As discussion on taxes heats up in the Presidential campaign, today's Wall Street Journal devoted much of its space (in the news and opinion sections) on the substance and messaging the tax debate. Nick Timiraos has a nice summary piece on the tit-for-tat between the McCain and Obama campaigns on their tax plans. Obama clarified his plan, requiring beneficiaries of his proposed tax credits to "be employed or to have been recently employed." Karl Rove, former White House Deputy Chief of Staff, pens a column suggesting that messaging on taxation is still powerful in presidential politics independent of the financial crisis. WSJ's editorial board says that we've been witnessing a preview of "Obamanomics" since February when the Bush administration "conceded to the Congressional priority of Keynesian fiscal 'stimulus.'" Michael Boskin, former chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers under President George H.W. Bush, writes that the next president should reconsider his tax proposals, among other components of any broad economic plan, because he will inherit a perfect storm that included "loose monetary policy, socially engineered housing policy, and the rapid growth of leverage" that led to a "housing bubble burst into recession." Holger Schmieding, chief econmist for Europe at Bank of America, calls on European countries to cut taxes: "reducing wage levies would be far better than boosting public spending."
