In preparing our analysis of the candidates’ tax plans, we sent descriptions to each campaign for comment/clarification/correction. Senator Obama’s staff asked us not to include his reported support for a Social Security tax on earnings above $200,000 or $250,000, saying that there was no specific proposal. So we left the Social Security proposal out of our core analysis. We also left out Senator McCain’s proposal for an optional alternative tax system on similar grounds. We did discuss these non-proposals in two sidebars in our analysis.

Barack Obama looks at the U.S. economy and worries about recession—which he would cure with a $50 billion stimulus bill. Increasingly, Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke looks at the same economy and sees inflation—which he would treat by raising interest rates.

In the first detailed analysis of the Barack Obama and John McCain tax plans, the Tax Policy Center has run their proposals through the Big Computer and discovered that their schemes are, well, painfully predictable. Each would raise the national debt by trillions of dollars. Obama would use the money to provide modest tax cuts to low- and moderate-income people while imposing stiff tax hikes on the very wealthy. McCain would cut taxes a bit for the working-class and a lot for the rich.

I've just finished two terrific new books: High Wire: The Precarious Financial Lives of American Families by long-time LA Times reporter Peter Gosselin, and Hospital by Julie Salamon. In quite different ways, each illuminates some of the critical social policy issues of our time.

As 401(k) plans and other defined contribution savings vehicles have become more popular in recent years, retirement experts have become increasingly worried about how workers can make these funds literally last a lifetime. Too often, retirees withdraw the money too quickly and end up outliving their savings or, worse, take the whole pot of cash and go off to buy that bass boat they’ve always wanted.

Interesting confluence of events: Barack Obama is about to wrap up the Democratic Presidential nomination and the Senate has begun debating a major plan to cap carbon emissions—an idea Obama strongly supports.

It is a nice object lesson in how a couple of obscure changes in the tax law can save a few people a lot of money. The IRS has reported that the number of those earning $200,000 or more who paid no taxes rose sharply in 2005. More than 7,300 of these worthies avoided U.S. income tax entirely, two-and-a-half times the year before. About 85,000 paid worldwide taxes of less than 10% of their income.

For another take on my debate with George Yin on whether temporary tax breaks are a good idea George) or not (me), take a look...

Kudos to Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI), the senior Republican on the House Budget Committee, for proposing an ambitious plan aimed at bringing government spending under control over the next 75 years. Actually, Ryan would do even more than that. He’d also restructure the tax code, Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid.

Howard Gleckman continues to think that temporary tax cuts are no better than permanent ones from the standpoint of enhancing political accountability and fiscal restraint (“Tax Extenders and Fiscal Restraint,” May 22, 2008). So here’s some data.