Obama and Biden and taxes, oh my!

Yikes! I just looked at the clock and realized that I haven't blogged today. I could feel the earth's spin starting to slow, so here goes.

The Democrats are about to wrap up their soiree tonight. I'll probably be watching another event from a sporting venue, specifically Texas Stadium.

It's not that I don't care about what Barack Obama has to say, but thanks to the InterWeb and cable TV reruns, even non-Tivo folks can see what they want when. Plus, rather than listen to political posturing from either side, I'd rather see some of the "red meat" that commentators keep talking about.

So in that spirit, here are some meat and potato looks at taxes and the Democratic ticket.

The Tax Foundation has issued a  new study of the 2001 and 2003 tax cuts and says the legislation offers some lessons for Obama and his running mate, Joe Biden. When when top tax rates were cut in those two tax packages, says the tax research group, taxable income increased. It did not go up enough, however, to "pay for themselves," an exaggerated claim often made for tax cut proposals.

Rather, the rate cuts in the top two brackets did produces reports from affected taxpayers of enough extra taxable income to offset between 25 and 40 percent of the revenue loss. Get the full scoop in Fiscal Fact No.141.

And from Tax Analysts, we learn that Biden is to the left of Obama when it comes to tax policy:

Biden has followed a path more overtly populist than the one Obama has walked, says the tax publication pushing for a more progressive tax code that shifts the tax burden away from lower- and middle-income families and onto high earners and businesses.

You can read more in TaxProf's excerpt of the article.

When the GOP gathers in Minnesota next week -- and we all hope they do since that'll mean that Gustav isn't a huge threat to Louisiana or some other Gulf Coast spot -- I'll share analysis of the tax positions of John McCain and his yet to be named VP.