BlogJunkies

ThinkFast: October 7, 2008

October 7, 2008 on 9:00 pm |

“American business, typically a reliable Republican cheerleader, is decidedly lukewarm” about John McCain’s health care proposals. Specifically, groups believe that McCain’s plan, “which eliminates the exclusion of health benefits from income taxes, would accelerate the erosion of employer-sponsored health insurance and do little to reduce the number of uninsured from 45 million.”

61 percent: U.S. households that “watched at least one of the two 2008 election debates aired so far,” according to Nielsen. “Homes headed by African Americans made up a larger portion of the presidential debate audience (14.0%) than the V.P. debate audience (12.3%). African American homes normally account for 12.2% of all U.S. TV households.”

In an effort to address the growing credit crisis, the Treasury is discussing a new plan to buy up “unsecured commercial paper, essentially short-term i.o.u.’s issued by banks, businesses and municipalities,” the New York Times reports. “If this were to happen, the central bank would come closer than ever to lending directly to businesses.”

Several tax experts said Sarah Palin “is required to pay federal taxes on $25,000 in reimbursements from the state of Alaska for her children’s travel expenses.” Palin “released her 2006 and 2007 tax returns on Friday, sparking a lively debate on tax blogs and among tax professionals over whether reimbursements and per-diem meal payments from the state should be subject to federal taxes.”

On the trail today: John McCain and Barack Obama will be in Nashville, TN for a Presidential Debate at Belmont University. (more…)