Using numbers from the non-partisan Tax Policy Center, the website AlchemyToday came up with a calculator to see how much Barack Obama would raise your taxes. It's a nifty device that should help clarify for people the big differences in economic policy in this election.

Are you making less than $603,000? If so, Obama isn't going to raise your taxes, the data show.

According to a Gallup Poll, 53% of Americans think Obama is going to raise their taxes, compared with just 34% who suspect the same of McCain. That means that at least 48% of Americans don't really understand what Obama is going to do and one-third don't understand what McCain is proposing. Where would so many people get the crazy idea that Obama's secret plan is to raise taxes? Well, it could be because John McCain tells them that every chance he gets.

When John McCain picked Alaska Governor Sarah Palin, wildlife lovers cringed for two reasons. The first is that she seems like just the kind of smart, young leader who has battled corruption and government waste that could get not so environmentally friendly Republicans elected. The second is that Palin herself has been on the side of hunters instead of wildlife watchers--even when the fiscal numbers are not on hunting's side.

Palin--in addition to vowing to sue to stop the listing Polar Bears as an endangered species--has put the weight of the state behind defeating a ballot measure that would have limited the aerial shooting of wolves. Nationwide aerial hunting has been banned since 1972's Airborne Hunting Act, but Alaska gets around that by saying the hunters are working for the state to control predators. The idea is to produce more moose and caribou to hunt.

The Alaska Fish and Game Department has been allowing aerial wolf hunting--even though voters said no to it twice--for since 2003. (The legislature later overturned the voters' decision.) But this time Alaskans voted 92,781 to 74,124 to allow it.

When I was a kid, my mother taught me that politics and religion were two subjects that one should never discuss. Unfortunately, those were always my two favorites. In the grand scheme of things, they strike me as the only two topics that really are worthy of continued, sustained discussion and reflection over the course of a lifetime. While I'm sure that there are people who are still talking about the Reuben Stoddard/Clay Aiken showdown of a couple of years ago, I would have to say that American Idol, Iron Man, and even the return of Indiana Jones must always take a back seat to the great battle between conservatism and liberalism and the question of free will.

For this reason, I particularly love Presidential election years, as it seems like it's the only time when it's socially acceptable to talk politics. Most of the time, people throw out a few questions to subtly suss out their conversational partner's political beliefs. If the two people agree, then the conversation rolls right along as they trade attacks on the demon candidate du jour. If not, conversation usually moves on to safer waters.

During election years, though, it seems like we all have an excuse for having tough talks about our hopes for the future, where we believe the country is headed, and all that fun stuff. Better yet, we get to sport T-shirts, bumper stickers, signs, tattoos, and assorted other paraphernalia that shows off our political beliefs. Recently, I discovered some particularly fun campaign swag. While the more staid among us are sporting mature, adult Obama and McCain buttons, the "McCain/Methuselah 2008: Why waste over 2000 years of experience?" pin really gave me a huge smile. And, to be honest, I felt a funny little tickle when I saw the "Obama: the Audacity of Inexperience" items at Cafe Press. Of course, if you really want to slip off the radar, you could go with "Chelsea in '16: The Pantsuits Have Been Passed to a New Generation."

While the pins are a lot of fun, my favorite souvenir in this election cycle has been the Presidential condoms. Practice Safe Policy is selling Obama and McCain condoms. The Obama-lactic states that one should "Use with good judgment," while the McCain membrane notes that it's "Old but not expired." The sheaths are priced at $9.95 for two, which seems fairly expensive. However, nobody ever said that Free Speech was cheap!

Bruce Watson is a freelance writer, blogger, and all-around cheapskate. It was incredibly hard for him to avoid slipping into shallow, puerile puns on this post.

The main challenge facing presidential hopefuls John McCain, Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton is to convince voters that they understand the needs of average Americans. Yet the more voters get to know them, the clearer it becomes that they lead lives that are far from ordinary.

McCain, Obama and Clinton all have prevailed against daunting odds to be among the most powerful people in the country. Their success has also made them celebrities and they have made tidy sums of money writing best-selling books. They have received a slew of awards from their many admirers and have been both lampooned and cheered as guests on "Saturday Night Live."

To understand what these presidential contenders will do if elected, voters need to first examine their respective political records. But we can also glean insights from taking a look at the personal experiences and individual choices these three remarkable people have made:

The latest newsworthy item in the U.S. presidential race is the statement by Cindy McCain, wife of Republican candidate John McCain, that she will not release her personal tax returns. On Thursday's Today show (video below), she says that it's a privacy issue and she would not release her tax returns, even if her husband was elected president.

Of course, the Democrats are making a big deal about this, saying that when John Kerry was campaigning for president, his wife released her separate tax returns. So what? She made her choice, and Cindy McCain is making hers. It's suggested that John McCain is not making "full disclosure" by not releasing his wife's separate tax returns.

I say too bad. Even though he may have benefited from her family's fortune, the law doesn't say she has to release her tax returns. That is her private information and she is not the candidate. Would it make for some interesting reading? Probably. But I don't have any problem with Cindy McCain refusing to produce her tax returns. What is there really to be gained from seeing them, other than to fulfill our curiosity?


Tracy L. Coenen, CPA, MBA, CFE performs fraud examinations and financial investigations for her company Sequence Inc. Forensic Accounting, and is the author of Essentials of Corporate Fraud.

Income tax information is generally private, but in the case of presidential candidates, it's not. Their invasion of privacy makes for hours of fun for those of us interested in how much money others make. Here's how the numbers shook out for 2007 tax returns:

John McCain:
Adjusted gross income $386,527
Charitable contributions $105,467
Federal income tax $118,660
Actual tax return here (large file).

Other interesting information: McCain gave $105,467 to charity, which was 27% of his income. He also made just over $110,000 from books he's written.