, while it would still help some middle-class taxpayers, would still largely benefit the wealthy: some 80 percent of the benefit would go to the top 10 percent of earners, according to the Tax Policy Center, a nonpartisan research group in Washington."

• McCain and Obama Trade Jabs Over Economic Strategies, PBS, The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer (June 10, 2008) by Scott Horsley.
  

  "If you look at what Senator McCain is talking about, it's really a very pumped-up version. It's Bush-onomics on steroids. He's talking about extending the Bush tax cuts, but that amounts to less than one-third of the McCain tax cuts. McCain's tax cuts scored over a 10-year budget window amount to $5.7 trillion, according to the nonpartisan Tax Policy Center."

• Breaking down McCain's speech on the economy, Salon.com (June 10, 2008) by Justin Jouvenal.
  

  "Also, according to the Tax Policy Center's projections, there are 5.8 million taxpayers who, by 2010, will be paying the AMT and making more than $200,000. These taxpayers, FactCheck says, would stand to benefit disproportionately from McCain's proposal."

• Economy is top priority for Obama, McCain, and voters, The Christian Science Monitor (June 10, 2008) by Ariel Sabar.
  

  "The ways in which the candidates say they would pay for spending increases or tax cuts are not really credible," says Roberton Williams of the nonpartisan Tax Policy Center in Washington."

• Tax Evasion, 2008, National Journal (June 7, 2008) by Clive Crook.
  

  "If this should change, a quick read I would recommend to any incoming president is "Fixing the Tax System: Support Fairer, Simpler, and More Adequate Taxation," an 11-page paper by William Gale of the Brookings Institution. (You can Google it.) Gale's proposals, taken together, are not scarily radical."

• Column: Obama, McCain and taxes, The Atlantic, Clive Crook blog (June 6, 2008) by Clive Crook.
  

  "I mention a few specific possible reforms, based on some recommended pre-election reading: A short paper by Bill Gale of the Brookings Institution on priorities for fixing the system."

• McCain Aide Says Bush Knows Little About Economy (Update1), Bloomberg News (June 6, 2008) by Matthew Benjamin.
  

  "A Bloomberg News analysis of McCain's budget, which was released in April, shows it would increase the national debt by $1.8 trillion over eight years. Groups such as the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities and the Tax Policy Center, both based in Washington, estimate the cost to be even higher."

• McCain Emerges as Master Economic Flip-Flopper, Bloomberg News (June 6, 2008) by Gene Sperling.
  

  "While the Urban Institute's Len Burman estimates this would cost only $75 billion per year, University of Michigan economist Reuven Avi-Yonah figures that the rate cut and expensing together “would open up almost unlimited opportunities for sheltering income” and reduce corporate tax revenue by 75 percent. Jason Furman, head of the centrist Hamilton Project, calculates the combined costs of the rate cut and income sheltering at more than $300 billion a year."

• Brookings Study Says