Jim Maule (Villanova) offers a tax perspective on Friday night’s Presidential debate. His conclusion:

Listening to these two candidates spar over taxes was unpleasant. They toss about sound-bite phrases but I would be shocked if they really understood the underlying issues.

Though each candidate tried to paint the other’s tax philosophy as bringing a significantly different approach to the table, neither one persuaded me that they get it. Both hold philosophies that complicate the code. Neither one addressed the flaws inherent in taxing capital gains and dividends at lower rates; the plans advocated by each candidate would continue to treat these types of income as less deserving of taxation than are wages.

Wouldn’t it be fun if they’d let me debate each of these two fellows on tax policy? No, it would not. It would leave many Americans as distressed as I am when I realize that the tax philosophy of one or the other of the two candidates is what this country will endure for the next four years. I remain unimpressed.

For more information on the candidates’ tax positions, see here. For Prof. Maule’s similarly critical view of the debate performance of both Cheney and Edwards on tax issues, see here.