Advisors to the three presidential campaigns appeared at a Tax Foundation conference in Washington, D.C. Tuesday, April 29. Brian Deese represented the Clinton campaign, Kevin Hassett the McCain campaign and Dan Tarullo the Obama campaign. The spokesmen avoided controversial statements, and the audience of think tank personnel and reporters focused on questions of policy. Some subjects that drew attention were the McCain and Clinton plans for a temporary gas tax holiday, and the Obama plans to raise taxes on capital and wage income even above what Senator Clinton would. Three panels of issue-area experts spoke before the campaign spokesmen, on climate change, health care and tax reform. The climate speakers were William Pizer, Resources for the Future; Nikki Roy, Pew Center on Global Climate Change; and Robert McNally, Tudor Investment Corporation. Addressing health care reform were John Sheils, The Lewin Group; Joe Antos, American Enterprise Institute; and Len Nichols, The New America Foundation. The tax reform panelists were Alex Brill, American Enterprise Institute; Len Burman, Tax Policy Center-Urban Institute; and Scott Hodge, President, Tax Foundation. The conference was sponsored by American University, the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, the New America Foundation, and the Tax Foundation. A video of the conference is available below, and photos can be viewed here.
