The whole tax issue this year is a red herring anyway, because the real economic problems are unemployment, the fate of national health care, and the fact that virtually no new regulations have been passed since the 2008 meltdown to make another, even worse, disaster any less likely.

That's right - the same loan practices that almost ruined the country are still perfectly legal. The only difference is that the lenders have temporarily learned their lesson. Or have they?

It's easy to miss the fact that both parties agree vaguely that various tax loopholes should be closed, but they can't talk about it because they don't want voters thinking they agree on anything; they can't agree on what loopholes; and tax law is too complicated for TV soundbites. In fact, only experts (not the candidates) can even discuss it intelligently.

So you're invited to base your choice on whether millionaires should pay more than they do on their personal income taxes. Because anybody can have an opinion on that!

They already pay less than they did before 2001 (and way less than in the '50s), but that added revenue alone won't fix the deficit, the debt, or even the interest on the debt.

Another problem: few people seem to realize that much of the general mess is beyond the control of *any* president. The national and global economy is so complicated that any policy (including the Republican favorite of doing nothing) may well turn out to be inadequate or wrong.