October 13, 2008 8:54:02 AM CDT
(Newser) – President Bush’s tax cuts have become the governmental equivalent of a corporate poison pill, Paul Krugman observes in the New York Times, aimed at hamstringing new stewardship. Both prospective replacements have tax plans very much haunted by the Bush cuts, with one-time critic John McCain promising not only to make them permanent, but add more—and without a plan to replace revenue.
McCain, Krugman writes, needs "to shore up relations with the Republican base, which suspects him of being a closet moderate. But he’s not the only one seemingly trapped by the Bush fiscal legacy." Barack Obama’s plan raises revenue by rolling back cuts for the rich—but his unwillingness to repeal middle-class cuts will make universal health care tough to pay for.
Source New York Times
1 hour, 52 minutes ago Barack Obama continues to rise in the polls just as John McCain falls, with the latest numbers giving the Democrat a 10-point lead over his opponent, reports the Washington Post. Voters also gave Obama a clear lead on taxes and leadership for the first time in the election. McCain, meanwhile, is seen as too focused on attacking Obama, and is losing support even among his base. More »
Oct 8, 08 7:45 AM CDT Barack Obama "is the only possible choice to lead the country," says Esquire, though the magazine’s position is less an endorsement of Obama and more a treatise against John McCain. Obama has failed to define his key campaign theme of change “except as all those things encompassed by the phrase ‘Elect me’”—but he still represents a departure from George W. Bush that McCain does not. More »
Sep 26, 08 5:01 PM CDT After a dramatic exit yesterday, House Republicans returned to talks today on the Wall Street bailout plan, the Washington Post reports. The White House expressed confidence and hoped aloud for a resolution by Monday. Yesterday’s White House meeting, with both candidates, was seen as a misstep. “The insertion of presidential politics has not been helpful,” Senate Majority leader Harry Reid said. More »
Sep 25, 08 4:05 PM CDT John McCain and Barack Obama met with President Bush and congressional leaders in Washington this afternoon to discuss the evolving bailout plan, the AP reports. With the candidates' help, “my hope is that we can reach an agreement very shortly,” Bush said. Key lawmakers said they had reached a tentative deal earlier today, but doubts remained. "I don't believe we have an agreement," said Sen. Richard Shelby, top Republican on the banking panel, after emerging from the White House meeting. More »
Sep 25, 08 2:31 PM CDT The financial crisis is turning the presidential campaign into a “Goldilocks story," Gail Collins writes in the New York Times. McCain, “desperately reinventing his position every day,” has halted his campaign to focus on Wall Street, while Obama has coolly mentioned he may skip out on the rescue bill vote. Yet, so far, their solutions are “both vaguely similar and similarly vague." More »
Barack Obama • John McCain • George W. Bush • Bush administration • taxes • tax cuts • universal health care
